Home (The X-Files)

"Home"
The X-Files episode
The Peacocks burying their child alive. Due to its graphic nature, "Home" became the first of two X-Files episodes to receive a viewer discretion warning.
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 2
Directed by	Kim Manners
Written by	Glen Morgan James Wong
Production code	4X03
Original air date	October 11, 1996
Guest stars
Tucker Smallwood as Sheriff Andy Taylor Sebastian Spence as Deputy Barney Paster Judith Maxie as Barbara Taylor Chris Nelson Norris as Edmund Peacock John Trottier as George Peacock Adrian Hughes as Sherman Peacock Karin Konoval as Mrs. Peacock Cory Fry as Sandlot Batter Neil Denis as Sandlot Catcher Lachlan Murdoch as Sandlot Right Fielder Kenny James as Radio Singer
Episode chronology
← Previous "Herrenvolk" Next → "Teliko"
List of season 4 episodes List of The X-Files episodes

"Home" is the second episode of the fourth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on October 11, 1996 in the United States and Canada on October 11, 1996 on the Fox Network, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom. It was written by consulting producers Glen Morgan and James Wong—their first script since season two after rejoining the series as writers—and was directed by producer Kim Manners. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Home" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.9, being watched by 18.85 million people in its initial broadcast.

In this episode, FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigate the death of an infant with disturbing birth defects in a small, otherwise peaceful town. Their investigation leads to a clan of inbred, genetic mutants.

Morgan and Wong, co-writers of the episode, desired to write an X-Files episode that would start the season off "with a bang." The episode was inspired by a tale in Charlie Chaplin's autobiography, about the time he stayed at a tenement home while touring in a British musical theatre. Notable for its graphic content, "Home" was generally well received by critics and is considered to be one of the most popular stand alone episodes of the show.

Plot

A woman gives birth to a deformed baby, and three men bury the baby alive during a rain storm. Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are sent to investigate the discovery of the deformed baby's corpse, which was found by children during an informal baseball game. While talking to the town sheriff, Andy Taylor, Mulder asks whether the Peacocks, the inhabitants of the house nearest to the crime scene, have been questioned about the baby. Taylor tells them that the house dates back to the American Civil War and is still without electricity, running water, or heat. He also insinuates that the family has been inbreeding since the war: "[They] raise and breed their own stock... if you get my meaning." All the while, the Peacock family sullenly watches from their front porch.

During an autopsy, the agents discover that the baby suffocated by inhaling dirt. Mulder and Scully later talk outside the town's police station; Mulder suggests that their case is nothing more than kids disposing of an unwanted birth. Scully, however, declares the child is not a result of a freak accident in mating and may have been inbred just like the Sheriff suggested, which is curious given the all-male household. Suspecting a kidnapped female, Mulder and Scully investigate the seemingly abandoned Peacock residence and discover blood on a table, scissors, and a shovel. A pair of shadowy eyes indicate there is someone still in the house. Arrest warrants are issued for all three Peacock boys. That night, the boys brutally murder Sheriff Taylor and his wife.

The agents find a shaken Deputy Paster smoking a cigarette on the porch of the Taylor house the next morning. Laboratory results of the deformed baby lead the agents to suppose both parents of the deformed baby are members of the Peacock family, but Scully posits that there may be an innocent woman being held against her will who bore the child. Forensic proof of the Peacock's involvement in the Taylor murders leads the agents and Deputy Paster to visit the Peacock residence to arrest the boys. Before they leave, the agents wonder why the Taylors were killed as the Peacocks couldn't have known about the arrest warrants unless someone overheard the agents talking in the Peacock house the day before. The shadowy pair of eyes orders the boys to maintain the Peacock way of life. The agents and Paster arrive at the house but when Paster breaks down the front door, he is decapitated by a booby trap; the Peacocks tear him apart in animalistic fashion. Scully and Mulder sneak around the house and decide to lure the Peacocks out by releasing their pigs.

Inside, the agents find a woman who turns out to be Mrs. Peacock, a multiple amputee, who has been guiding the actions of her sons. She is also the mother of the deformed baby and it is implied that she has been breeding with her sons for years. The agents suspect the oldest boy is the father of the younger boys. The Peacock boys soon realize Mulder and Scully are inside their house and attack. The two youngest sons survive several gunshots before they are killed, one of them impaled on yet another boobytrap. Afterwards, the agents discover that Mrs. Peacock and her oldest son have escaped during the attack. The two remaining Peacocks flee in their car, planning to start a new family and find a new home.

Production

"Home" marked the return of writers James Wong and Glen Morgan, who had left after the second season to create Space: Above and Beyond. The duo had not watched anything from The X-Files' third season except for the episodes Morgan's brother Darin Morgan wrote, but after a survey on said season, decided to write a shocking story to "start off with a bang". The episode was inspired by a tale in Charlie Chaplin's autobiography, about the time he stayed at a tenement home while touring in a British musical theatre. After dinner, the family took him upstairs to meet their son - and pulled him out from under a bed. The son had no arms and legs and flopped around while they sang and danced. Glen Morgan read the story and decided to use the incident, though he also suggested for Darin to use it in one of his scripts, "Humbug". James Wong came up with the idea to change the son to a mother. The name Peacock came from former neighbors of Morgan's parents. Sources consulted by the writers for the episode included the documentary Brother's Keeper - suggested by actress Kristen Cloke - and books about nature and evolution.

Tucker Smallwood, who portrayed Sheriff Andy Taylor, was the first of many actors who had participated in Space: Above and Beyond that appeared in season 4. Morgan even first pitched the episode to Chris Carter by suggesting three actors from said show - "James Morrison, Rodney Rowland and Morgan Weisser as three big freak brothers". The name Andy Taylor, as well as his deputy Barney, were references to the characters of the same name from The Andy Griffith Show. The Peacock house had earlier been used as the house of Harry Cokely in the season 2 episode "Aubrey". The song "Wonderful! Wonderful!" by Johnny Mathis is included, but Mathis refused to provide permission to employ his voice due to the content of the episode. Director/Producer David Nutter originally intended to sing the song, but at the last minute another singer who sounded more like Johnny Mathis was used instead. The car that was used as the Peacock's car was a near wreck 1958 Cadillac which was found on a farm outside Vancouver. The car was rented and restored, including being painted pink in preparation for use in the episode. Cadillac later sent the producers a letter thanking them for including one of their cars in the episode.

When Kim Manners read the script "Home", he said to himself "this is as classic a horror script I'm ever going to see as a director." When the script for "Home" was sent up to Vancouver, Canada, the producers felt the show had "gone too far," calling it tasteless. The episode was first submitted to the censors with the teaser featuring audio of the baby being buried alive. Ten Thirteen Productions was asked to alter the audio so that the baby would be dead during the burial. Re-recording Mixer David West was told by Standards and Practices that the kid couldn't make a sound, because of the horrifying adult imagery. Manners referred to the shot of the baby's point of view while being buried alive "The most awful shot of my career."

Manners said he approached filming of the episode as a "classic horror piece."" Being mostly positive of the outcome, he said "I loved 'Home.' 'Home' I think is my favorite episode of [The X-Files]." David Duchovny agreed with Manners's response to the episode, saying, "I really like that one. [Although] it didn't scare me." He said it "touched [him] because of its theme to live and to propagate.

Reception

"Home" premiered on the Fox network on October 11, 1996. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 11.9, with a 21 share, meaning that roughly 11.9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 21 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 18.85 million viewers.

According to Carter, "Home" is one of the most popular episodes ever created for The X-Files. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode an A, describing it as "one of TV's most disturbing hours" and as "a cinematic feast for the eyes, packed with audacious wit". Todd VanDerWerff from The A.V. Club gave the episode an A and wrote, "Like so many X-Files tales, ["Home" is] both a sterling example of a certain kind of horror tale and a last gasp effort within the subgenre, a sort of sad farewell to a weird America that was rapidly smoothing itself out." An unknown writer from the Vancouver Sun listed "Home" at their list of best stand alone episodes of the show, saying that story was "truly horrific". In 2009, TV.com's Richard Lawson ranked "Home" as number one on The Five Scariest Episodes in TV History. Canada.com named the episode one of the best stand-alone episodes and wrote, "With its frank and truly horrific take on incest as argument for expression of American Constitutional freedoms, this episode doesn't pull any punches." Starpulse named the episode an honorable mention as one of the ten best X-Files Episodes. Den of Geek writer Nina Sordi named the episode the fourth best of the series and wrote, "If the story about three brothers, their inbreeding shenanigans, and other revolting content wasn't enough to signal there's trouble afoot, the ample silence that replaced the usual suspenseful soundtrack for a good chunk of the episode will keep you agitated and jumpy. That, along with slivers of dark humor and thought-provoking moments of dialogue between our heroes, made this one of the show's most popular episodes." Television Without Pity ranked "Home" atop its list of the show's 11 Most Nightmare-Inducing Episodes.

"Home" also became the first of two episodes to get a viewer discretion warning for graphic content, the second being the season eight episode, "Via Negativa." The episode was the only episode of the show that was banned from being repeated by the network due to its content. In 1997 when the channel FX ran an all day marathon of the most popular X-Files episodes, the episode was the number one choice, although that may have been due to the rarity of re-airings of the episode.

The episode has also been criticized. Keith Topping, in his book X-Treme Possibilities was critical of the episode, calling it "dreadful, sick" and saying that there was nothing redeeming in it. Fellow author Paul Cornell criticized Mulder and Scully's wisecracking, saying that it failed to lighten the episode and made them come off as cruel. Author Phil Farrand called the episode his least favorite of the first four seasons of the show in his book The Nitpickers Guide to the X-Files. He stated that Mulder and Scully seemed reckless and that the Peacock family was better suited for comic books.

References

References

• Cornell, Paul, Day, Martin, Topping, Keith (1998). X-Treme Possibilities. Virgin Publications, Ltd. pp. 284–8. ISBN 0753502283. 
• Farrand, Phil (1997). The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes. Dell Publishing. ISBN 0440508088. 
• Hurwitz, Matt, Chris Knowles (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784725. 
• Meisler, Andy (1998), I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files, Vol. 3, Perennial Currents, ISBN 0061053864 

External links

• "Home" on The X-Files Wiki, an external wiki
• "Home" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Home" at TV.com