The X-Files Review: Home Again (Season 10 Episode 4)
Is everyone else still crying? Yes? Okay, good. Just another day watching The X-Files.
“Home Again” is a dizzying dichotomy of stories: on the one hand, we have the standard case of the week (this time involving a Banksy-type artist whose creations come to life), and on the other, we have an incredibly emotional journey that Scully goes on involving her mother, Margaret. To properly cover both, I’ve split this review into two parts.
The Case of the Week
Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time The X-Files has employed the use of a garbage monster as its main mystery, but it is the one with the most to say: this monster is a creation of an artist’s sheer will, out of a want to protect Philadelphia’s homeless population from gentrification. The monster’s plot gets a little lost amongst the frankly more intriguing plot of Scully’s turmoil over her mother, but it does serve as a heavy-handed metaphor for Scully’s feelings on being a mother and the choice she made to give up William as a baby.
And I want to believe…I need to believe that we didn’t treat him like trash.
The Scully Family
The true meat of “Home Again” is Scully’s loss of her mother, Margaret. Margaret Scully has been a long-standing, established character in The X-Files, dating all the way back to Season 1’s “Beyond the Sea”. In fact, the entire Scully family has figured prominently into Scully’s character arc, with the introduction (and eventual death) of both her father, William, and her sister, Melissa, as well as her two living brothers, Bill Jr. and Charles.
All of these characters make nostalgic returns in one way or another in this episode. Bill is the one to call Scully and break the news of their mother’s heart attack to her, Charlie is the one who is able to awaken their mother from a coma one last time, and Scully herself begs her mother not to go “home” to her father and Melissa. It’s a shame that we only hear from Charlie now after ten seasons of him being the Scully family mystery, and it’s an even bigger shame that his absence is explained away by him being “estranged” from them. He and Margaret’s relationship is neatly paralleled with Scully’s fear about her own with William, but it’s puzzling why it took so long for that character to make it to the screen.
Mom asked for you, Charlie. Can you just say something to her? Please? I don’t know. Just…do what I can’t do. Bring her back to us.
Scully goes through every possible emotion leading up to the death of her mother, and Gillian Anderson portrays Scully’s raw fear and grief masterfully–Scully has always been a steadfast and strong woman who is both vulnerable and resolute in equal measure, and Anderson flips Scully from denial, to heartbreak, to outright pain effortlessly. This episode truly showcases Anderson and leaves David Duchovny to be a port in a storm for the waves of emotion that surge through it, letting her plunge deep into Scully’s grief with Mulder holding her together.
I don’t care about the big questions right now, Mulder. I just want one more chance to ask my mom a few little ones.
Mulder doesn’t try to talk away Scully’s feelings or distract her–he stands by her side and backs her up, letting her fall into him again and again so naturally that it feels as if the two never parted ways. The automatic intimacy and closeness that Mulder and Scully have through the episode speaks volumes to their connection, romantic or not; when the going gets tough, the tough leans on the person they trust most in the world, and that is no more apparent than in the scene following Margaret’s death, when Mulder holds Scully close and tries to bring her some comfort while she questions everything she knows.
The episode’s strengths lie in Scully’s story, but suffers from its unfortunate use of metaphor to parallel Scully’s decision to give up William with the human tendency to ignore garbage once it’s out of sight–it feels so silly to compare the two things, and it could have been compared with much more tact to the futility and ignorance of humanity to its homeless. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the theme the episode chose to go for. Fortunately, with Gillian Anderson’s superb acting, the episode manages to get away with it, and leaves us once more on the question of William’s whereabouts as Mulder and Scully sit wrapped around each other on a beach.
Other thoughts:
- Scully repeatedly saw William’s name on her phone in this episode. Is it her mind playing tricks on her, or is it possible William is trying to reach out to his mother?
- Did anyone else notice an absolute plethora of The 100’s supporting cast in this episode? What an unexpected delight.
- Scully seems to be getting more and more reckless as the season goes on. She takes down a suspect handily, and plunges back into she and Mulder’s case to push the thought of her mother’s death from her mind. Where is this leading?
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."