The X-Files Review: Babylon (Season 10 Episode 5)
Do you ever wonder how some questionable episodes of TV shows get made? Someone has to write it, and then someone else has to approve that writing, and then the crew has to go into pre-production on it.
Then the cast has to read and act it, and then someone has to edit it and put it into post-production to deliver to the network for airing.
That’s basically what’s going on my head while contemplating The X-Files’ “Babylon”.
How did this episode get made? How did anyone think that writing an incredibly Islamophobic, racist episode about extremist suicide bombers–where it preys upon stereotypes and makes cartoon villains out of Muslims everywhere–was the thing to do in the political climate we live in now?
A few throwaway lines from Scully about all Muslims not being the same isn’t nearly enough to cover up the blasphemous and tonally deaf plotline that ultimately has nothing to say. Perhaps, if there had been a thematic tie-in, and if the message of the episode had been about the dangers of home-grown terrorism and the impact it has on millions of innocent Muslim people who all get blamed for the actions of the few, then Chris Carter exploring this incredibly controversial topic could have been acceptable.
Instead, we got some half-assed explanation about mothers, the power of words, and Mulder apparently being drift-compatible with a comatose terrorist via placebos. No, I’m not joking. This really was an episode of The X-Files that we all watched with our own two eyes.
Adding insult to weak storytelling injury is the introduction of Mulder and Scully 2.0–aptly named Miller and Einstein, who are quite entertaining in their own right. Or, as entertaining as two clones of Mulder and Scully could possibly be, while adding nothing to the conflict of the plot, and adding nothing to Mulder and Scully’s characterizations at all.
What was the point in pairing Mulder off with Einstein, who is a character only slated to appear twice, and have him attempt to open her mind through extremely fake science and a drug trip? Sure, she receives the same development in one episode that the show so carefully spent nine seasons on for Scully, but that’s really the problem, isn’t it?
Why have Mulder open up a new Scully’s eyes when actual Scully, the character we’ve been with for twenty-three years, is going through an incredible emotional trauma and crisis of faith over both the loss of her mother and the unknown location of her son? Einstein seems like a brash and promising character, just as Miller seems gentle and charmingly persistent–but in a limited series of six episodes, what do their characters add to the already overstuffed menu that the writers are attempting to force down the audience’s throat?
It could be argued that Miller and Einstein would make for a great spin-off, but really…it would just be The X-Files: The Next Generation, with complete duplicates of Mulder and Scully going through the exact same cases the original two already have.
Speaking of cases: Mulder seems to solve this one by persuading mini Scully to give him mushrooms, because he thinks it will make it easy for him to open his mind and speak to their comatose terrorist, Shiraz. What actually happens is this: Mulder gets really high, dances at a cowboy club with the Lone Gunmen and Skinner, gets whipped in some strange BDSM scene by Agent Einstein, then ends up on a ship with a bunch of cloaked figures (including Cigarette Smoking Man) and finds Shiraz resting against his mother like Jesus and Mary Magdalene. He whispers some Arabic to Mulder, which he magically remembers after finishing his trip (which was not, as he assumed, on mushrooms, but placebos that Einstein gave him) and relays it to Agent Miller, who happens to be fluent in Arabic.
It ends up alright, in the end. They catch the terrorists who recruited Shiraz, his mother has a good cry over his body, Scully and Einstein momentarily forget they’re both medical doctors and do nothing to save him from going into cardiac arrest, and then Einstein and Miller have a heart-to-heart about believing words have power.
Mulder and Scully literally walk into the sunset holding hands (which, admittedly, was the most delightful part of this episode, because the easy intimacy between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson lends layers and layers of emotional meaning to scenes that otherwise make no sense), and that’s it. That’s the episode.
While there are some highlights with the (extremely brief) return of The Lone Gunmen in Mulder’s trip from hell, as well as the undeniable hilarity of Mulder line dancing, this episode was an overall disappointment. The X-Files can–and should–do better.
Other thoughts:
- More talk of William, but no lead up to any kind of resolution with his storyline. With one episode left in the season, how will he begin to play a role?
- While it was nice to see The Lone Gunmen, it’s a shame their appearance is so brief. They were and are sorely missed.
- The whiplash of Scully from the previous episode to Scully in this episode was nothing short of painful. How is she dealing with the loss of her mother? Why was more time not spent on her coping with that?
What did you think of this episode of The X-Files? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The X-Files airs Mondays at 8/7c on FOX.
Brittany Rae
Brittany is a writer and avid TV blogger hailing the infamous year of 1989. She trained at Vancouver Film School in screenwriting for television and film, and has gone on to become a graphic designer and blogger in her free time. When she’s not watching the Food Network, she’s trying to consume every bit of sci-fi television she can get her hands on (current favorites include The 100, Person of Interest, and Doctor Who). She’s always up for female-led dramas and, of course, a literal interpretation of the phrase “Netflix and chill."
One thought on “The X-Files Review: Babylon (Season 10 Episode 5)”
On Scully coping; I thought it showed perfectly a woman not accepting the death of her mother. She’s doing everything she can to ignore it. Mulder didn’t expect her to working, that’s why he didn’t involve her. When she does mention it, it’s about questions left unanswered. She barely speaks on that. There would be a lot of internal conflict happening with Scully simply because she cannot get an answer to a question, and though her whole experience with the X files has been the same thing, this is her mother. This is someone she should know and get the truth from. On top of dealing with her own insecurities about abandoning William, she’s obviously trying to focus on work because strangely it’s the only thing she can get something from.
I was also put off by the stereotype and particularly the need to show the terrorist praying beforehand, further linking a religion with terrorism. However, I’ve always appreciated the episodes that dealt more strongly with belief and the conflict that can arise. (Pretty sure I was the only person who liked the last movie because it focused on the core of the show, belief not aliens) Subsequently I enjoyed Miller and Einstein because they were carbon copies of young Mulder and Scully and there was that juxtaposition of what they used to be and what they have become because their beliefs have constantly been challenged.
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