Episode number 5 of the 6 part mini series, entitled Babylon, explores the nature of communication and the difficulties inherent in the process. In lesser hands these subjects would be played for too many laughs or heavy-handed, gritty realism. Written and directed by series creator Chris Carter, Babylon is nimble with its notions and ideas, dropping into surreal, drug-induced hallucinations while tackling the topic of domestic terrorism.
Below is a full recap and review of the episode, Babylon.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
In southwest Texas, a young Muslim named Shiraz (Artin John) prays to Allah. Devout, the young Muslim says a quick prayer before eating a sandwich and heads out. On his drive he is at a stop light. Some redneck locals sneer and hassle the young man. “You aint from around here ain’tcha brownie? Shiraz rolls his windows up.
Shiraz stops by his friends home to pick him up. The two exchange religious greetings in Arabic. The two drive to an art gallery and park their car. The two say another prayer together, which, at this point, really doesn’t seem too odd. However there is a strange solemnity at that moment that leads you to think there is something more. The two get out of the car and cross the street to the gallery. Happily patting each other on the back, they laugh and joke and enter the building before them. There is a pregnant pause and,seconds later the art gallery explodes, in a fiery boom. Victims writhe on the ground, on fire as others run away engulfed in flames. So, The X-Files hasn’t lost their balls. They are touching on terrorism now.
We first see Mulder (David Duchovny) in his office at the X-Files division, sharing a video with Scully (Gillian Anderson). They are watching footage that proports to depict trumpets of death foretold in the bible book of Revelation. In the video people stand, looking into the air, confused as an etherial horn blasts from the heavens. Mulder insists that this is real, while Scully is, of course skeptical.
There is a knock on the door and we are introduced to Agent Miller (Robbie Amell) Agent Einstein (Lauren Ambrose). These two agents are fresh-faced versions of the more vetted Mulder and Scully. The two agents are working on the bombing case in Texas. It seems that one of the apparent bombers, Shiraz, from the beginning of the episode, is in pieces, on life-support, and alive my medical definition only. Miller and Einstein decided to reach out to the X-Files division of the FBI in hopes of making some sort of contact with Shiraz as he lay, near death. they are hoping there is some way to communicate with him.
Agent Miller is the far more open-minded of the two. Mirroring Mulder’s curiosity he is the one that pushed to come see the infamous division that Scully laughingly refers to as “The FBI’s Least Wanted.” Einstein, the spit-fire female is snappy to a point of being annoying. Played with a little too much sarcasm and not enough wit to carry it off. The two younger agents return to the airport returning to their respective office. They stand at their gate wondering why someone would blow themselves up over a picture of the Prophet Muhammad.
Miller’s phone rings and it’s Scully, he steps away. Scully explains that she has an idea of how to communicate with the terrorist. While Miller is speaking with Scully, Mulder calls Einstein. “I Think I have a way that you might communicate with your terrorist.” he asserts.
Meanwhile we are reminded of the threat at hand as a young muslim is constructing a new bomb. The news drones on about the recent bomb attack. The news echo chamber, filled with pundits, ramble on about hatred and speak of shipping every Muslim out of the country. Sound familiar?
Back at headquarters, Einstein enters Mulder’s office. Mulder asks Einstein, “Do you believe thought has mass?” “No, because when I get on a scale and think of ice cream my ass doesn’t grow.” She replies. Mulder states, “You have a terrorist that lies in a state of existence.” Mulder explains to Einstein that she should administer magic mushrooms to Mulder in order to then communicate with the near dead terrorist on a higher plane.
At the same time, Scully meets Miller and says that she has scientific approaches to the problem. If they massage his thought patterns through talking to him, and carefully watching the brain activity, they may be able to uncover something. The two agents enter the hospital room of the young man. He is stitches up, right arm missing, the right side of his skull is missing, caved in. The make up in this scene is perfect.
While Miller and Scully work in the room, two other agents enter. The two new agents insist that Miller and Scully leave, telling them they have been pulled off the case. The two imposters, after having their bluff called, mutter in a foreign language and things begin to get tense. Outside the room Agent Einstein approaches is told she cannot enter the hospital room. The two imposters flee past the two guards and Einstein sees Miller and Scully in the room. Jealous of her partner being in the room with the subject, Einstein calls Mulder and tells him to get to Texas.
Mulder arrives in Texas and Einstein meets him at the airport with magic mushrooms. The two head to the hospital. Meanwhile, Scully and Miller are still bedside with the supposed suspect. They informed that the hospital is under terrorist threat and they need to evacuate until the wing is cleared of bombs. While alone in the room the nurse on staff nearly kills the man in bed by shutting off his respirator. Einstein and Mulder enter the room just in time. and she flips the switch back on.
The nurse goes on a right-wing tirade about why this man should not be living. As Einstein consoles the nurse Mulder slips the mushrooms into his mouth and sits next to the man in the bed. While the nurse talks to Einstein, the nurse notices that Mulder is no longer in the hospital room.
We cut to Mulder, in strobe,wandering the halls. Hallucinating, he hi-fives the denizens of the hospital, wanders down a busy highway, and arrives at a honkey tonk bar only to bust into a line dance to Achy Break Heart (Ah the 90’s) He takes center stage in a bright spotlight as the patrons cheer in on.
He goes into deeper hallucinations with Einstein as a dominatrix, the smoking man whipping a boat of slave rowers. At the head of the boat is a priestess holding the body of the man in the hospital bed. Mulder goes to the front of the boat and hears a faint whisper as he mouths words.
The next day, back in reality, Miller begins to speak in Arabic to the man in bed. Mulder, in another part of the hospital, awakens to see his boss, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), telling him he is done with the case. Einstein approaches the bed and confesses that she gave Mulder a placebo. “The power of suggestion” she muses. Mulder claims to have spoken to the terrorist during his vision.
As Einstein is wheeling Mulder out of the hospital they get to the door and see a the accused man’s mother trying to enter. Mulder vouches for her and they walk her in. She nearly faints after seeing her son, weeping at what has become of him. As she speaks to him, his brian activity begins to spike. “You could not have killed anyone. This is not how I raised you.” She asserts his innocence. The agents ask her how she “knows”. She explains that she had seen his innocence in her dreams. The mother explains that she would love to help them find the real terrorists, but she knows nothing. Suddenly Shiraz convulses and dies.
In a last ditch effort, Mulder insists to the group “He spoke to me! He spoke to me!”. Scully, Miller, and Einstein pump Mulder for info and try to help him remember the mutterings he may have heard in his vision.”Babel?” Miller suggests, “Babylon the hotel?” The FBI rushes in and arrests the terrorist cell that was hiding in a local dive called Hotel Babylon and the caper is over.
The mystery solved, the job done, Miller looks at a bank of screens in the airport reporting on the arrests as he waits for his flight. Einstein, looking suspiciously like the new Scully with her hair down. “Maybe some things are unexplainable.” Miller suggests, and Einstein, for her part, agrees that perhaps there is some weight to thought.
Wrapping things up we see Mulder back at a house out in the country. Scully drives up and they chat on the porch. We learn that neither Mulder or Scully knew of their plans to work with the younger agents. They muse about the extremes that they saw. Mulder grabs Scully’s hand and they walk.
Referencing the bible again, Mulder talks about the story of Babylon and how the human race is said to have been scattered by opposing thoughts and languages. “The lesson of Babylon didn’t stick but the anger remains.” Mulder says. He then asks, “What is god saying? Worship me in my anger?” Getting a little more “bigger picture” Mulder states, “I want to believe that mothers have a greater purpose than having terrorists” Scully then says, “The answer is to find that common language again”
From out of no where the the trumpets are heard again. Mulder’s head spins around, looking for the source. He hears the horns, Scully doesn’t. We pull out to see Earth. floating in space.
Babylon was showcase for Carter’s ability to tap into current fears and paranoia without getting too serious. He deftly handles multiple parallels throughout; Mulder and Scully, Miller and Einstein, Babylon and the frustration in the world. Handled with more polish than last week’s plot lines the similarities only served to compliment the story instead of detract.
We only have one more episode left in this short series. So far they have given us the very best of what the X-Files has to offer and have clearly shown that the truth is still out there. A bigger conspiracy was set up in the first two episodes, one of a new world order and alien/government cooperation to enslave mankind. A bigger canvas, grander ideas, and situations with far more gravity are being presented.
It’s good to see there is still wonder and mystery left in the mind of show creator Chris Carter.
