What I kind of love about this episode-and this isn’t necessarily saying that it’s a good thing-is the entry tying its monster to some ridiculous, unrelated concept. And on the inverse, it’s nice to see that after thirteen years Bill Scully is just as much the asshole brother as he always was, too. Those that have been looking for the entry of this season that gets to be the breakout Gillian Anderson vehicle where she gets to show what she’s capable of, look no further than “Home Again.” Anderson really kills it here, but Mulder’s pained looks at her as she compartmentalizes and forces herself back to work are equally devastating.
It’s got the weight of her mother’s last words, even. There’s heavier motivation to that action now. Carter has spoken about how “Home Again” was originally slated to be the second episode of this revival, which means all of this William discussion here was meant to happen before what we saw in Wong’s “Founder’s Mutation.” This doesn’t change a lot, but it does show Scully dealing with this trauma alone, and unsure of herself, before she ultimately decides to push it further with Mulder, which we saw in the second episode. Scully delving back into her family life ends up seguing rather organically (which can be the case when pretty much every male in your family has the name “William”) into her woes of putting William up for adoption. There are tons of instantly quotable one-liners at Mulder’s ready. Also, for those that have been hungry for that snarky, sardonic Mulder, “Home Again” is going to make you happy. Not having Scully as the usual sounding board is exactly what he needs for these unexplainable murders. Morgan effectively balances Scully opting out to deal with her ailing mother, while Mulder gets the opportunity to go “Full Mulder” here with a case that’s perfect for his limitless imagination. I suppose it wouldn’t be a return to The X-Files without something horrible happening to one of Scully’s family members. Morgan gets to push all of his favorite buttons here between inexplicable monsters, technology, and the big one-Scully’s family. They’re murders that scream monster-of-the-week, and our intrepid FBI agents even acknowledge its on-its-sleeve-spookiness from the jump. Once again, a very traditional sort of story sees itself being told here when a string of city officials are murdered in a way that defies all conventional logic. Carter has gone on to say that this was the most expensive episode of the season to produce (which includes the crazy UFO and explosion special effects that went down in the premiere), but none of that money is that obvious (other than the ripping effect). There’s a particularly beautiful/gratuitous shot of Mulder and Scully’s flashlight beams (“Back in the day, is now.”) crossing and making an X as they descend into the unknown. Morgan’s directorial eye is also at display here, with a number of gorgeous shots and creative filming styles, like mounted cameras, adding some nice touches that amp up the atmosphere. There are moments here where it feels like he’s intentionally trying to outdo and outgore his work in “Home” (if the title alone is any indication), and I’d say that he manages to pull it off…in fact he pulls both of them off, right from the torso. It really is a shame that he didn’t catch on as more of a horror feature director because the talent is obviously there. The sequence set to Petula Clark’s “Downtown” or the final set piece with Landry are exercises in tension that show you how far Morgan has come. If anyone checked out his promising-yet-cancelled Intruders, you got to see him flexing a bit of this muscle, but he really let’s loose here. Much like what we saw with his brother last week, Morgan hasn’t lost his touch and seeing him tap into this heavy horror monster-of-the-week vein is deeply gratifying. The stage is effectively set with the backdrop of relocating housing projects and the rolling progress of gentrification, but then before you know it you’re screaming at the legitimately terrifying stuff that’s happening on the screen.
#THE X FILES HOME HOW TO#
Much like James Wong, Glen Morgan knows how to do horror, and the cold open for this episode is some classic slow burning dread. Officially past the halfway point now, this episode comes courtesy of Glen Morgan.
That very well might be the legacy that “Home Again” leaves behind. Oh, that episode of The X-Files where a homeless person’s thoughts manifest themselves into vengeful murderous trash? Yeah, I remember that one. A satisfying, disturbing ‘X-Files’ hits both the frightening and the familial in an episode that you shouldn’t even try to logically explain
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