As a viewer, I'm making the assumption that the undisclosed amount of time that they've been separated has lead to them both longing for the "what if" version of their futures.

Stuck with the general story we go, hate demon infection seems like a better metaphor vehicle to address the message than "hey, people can be manipulated, and this wasn't really an x-file."

Them looking for the unexplained IS entertaining. I stand by the fact that there was no motivation for this to even be considered an X-File.

You clearly didn't see the promo teaser for My Struggle II yet. :(

They could have worked in a sight gag, like him leering at dancing torsos only to have them be revealed as line-dancing Lone Gunmen. Really, why didn't that happen?

:)

I'm saying the show failed to properly highlight that the change of heart bomber was actually a manipulated individual that we should sympathize with. And due to this failure, it's far too easy for the main thematic message of the episode to fall apart.

Look, I know the episode actually had the goal to be the opposite. That was the message of the narrative.

And with Morgan agreeing that Home Again should have been two episodes, all I can think is that I'd rather have those two episodes instead of the stuffed one he wrote and this mess. Chris Carter must have laid it out that he needed to write half of these. He's seriously sabotaging himself.

At this point, I wish they would have kept the episode order in its original production order, which is:

All I can assume is that because the agents were with Homeland Security, that they were trained in the language. Now, why they were speaking it at that moment is still a mystery.

The episode did not give enough time to underline the fact that the not-bomber "saw the light." That's why it feels inconsequential that he actually didn't detonate his vest. As far as this story made him, he was a failed suicide bomber that technically was radicalized and had the intent to blow.

Thematically I'm fine with that message. All Im saying is that this script failed to properly present that with the muslim character in any impactful way. Just because you can connect the dots doesn't mean the show did it successfully.

That was a plot point by the way. His mother talked about how she "knew" that he had a change of heart and wouldn't do it.

The Islamophobia was real. The character was presented as an "other" from the beginning, was the victim of casual aggression at the stoplight, and then fulfilled his stereotype by actually being a suicide bomber. There are attempts to sympathize him slightly, but that doesn't change the fact that he basically lived up…

There is absolute no excuse that the drug trip scene went on for that long, featured gratuitous booty shots, and somehow managed to barely present the Lone Gunmen. Why even bring those actors back for something that was basically a forgettable background extra role? It even missed the mark of making the hallucination…

I definitely think this is worse than the first episode, even if Babylon had some solid bright spots that My Struggle completely lacked.

Vanity 6's "Nasty Girl" into Madam X's "Just That Type of Girl" is forever one of the best two song mixes a dj can do. End it with Prince's "Head" and you just had the sexiest 15 minutes of a party.

But even the Digital Shorts were not guaranteed for every single episode. If memory is correct, they would hit about once ever third episode for their regularity. We're far beyond that with filmed pieces on an episode to episode basis.

The Dad was the best part of the sketch, I agree.