The X-Files was probably one of the most successful cult mystery series in the 90s and still has a very large fan base today. Not so long ago, the series experienced a revival in 2016 / 2018 with seasons 10 and 11, although not quite as successful as previously hoped. No wonder, some episodes of the last two seasons seem quite pale, unimaginative, tiring to the point of total failure. It should therefore not be surprising if the memories are quickly erased from the memory after viewing the new episodes. Despite this, there are of course a few good episodes and X-Files fans are probably most pleased about the returning main and secondary cast after all these years.

Of course, the series was particularly strong with its first seasons. Especially seasons 1-3 are full of great and memorable episodes, but also the following seasons had more and less highlight episodes. One of the best and definitely toughest episodes of the entire series is Home from the fourth season. For the script, the two writers Glen Morgan and James Wong, who broke away from the team after season 2 to work on other television series, returned. The two writers strove for the idea of a deformed hillbilly family where inbreeding takes place. When the three brothers bury alive their newborn and deformed baby, which they fathered with their mother, and it is accidentally discovered by children later, Mulder and Scully are brought into the case. When the script was written and production came to an end, one could hardly have expected the controversy and attention the episode would cause when it was first broadcast on the US channel FOX. For example, Home was the first episode to receive a warning for its graphic scenes when it aired, and it was also the only episode to receive a TV-MA rating (unsuitable for under 17-year-olds). In addition to many positive reviews, there was of course a lot of negative criticism and some people called the episode sick, brutal and deviant. FOX also reacted promptly after the broadcast and banned the episode for a few years from the broadcast program.

Even in the US, there was sometimes audio censorship to complain about. In the opening scene, when the Peacocks carry the newborn baby outside and then bury it there in the ground, you can still hear the baby screaming throughout in the original English soundtrack until it is completely buried. On the censored soundtrack, however, the screaming was removed from the moment when the baby is still held in the arms of one of the brothers, while the other brother digs the hole free. Due to the censorship, the scene naturally loses a lot of intensity, as it now seems that the baby dies shortly before and is then buried dead. Another change concerns the way the screaming is done. In the uncensored version, the baby's crying sounds normal, while in the censored version it sounds very sickly. It was managers of the FOX channel itself who asked Chris Carter's production company to make the sound change, as it would tone down the scene and it would also show that the child is sick and close to death anyway and will eventually then be buried lifeless and not fully conscious.

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In the opening scene, Mother Peacock is seen lying on the table in the house screaming and giving birth to her child. Her sons stand around her and help deliver the baby. Afterwards, the newborn and screaming baby is carried outside and buried in the ground. In the censored version, the baby's crying sounds sickly, plus it suddenly falls silent before it is placed in the excavated hole in the ground, giving the appearance that it has died. On the uncensored soundtrack, the baby's crying sounds normal, and it doesn't fall silent while the hole in the ground is still being dug, but still screams while it is in the hole in the ground and being buried alive.
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