'The X-Files' Recap: 'Home Again'

Warning: This recap for the “Home Again” episode of The X-Files contains spoilers.

Boy, how great was “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster” last week, huh? Another round for Darin Morgan, everyone! Coming off a high like that, almost any episode is going to feel like a letdown. And, sure enough, tonight’s outing, “Home Again” — written by Morgan’s brother, and founding X-Files scribe, Glen — descends into the valley lying beneath the peak that was “Were-Monster.” An admirable attempt to fuse a meat-and-potatoes “monster of the week” investigation with an important piece of Mulder and Scully mythology, “Home Again” did the latter pretty well and the former… not so well. Where last week felt like a direct continuation of The X-Files when it was at the height of its creative powers (say Season 5 or 6), this episode feels more like the show’s later, inconsistent years, when our sheer affection for the characters carried us through choppy narrative waters. (It’s worth noting that the title deliberately echoes one of the standout episodes of the show’s original run, “Home,” but isn’t a sequel in any way.)

Related: ‘X-Files’ Review: 'Home Again’ Brings a New Monster and Old Sorrow

Here’s the other reason why the iffy quality of “Home Again” is mild cause for concern. This is the last time an outside writer has the opportunity to put their stamp on the revival, before it reverts back to series creator Chris Carter for the final two episodes. We’ll forever be in his debt for creating this franchise, but he hasn’t necessarily been its best steward when it comes to storytelling. The Carter-penned Season 10 premiere, for example, almost single-handedly killed whatever excitement many had for the show’s return. It took James Wong and then Darin Morgan to persuade us of the viability of a modern-day X-Files. “Home Again” could have continued the show’s winning streak before Carter takes his final two swings — hopefully connecting this time, rather than wildly missing — but we’re back on uncertain ground, wanting to believe that the show will finish strong, but remembering that we’ve been burned before. Here’s how the episode stacked up in the show’s three key areas.

The Monster: Back in the day, Morgan’s menagerie of monsters (many of which were co-created with regular collaborator James Wong) included such walking nightmares as Eugene Victor Tooms and a virus-carrying worm. Together, they would have eaten the bland boogeyman in “Home Again” — a hulking, limb-tearing garbage man — for a midnight snack. Basically a version of mirror-dwelling killer Candyman, this creature is unwittingly summoned into existence by “Trash Man,” a literal underground artist, and makes it his duty to defend Philadelphia’s homeless population against the well-heeled individuals looking to clean up the streets for their own selfish purposes.

In the midst of dealing with some serious personal stuff (see below), Mulder and Scully make stabs at catching this creature, but he all too easily eludes their roving flashlights. The social commentary about the have-nots needing a protector from the haves feels vaguely timely, until the final few minutes reveal the unfortunate metaphor that Morgan is actually working from: Scully’s fear that her baby, William, thinks his birth parents “treated him like trash” by putting him up for adoption. That line speaks directly to the bifurcated nature of the episode. The material that clearly interests Morgan the most is Scully’s personal drama, but he had to stick a monster in there somewhere, so he decided to run with a zombie garbage man, because, y’know, they pick up trash.

The Mythology: “Home Again” is the second episode of the revival, after Wong’s “Founder’s Mutation,” to address the subject of Mulder and Scully’s kid directly. Where Wong made room for fantasy sequences where both parents imagined a reality where they kept their child and raised him — doing such everyday things as taking him to school or sitting down with him to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey — Morgan emphasizes William’s absence, and the intense feelings of guilt and sadness it inspires in Scully’s heart. Though he was given up for adoption 14 years ago, it’s increasingly clear that William’s role in the story is far from over, especially now that the nature of the central conspiracy has drastically changed. His special, potentially alien powers will no doubt make him a key bargaining chip as Mulder pursues the shadowy men he believes are using extraterrestrial technology to pursue their own ends.

While William remained off-screen, “Home Again” did welcome back another important figure from X-Files past: Scully’s mother, Margaret, played once again by Sheila Larken. Unfortunately, Margaret returned under tragic circumstances — she was at death’s door, and crossed over its threshold during the course of the hour. (Scully’s surviving siblings, Bill Jr. and Charles, made appearances over the phone; her sister Melissa died way back in Season 3.) Her final words were, “My son is named William, too,” which Scully interprets as one-mother-to-another advice that they keep tabs on William to make sure he’s okay. Although Margaret was always supportive of her daughter’s scientific career, she wasn’t necessarily the skeptical type herself. She once spoke about having premonitions, and it’ll be interesting to see if and how her death impacts Scully’s own belief system.

Related: 'The X-Files’ Postmortem: Darin Morgan Spills 5 Secrets About 'Were-Monster’

The Mulder and Scully Of It All: Only Gillian Anderson could have taken that cringe-inducing “treated him like trash” line and made it work. Where the first three episodes tended to emphasize Mulder, “Home Again” was more of a Scully showcase, and Anderson nailed all of her big emotional moments. To his credit, David Duchovny visibly backed off and gave her the room to bear the dramatic brunt of the story. Even as “Home Again” struggled to connect its twin narratives, the central duo was in fine form. We felt every moment of their history, and the obvious respect and affection they still share.

The X-Files airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on Fox.