Photo courtesy of FOX Television
Nothing is ever perfect, which is all the more apparent in “Babylon,” the most recent episode of the reboot of “The X-Files.” Yet, unlike the previous weeks where there have been lapses in storytelling, “Babylon” actually tells one of the more compelling stories yet this season, albeit with one sizable issue. With the growing amount of anti-Muslim sentiment in society, especially with a majority of the GOP candidates for president adhering to this sentiment (with Ben Carson today calling all Muslims “schizophrenic” for believing in the teachings of Islam), having even more of this permeating through media doesn’t seek to help the situation of the de-demonization of Muslim-Americans. While “Babylon” isn’t anti-Muslim in any real regard, at least not in comparison with other shows like “Homeland” and such, it does no favors for the Muslim-American community, focusing on Agents Mulder and Scully teaming up with two younger FBI agents to contact a Muslim-American terrorist in a coma after an attack through unconventional methods. The scapegoat of Muslim terrorism is a bit tired from the start and while I understand that portraying a terrorist in any sort of religion, nationality or race will stir controversy, it only seeks to hurt the Muslim-American community with depictions like this.
Agents Mulder (Duchovny), Scully (Anderson), Miller (Amell) and Einstein (Ambrose) discuss their varying methods for this case. Photo courtesy of FOX Television
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get started on the actual episode, because if we were to strip that sentiment from the episode, “Babylon” would’ve been one of the best episodes yet. This episode began to feature two younger FBI agents that starkly resemble that of a young Mulder and Scully. Agents Miller (Robbie Amell) and Einstein (Lauren Ambrose) almost are waving their arms for their own spin-off after the mini-series completes, which I would greatly welcome, as their characters, while similar to Mulder and Scully, bring forth their own unique chemistry that would be quite fascinating to see work together on an “X-Files” style show of their own. The split between Miller and Einstein among Mulder and Scully to develop their own methods of contacting the comatose terrorist are exciting and witty, proving that creator Chris Carter still has the knack for it.
The mid-episode climax, focusing on Mulder taking a hallucinogenic drug to attempt to contact the terrorist, is absolutely one of the best scenes to date on this new mini-series, with a healthy dose of both the typical shenanigans of Mulder even more heightened, but some of the most visually impressive scenes “The X-Files” have ever seen once things go south, making this one of the most enjoyable, strange and admirable sequences to date.
Had “Babylon” not gone the way of immediately targeting Muslims as terrorists, this could’ve been up there with “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster” and while it certainly was more respectful than many other shows would go about it, it’s hard to ignore it outright. Besides that, “Babylon” is an interestingly subtle and original work that works really well with its young cast that could very well lead into its own spin-off, which very much could work. There are some glaring issues with its political stance, but as an episode of “The X-Files,” it’s thrilling, original and leads perfectly into the final episode.