“Lord of the Flies” is episode five of season nine of The X-Files.
Two teenagers are on video. One introduces himself as ‘Sky Commander Winky’ and the other as ‘Cap’n Dare.’ Dare – Bill – is doing stunts for The Dumbass Show. Which are, as advertised, dumb. The final one is to jump a shopping trolley he’s in over his girlfriend, Natalie, who will have a sparkler in his mouth. Natalie understandably thinks this is dangerous for her, but does it due to peer pressure. The shopping trolley veers away, though, and overturns. Natalie checks on Bill and starts screaming. His head has collapsed inwards.
Doggett and Reyes arrive at the ME’s. The ME, Dr Fountain (Erick Avari), asks if they are the experts. They work the X-files; their expertise is the unexplained. They were told there was an un explained death. Fountain can’t explain what happened and, all things considered, doesn’t want to go on record. Bill’s parents are sewing everyone; the county for making the street too steep, the place the shopping trolley was stolen from, the company that made the helmet.
Off the record, Doggett asks what the trolley has to do with it. Fountain explains The Dumbass Show; a cable TV show where people film stupid stunts. He doesn’t want to get sucked into this legal nightmare. They investigate the unexplained; they can explain this. One of Bill’s eyelids is moving. Reyes opens it and flies pour out. Scully arrives; the other two have called her. Fountain asks if she’s the expert.
Scully has removed the top of Bill’s skull; she says she’s never seen anything quite like it. It appears that insects ate Bill’s brain at such a furious rate it caused the skull to collapse. The helmet protected Bill’s head; there’s no impact trauma. Doggett wonders why Bill was attacked. He suggests Spanish fly. Scully doesn’t think science works like that and wonders what sort of fly acts that aggressively.
A man enters, suggesting two flies that do, before introducing himself as Dr Rocky Bronzino – he tells Scully to call him Rocky – an entomologist. However, the specimens collected are ordinary flies. Harmless. Though not in this case. Rocky is hitting on Scully. She is not impressed. Reyes says they may be looking at a murder; Rocky asks if there are any suspects. Reyes hands him the jar of flies.
Natalie is at school – one of the boys from the incident is watching – when Winky and his brother come over. Winky wants to do a memorial video for Bill. Natalie is not impressed. The other kid, Dylan, stands up and Winky goes over to hassle him, to be called off by the principal. And Dylan’s mother.
Doggett and Reyes are watching the Dumbass video; Doggett says he’s solved the case. The kid has crap for brains, the flies couldn’t resist. Reyes assumes Doggett did stupid stuff as a kid. Yes, but he didn’t know it was stupid. This is the glorification of stupid.
Principal Lokensgard brins in Winky; they know he sent an email to Fox offering to sell the video of Bill’s death. Winky objects. He wrote to all the networks; Fox were the only ones to show interest. During the interview, Winky is scratching his back. When he stands up in pain, the words ‘Dumb Ass’ have appeared in welts on his back.
Dylan returns home and heads to his room to lie on his bed. Flies in their hundreds congregate on his window and come inside.
Scully tells Reyes and Doggett that Rocky found something; all the flies that ate Bill’s brain were female. What are the chances of that? Something caused the bugs to attack. Doggett suggests they needed to express themselves, and explains that Winky was hit by an aggressive attack by body lice. Scully says Lice are not uncommon in a school. Doggett tells her these are better spellers than most of the kids. Reyes thinks the way Winky freaked out means it wasn’t staged. This has something to do with biology, but she thinks someone is directing the biology. They decide to have a word with Dylan.
Dylan’s mother has turned Natalie away from their house, so Dylan climbs out of the window to follow. His mother finds him outside; she tells him Natalie is no good for him. His body is going through changes. Dylan rides off. Rocky and Scully are searching for insect pheromones outdoors – Rocky is still hitting on Scully – when they detect a lot of pheromones incoming. As they look up, Dylan rides past behind them.
Despite everything, this is basically a comedy episode. And it’s the second time an entomologist has been involved in one of these, although last time it was Mulder hitting on her.