By Nia Edwards-Behi
The special mini-series of The X-Files continues to be something of a heavy-handed affair, which, for a slightly unconditional fan like myself, doesn’t pose too many problems. However, I suspect for anyone not as deeply invested in the characters the forceful way in which certain plot threads are being developed or revisited might come across as unsubtle and unsophisticated.
When a city official is found dead and mutilated the morning after he oversees the evacuation of rough sleepers from a street under his jurisdiction, Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate when it becomes evident that no human could have committed the crime. Soon enough, more bodies start to show up, but Scully’s involvement in the case is interrupted by personal tragedy, which sees her question and reflect on her own life choices.
Home Again is sadly not a sequel to the season 4 shocker ‘Home’, although it shares a few tenuous thematic links. The monster of the week is here more in-line with that of episodes like Kaddish or Arcadia – when a monster is created by the power and will of human thought, a story is ripe to tell us something about the monstrosity of humans. The episode is impressively gory for The X-Files, which isn’t a stranger to blood and guts every now and again, but this must rank amongst the goriest. The opening scene manages to be eerie, gory and then downright weird in all of three minutes. The monster is very closely tied to a street artist known as the Trashman, and there’s something very interesting about what the episode has to say about art imitating life and life imitating life… however, the episode doesn’t quite seem to say enough about it, because half the episode is dedicated to Dana Scully’s personal tragedy.
Scully’s bad news results in her agonising once again over her decision to put William (her and Mulder’s son) up for adoption 14 years ago. While further addressing the William issue might mean the monster of the week is slightly underdeveloped (though by no means un-entertaining), it does allow for a growth in our characters and an absolute showcase for Gillian Anderson’s immense acting talent. She’s absolutely phenomenal in this episode, and I hope she receives the appropriate praise for it. I hope that the William storyline is ultimately resolved, somehow, in this miniseries, considering the amount of time, so far, devoted to addressing it. Again, this episode doesn’t quite offer subtlety in the way in which the case reflects the personal, but that’s never entirely been a strong point of the series.
Again, this episode brings its politics and its ideologies up to date, and in a more nuanced and even-handed way than the first two episodes. It also has some truly iconic Mulder-and-Scully moments. That this series has made two people wielding torches such an iconic image is testament to its power and, now, its enduring legacy. The episode makes nice use of self-reference in the episode’s format (the use of music in particular recalls several previous episodes, including Home), and while direct flashbacks are more and more heavy-handed as the episode progresses, they do a give a sense of time gone by too. Then of course, having Mulder tell Scully that “back in the day is now,” is probably the finest instance of fan service and self-awareness in the series so far.
It’s nice to see that the series is aiming for a relative balance between humour and seriousness in the series – after last week’s rip-roaring episode, Home Again serves as a nice reminder of the really emotional and serious core that’s also an important part of the programme’s success. Looks like it’s a return to humour next week though, which I certainly can’t say I mind…