Movies - TV
The X-Files' 'Home' Episode Was So Dark, A Fox Executive Phoned The Writers
By JOSHUA MEYER
Spoiler Warning!
This story contains spoilers for episode "Home" of "The X-Files."
"The X-Files" took its dark, gritty content to the furthest extreme network TV would allow with its "Home" episode, featuring gruesome scenes that could be triggering for many viewers. Written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, "Home" deals with ugly subject matter like infanticide, birth defects, home invasion, violence against Black people, and an incestuous mutant family.
The episode opens with a squishy birthing scene where a trio of genetic monstrosities — the Peacocks — deliver a baby and then bury it alive in the rain, while another scene sees the town’s sheriff beaten to death with clubs. Wong told the Times, "The people who responded first were the executives. I remember getting a call from a producer. He goes, 'You guys are sick!'"
When Morgan and Wong ran "Millennium," another Chris Carter-created show, they considered bringing back the Peacocks for an episode, but another phone call from Fox killed that idea. Morgan revealed, "We were all set to do a sequel to 'Home' and then we got a call from Fox that was: 'Those characters never appear on television again.' So we dumped it."