User Reviews

Following a school assembly where a pair of FBI agents address the school and warn the students too keep an eye open to anybody who seems a little different everybody starts seeing people in a different light; frequently due to minor misunderstandings. An overheard conversation about early sci-fi films mirroring the fear of communism leads people to think Daria and Jane are communists, Daria's comments about aliens lead her parents to thing she has a problem with immigration and Quinn's sudden change of attire leads both her club and Daria to wonder what is going on. These are just a few of the strange goings on that lead one to wonder if there really is something unnatural going on.

This episode was a lot of fun; I feared that it would veer into fantasy territory like the holidays episode but it nicely avoided that as each of the various misunderstandings was explained. I like the fact that nobody was totally immune from the paranoia; even the rational Daria and Jane had some funny ideas. There are obvious and enjoyable references the 'The X-Files' but I don't think you need to have seen that to enjoy this.

The episode begins with some creepy government agents from an anonymous agency show up at school and tell the kids to look out for strange people--and they are NOT talking about Daria! Later, Jane talks about aliens and mind control and Daria begins to feel a bit freaked when people around her begin behaving very atypically. For instance, Quinn starts dressing like a beatnik and the parents make some strange remarks about aliens that Daria misunderstands. Soon, the kids at school all start making up all kinds of crazy rumors--especially when Mr. DeMartino is taken away in handcuffs and Jake assumes Daria is now a communist!! What is going on here?! This episode was clearly inspired by "The X-Files"--a huge hit at the time this episode was made. Not only the title, but so many elements are X-Files inspired and it's a cute little parody. But to find out what all this is REALLY about, you'll need to tune in yourself. This particular show was a big departure for the series and a welcome one--clever and a ice change of pace.

By the way, this is the second appearance of Artie--a really bizarre and funny character who says he was abducted by aliens...on several occasions.