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The X Files: Home Again (2016)
More like "One Breath Again" than "Home Again"
First thing we need to clarify is: this isn't a sequel to Home. Even the themes are different - though both touches on maternity issues. The title created lots of expectations in the fanbase - Home is the most controversial episode the show ever made and it's very loved by the fans. But as Glen Morgan said in the interviews, it's unrelated.
It's named "Home Again" because of Glen Morgan's supersticion: "Home" was his comeback to the X-Files after a season off making "Space Above And Beyond"; now "Home Again" is his second comeback as a writer to the series after leaving in the end of season 4 to showrun with his partner James Wong the season 2 of Millennium.
Once you get past this isn't "Home 2", you can directly compare to another episode wrote by Glen Morgan: "One Breath", from season 2. This is in many ways related to that episode (it even has flashbacks from it), but in a new perspective and with a different ending - even that lake is a reference. Gillian Anderson suffering in hospitals is always something incredibly beautiful and tragic to watch in the X-Files (remember Memento Mori? Emily?) and she does another great job here - "Were-Monster" was a Mulder episode, this is hers.
The thing is, this is a dramatic mythology episode like One Breathe, but at the same time it has a creepy monster-of-the-week case, which works well too. The case is violent, dark and very, very scary, something X-Files wasn't since it left Vancouver and now it's scary as hell for the second time in 4 episodes (the other scary one was Founder's Mutation)
The only problem is that in the end they are trying too much at the same time and it feels that both the drama part and the monster part end without reaching its full potential. They still work well, but in other context, in a 24 episode season, they could have been 2 different episodes or even a 2 part one.
Still, in the end they somehow relate both ideas, the whole episode has excellent commentary on both homeless people and motherhood and maybe the best thing in this revival, it's so faithful and delicade in showing the passage of time for Mulder and Scully. This season is heavily influenced by the arcs of the first 4 seasons (when James, Glen and Darin were still at the show) and the William arc in the end of the original run.
"Home Again" is memorable episode with potential of a classic episode; it ends up being a bit less than that - and hopefully it will grow with time, just like "Closure" did - but even if it never reach the classic status of its counterpart "One Breath", it would be for a noble reason: it tried too much at the same time.
The X Files: Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster (2016)
One of the finest humorous episodes the show ever produced
X-Files humorous episodes were always both critically acclaimed and fan favourites. It all started with Darin Morgan back in Season 2 with "Humbug". He wrote three more masterpieces in the following season and left the show - but Vince Gilligan carried the torch producing some more outstanding comedic hours like beloved "Small Potatoes" (which featured Darin as an lead actor) and "Bad Blood" which I believe it's still the best rated X-Files episode in IMDb.
Now Darin's back and he's done another masterpiece. This is a perfect hour of television. New fans will likely laugh and recgonize how smart the script is, but only people who saw the original run, at least Morgan's episodes in third season, will recgonize the great references to some of the show finest moments - like Scully talking about Queequeg , the homage to Kim Manners, the X-Files ringbell and my favourite, Scully saying she is immortal, just like Clyde Bruckman said in maybe the finest episode of the series back in the third season.
The episode deals with existentialism in a brilliant manner. Mulder's midlife crisis is incredibly funny - he attempting to use new tecnhology is hilarious. The threatment to the transgender girl is certainly respectful and appropriate. The whole commentary about transformation and how awful a human being can be much more awful than a monster is pure genius.
It's a masterpiece of a script, written an outstanding writer who, back in the day, made 4 masterpieces, won an Emmy and disappeared completely from the spotlights.
It's funny, it's heartbreaking, it's smart and it will you touch you in a very emotional way.
The X Files: Founder's Mutation (2016)
A violent and heart-breaking old-school monster of the week
The season 10 continues with "Founder Mutation". After dedicating mostly of the great premiere "My Struggle" in getting the band back together, now the X-Files are open again we can get back to the classic "monster-of-the-week" format and this one here works just like the good old days.
"Founder Mutation" wouldn't be out of place in the first three seasons of X-Files. It's weird, dark and very, very violent. Possibly the most graphic violent X-File since "Chinga" in Season 5.
It brings successfully back many elements of the early years of the show - the characters Mulder and Scully met in the case are lonely, damaged, outsider people; there are flashlight investigation moments; there are autopsyes; a crime happening in an office; scary hospitals, mutants. All done with a modern tone, touching on current subjects, adjusting itself to 2016 without any issue.
David and Gillian are again the best thing here. Their chemistry is unbelievable. You can never go wrong with Mulder and Scully and are truly heart-breaking moments in the episode.
It's only getting better