That was the most disgusting hour of television ever aired on network
TV.

Did I miss something?  Was there a coup d'etat at "The X Files" over the
summer?  First, they follow-up the *superb* season finale, "Talitha
Cumi", with that piece of crap that aired last week.  "Herrenvolk" was
one solid hour of poor acting, poor writing, and poor direction.  Then,
they air this repulsive hour of excess tonight.  Would you have wanted
your 9 year old to see this, airing at the convenient hour of 9 pm on a
friday night?

After being a solid fan of "The X-Files" for 3 years, I feel betrayed.

Steve

In article <325F0707.3...@onramp.net>,
Steve Turner  <stur...@onramp.net> wrote:

If I had a nine-year-old, I don't know if I'd want him watching _The
X-Files_ (and I *know* I wouldn't want him to watch _Millennium_).
Hell, last night's episode scared the hell out of one of my friends,
and she's 22...

I personally enjoyed the heck out of this _X-Files_ episode, and was
very pleased that Morgan and Wong didn't deliver a stinker on their
return to _The X-Files_.  There were a couple of complete boneheadisms,
but M&W did so much better on this episode than in anything on _Space_
that it wasn't even funny.  (Well, actually, it *was* funny as hell in
several places, but you know what I mean...)

They're not bad writers; in fact, they're pretty *good* writers.  It's
just that their world-building skills are non-existent, and they have
a tendency to be self-indulgent when they have complete control
over their work.  Doesn't mean they can't deliver good horror.

But I gotta tell you, there were a few things that bugged me...

Spoiler space.

Tucker Smallwood is a fine actor, and he turned in a good performance...
but did anyone else think that it was just a wee bit strange for the
black Southern sheriff of a small town to say that change was bad?  

The eldest of the brothers is 42; the other two are the offspring of
himself and his mother.  Isn't Mrs. Peacock a little old to still be
having children (assuming she's about fifteen years older than her
oldest son)?

Mulder's speech on how icky and not-right the Peacocks were was *very*
bad, and seemingly endless; it felt very weird in an episode where most
of the rest of the dialogue was so spot-on.

The sheriff and his wife were killed, and Mulder and Scully rushed the
Peacocks with only one other person?  Whatever happened to calling the
Highway Patrol, who would be only too glad to help out in such a
situation?  Hell, Mulder and Scully could have called in the BATF (yeah,
it's out of the BATF's jurisdiction, but that hasn't stopped that agency
before).

I won't even go into the complete idiocy of Mulder and Scully going
into the house.  No, actually I will.  They flush out the brothers -
fine.  The logical course of action would be to apprehend the brothers
*outside* the house, in the open, and then to go back and search the
house at leisure.  That would be the intelligent, rational, safe thing
to do.  But Mulder and Scully actually go into the house - this, after
Mulder explicitly says that the house is probably rigged with a zillion
booby-traps, and they see Barney die as a result of one, *and* they
know that the brothers will be coming BACK IN, so Our Heroes will have
to fight *in confined space,* on the enemy's turf... which is rigged
with ten gazillion booby-traps.  (Which, of course, conveniently *vanish*
while Our Heroes traipse all over the place, only to reappear about
three seconds after Mulder idly mentions them again in conversation.)

Mulder and Scully entering the Peacock house is vying with the
machine-gun steam pipe on B5's "Grey 17 is Missing" in my head for the
title of "Stupidest Thing in an SFTV Show This Week."  I think the
steam pipe wins, but just by a hair. *grin*

The episode was, I think, the best and worst of Morgan and Wong in a
nutshell.  They can't extrapolate worth a damn, and don't know from
consequences...  but their character work is gorgeous when it's on, and
they can do a good job of making you care about people.  This makes
their attempts at SF nigh-unwatchable, but it doesn't stop them from
making pretty darn good horror.  The above problems aside, I enjoyed
the hell out of the show, and thought it was magnificently effective.
(Who was the director on it?  Anyone know?  The bit where the Peacock
 brothers go out to kill the sheriff and his wife was wonderfully done,
 and perfectly edited.)

David Hines                
dzhi...@midway.uchicago.edu

I noticed a "Warning: Graphic Material" message before the show.  Is this the
first time such a warning has aired before an episode of The X-Files?

I must say, I'm amazed that they got away with airing something as sick and
disturbing as this on television.  The brief images of the infant corpse
were extremely potent, and the moment where Scully and Mulder realize where
the baby actually came from was as high up the ickiness meter as anything I've
ever seen on television.  The story was mostly predictable (at least after
the opening scenes), but the sheer and unexpected ick-and-squirm factor
kept matters from seeming tired or familiar.  This is the sort of story which
can easily collapse under its own wait if taken too seriously, but it was told
here with an unnervingly dark sense of humor.  The ironic use of songs was also
very effective.  I watch a lot of horror movies, and it's rare for anything
to get under my skin and get me squirming the way this episode did.  And on
television, no less!  Week after week, The X-Files continues to be classier
and just downright scarier than 90%+ of the horror movies being made today.

Anyway, suffice it to say that I was impressed.  The X-Files has certainly
had better episodes (some of the dialogue seemed quite a bit off), but
last night's episode certainly rates as some sort of milestone in
exploitation television (and I mean that as the most enthusiastic praise).

Again:  wow.

Ted

[. . .]

: I must say, I'm amazed that they got away with airing something as sick and
: disturbing as this on television.  The brief images of the infant corpse
: were extremely potent, and the moment where Scully and Mulder realize where
: the baby actually came from was as high up the ickiness meter as anything I've
: ever seen on television.

I'll agree with you there--I'm still trying to figure how they just got
the bit with the brothers using the fork to deliver the baby (implied as
it was) past the network. . . .

 The story was mostly predictable (at least after
: the opening scenes), but the sheer and unexpected ick-and-squirm factor
: kept matters from seeming tired or familiar.  This is the sort of story which
: can easily collapse under its own wait if taken too seriously, but it was told
: here with an unnervingly dark sense of humor.  The ironic use of songs was also
: very effective.  I watch a lot of horror movies, and it's rare for anything
: to get under my skin and get me squirming the way this episode did.  And on
: television, no less!  Week after week, The X-Files continues to be classier
: and just downright scarier than 90%+ of the horror movies being made today.

: Anyway, suffice it to say that I was impressed.  The X-Files has certainly
: had better episodes (some of the dialogue seemed quite a bit off), but
: last night's episode certainly rates as some sort of milestone in
: exploitation television (and I mean that as the most enthusiastic praise).

Sorry--I thought this was a _lousy_ episode, overall (and coming from
Morgan and Wong at that?!?!?  Say it ain't _so_, Joe--:)). Let me say up
front that I have no beef with the gore or with XF doing its own version
of all those "Last House On the Left"-type movies.  But this seemed
to be a combination of elements that just never came together and had no
point. It wasn't
scary enough to be a good LHOTL rip-off, though it certainly had
state-of-the-TV-art grue galore.  It had almost no emotional
pull whatsoever (once we found out that the "victim" was actually the
boys' equally-crazed mom, there wasn't much to care about except whether
Mulder and Scully would make it out alive--a hard call, indeed. . g!), and
it didn't have nearly enough humor to be a solid dark comedy (Yo! Darin
Morgan, please come to the courtesy desk. . .g!). Even worse, it had no
point to it or imagination or any scary resonance (if the moral/theme of
the
story here was that one should avoid in-bred weird-looking folk or any '58
white Cadillacs cruising along the road, well, point taken--g!. But that's
not enough to leave anyone who's seen/read any horror at all
shaking with dread--:)).

 I get the feeling that this was a get-back-in-the-XF-swim-of-things
script for M/W as well as a possible try at Darin Morgan-style comedy. A
couple of nice character moments, but overall, this really felt like
shallow, emptyheaded timefiller. A shame...:(.

C.
**
(who figures that an episode is in _serious_ trouble when a competing
showing of the last TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE movie segment over on the WB
network is proving harder to surf back from....:))

It was also one of the creepiest episodes X-Files has ever aired.  Usually,
X-F episodes don't stick with me after the credits roll, there's nothing
particularly special (or scary) about them.  Darin Morgan's episodes have
been some of the happy exceptions.  So was this last episode (10/11).

BTW, for those of you complaning that SF TV doesn't use science correctly,
one of my friends is a molecular biologist, and he says that the inbred
family in this episode is completely possible -- there's even a genetic
disorder where a person doesn't feel pain, just like in the show.  (His
only beef was that people with genetic disorders that bad normally don't
live that long.)

Personally, I disagree with you.  "Herrenvolk" wasn't a knock-your-
socks-off episode, but it *did* nicely incorporate elements of previous
episodes (elements that I personally didn't think would show up again,
such as the smallpox vaccination records or alien cloning).  

If there was a "coup d'etat" at X-Files, it's the fact that Chris Carter
is now focusing on two series instead of one, and he's probably not paying
nearly as much attention to X-F.

Would you want him/her watching *any* X-Files episodes?  The show has been
on at 9pm on Fridays for 3 years now.  If you're going to take exception
to the scheduling, you should have done that a long time ago.

Besides, what does that have to do with the episode's quality?  I'd rather
see X-Files take chances on being gory than being boring.  (That's not to
say that gory = interesting, but in this case I think it worked.)

BTW, didja notice who wrote this episode -- James Wong and Glen Morgan.
This was the first episode they've written since returning from Space:
Above and Beyond.  Boy... their experiences with SAAB must have been
*really* disturbing for them to come up with this... :)

One last note: the "Babe" reference had me rolling...

Mike Barklage

barkl...@ucsu.colorado.edu -- MSTie #19634 -- For Ed Wood items, MSTings, and
 the ST:Voyager MSTing archive, go to http://rtt.colorado.edu/~barklage/
 "Once again the trousers of evil are yanked down by the mocking hands
  of justice!"     -- Earthworm Jim

In article <Dz6FEw....@midway.uchicago.edu>, dzhi...@midway.uchicago.edu

:I personally enjoyed the heck out of this _X-Files_ episode, and was
:very pleased that Morgan and Wong didn't deliver a stinker on their
:return to _The X-Files_.  There were a couple of complete boneheadisms,
:but M&W did so much better on this episode than in anything on _Space_
:that it wasn't even funny.  (Well, actually, it *was* funny as hell in
:several places, but you know what I mean...)

That was about the _only_ redeeming value of the episode. Other than that,
it was pretty horrible.
:
Spoilers

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(Why are you putting lines and _two_ formfeeds? Are there still
newsreaders that don't support ^L?)
:

(munch)

:The sheriff and his wife were killed, and Mulder and Scully rushed the
:Peacocks with only one other person?  Whatever happened to calling the
:Highway Patrol, who would be only too glad to help out in such a
:situation?  Hell, Mulder and Scully could have called in the BATF (yeah,
:it's out of the BATF's jurisdiction, but that hasn't stopped that agency
:before).

Bingo. Why not surround the entire house with State Police and not even
have to deal with any of the various problems.
:
:I won't even go into the complete idiocy of Mulder and Scully going
:into the house.  No, actually I will.

(munch dealing with it)

This was another piece of idiocy that made the entire episode bordering on
unredeamable.

:The episode was, I think, the best and worst of Morgan and Wong in a
:nutshell.  They can't extrapolate worth a damn, and don't know from
:consequences...  but their character work is gorgeous when it's on, and
:they can do a good job of making you care about people.  This makes
:their attempts at SF nigh-unwatchable, but it doesn't stop them from
:making pretty darn good horror.

This was horror? I normally dislike horror, but this just seemed like a
large amount of completely unnecessary disgust scenes. Eh.

:  The above problems aside, I enjoyed
:the hell out of the show, and thought it was magnificently effective.

We had a group (around 10) watching here and of those that stayed for the
whole thing (about 5 left), it got universally bad reviews.

Aaron
--
Aaron Bergman -- aberg...@minerva.cis.yale.edu
<http://pantheon.yale.edu/~abergman/>
Smoke a cigarette. Slit your throat. Same concept.

:
: >(Who was the director on it?  Anyone know?  The bit where the Peacock
: > brothers go out to kill the sheriff and his wife was wonderfully done,
: > and perfectly edited.)
:
: I didn't notice, but I have another question: what the heck was the name
: of this episode, so that I don't have to keep calling it "this episode?"
:

The director was Kim Manners, who Morgan and Wong have known for years,
long before they brought him on to the X-Files to direct what they
thought would be their last episode, "Die Hand Die Verletzt."  Since then
he's gone on to direct "Humbug," "D.P.O.," "Oubliette," "War of the
Coprophages," "Apocrypha" and "Grotesque" and probably something else
I've forgotten.

And the name of _this_ episode is "Home," as in "there's no place
like...." :-)

 -- Paula

More to the point -- as I noted in another post -- people with lots of
genetic disorders like that normally don't live very long.  The eldest
brother had very little chance of making it to 42, let alone Mrs. Peacock.
Still... that's a bit of disbelief I was willing to suspend.

I didn't notice the dialogue so much as the humor attempts.  Much of the
humor was funny, but didn't it seem a little strange for Mulder and
Scully to be cracking wise so shortly after seeing the sheriff and his
deputy slaughtered by the Peacock brothers?  I was still reeling from
those scenes while Mulder and Scully were making light of the whole thing.

Supposedly, Mulder and Scully invaded the house because they thought
there was a woman being held hostage, being used as an incubator.  They
figured that if they got backup and surrounded the house, the woman
would be as good as dead.

At least, that's what *I* got out of the episode.  I could be wrong...
besides, when was the last time you saw a horror flick without a few
leaps of logic? :)

I didn't notice, but I have another question: what the heck was the name
of this episode, so that I don't have to keep calling it "this episode?"

Mike Barklage

barkl...@ucsu.colorado.edu -- MSTie #19634 -- For Ed Wood items, MSTings, and
 the ST:Voyager MSTing archive, go to http://rtt.colorado.edu/~barklage/
 "Once again the trousers of evil are yanked down by the mocking hands
  of justice!"     -- Earthworm Jim

While The X-Files has previously aired some episodes that are probably
too intense for kids, "Home" went WAY beyond anything they've done
before in terms of gratuitous, disturbing images.  At first, I assumed
that the warning aired before the episode began must have been prompted
by the opening scene, with it's brutal birth-by-fork, and burial of a
live infant.  By the time we'd seen the fetus examination and the dual
murder, I was becoming truly disgusted.

But then they rolled Mama out from under the bed, and we realize that
she's a quadruple-amputee birthing machine, with all it's incestuous
connotations.  And that got me thinking back to "Boxing Helena".  Now
correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't that movie get released unrated,
because a story of a woman who has her limbs chopped off to become the
sex slave of a psychopath couldn't even get an "R" rating? (putting
aside the "it was only a dream" ending...)  It seems to me that The
X-Files version of "Boxing Mama" was even worse, by adding incest to
injury.

So apparently, if "Home" had been submitted to the MPAA for a rating, it
would've have been lucky to even receive an "R".  And since when are "R"
or "NC-17" movies shown on free network television unedited?  But I
guess we can tell ourselves that there's nothing to worry about, because
we know that all parents are careful to screen the shows their kids
watch, and that no kid ever sneaks in a show that he's been told he
can't see...

I really don't have a big problem with gore, and I don't think a little
gore here and there is especially harmful to kids.  But just what
"chances" were they taking here, other than to see how far they could
push the envelope?  Just what was the *point* of the whole thing?  That
mutant in-breds can be dangerous killers?

Don't get me wrong; I've loved the X-Files since day one.  Other than
the "killer cats" episode, I didn't think they had done a truly lousy
episode in the first 3 seasons.  But there was always a *point* to make,
and so the graphic content wasn't gratuitous.  So is this the new
"dumbed down" X-Files, with no thematic development, leaving only an
exploration of gore and depravity?

Good point...  But honestly, I would've rather seen what they could've
done to improve SAAB, than see them sink this low.

Steve

: > Besides, what does that have to do with the episode's quality?  I'd rather
: > see X-Files take chances on being gory than being boring.  (That's not to
: > say that gory = interesting, but in this case I think it worked.)

: I really don't have a big problem with gore, and I don't think a little
: gore here and there is especially harmful to kids.  But just what
: "chances" were they taking here, other than to see how far they could
: push the envelope?  Just what was the *point* of the whole thing?  That
: mutant in-breds can be dangerous killers?

This is my feeling, exactly.  X-files always has gruesome scenes and
real or implied violence.  I've come to trust the writers to use these
repulsive devices in service to a greater meaning, in short, a *point*.
The brutality and gore in "Home" were pointless.  The only chance
Morgan and Wong are taking is alienating their audience.

<=DS=>

: > This is my feeling, exactly.  X-files always has gruesome scenes and
: > real or implied violence.  I've come to trust the writers to use these
: > repulsive devices in service to a greater meaning, in short, a *point*.
: > The brutality and gore in "Home" were pointless.  The only chance
: > Morgan and Wong are taking is alienating their audience.
: >

: I totaly agree.  Home was the first ever X-Files I missed on purpose becuase
: of all the gore.  Why did X-Files fell it had to stoop to that?  They did
: great with other potentaily gross events by implications such as jump cuts,
: panning away and the like.  Morgan and Wong alienated these two X-Philes
: with this one.  Hope it doesn't become a regular thing.  I'll stop watching...

 That's funny. While the episode was disturbing (due to the theme), there
wasn't much *actual* gore. Most of the chopping and hacking took place
just ouside the cameras view.

 I do agree, however, that the episode wasn't that great.

--
  "The purpose of civilized argument between friends is to arrive at the
  point where you agree someday it might be necessary to shoot each other."
  -the late Justice Holmes

I totaly agree.  Home was the first ever X-Files I missed on purpose becuase
of all the gore.  Why did X-Files fell it had to stoop to that?  They did
great with other potentaily gross events by implications such as jump cuts,
panning away and the like.  Morgan and Wong alienated these two X-Philes
with this one.  Hope it doesn't become a regular thing.  I'll stop watching...

I thought this episode touched on a great topic and had a lot
of potential.  What detracted it from reaching its potential
was the near-satirical approach and the ignorance to law
enforcement procedures shown by the writer and director.

Examples include Mulder and Sculley's insensitivity to the
Sheriff's death; and Mulder ranting on about innate human
savagery while watching the Peacock brothers beat to a pulp
the lifeless body of the Deputy.

This satirical approach ignored the fact that two of their own
(in law enforcement) went down.  With these two deaths
and probable cause of a kidnapped "victim", Mulder and Sculley
should have called in the FBI's HRT (Hostage Rescue Team) or at
the very least, the State Police for backup, before approaching
the house.

If this was a real-life situation, Mulder and Sculley would have
been suspended by the FBI, or at the very least, censured by the
FBI Director, for their tactical decisions which directly resulted
in the death of a deputy sheriff.

There were times where satire would work (example "War of the
Coprophages") but this episode was not one of them.  At the very
least, the writer and director should pay attention to basic
law enforcement tactics and procedures.

Jon

: Tucker Smallwood is a fine actor, and he turned in a good performance...
: but did anyone else think that it was just a wee bit strange for the
: black Southern sheriff of a small town to say that change was bad?  

: The eldest of the brothers is 42; the other two are the offspring of
: himself and his mother.  Isn't Mrs. Peacock a little old to still be
: having children (assuming she's about fifteen years older than her
: oldest son)?

: Mulder's speech on how icky and not-right the Peacocks were was *very*
: bad, and seemingly endless; it felt very weird in an episode where most
: of the rest of the dialogue was so spot-on.

: The sheriff and his wife were killed, and Mulder and Scully rushed the
: Peacocks with only one other person?  Whatever happened to calling the
: Highway Patrol, who would be only too glad to help out in such a
: situation?  Hell, Mulder and Scully could have called in the BATF (yeah,
: it's out of the BATF's jurisdiction, but that hasn't stopped that agency
: before).

: I won't even go into the complete idiocy of Mulder and Scully going
: into the house.  No, actually I will.  They flush out the brothers -
: fine.  The logical course of action would be to apprehend the brothers
: *outside* the house, in the open, and then to go back and search the
: house at leisure.  That would be the intelligent, rational, safe thing
: to do.  But Mulder and Scully actually go into the house - this, after
: Mulder explicitly says that the house is probably rigged with a zillion
: booby-traps, and they see Barney die as a result of one, *and* they
: know that the brothers will be coming BACK IN, so Our Heroes will have
: to fight *in confined space,* on the enemy's turf... which is rigged
: with ten gazillion booby-traps.  (Which, of course, conveniently *vanish*
: while Our Heroes traipse all over the place, only to reappear about
: three seconds after Mulder idly mentions them again in conversation.)

: Mulder and Scully entering the Peacock house is vying with the
: machine-gun steam pipe on B5's "Grey 17 is Missing" in my head for the
: title of "Stupidest Thing in an SFTV Show This Week."  I think the
: steam pipe wins, but just by a hair. *grin*

: The episode was, I think, the best and worst of Morgan and Wong in a
: nutshell.  They can't extrapolate worth a damn, and don't know from
: consequences...  but their character work is gorgeous when it's on, and
: they can do a good job of making you care about people.  This makes
: their attempts at SF nigh-unwatchable, but it doesn't stop them from
: making pretty darn good horror.  The above problems aside, I enjoyed
: the hell out of the show, and thought it was magnificently effective.
: (Who was the director on it?  Anyone know?  The bit where the Peacock
:  brothers go out to kill the sheriff and his wife was wonderfully done,
:  and perfectly edited.)

: David Hines                
: dzhi...@midway.uchicago.edu

As to whether or not "Home" has a point, I think you have to make the heroic
leap and actually feel for the Peacock family.  That means that when Mrs.
Peacock gives her speech about being proud of her boys for being willing
to do anything for her (which directly corresponds to Mulder's actions in
order to save his own mother, BTW), you have to see something true in that.
Mulder is both right and wrong when he talks about the boys being nothing but
savages, because he misses (or does he?) the apparently innate sense that
"family is everything" that seems to flow from the Peacocks' situation.
Basically, it's about the familial bond being the strongest of all (which
other X-Files episodes have explored to a large extent, what with Mulder and
Scully's relatives dying like flies).  Like anything else, if you push
something human too far, it becomes inhuman--or so we'd like to believe.

I liked this episode, because (a) I loved the Morgan & Wong dialogue,
particularly the conversation on the park bench; and (b) the story was creepy
and squirmy, and the most horrific elements were not the dead baby or the
killings but the realization (not really a surprise, perhaps, but a kind of
slowly dawning horror) of the incest--the mental aspect of the situation
(Mulder trying to tell Mrs. Peacock that everything would be alright, while
attempting to supress his shock and disgust, was classic, and perfectly
acted).

My primary beef was that if the Peacocks don't have any modern conveniences
like electricity or running water, how is it that they have so many
photographs? Do they "develop their own photos?"

Frankly, I don't think the Peacocks had to be so rustic to be
believable--think how much creepier it would be if they were modern and still
chose to keep it "all in the family."

I'm surprised that no one seems to have picked up on the little exchange where
Mulder suggests that Scully find herself a genetically perfect mate and start
cranking out the "uber-Scullys" ( a ref. to the "uberchildren" from "War of
the Coprophages"), and Scully says "what about you."  Wink wink, nudge nudge!

One last thing.  The sherriff isn't Southern.  The episode is set in
Pennsylvania.  I took it to mean that the Peacocks had fled there after the
Civil War (since they call it the War of Northern Aggression, I assume they're
originally from the South).

In article <53p9m4$...@earth.superlink.net>,

Hmm.  I think you might be confusing titles here.  "Last House on the Left"
is a getting-even-with-criminals movie, about two parents who brutally
kill the criminals who raped and murdered their daughter.  Basically a more
exploitative retelling of Ingmar Bergman's "The Virgin Spring," it was created
by Wes Craven and Sean Cunningham (the men who went on to create Freddy
Krueger and Jason Voorhees, respectively).  Another exploitation classic along
the same lines is "I Spit on Your Grave," notable for featuring both one of
the lengthiest and most disturbing rape scenes and one of the most unnerving
castrations I've ever seen on film.  A little more mainstream, the "Death Wish"
movies dealt with some of these same themes, but with the emphasis on action
instead of exploitation.

This X-Files episode was more along the lines of the insane-inbred-subhuman-
family-barely-hidden-from-view-in-rural-America genre, which has included such
classics as Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes" and Tobe Hooper's "The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre."

To me, the episode played like the purest exploitation:  simple, ugly, rude,
and absolutely pointless.  In existed solely for the purpose of disturbing,
and I'd say that it succeeded.  (On the other hand, I wouldn't want to see
The X-Files start doing this sort of thing on a weekly basis...and I can
certainly see why some might say that once was far more than enough.)

I watch just about every horror movie I can get my hands on (one of these
days I'm even going to sit through the Leprechaun sequels -- shudder), and I
haven't seen many that unnerved me as much as last Friday's X-Files did.
(Then again, there *is* a difference between "scary" and "unpleasant," and
this episode was far more the latter.  All I'm saying is that I don't see that
as a problem.)

That's true.  Mulder and Scully were merely dazed spectators, which doesn't
provide much of an emotional hook.  (I'm reminded of the movie "Seven," where
the scenes of the first few murders are disturbing but emotionally cold and
detached.  It's only towards the end of the film that a clear emotional
foundation is laid beneath the violence -- and that's the point at which
the film really rises above being "mere" shock and exploitation.  I think that
some of the Scully scenes were possibly supposed to provide more of the
emotional basis for the drama last Friday night, but those scenes were clearly
inadequate to the task.)

But anyway, to reiterate, I was impressed.  Definitely a milestone.

Ted

On Mon, 14 Oct 1996, Steve Turner (stur...@onramp.net) announced to the world:

: I really don't have a big problem with gore, and I don't think a little
: gore here and there is especially harmful to kids.  But just what
: "chances" were they taking here, other than to see how far they could
: push the envelope?  Just what was the *point* of the whole thing?  That
: mutant in-breds can be dangerous killers?

I thought it was a brilliant and insightful allegory about the current
state of the "Trek" franchise.

-- David Homerick.

: > >they air this repulsive hour of excess tonight.  Would you have wanted
: > >your 9 year old to see this, airing at the convenient hour of 9 pm on a
: > >friday night?

hmm...way back up in the sticks, this episode wasn't anything out of the
ordinary...  ...point being that it's just interpretations and opinions...

: aside the "it was only a dream" ending...)  It seems to me that The
: X-Files version of "Boxing Mama" was even worse, by adding incest to
: injury.

HAHAHAAAHAH!  Now that was funny!  ;)   ...insest to injury...<snicker>

Who writes your jokes?  Henny Youngman?  ;)  

p.s.  you just made my whole night with that one!

: This X-Files episode was more along the lines of the insane-inbred-subhuman-
: family-barely-hidden-from-view-in-rural-America genre, which has included such
: classics as Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes" and Tobe Hooper's "The Texas
: Chainsaw Massacre."

Oops! You're right. . .:). I made the mistake of lumping "rural America
nightmare" movies all together in my post. Seems to me they all share
basic themes, plot differences aside, though...

: >But this seemed
: >to be a combination of elements that just never came together and had no
: >point.

: To me, the episode played like the purest exploitation:  simple, ugly, rude,
: and absolutely pointless.  In existed solely for the purpose of disturbing,
: and I'd say that it succeeded.  (On the other hand, I wouldn't want to see
: The X-Files start doing this sort of thing on a weekly basis...and I can
: certainly see why some might say that once was far more than enough.)

Yeah, but gut-bucket exploitation isn't XF's long suit--they tend to do a
lot more with horror cliches than jack up the volume on 'em and just
present them. They've conditioned viewers to expect more going on in a
story. I could see where folks would get a charge out of seeing them push
the TV grue envelope, but that just wasn't enough...

: >It wasn't
: >scary enough to be a good LHOTL rip-off, though it certainly had
: >state-of-the-TV-art grue galore.

: I watch just about every horror movie I can get my hands on (one of these
: days I'm even going to sit through the Leprechaun sequels -- shudder), and I
: haven't seen many that unnerved me as much as last Friday's X-Files did.
: (Then again, there *is* a difference between "scary" and "unpleasant," and
: this episode was far more the latter.  All I'm saying is that I don't see that
: as a problem.)

Yeah, I think it was way more unpleasant than scary (I swear I didn't find
it scary at all, frankly.) I would expect XF to do "smart
exploitation"--the best recent example I
can think of was PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS. Gruesome--yep. Disposable on the
surface--yep. But it was also a hilarious dark-comedy send-up of Reaganism
that really gave the grue a subversive charge as well...g!

: That's true.  Mulder and Scully were merely dazed spectators, which doesn't
: provide much of an emotional hook.  (I'm reminded of the movie "Seven," where
: the scenes of the first few murders are disturbing but emotionally cold and
: detached.  It's only towards the end of the film that a clear emotional
: foundation is laid beneath the violence -- and that's the point at which
: the film really rises above being "mere" shock and exploitation.  I think that
: some of the Scully scenes were possibly supposed to provide more of the
: emotional basis for the drama last Friday night, but those scenes were clearly
: inadequate to the task.)

I think even on an exploitation level this didn't have a sufficient
emotional hook. With something like TEXAS CHAINSAW or HILLS, you've got
characters in serious, immediate danger which draws you in right off the
bat. HOME put too much emphasis on the "how to catch 'em/police
procedural" aspects (which were, unfortunately, pretty weak). Maybe the
script needed to make a nasty parallel between Ma Peacocks' remarks about
Scully and Scully's fear that she might _be_ a mom (a test-tube one) given
her abduction experiences and all. . .

: But anyway, to reiterate, I was impressed.  Definitely a milestone.

A dubious one, I'm afraid. . .:) Agree to disagree...

C.
**

Yeah, that episode seemed a little strange to me....I can see MULDER
throwing protocol out the window, but SCULLY?  What happened, babe?

-JuliA

****  No need to be afraid, it's real love

     ******************************************************
     *                                                    *
     *  "Though you might hear laughing, spinning         *
     *   Swinging madly across the sun                    *
     *   It's not aimed at anyone,                        *
     *   It's just escaping on the run                    *
     *   And but for the sky there are no fences facing   *
     *                                                    *
     *   And if you hear vague traces of skipping         *
     *   Reels of rhyme                                   *
     *   Throw your tambourine in time                    *
     *   It's just a ragged clown behind                  *
     *   I wouldn't pay it any mind                       *
     *   It's just a shadow you're seeing that            *
     *   He's chasing....."                               *
     *                               -Bob Dylan           *
     ******************************************************

    I don't know about that "dazed spectators" thing...there was one point
when it seemed to affect Mulder emotionally.  When the mother was
discovered under the bed, I could just TELL he was thinking about his own.
Other than that they didn't seem to care very much, yer right...

Incidentally, I watched "Seven" RIGHT before watching this episode, so it
didn't faze me as much as it probably should have....I did see quite a few
parallels between the two but I'm afraid I only saw the ones between
Mulder and Det. Mills....(g)

-JuliA

****  No need to be afraid, it's real love

     ******************************************************
     *                                                    *
     *  "Though you might hear laughing, spinning         *
     *   Swinging madly across the sun                    *
     *   It's not aimed at anyone,                        *
     *   It's just escaping on the run                    *
     *   And but for the sky there are no fences facing   *
     *                                                    *
     *   And if you hear vague traces of skipping         *
     *   Reels of rhyme                                   *
     *   Throw your tambourine in time                    *
     *   It's just a ragged clown behind                  *
     *   I wouldn't pay it any mind                       *
     *   It's just a shadow you're seeing that            *
     *   He's chasing....."                               *
     *                               -Bob Dylan           *
     ******************************************************

Now *that* makes sense...  and fills me with a sense of dread regarding
the next Trek incarnation, the "Starfleet Academy" UPN mini-series.

Be afraid.  Be very afraid...

Steve