Let’s get something out of the way first. The fourth episode of the current revival of The X-Files, Home Again, is not a sequel to what is arguably the series’ most disturbing episode, Home. That’s OK; the comic book series published by IDW has already done one. What we get instead is a pairing of stories that I’m not sure belongs together. The first is a standard monster-of-the-week adventure. The second is a personal crisis for Scully (Gillian Anderson) that once again causes her to question her faith.
In West Philadelphia, as government representatives are in the process of physically relocating the homeless from the streets of downtown to an abandoned hospital, a street painting comes to life to protect the people by literally tearing apart those in charge of kick starting the gentrification. Nicknamed “Trashman” because it disposes of most of the body parts in a mysterious garbage truck, there’s nothing particularly compelling to me about this creature (or story).
While on the job, Scully gets a call that her mother has suffered a heart attack and is in the ICU in Washington D.C. As if we don’t remember all the suffering of her own that Scully has endured at a hospital, there are flashbacks to remind us. Granted, it was her in the coma at the time, but it’s all too familiar to her and Mulder (David Duchovny). In a moment of consciousness, her mother asked for her estranged son (Scully’s brother), Charlie, which obsessively confounds Scully throughout the episode.
This second story separates the two agents for a good part of the episode, but after a (SPOILER) final breath statement from Mrs. Scully, brings them together to commiserate over the decision they made to give up their child for adoption. Mentioned in episode one, their guilt is one of the consistent threads of the tenth season. And one of the consistent threads of the entire series is “belief.” Here, Scully wants to believe, not in some external force, but that she made the right decision.
Now that I reflect upon the ending of Home Again, I see how the two stories fit together; however, I don’t like how heavy-handed it is. Scully says, “I want to believe… I need to believe we didn’t treat him (their son) like trash.” More touching to me is her statement to Mulder that one day he’ll find all the answers for which he’s been searching, and she’ll be there with him to share them, but she’ll never have answers of her own.
Even with this uncertainty, the conclusion of the episode is too pat. Its themes would have been better served over the course of an entire season, but is understandably rushed within the structure of only six episodes. This is particularly true when, after (SPOILER) her mother dies, Scully immediately exclaims, “Let’s drive to Philadelphia. I need to work. I need to work right now.” She’s then incredibly calm and collected while investigating the case of the Trashman.
As heavy as the material, there’s still some of the show’s signature humor. When a victim’s head is found in the trash can, Mulder makes a crack that the killer didn’t recycle. Also, when Scully comments, “Back in the day, I used to do stairs in 3-inch heels,” Mulder replies, “Scully, back in the day is now.” After last week’s entirely comical episode, it’s this tone that I’m appreciating in the current run. However, I’m becoming increasingly convinced that a truncated tenth season is not the way to delve much deeper.
