The X-Files Season 10 Episode 5 review by Dan Bullock. March 2016.
Babylon is a strange mishmash of concepts which works on one side to break down various normal styles of narrative but on its flipside felt a little dated than what’s come before. Chris Carter’s episode also raised the huge question about belief in relation to reality, and then it threw in comedy with a touch of surrealism. It’s a peculiar one but you’ll definitely want to talk about it.
Initially, it also concerned, as we open with something that felt a little clichéd as we see two young men assumptively being suspicious, walking into a building and then it blows up. Now, there’s a very interesting question here, is this episode all about perception? Sure, we see them praying, we witness them meet and discuss what’s next but there’s no specific focus on them doing anything but walk into a building explodes. Later on in the episode, we do learn that one of the characters had some form of connection to a more sinister plot but we don’t know if they truly did anything at all. Whatever you think happened, the truth is that it made me uncomfortable, I wanted more to be revealed later on that exonerated them but it never really happened, not fully. Were they actually terrorists? We’ll never know. But I was intrigued by the possibility that western sensitivity being twisted so dramatically in society, that’s what we’d first assume.
On the opposite side of all the seriousness nature, Babylon had the young doppelgängers of Mulder and Scully in Miller (Robbie Amell) and Einstein (Lauren Ambrose). On a first thought, this could be an awkward idea but, thankfully, became clever as each individual personality came through. I’m not sure I’d want to see any spin-off show but as a passing question as to whether these characters could exist in another reality outside Mulder and Scully, it could happen. It offered up the main point, which is of experience and to look at everything beyond the surface level. The episode also contained the hilarious drug trip, whether placebo or not we’re still not sure, as Fox Mulder ended up line-dancing with visions of his past. This included the much-loved Lone Gunmen and also Skinner who joined his hallucination for some Californication-style debauchery. The ghostly spirit of Hank Moody was in the room but that’s all right by me.
Although I felt there was probably more to this whole story and could have been expanded, Babylon revealed itself to be study of the soul and a not so subtle play on the role of words: weight and meaning. As an atheist I can comprehend both sides of religious belief: the side that helps guide people and the one that can easily be altered and fit any hatred. They’re two sides of a thin coin but both as equally effective. By the end of Carter’s penultimate offering, there’s a definite indication to keep an open mind within love and hope, which isn’t the worst message in the world but probably could have been played out a little less chaotically.
The X-Files is now showing on Channel 5. For more information visit their site here and follow our X-Files blog right here.
