Friday October 11, 1996
4X03
A baby is found buried alive in shallow ground and appears to have birth defects resulting from generations of inbreeding, leading Mulder and Scully to a reclusive family who have a history of inbred children.
Write a Recap »The only episode or movie I've ever turned off my TV to. Frightening episode. hide show
To set things straight from the start, I've never seen this entire episode. The only time that I've seen parts of it was when I was about 12 years old and I remember that I had to turn off my TV due to the disturbing and scary stuff that was going on. I lasted until the scene where the Peacocks enter the sheriff's house and are about to go ballistic. Then things just got too strong for my liking, especially since a certain sympathy for the sheriff had been established.
I have thought about the episode for a couple of times during my life and been thinking about whether I should watch the whole episode, but haven't done it so far. I do think that I will watch the entire episode in the coming futurem but don't know when really.
I understand the people who say that this episode was groundbreaking stuff and one of the better X-Files episodes, but personally I think it's just too much. If I see it again I'll probably consider it to be a very good, though still disturbing episode, and I'd be likely to give it an 8 out of 10.
Most Controversial episode hide show
Home
-Creepy freakin' teaser.
-Was this before or after Slipknot released their first CD?
-Mulder loves baseball. This episode makes a creepy connection to the American pass-time.
-Every little town has a dark secret.
-Yikes! Creepy eyes under the bed!
-I love the shot of the Sheriff contemplating pulling out his gun from storage before ultimately putting it back. It shows how much he wants to believe that his town is still safe.
-"One good, last look around…" True.
-Wonderful Wonderful. This is a great application of situational irony exemplified by music.
-Who would win in a fight, the Peacock Brothers or Chuck Norris? I think they would give Chazz a run for his money.
-This episode is exceptionally well directed. The close-up shots and the expertly executed camera-pans are fantastic.
-There is not very much of a score by Mark Snow in this episode.
-"They really went Cave Man on them." Mulder's comment is more comedic because the Peacocks look like the Geico cave men.
-The Gang-bang scene haunted my dreams for months when I fist saw this.
-"Bah ram ewe." Perfect time for a little comic relief.
-"The War of Northern Aggression." Not just inbreeds, but southern inbreeds.
-Got to love the trunk space in those early model Cadillacs.
-Another X Files episode where the monster/villain gets away in the end.
What can I say about this episode that has not already been said? It is fantastic. This story really pushed the envelope of what can be shown on network TV. Even while re-watching it today--I was wincing. The thought of Mrs. Peacock hiding under my bed gave me nightmares well into December. The murder of the Sheriff and his wife is particularly disturbing as well. I will never (and I suspect that I am not alone on this) be able to listen to Johnny Mathis the same way again. This is probably one of the best-known episodes of the show's entire run. It seems like about once a week someone will come onto the board to ask 'what episode is the one with the mutant family that kills a baby?' There is a certain lack of original score in this episode that maintaining the constant malevolent, dreary feeling. This differs from many other X Files episodes that normally feature the ear pleasing tones of Mr. Mark Snow.
I noticed something about this episode that I had not noticed in prior viewings. There is a sort of a non-spoken, sympathetic connection between the Peacocks and the Sherriff. Both families were afraid of change. They were both entrenched in their traditions and way of life. Each group was also content coexisting apart from each other. The scene where Mulder asks if they could inspect the fetal cadaver in the Sheriff's office with the door locked. He replies, "Oh, everyone knows that I never have my door locked." (Or something like that.)
I am not sure if this episode speaks more toward anti-big business or anti-government. Either way, they both are recurring themes in the X Files universe. The Peacocks were anti-progress and anti-technology. Additionally, the Sheriff seemed to be anti-progress. He seemed happy to let things lie and was reluctant, to say the least, about involving the FBI in the case. He was, to his credit, much nicer than the local small town law enforcement usually is to Mulder and Scully (a la DPO or Quagmire.)
Overall, this is an excellent episode. Part of the appeal for me is that I am sort of a closet gore-hound, not so much the new age torture-porn of SAW and Hostel but classic gore like Hellraiser, Cannibal Holocaust, and Braindead. This episode could have been a great addition to the midnight grind-house classics if it were a movie in the late 1970s.
10/10
I feel sort of anti human by giving this grotesque episode such a high rating. Nevertheless, I think it deserves the style points. Groundbreaking television.
This has been advertised to me as "one of the most disturbing X-Files episodes ever." Yes, it is. hide show
This episode takes the urban legend of the creepy middle American family to a really terrifying place. The live burial of a deformed newborn is only the beginning, literally. While slowly revealing the extent of the Peacock family creepiness, this episode also manages to connect ideas of home and family to both Scully and Mulder, revealing their ideas of motherhood and memories of childhood with quick interactions and reactions. And whether by great acting or great writing, even the short lived Sheriff requires our sympathy before his end.
Perhaps the most disturbing question of all is whether the mother of the Peacock family is there by choice or not. She says she is - she seems to be - and yet she's also tied and unable to move in any case. Who's really calling the shots there?
Many levels, much horror, and some humour. A classic episode and definitely a good example of why I watched this show.
A baby is found buried alive in shallow ground and appears to have birth defects resulting from generations of inbreeding, leading Mulder and Scully to a reclusive family who have a history of inbred children. hide show
This was one of the best X files episodes ever. It aired over 12 years ago and were still talking about it. When our weekly group of X filers got together on Oct. 11, 1996. We did not expect HOME to be, what it turned out to be. After it was over, we were still sitting in the sames spots as we started, stunned and I must say a little disturbed. It took us a few moments until we were able to discuss what we all just witnessed. We knew then that this was a classic episode and that it belongs in the elite X Files.
Home is not always the place you want to be... hide show
I find this episode to be amazing! The more I watch it, the more I love it. I know some people say that it scared or scares them, but it never scared me. It was more revealing than anything. I found it intersting and the thought that I know that worst things happen than this in real life, is the exact reason why it doesn't bother me.
So...I thought there was a bit of character development in here as well. Scully seemed...I don't want to say emotionally attached to the dead baby, but she definitely felt something. I guess, who wouldn't under the circumstances. It's just, like her mother instincts kicked in. I loved the seen when her and Mulder were sitting on the bench outside talking about it. The "Obber Scully's." I believe Mulder refered it as. LOL Asking about family genetics in general was development for both of them.
I liked when Mulder and Scully went into the house. Creepy with all sorts of traps...and OMG, the mother! Wow! Pretty nasty looking, eh? LOL I always loved the song that plays in this episode...I'm slipping at the name right now but ya all know the episode and know what I'm talking about =)
All around, awesome!
~Snyder~
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