Home (The X-Files)

"Home (The X-Files)"

"Home" is the 75th episode and the second episode of the fourth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired 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 executive producers Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by Kim Manners.

"Home" follows the two agents in a small, otherwise peaceful town, the agents investigate the death of an infant with disturbing birth defects, and the trail leads to a clan of inbred, genetic mutants. The episode received a high Nielsen household and syndication rating compared to other episodes of the season, it was generally positively received by fans and critics alike.

Plot overview

A woman, later identified as Mrs. Peacock gives birth to a deformed baby, and her three sons 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 or not the Peacocks, the inhabitants of the house nearest to the scene had been questioned about the baby. Taylor tells them that 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 what I mean." 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 must have been inbred just like the Sheriff suggested. Later, the Peacocks brutally murder Sheriff Taylor and his wife. The agents find a shaken Deputy Paster smoking a cigarette. The agents and deputy decide to stage an assault on the Peacock residence and arrest the Peacocks. At the house, the family members are nowhere to be seen. When Paster tries to break down the front door, he is decapitated by a boobytrap. The Peacocks come out of hiding and tear him apart in animalistic fashion. Scully and Mulder decide to lure the Peacocks out by releasing their pigs, and sneak into the house while the boys chase them down.

Inside, the agents find Mrs. Peacock, who is a multiple amputee, and has been guiding the actions of her sons. It is implied that she has been breeding with her sons for years. The Peacock boys soon realize Mulder and Scully are inside 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 are gone. The two of them flee in their car, planning to start a new family and find a new home.

Production

"Home" 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. 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.

Tucker Smallwood, who portrayed Sheriff Andy Taylor, was the first of many actors who had participated in Morgan and Wong's series Space: Above and Beyond that appeared in Morgan and Wong written episodes in season 4. The name Andy Taylor was a reference to the character 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 was used in the episode, but Mathis refused to provide permission to use his voice due to the content of the episode. Director/Producer David Nutter was originally intended to sing the song, but at the last minute another singer was found who sounded more similar to Johnny Mathis who 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 of Vancouver. The car was rented and restored, including being painted pink in preperation 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 Standard of 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" earned a Nielsen rating of 11.9, with a 21 share. It was viewed by 18.85 million people. According to Carter, "Home" is one of the most popular episodes ever created for The X-Files. 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. "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 reairings 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 wisecracking from Mulder and Scully in the episode, 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.

External links

• "Home" on The X-Files Wiki, an external wiki