"Home Again"

"Back in the day Mulder I used to do stairs and in 3 inch heels."
Aired 2/8/16

This episode was definitely a mixed bag. I understand the writers' need to mix so many mythology elements in with these standalone cases due to the shortened length of the season, but this one didn't click, unlike "Founder's Mutation". That episode was a standalone case about genetically modified children which caused Mulder and Scully to each reflect on their own child, William, with both having their dreams becoming nightmares. This episode causes Mulder and Scully to again reflect on their grief over William, but it's on top of so much other drama, along with a shift in tone. I was left feeling like this episode didn't know what it wanted to be.

First, I'll start with the actual "X-File" itself. A large, spooky guy who rides around inside of a garbage truck is ripping various city officials in half. People refer to him as the "Band Aid Nose Man" which is a serious downgrade from past names like Crew Cut Man, Toothpick Man, Black-Haired Man, and even Red-Haired Man. I suppose a character like an Eye-Patch-Wearing Man isn't creepy enough for this series. This episode does have another "Man" character, known as Trash Man, and he's a pop artist that graffitis art around town and speaks for the homeless people of the downtown area. When I first saw homeless people on the street at the beginning of this episode, my first thought was, "I wonder if Mulder spends the night with them like he did in 'Jersey Devil'?"

The second part of this episode sees the brief return of Sheila Larken as Maggie Scully, mother of Dana Scully, who was last featured briefly in Season 9. Maggie has suffered a fatal heart attack, but before she dies, she mentions both Scully's younger brother Charlie as well as Scully's son William. The thread of William has been woven nicely into this mini-series and while I was never of fan of baby William, I am enjoying the way Mulder and Scully are reflecting on their son. Some portions of the fan community seem to chastise the decision to give William up for adoption, even to the point that the writers said it was in poor taste and apologized for it. The way I look at it is that Mulder and Scully live in constant danger of the Syndicate, a group that's had Scully abducted, killed Mulder's father and his mentors, and almost blew up Mulder in a train car. That's a rough life for a baby when your grandfather wants your own parents dead. Even Papa Mulder gave up his own daughter for what he thought was the greater good, I suppose it's the circle of life in the Mulder clan. I think Scully needs a reason to return to The X-Files more than just investigating spooky cases again, and finding William is that reason. Just like Mulder originally wanted to use The X-Files to find his missing sister, Scully is now using them to find her son. But the drama of William seems to overshadow the drama of losing Maggie Scully. It may have been best to leave the monster out of this episode.

I felt like "Home Again" wanted to have serious character drama, while having a spooky monster, and also include campy moments. The black homeless guy saying "Band Aid Nose Man" and pointing to a several stories high mural was about the campiest moment of unintentional comedy I've seen on the show in ages. Perhaps that name sounded better on paper than it did being spoken by the actors. The use of music over impending doom (and later death) felt a little wedged in here, too. My favorite scene was a neat editing trick where the garbage truck drives past the "Fox Presents" text, as if the text is within the episode, as opposed to the text being over the episode like typical credits. I guess I shouldn't fault director/writer Glen Morgan so much for including many X-Files tropes since he really is 'home again' and it's not too often in life that you get a second chance, or even a third.