S10.E04: Home Again

[madam magpie]

This new TV Mulder is supposed to be weary and disillusioned, I get it. But I think the real issue is that DD is simply older, and less interested. He doesn't appear to believe anything he is saying.

Why, though? What's the evidence for that rationale? To me, it seems Occam's razor applies: he's an actor playing the part of a man who's disillusioned, weary, and sad. Ergo, his character comes across as disillusioned, weary, and sad.

Edited February 12, 2016 by madam magpie

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Yes, and not only that, we rewatched the 1998 X-Files movie immediately prior to watching this new series on DVR. Mulder was far more of a believer, a zealot, in the original series. More energy, more enthusiasm, more of a need to connect dots that don't appear to be connected. This new TV Mulder is supposed to be weary and disillusioned, I get it. But I think the real issue is that DD is simply older, and less interested. He doesn't appear to believe anything he is saying.

 

Personally, I don't see him less interested at all. I see him far more interested in telling a different story for Mulder (and by extension, Scully).  In my view, he seems far more interested in exploring those layers that made Mulder one of the more interesting characters on television ever - not the zealot, not the crack pot - but instead the man who felt so deeply about one person (Samantha) that he would spend years of his life, giving up practically everything, to find her.  The person who would do practically anything to make sure that his partner survived.  In my view, he's more interested in demonstrating what makes Mulder this deeply-felt, vulnerable human being who hides his pain by being a wise-ass and a pain in everyone's ass than he is just revisiting the character's younger, brasher qualities.  I, for one, love it.  I could not imagine a more boring Mulder than one who acted exactly like he did 20 years ago.

[DaynaPhile]

I'm glad I'm not the only one having trouble hearing some of the dialogue. I thought it was just me getting old. Clearly it's just Chris Carter at his desk yelling "You people get lights or sound. NOT BOTH!"

Betcha the one time they kiss will be in the last 30 seconds of epsopde 6. Well lit, but we won't hear what they're saying to each other.

Yes, I want to see them kiss. There's room in the shallow end, right?

[Ottis]

Why, though? What's the evidence for that rationale? To me, it seems Occam's razor applies: he's an actor playing the part of a man who's disillusioned, weary, and sad. Ergo, his character comes across as disillusioned, weary, and sad.

 

 

and 

 

I, for one, love it.  I could not imagine a more boring Mulder than one who acted exactly like he did 20 years ago.

 

 

My point, which I didn't elaborate on and maybe should have, was that BEYOND DD choosing to play an older, wiser Mulder, one who had matured from what he was 20 years ago, DD ALSO seems disinterested in his dialogue. It's definitely a YMMV thing, and for me it has to do with how his face conveys what he is saying. More robotic now than deadpan, less of a connection even taking into account that Mulder as a character is older and wiser. It feels kind of like an actor who doesn't really want to go back to his X-Files heyday but knows doing so is good for his career and his bank account. Nothing wrong with that choice, BTW. I'm not judging.

 

The episode where Mulder basically lays out his exasperation and disappointment over the sheer fruitlessness of chasing conspiracies and monsters for years was the highlight of this miniseries for me, because that fit the disconnected Mulder I was seeing. It was genius, really, by the writer(s), using that to explain the current day DD/Mulder and how fans might view him. And then it made fans happy at the end, when Mulder received confirmation that there are, indeed, monsters in the world - and actually, many are human.

 

Still, that doesn't change for me that in almost every other scene, where Mulder is back chasing monsters and conspiracies like Trash Can man, DD feels hollow. It's kind of like having two Scullys. Again, YMMV.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Ottis

[madam magpie]

Ottis: I have a hard time assigning motives to a real person I don't know. David Duchonvy is an actor, that's his job. So my assumption is that he's making choices for the role of Mulder based on what he thinks works for the character and story, not that he's secretly bored with his job. Maybe he is...maybe he hates it and doesn't want to do it. That seems odd since he signed on, but I don't know what's in his head. He could also love it and be having a great time (which is, of course, what he's said when asked). Or more likely, he loves it some days and hates it others, but still wants to be a part of this show.

Whether or not he's succeeding at his job is certainly up for interpretation. It sounds like you think he's made a poor showing as Mulder this time around. That's fair. I don't agree. I think he's playing a broken, sad, weary man who's been clobbered by circumstance and is tired. That happens to a lot of people. He's lost his romantic partner, looks like he lost his professional partner for awhile, he lost his kid, his sister. That's a lot of loss. He had a crisis of faith in regards to his work. He still shows enthusiasm, like when he was talking to Scully about the were-monster, but he's also very sad. I can see wishing Mulder weren't so sad. I wish that too! But that doesn't mean Duchovny is doing a bad job or is bored. It just means, I think, that you wish the story had gone in a different direction. That's also fair. What I don't think is fair is an assessment of Duchovny himself and his motives. We have no idea why he does what he does or what he thinks.

Edited February 12, 2016 by madam magpie

[supposebly]

I think I have never seen DD give such a layered performance before. I have had the impression before that he seemed bored and was phoning it in in the past sometimes but not this time around, not at all. He plays depressed, sad, weary Mulder wonderfully with occasional snark because that's part of him too. I can't ascribe anything to DD except his acting choices and they work very well for me. And it's something that surprises and delights me. I came for GA but I'm also staying for DD this time.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Ottis: I have a hard time assigning motives to a real person I don't know. David Duchonvy is an actor, that's his job. So my assumption is that he's making choices for the role of Mulder based on what he thinks works for the character and story, not that he's secretly bored with his job. Maybe he is...maybe he hates it and doesn't want to do it. That seems odd since he signed on, but I don't know what's in his head. He could also love it and be having a great time (which is, of course, what he's said when asked). Or more likely, he loves it some days and hates it others, but still wants to be a part of this show.

Whether or not he's succeeding at his job is certainly up for interpretation. It sounds like you think he's made a poor showing as Mulder this time around. That's fair. I don't agree. I think he's playing a broken, sad, weary man who's been clobbered by circumstance and is tired. That happens to a lot of people. He's lost his romantic partner, looks like he lost his professional partner for awhile, he lost his kid, his sister. That's a lot of loss. He had a crisis of faith in regards to his work. He still shows enthusiasm, like when he was talking to Scully about the were-monster, but he's also very sad. I can see wishing Mulder weren't so sad. I wish that too! But that doesn't mean Duchovny is doing a bad job or is bored. It just means, I think, that you wish the story had gone in a different direction. That's also fair. What I don't think is fair is an assessment of Duchovny himself and his motives. We have no idea why he does what he does or what he thinks.

 

Exactly. Very well put.

 

Especially on the bolded. Why don't we all keep that out of the discussion. Regardless of the actor.

 

Don't mind discussing the acting in general, but not why they do what they do or what they think.

[festivus]

I think I have never seen DD give such a layered performance before. I have had the impression before that he seemed bored and was phoning it in in the past sometimes but not this time around, not at all. He plays depressed, sad, weary Mulder wonderfully with occasional snark because that's part of him too. I can't ascribe anything to DD except his acting choices and they work very well for me. And it's something that surprises and delights me. I came for GA but I'm also staying for DD this time.

 

I watched this episode again with my eye on David this time and I agree wholeheartedly with this. I've been watching old episodes too and while I think he did many things well, sometimes I thought he just had a blankness in his eyes. Not now. He has grown as an actor. I haven't actually seen him in much else, didn't watch Californacation. I did try with Aquarius but I just couldn't stay with that show but not because of him. I thought he was quite good in it and didn't remind me at all of Mulder.

[Splash]

(Disclaimers:  I'm speaking about Mulder, not DD in regards to ages/dates.  Also, I haven't seen past season 5 and am also assuming that each season is a year, even if it's not, so please overlook any inaccuracies.)

 

I don't see him phoning in his performance, but being pretty true to how Mulder would be at this point in his life.  He was in his early 30s when the show started and was already considered a kook by people at his job.  He was only about 5 years into his quest, and his actions hadn't yet had tangible repercussions, so  can see how he would have that passionate and enthusiastic drive for answers.

 

But in 9 years, he lost Deep Throat, X, The Lone Gunman, his partner's sister, and his father; discovered and/or were led to believe that his parents knew about and/or were involved with his sister's disappearance; his partner was abducted, got cancer, and couldn't have kids; not to mention all the times that he's been shot and/or almost died, people/creatures have messed with his mind, been framed for something, and had to run from the law.

 

Taking out the supernatural aspects of those situations, that's an extreme amount of stress. loss, and guilt for one person to have to deal with.  His quest cost him everything and he knows that going down that road again would be bad for him, yet he can't help himself.  I think his acting detached and using sarcasm could be a defense mechanism, so he doesn't completely lose it.

[anonyposter]

Disappointing.  Months ago when I saw the title "Home Again", I thought it'd be the sequel to the episode that was banned during syndication.  Even early during the episode I thought it would be, since they said the killer had no footprints, and that could be a side effect of multiple generations of inbreeding.

 

The whole thing with Scully's mother took up too much time.

[cpierce]

I'm not understanding why all the William-hating on this forum. If you didn't like that part of the X-Files canon back then (and stopped watching and starting writing fanfic instead), then why are you watching now? It's part of the mythology, like it or not. And a big part of the reason we never saw any hand-wringing from either Scully or Mulder back then, is because they weren't even ON the show (well, much, even, for GA) after that! So we have been left with this incomplete decade of their lives, doing god-only-knows-what (Mulder living like the Unibomber and Scully not knowing how to contact him?) What are they SUPPOSED to talk about with one another? "Hey, about that time we went to the North Pole and I rescued you from that alien ship that you never saw? Yeah, that was fun. Let's get waffles..." Really? Of COURSE they are going to stress about their son that (they) Scully gave up!

I also want to know what that kid's been doing all these years. IIRC, he had some crazy wild abilities even as an infant. Did his adoptive parents assume that he's "on the spectrum" with a gluten intolerance because of all the government funded chemicals and GMO's that they are putting into the food supply, and decide not to vaccinate him and put him into an alternative school? These are also things that weren't "things" 14 years ago. And these things could very cleverly be folded into the whole government-conspiracy-alien-technology-DNA mythology of the whole show, giving it some arc for an entertaining reboot. (I would be VERY HAPPY to see more Lauren Ambrose in just about anything, but especially this!!)

That said, there are some mysteries from the original show that could be revisited. Some have been explained to some extent at this point in time. Te X-Files did something that no other television series ever did, and that has been to lead an entire generation (and then some) to question a lot of things, like is the government really doing secret shady things like watching our every move, or experimenting with the weather or DNA, or putting things into our vaccinations/water/food supply? Batcrap crazy or not, this is entertainment that crossed a line into reality, which I think was handled brilliantly in the first episode of this reboot (does anyone on this forum ever listen to talk radio?)

Finally, I don't want to see M&S kiss, and get married, and have twin daughters named Samantha and Melissa and live happily ever after and forget all about whatever parts we don't like. Screw that! Conflict is what drama is and what makes it good. Watching these two try to find closure and remains of their humanity in the choices they have made in spite (or because of) all the things that they have seen, makes this reboot worth it. That's my $0.02 anyway...

[AntiBeeSpray]

I agree with you on most of it. The kiss thing though, no. I don't mind that, but I don't need the white picket fence either. Just some happiness between all of the drama. Too much of it can be overwhelming. And I don't like seeing their relationship be used (possibly) as a stick and carrot. That ends up being annoying.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

I'm not understanding why all the William-hating on this forum. If you didn't like that part of the X-Files canon back then (and stopped watching and starting writing fanfic instead), then why are you watching now? It's part of the mythology, like it or not. And a big part of the reason we never saw any hand-wringing from either Scully or Mulder back then, is because they weren't even ON the show (well, much, even, for GA) after that! So we have been left with this incomplete decade of their lives, doing god-only-knows-what (Mulder living like the Unibomber and Scully not knowing how to contact him?) What are they SUPPOSED to talk about with one another? "Hey, about that time we went to the North Pole and I rescued you from that alien ship that you never saw? Yeah, that was fun. Let's get waffles..." Really? Of COURSE they are going to stress about their son that (they) Scully gave up!

I also want to know what that kid's been doing all these years. IIRC, he had some crazy wild abilities even as an infant. Did his adoptive parents assume that he's "on the spectrum" with a gluten intolerance because of all the government funded chemicals and GMO's that they are putting into the food supply, and decide not to vaccinate him and put him into an alternative school? These are also things that weren't "things" 14 years ago. And these things could very cleverly be folded into the whole government-conspiracy-alien-technology-DNA mythology of the whole show, giving it some arc for an entertaining reboot. (I would be VERY HAPPY to see more Lauren Ambrose in just about anything, but especially this!!)

That said, there are some mysteries from the original show that could be revisited. Some have been explained to some extent at this point in time. Te X-Files did something that no other television series ever did, and that has been to lead an entire generation (and then some) to question a lot of things, like is the government really doing secret shady things like watching our every move, or experimenting with the weather or DNA, or putting things into our vaccinations/water/food supply? Batcrap crazy or not, this is entertainment that crossed a line into reality, which I think was handled brilliantly in the first episode of this reboot (does anyone on this forum ever listen to talk radio?)

Finally, I don't want to see M&S kiss, and get married, and have twin daughters named Samantha and Melissa and live happily ever after and forget all about whatever parts we don't like. Screw that! Conflict is what drama is and what makes it good. Watching these two try to find closure and remains of their humanity in the choices they have made in spite (or because of) all the things that they have seen, makes this reboot worth it. That's my $0.02 anyway...

 

I wasn't really watching when the whole William story line happened, though the subsequent snippets I've seen leads me to believe it wasn't handled all that well as a plot point.  But I'm with you on saying that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for them to ignore his existence entirely - and it especially doesn't make sense in terms of what we know about Mulder and Scully and their relationship.  However it came about, they conceived a child that they both loved and had to give up out of fear. Of course that's going to weigh on both of them, given who they are and what they've given up.  And we know from the second movie (which I don't hate as much as others do) that William's existence has been weighing heavily on them for a long time.

 

(One correction, though - Mulder and Scully were living together through I Want to Believe, so he wasn't totally living like the Unabomber, and Scully obviously did know how to contact him, as evidenced in the first episode of the season).

 

To be perfectly honest, I think that the writers were smart to structure this season around William.  To some extent, I think it corrects the mistakes of the later seasons, when they were desperately trying to find ways to string out the UST between Mulder and Scully.  The reality is that even going back to the early seasons, the show was about Mulder and Scully's relationship. I understand why Chris Carter was concerned that a sexual relationship/romance between the two of them would take over the show entirely but I think time proved him wrong, and I also think that their attachment to each other was always central to the show, whether or not they were actually having sex.  So the do-over they are getting this time around is to write episodes in which their relationship is integrated into the show, and IMO, it makes so much more sense because they aren't spending so much time being coy about it.  (Plus, they aren't fighting the instincts of DD & GA, who were clearly playing their roles as if the two were sleeping together even when CC was still trying to play will-they-won't-they games).  And IMO, that is informing these episodes and making them a whole lot better.  None of them - so far - have been perfect but even with My Struggle, the relationship between Mulder and Scully feels authentic.  And you can't talk about Mulder and Scully and their history without taking William into account.

Edited February 14, 2016 by eleanorofaquitaine

[cpierce]

Thank you. Those points are well articulated. I also want to pause for a moment to remind everyone what other shows were on teevee back in the early-mid 90's...... The X-Files also happened to be a show about the male and female leads respecting each other without the tension of having to also sleep with one another. And, William was conceived in that prototypical X-Files weirdness, also without S-E-X and subsequent tension. It's one of the things that makes this show special and one of the reasons I get so irritated with commenters hating that whole William story arc.

[ksb]

And, William was conceived in that prototypical X-Files weirdness, also without S-E-X and subsequent tension.

 

Unfortunately, there was both. The offscreen sex was fine (in retrospect ;). However, the stupid "Who's the daddy"-angle once Mulder was back from the dead was tedious and unnecessary. I remember the heated discussions on the board about the ifs and whens of possible offscreen conversations between Mulder and Scully about Mulder's potential fatherhood as if it had been yesterday.

[catrox14]

I think Duchovny and Anderson have picked up right where they left off and then have matured the characters into IMO a believable place for their ages now.

 

I think Mulder IS tired but is doing his best to be engaged and IMO avoid going down a rabbit hole that could be bad for HIM.  IMO that's why I think there is a bit of "reserve" in the performance.  I think Gillian is playing Scully as equally slightly reserved because she is afraid of Mulder going down a rabbit hole that will be bad for HIM and HER.

 

They've been separated for quite some time in the show at this point so I can't see why they would slip right back to exactly who they were 20 years ago.  IMO if they played it the same way I would think on it's sweet nostalgia but not very realistic. IMO the way they are playing it now retains the 'essence' of Mulder and Scully and evolves it to who they are as characters NOW.

 

JMHO

[cpierce]

'Unfortunately, there was both. The offscreen sex was fine (in retrospect ;). However, the stupid "Who's the daddy"-angle once Mulder was back from the dead was tedious and unnecessary. I remember the heated discussions on the board about the ifs and whens of possible offscreen conversations between Mulder and Scully about Mulder's potential fatherhood as if it had been yesterday."

Why should I- or anyone else, for that matter- care one whit about whatever heated discussions on this (or the TWOP board or whatever else fan board) were had about this NOW? And especially "possible offscreen conversations"? This devolves into just stupid, I'm sorry, but just stupid. Nobody cares! This is a show. On broadcast television, and one that did the impossible thing of defining a generation... I and millions of others love this show for what it is, warts and all.

I WISH the X-Files would do a show ala "Portlandia" where they go into the what-if and all about how social media has changed everything and all. Social media nowadays IS THEY KEY TO EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!

[ksb]

No need to be rude and insulting. I stated my opinion and got a bit nostalgic, that's all.

[cpierce]

No need to be rude and insulting. I stated my opinion and got a bit nostalgic, that's all.

Apologies. Did not mean to be rude and/or insulting. I'm commenting on the broad idea on this particular forum about how horrible and hated the whole "William" storyline is. I don't think it's a bad thing. The tone that I have read from people who seem very genuinely knowledgeable in the past four or five pages have left me wondering how any of these people can call themselves true fans, when they are constantly complaining about it. It's part of the canon. There wasn't any sex or pressure for M&S to be sexual partners, regardless of whatever offscreen fan-based dialogue might have been then. I'm not here to fangirl, I'm here to listen to other genuine critiques of this (and other) episodes in this little mini-series. MOST of what I have read has been very grating, and very ugly about CC's writing skills. And, I won't apologize for this, but I care more about what the writers and creators of this show have to say than about the commenters here. I'm just trying to defend what I view as a true continuation of the series on the whole, than what I see as fans complaining about how much they hated season 8 and the direction that these six episodes are going in. Is all.   

[ksb]

Apologies

 

Accepted.

 

There wasn't any sex or pressure for M&S to be sexual partners, regardless of whatever offscreen fan-based dialogue might have been then.

 

Maybe I haven't made myself clear, but that's not what I meant to say at all.

Mulder and Scully had sex in "all things", that's canon, spelt out by Jeffrey Spender. Mulder's paternity was established in Existence as canon. What I criticised was how Mulder and Scully ignored the elephant in the room onscreen for quite a few episodes once Mulder was back from the dead and saw a very pregnant Scully. At the time, it didn't feel true to the characters but rather seemed to be a deliberate decision on the writers' part to keep the audience guessing. When Mulder gave Scully the doll (can't remember the name of the episode anymore) they both seemed much more at ease with each other and the situation, and that's when the possible offscreen conversation came into play to make sense of the shift of behaviour.

 

For me, Mulder and Scully, their relationship and their journey are the heart and soul of the show, and the way they have been portrayed in season 10 has been spot on, IMO. What they do and what they say makes complete sense to me and I enjoy every single minute of the ride and can't wait for the announcement of season 11.

 

In season 8 the focus was different and some aspects of the writing didn't make all that much sense to me at the time. The adoption of William in season 9 was one of these writing choices that didn't feel true to the character of Scully (given everything she  knew). If the story had made more sense back then and William hadn't felt like a plot device they needed to get rid of, I'm sure I'd feel differently about it now and could relate to Mulder's and Scully's pain much more. Unfortunately, I can't get past it, for whatever reason, which is too bad.

 

As for the "true fans" vs "non-true fans, I don't get the need to categorise. TXF is my favourite show of all time, but there are storylines that I don't like/don't buy/don't care for. End of story.

Edited February 14, 2016 by ksb

[festivus]

Unfortunately, there was both. The offscreen sex was fine (in retrospect ;). However, the stupid "Who's the daddy"-angle once Mulder was back from the dead was tedious and unnecessary.

 

This. I had no actual problem with William existing. That who's the daddy shit was causing me to hatewatch. I kept on though because of my deep deep love for Doggett.

Let me just say also that you can love something and not love everything about it. Has nothing to do with "true fans".

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Accepted.

 

Maybe I haven't made myself clear, but that's not what I meant to say at all.

Mulder and Scully had sex in "all things", that's canon, spelt out by Jeffrey Spender. Mulder's paternity was established in Existence as canon. What I criticised was how Mulder and Scully ignored the elephant in the room onscreen for quite a few episodes once Mulder was back from the dead and saw a very pregnant Scully. At the time, it didn't feel true to the characters but rather seemed to be a deliberate decision on the writers' part to keep the audience guessing. When Mulder gave Scully the doll (can't remember the name of the episode anymore) they both seemed much more at ease with each other and the situation, and that's when the possible offscreen conversation came into play to make sense of the shift of behaviour.

 

For me, Mulder and Scully, their relationship and their journey are the heart and soul of the show, and the way they have been portrayed in season 10 has been spot on, IMO. What they do and what they say makes complete sense to me and I enjoy every single minute of the ride and can't wait for the announcement of season 11.

 

In season 8 the focus was different and some aspects of the writing didn't make all that much sense to me at the time. The adoption of William in season 9 was one of these writing choices that didn't feel true to the character of Scully (given everything she  knew). If the story had made more sense back then and William hadn't felt like a plot device they needed to get rid of, I'm sure I'd feel differently about it now and could relate to Mulder's and Scully's pain much more. Unfortunately, I can't get past it, for whatever reason, which is too bad.

 

As for the "true fans" vs "non-true fans, I don't get the need to categorise. TXF is my favourite show of all time, but there are storylines that I don't like/don't buy/don't care for. End of story.

 

I want to respond to this but I am going to do it in the Revival thread because I think it is more about the entire season and less about this particular episode.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Ok guys, this is getting a bit heated. Let's take any general Revival talk to the Revival thread and continue with talking about the episode 'Home Again' in thread here.

 

Also, let's stop with the talk about who's a true fan or not. We're all fans here, regardless of where we stand. No need to pick things apart.

[ganesh]

I liked the "back in the day" and then the classic light the scene with the actors using awesome flashlights. The XF invented that. "I did this in heels." 

I like the older versions of Mulder and Scully. They're chasing the same ghosts with a vastly different pov now. That makes sense to me.  

 

I was super freaked that "Home Again," meant a reference to Home. *shudder*

 

This was good and creepy. Since I'm totally unspoiled, I was hoping that the show would be more like this. 

 

I don't know if Scully is immortal or not, but GA seems to be. 

 

 

Okay, now onto those pesky real life questions: how illegal is it, on a scale from "littering" to "blatant wholesale violations of every civil right out there", to fire hose a defenseless population or force them to live somewhere???

 

This happened similar in a church in San Francisco and they got ripped for it iirc.

Edited February 15, 2016 by ganesh

[Taryn74]

Small little tidbit I liked, when Mulder came to the hospital (first of all, how considerate is he to text Scully and let her know he's there before he just barges in?) and they were discussing the case, he says that he "would stay" but he's worried there's going to be another murder, indicating that he's getting ready to leave again at least for a while.  But then Scully starts talking about her mother and trying to figure out about the quarter and Charlie and everything, and then they remove the life support, and then Charlie calls, and then Mrs. Scully passes on *sniff* and through it all Mulder just never leaves.  I really, really loved that.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Small little tidbit I liked, when Mulder came to the hospital (first of all, how considerate is he to text Scully and let her know he's there before he just barges in?) and they were discussing the case, he says that he "would stay" but he's worried there's going to be another murder, indicating that he's getting ready to leave again at least for a while.  But then Scully starts talking about her mother and trying to figure out about the quarter and Charlie and everything, and then they remove the life support, and then Charlie calls, and then Mrs. Scully passes on *sniff* and through it all Mulder just never leaves.  I really, really loved that.

 

Me too. Talk about being a supportive significant other (I think this term qualifies for them, regardless of the 'break up'). They've been together so long, that they're significant to one another.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Small little tidbit I liked, when Mulder came to the hospital (first of all, how considerate is he to text Scully and let her know he's there before he just barges in?) and they were discussing the case, he says that he "would stay" but he's worried there's going to be another murder, indicating that he's getting ready to leave again at least for a while.  But then Scully starts talking about her mother and trying to figure out about the quarter and Charlie and everything, and then they remove the life support, and then Charlie calls, and then Mrs. Scully passes on *sniff* and through it all Mulder just never leaves.  I really, really loved that.

 

He called her but yes, everything in those scenes are great. First of all, the fact that he does show up; second of all, the fact that he lets her know that he is there; thirdly, that he lets her take the lead in discussing what's going on; fourthly, that he stays (though I suppose Bucks County School Board President lady pays the price for that). It's all lovely.

 

Me too. Talk about being a supportive significant other (I think this term qualifies for them, regardless of the 'break up'). They've been together so long, that they're significant to one another.

 

I also loved how it acknowledged the history and relationship between Mulder and Mrs. Scully. For all intents and purposes, she's been a mother-figure to him for 20 years. It's a loss to him, too. (I liked the fact that he was the one to honor Maggie's wishes around organ donation). I thought they did a wonderful job honoring all that history while always making it clear that Scully's pain is what matters here.

[DaynaPhile]

Regarding organ donation...wouldn't they leave her on life support and in the regular hospital bed and wheeel her to the OR that way to do the harvest? They don't yellow sheet and table gurney someone who is going to be a donor.

I know, more dramatic that way, but Scully could have said goodbye as they took Ma Scully into the OR instead. The yellow sheet and morgue guys was so...morbid.

Also, if JerkFaceBrother wants to get there to say goodbye, they could have left her on support until then and it wouldn't be against her DNR, wouldn't it?

[sharinlilbit]

Regarding organ donation...wouldn't they leave her on life support and in the regular hospital bed and wheeel her to the OR that way to do the harvest? They don't yellow sheet and table gurney someone who is going to be a donor.

 

 

Yes, they absolutely would have left her on life support.  They don't haul dead bodies away in front of the family either. 

[Jac]

Regarding organ donation...wouldn't they leave her on life support and in the regular hospital bed and wheeel her to the OR that way to do the harvest? They don't yellow sheet and table gurney someone who is going to be a donor.

I know, more dramatic that way, but Scully could have said goodbye as they took Ma Scully into the OR instead. The yellow sheet and morgue guys was so...morbid.

Also, if JerkFaceBrother wants to get there to say goodbye, they could have left her on support until then and it wouldn't be against her DNR, wouldn't it?

Yes, they absolutely would have left her on life support. They don't haul dead bodies away in front of the family either.

I presume that age and hypoxia would have precluded Mrs Scully from being an organ donor and that she would be donating tissue only, which would not have required her to remain on life support.

I was quite confused and disappointed by the sequence of events that led to Mrs Scully's death because X-Files usually does a reasonable, if not fabulous job at getting medical detail accurate.

I'm assuming what happened is this:

• Mrs Scully has a heart attack at home or in some other non-hospital space and either she or a bystander calls 911. She is unconscious by the time the EMTs arrive to transport her.
• Mrs Scully is seriously ill but regains consciousness in the ER, she requests to see Chatlie and shortly thereafter deteriorates and suffers a cardiac arrest, the ER staff manage to revive her and the resultant hypoxia further damages her heart, other organs and possibly brain, causing her to fall into a coma.
• Mrs Scully is transferred to intensive care and it is not until this point that anyone gets in contact with Bill Jr who in turn gets in contact with Scully. Scully is in Philadelphia which is 2.5 hours by road from DC (according to Google Maps).
• Scully arrives at the hospital and seems to spend a significant amount of time (hours?) with her mom in the world's quietest ICU before the doctor come along to announce that her mother had changed her living will (so presumably no less than four hours have passed between Mrs Scully being admitted to the Hospital and this point) meaning that this hospital is hopelessly slow at accessing medical records.
• Mrs Scully is extubated and Some amount of time passes before Scully contacts Charlie and Mrs Scully regains consciousness just long enough to talk to Muldr before suffering a second cardiac arrest and dying.
• This hospital finally does things with a sense of urgency and two orderlies show up with the stretcher and yellow sheet within minutes, causing Scully to have a completely appropriate reaction to their presence.

The fact that the doctor took so long to get Mrs Scully's medical records and approached Scully so bluntly and the part with the orderlies really bothered me and the whole plot felt poorly handled sacrificing accuracy for drama.

[Bastet]

I can deal with the timing issues, because that's par for the course with TV, but hauling the body away with family in the room was just too much; that very deliberately does not happen.  Even if family members think they want to be there when the body is removed, they are told, compassionately but forcefully, that they really don't. 

 

I haven't watched it again, but I've been thinking for a week now I much I love the presentation of Mulder (bear in mind, Babylon hasn't aired here yet), and of the M&S relationship, in this revival and in this episode in particular.  It's really a shame about the disjointed feel from cramming two story lines that don't go together into one episode, but the M&S stuff is beautiful.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Bastet

[Jac]

I don't know about the US but in Australia it is quite common for a deceased patient's family to be able to spend some time, often an hour or more with the body if there is no urgency in it being taken away, I.e. for organ donation, when the person would be on life support anyway.

It is also usually that the body will be laid out if the death was non-traumatic. This is to say that the body will be washed and the hair will be brushed, this is done even in cases where the body will not be going directly to a funeral home e.g. If the person is a tissue donor or an autopsy is required or requested. Usually a nurse will perform these tasks but a family member may ask or be asked to help if the nurse thinks it will assist the family member with the grieving process. It is thought that doing this gives the recently deceased some dignity and can help the family grieve.

There is no way in Hell a pair of orderlies would come and take away the body in front of a patients family.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Jac

[DaynaPhile]

Posting here because I don't want to be spoiled for tonight's episode...Over in the Small Talk thread I posted a dropbox link to the XF Bingo cards I made. And now I have an excuse (like I really need one) to go back and rewatch all the revival eps so I can play.

[dr pepper]

Thing is, they did a "tibetan thought form" episode. It was the one about the tyrannical homeowners association. so it was weird to have muldar say there was no such thing.

[Snow8585]

Can anyone help me figure out who was DRIVING the trash truck? Trashman just rolled into the back and it took off.

[AllyinthekeyofX]

I'm in the UK but finally figured out how to make Hulu think I'm in the US (techy stuff not my strong point). Anyway, I had a 3 episode binge, 'Home again' being one of them. Not my favourite of the season. It all felt a bit disconnected in an emotional sense. But saying that, the monster was gross, the premise was good, the creepiness was creepy....I wish they had concentrated on more of motw and not tried to branch it off with introspective characterisation of M&S - I used to write fic that concentrated mainly on first person POV and this ep left me slightly wanting. But heck, its new XF so I'm pretty forgiving ;) And I'm new here - pleased to have found such a current forum :)

[Taryn74]

Can anyone help me figure out who was DRIVING the trash truck? Trashman just rolled into the back and it took off.

 

I'm pretty sure it was the artist.  (He was the one called Trash Man, btw.  The "monster" was the Bandaid Nose Man.  Lovely name, heh.)  Even though he never outright admitted to helping the BNM kill those people, I think he was.  The way he spoke made it really difficult to follow everything he was saying, but I think the point he was getting across was that he didn't intentionally set out to create the BNM tulpa, but he didn't exactly NOT want to create it, either.  IMO he didn't really act like he was all that bothered by what the BNM was doing.  I think once Trash Man realized what he had, he "encouraged" the BNM to kill the ones trying to throw the street people out.  Once they were all dead, he changed the tulpa's form to a happy face (so no more killing) and just rolled on out of town.

 

I may be projecting too much, but there was never any indication that anyone else was involved, at any rate.

[Snow8585]

Wow, i never thought of that. I was afraid maybe there were two of those monsters driving around. On a side note, trash trucks to me will never be the same again.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

I don't think that the artist was driving. I don't think anyone was driving. Or, let me put it this way - the Band-Aid Nose Man was some sort of spectral projection. It's not hard to believe that he himself was driving the garbage truck, given the fact that he didn't really exist beyond being the receptacle of the Trashman's anger.  So it's not hard to believe that the garbage truck was part of the Band-Aid Nose Man's existence.

[Taryn74]

I don't think that the artist was driving. I don't think anyone was driving. Or, let me put it this way - the Band-Aid Nose Man was some sort of spectral projection. It's not hard to believe that he himself was driving the garbage truck, given the fact that he didn't really exist beyond being the receptacle of the Trashman's anger.  So it's not hard to believe that the garbage truck was part of the Band-Aid Nose Man's existence.

 

That's entirely possible as well.

[queenanne]

Yes, and not only that, we rewatched the 1998 X-Files movie immediately prior to watching this new series on DVR. Mulder was far more of a believer, a zealot, in the original series. More energy, more enthusiasm, more of a need to connect dots that don't appear to be connected. This new TV Mulder is supposed to be weary and disillusioned, I get it. But I think the real issue is that DD is simply older, and less interested. He doesn't appear to believe anything he is saying.

 

Catching up.. what I have seen in the story, is the "I'm a middle-aged man, Scully."  Whether or not DD fell into that interpretation easily like a warm comforting bath of water or whether it's too convenient, is probably YMMV territory, but I think it was an easy decision for the (middle aged) writers and showrunner to fall into either way.  Maybe that's the resonant center of the negativity for some viewers.  ("Well, of course they're older, I could have thought that up in 30 seconds.")

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Can anyone help me figure out who was DRIVING the trash truck? Trashman just rolled into the back and it took off.

I sure can't. Unfortunately, this is classic X-Files; they always liked to come up with a striking visual image first, and didn't always get around to justifying or explaining how it could happen. 

[GreenScreenFX]

It seems to me that the trash truck was being driven by the supernatural entity that had him stop and leave at the precise locations of the murders. I don't know why you would confuse a normal trash rotation in an episode of The X Files. It's a ghost truck or something... Don't over think

[AudienceofOne]

Am starting to feel like this isn't a 6-episode season and more of an X files anthology. It seems like they're giving us one of every type of X Files episode. As such, I enjoyed this tonally but the plot didn't really stack up. In fact, even as I'm typing this I'm struggling to remember what the plot even is or how it was resolved.

 

Re the whole baby thing - yes it was a narrative mistake. But IMHO there is little worse than TV shows dealing with their narrative mistakes by pretending they didn't happen. It happened and I like the show better for dealing with it than for pretending it didn't.

[Taryn74]

Finished rewatching this one a bit ago.  Pretty sure Home Again is going to remain my favorite episode of S10.

This is the first episode where I felt like "my" M/S were back.  They're older, they're wiser, and they're a helluva lot more weary, but they're them.

Mrs. Scully!  *tear*

Mulder is so perfectly sympathetic in this one, it kills me.

Watching now, a year later, I definitely get the vibe that even though it's Maggie and Charlie who are "officially" estranged, Scully has felt sort of estranged as well, and probably has since she gave William up.  It certainly seems like there may have been some years of silent disapproval adding to Scully's feelings of guilt, there.  Was Maggie even in any of the original episodes past William?  Do we ever get her reaction to the adoption?  I'll have to go back and check.

I still totally get Scully's 'did we (really meaning 'did I') just throw him out like so much trash?' despondency at the end.  I mean, her own mother on her death bed only woke up long enough to take Mulder's hand and empathize with him about his son.  Ouch.  I have to wonder if that was supposed to be some indication that Maggie, on some spiritual level, could tell Mulder was thinking about William from the point of view of a father, while Scully was only thinking about him from a place of guilt.  Again, ouch.