Glen Morgan is worth following for the attention he gives people caught up in supernatural trouble. His work with James Wong on The X-Files is our strongest reason to recommend him.
Fi1m perspective
Morgan makes room for the people caught up in supernatural trouble. His writing partnership with James Wong is important to the appeal of The X-Files (1993), where character can matter as much as the unexplained event. We were absorbed by the series because David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson made those events worth following, even when its secrecy tried our patience. The unsettling Home (1996) remains a key part of Morgan's reputation, though we would not mistake one contributor's work for the achievement of the whole series.
With Morgan, it is worth looking beyond the directing credit. After the second season of The X-Files, he created Space: Above and Beyond (1995) with Wong, before returning for season four. He then ran the second season of Chris Carter's Millennium (1996). These writing and producing responsibilities matter to how we judge him: his contribution to the characters and stories is a substantial part of what we are recommending.
Feature horror continued the partnership with Wong through Final Destination (2000), which Morgan co-wrote and produced. His first feature as director was Willard (2003), followed by Black Christmas (2006), both remakes. The poor critical reception of Black Christmas is a reason to be cautious about treating the move into cinemas as an advance. We would begin with the television work, where his interest in character is our clearest reason to keep watching.
The 2016 and 2018 revivals of The X-Files brought writing, directing and executive-producing duties together. Home Again shows his habit of revisiting earlier monster-of-the-week ideas; returning to a familiar premise need not be a failing when the people remain worth following. Our reservation is the one we have about the series itself: secrecy can become tiresome when it lasts too long. Start with The X-Files, and allow for the occasional evening when Duchovny and Anderson's company is more rewarding than the answers.
Biography
Glen Morgan (born 12 July 1961) is an American television producer, writer and director. He was born in Syracuse, New York, and attended Loyola Marymount University, where he met his frequent writing partner James Wong. Morgan began his career writing for series produced by Stephen J. Cannell, including 21 Jump Street and The Commish.
Morgan is best known for his work on The X-Files (1993), on which he wrote and directed episodes and served as co-executive producer and later executive producer, often in collaboration with Wong. The pair created Space: Above and Beyond (1995) and worked on Millennium (1996). Morgan has also written screenplays for the films Final Destination (2000), The One (2001), Willard (2003) and Black Christmas (2006), and contributed to later series including Lore (2017) and the 2019 revival of The Twilight Zone. He is the brother of writer Darin Morgan and has been married to actress Kristen Cloke since 1998.
