*Spoilers for this episode, if you haven’t seen it why are you reading this article, go watch it and come back. X-Files is currently available on Disney+*
‘Home’ isn’t new to media coverage. ‘Home’ was set up to be a special episode. ‘Home’ was committed to disturb viewers. ‘Home’ was the comeback episode for writers James Wong and Chris Carter. The two hadn’t written an episode since the end of Season 2 and were determined to make their presence known. This disturbing duo, alongside director Kim Manners, created the only ‘X-Files’ Episode to receive a TV-MA (certificate 18) rating.
But why? Apart from the obvious, a plot concerning burying babies and incest, there’s plenty of awful horror movies that have a good premise (*sigh* unfortunately, there’s far too many of them). What makes this one special? Why does it stand out from the episodes it’s sandwiched between?
The characters, for one.
Each and every protagonist in this episode is set up effectively. Every character who dies is established: the Sheriff, the deputy, Mrs. Barbara Taylor. The episode is so disturbing as there is a chilling sense of dramatic irony the whole way through. You know they won’t survive, but there’s so much time spent with them, you hope they will just make it through the forty minutes of hell.
Even the ‘cold open’ death was chilling. A clever subversion of the usual unnamed character death at the start of many episodes becomes the tragic death of a newborn – a character that doesn’t need setup or development to be disturbing. You cringe in front of the telly, hoping, just hoping, that all of them decide to take an all-inclusive group holiday to Disneyland and leave the spooky small town behind.
Alas, they do not.
Of course, they stay. They are convinced they are doing the right thing. Mulder and Scully always do the right thing…right?
The two become wrapped up in this case. From the moment the baby is inspected by Scully, there’s no turning back. It’s even mentioned that this is not an FBI case. There then become emotional ties to staying. Scully is clearly questioning the concept of motherhood and becoming a mother – a strong theme throughout the episode. It is her sympathy and want to help Mrs. Peacock that drives her to stay.
Of course, things quickly turn sour when she realises that her notion of motherhood is not the same as Mrs. Peacock’s. Mrs. Peacock will do anything for her children, leading to the events in the episode.
But they are stuck now.
They have taken on the case. Mulder and Scully now have to explore the terrifying reality of the Peacock’s family dynamic. This means venturing into the Peacock house.
Is the house scary? Yes. The design of this episode is perfect for its horror. The obvious hints will have you squirming on the sofa. A ‘Why is nobody seeing this?!’ type of squirm. It’s clever but obvious. The design foreshadows and warns about the dangers of the plot at every single turn.
The lighting for one is genius in this episode. A simple concept, light and dark, day and night, safe and unsafe. It’s dreary. It’s dingy. It’s the feeling you get in winter during the hour you want to turn the lights on but are stopped because it’s not quite dark enough yet.
It’s that grey feeling.
It’s the feeling of watching a horror film in the morning, thinking you won’t get scared.
Just wait till nighttime.
Most of the episode is brightly lit. IMDB trivia (the best part of watching a show on Prime) describes it as ‘uncharacteristic’ for the ‘X-Files’. They’ve hit the nail on the head. This episode is uncharacteristic in every way for Mulder and Scully. Any time you think they are falling into the usual Monster Of The Week pattern, it will be subverted.
The sun in the sky is juxtaposition at its clearest.
You want them to go for a nice walk through the town. You want them to be safe. You know they are not. The sun is warm and comforting. But not in this episode.
The Peacock house is a mass of shadows. The veranda (had to look that up, it is a covered porch) shrouds the entrance in shadow. The house leers and looms whenever Mulder and Scully, the Sheriff and the deputy approach it. And as you know, the inside of the house isn’t much brighter.
The Peacock house is perpetually dark. It is perpetually nighttime. It is perpetually unsafe there.
As our gang approaches the darkness, against better judgement, it is an obstacle course of terrifying setpieces. Each one with meaning. Each one a call to turn around. Each one brings them closer to the shadow. The unsafety.
The pigs.
The car.
The pig’s head.
Hell, even the long, untamed grass is spooky at this point!
This dark take on American values is so cleverly satirical. A warning tale about tradition versus modernity in the sickest way. The themes of this episode – small-town life, nuclear families, loyalty – are so clearly communicated through the design. From the practical makeup effects which look raw, homebrewed and mismatched, to the white Cadillac – a simple set piece which perfectly represents traditional American culture.
The irony and genius of it all kills you, doesn’t it?
The plot progresses.
The bodies mount up.
The Peacocks win.
Mulder and Scully fail. It’s not the usual ‘Monster Of The Week’ plot. Mulder and Scully are supposed to win.
Not this time.
In this homage to 70s slasher horror, our protagonists lost key characters to the peacocks. Mulder and Scully lost well-established characters. Loved characters.
What did the Peacocks lose?
Well, two of their own. But, as it is made clear in that last, bone-chilling scene, this is water off a duck’s back for them. In the disturbing scene, it’s made clear that the brother’s were disposable and, with Mrs. Peacock stowed away in the trunk, the remaining brother drives off into the night.
Mrs. Peacock, the woman Mulder and Scully risked and lost so much to save, the woman who didn’t want to be saved, is gone. To start again, somewhere new.
That’s what gets us, the audience, safely sitting in front of the telly. It’s the twist you get in your stomach because you know the Peacocks will do it all again. They do not operate on the same plane of thinking as the rest of the cast. They will simply try again, and this time try harder. The events of this episode are seen more so as a ‘set back’ for the Peacocks, rather than a failure.
Mulder and Scully, on the other hand, have to pack it up. They have to go home with the failure chipping away at the back of their mind. With changed perceptions of themselves and others.
Wow, that was deep.
But so is the episode.
‘Home’ is a key developmental episode for the characters, especially Scully. It provokes ideas of motherhood and family for her (the episode is supposed to be part of the three episode development arc for Scully, the other two being ‘Home Again’ and ‘Never Again’).
This highly rated episode is a masterclass in how to execute (see what I did there) a seemingly standard horror concept to a highly effective degree. To chill viewers with a trail of lovable but now dead characters. An episode with a satisfying ending. Not a happy ending but a sick, twisted ending that does wrap up the story well. It is technically satisfying from a story perspective.
This was a small-town story.
Mulder and Scully were unable to help this small town.
Man, don’t you just love a small-town story?
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