For a moment, just think about how cool it is that it’s Monday night and we are about to enjoy a new episode of The X-Files. I’ll give you a minute.  Done?  Okay.

We return to the more well worn territory of the “serious” episodes as Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) are sent to investigate the murder of a city official, which it seems no human could have committed. Meanwhile, Scully deals with deep feelings about the child she gave up for adoption after her mother’s medical emergency. Written and directed by co-executive producer Glen Morgan this episode is big on emotion and light on subtlety, making it the weakest of the new episodes thus far.  That’s not to say it’s bad, it’s more like the smallest jumbo shrimp on the plate.

The episode opens on Philadelphia politician Joseph Cutler (Alessandro Juliani) cleaning out skid row in Philadelphia, literally.  Firehoses spray bums off the sidewalk as Cutler barks, “Okay you’ve been warned.”  Joseph Cutler goes into his office to make a phone call.  While inside a mysterious trash truck lumbers onto the street and the bums outside scurry to hide. As the true pulls away a tall, slimy figure stand in the middle of the street. Inside while own the phone Cutler liberally doses his hands with sanitizer as he hears the thumping sounds of heavy feet coming into the office. Before him the gigantic man, covered in maggots and ooze, with a band-aid under his nose. This is the awkwardly named Band-Aid Nose Man (John DeSantis).  The monster bursts into the office grabs Cutler’s arms, and rips them off of his body. After tearing the man limb from limb the figure makes his way back down to the dump truck tosses the arms into the back and climbs in after them.  The truck pulls away.

Cut to the destroyed office, blood splatters everywhere.  A forensics team is assessing the scene as Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully  (Gillian Anderson) arrive. The victim has literally been torn apart with the torso behind the desk and the head in the trash can. “It would have taken four horses to tear the man limb from limb” Mulder says.  Suddenly Scully gets a phone call from her brother.  The color leaves Scully’s face as she hangs up. “That was my brother Charlie.  My mom has had a heart attack.  She’s in the hospital in ICU.”  Mulder tells Scully to go to her mom’s side and says he will handle the investigation. As he goes to leave he steps on what seems to be a band-aid and asks for it to be analyzed.

Scully flies to Washington D.C. to her mother, Margaret Scully (Sheila Larken) as she lay in intensive care.  The nurse on call says that her mom came to consciousness briefly and was asking for her son, Scully’s estranged brother, Charlie.  Scully assures her that he will come back.

Meanwhile back in Philadelphia, Mulder continues to go over  the crime scene.  He looks out a window and sees a Banksy-esque painting of a man painted on the wall of a building nearby.  Going outside to get a closer look at the painting, Mulder runs into two politicians arguing about the homeless situation.  “The Band-aid Man knows,” A homeless man offers menacingly and saunters off.He glances back at the painting on the building and it is gone.

In another part of the city we see two art thieves with a canvas version of the painting seen on the building. Fitzpatrick (Seth Whittaker) and Proudley (Daniel Jacobsen), wheel the piece into a warehouse and dream about how much money they will make on the painting. Soon enough the figure disappears from the canvas and the two are torn to shreds as the camera focuses on the lower corner of the canvas.  The artist’s signature reads, “Trashman.”

While Scully deals with her ailing mother in D.C. we find that two thieves have stolen a painting on canvas, that is identical to the painting that appeared on the building.  As one of them wheels the painting off into a corner the other gets on the phone to reach their buyers. The painting leaves the canvas and

Scully sits, speaking with a doctor. The doctor reminds Scully that her mom has a “Do Not Resuscitate” order.  The phone rings and it’s Mulder, he is right outside in the waiting room.  The look on Scully’s face is one of relief and joy as her one companion has come to her side to offer support. She can’t get in touch with her brother Charlie.  What’s more, Scully is confused as to why her mother suddenly made so many changes in her will without telling anyone.

Cutting back to the slums of Pensylvania, we see Nancy Huff (Peggy Jo Jacobs) yelling about clearing out the bums again, then hoping into her huge SUV to go home to her mansion.  Huff pulls up to her home, makes coffee and settles in.  That’s when the trash truck pulls up and we are treated to a delightfully wicked kill scene to the classic with Petula Clark’s pop tune “Downtown”.

Back at the hospital, Scully and Mulder sit bedside.  The phone rings, it’s Charlie.  Scully tells him that their mom was asking for him. Scully puts Charlie on speaker phone and has him talk to their mother.  He does and she comes to.  Mulder asks, “Do you know your name?” “My son’s name is William too!” Scully’s mother utters, face lit with joy, looking into Mulder’s eyes.  The moment of elation is suddenly followed by sadness

Scully breaks down.  As Mulder holds her, offering support during this awful moment, the doctors rush in to take her mother. Scully loses her cool and demands she not be moved. Mulder explains, “She is an organ donor Scully, they need to act fast. There’s nothing you can do.” In probably what was the most emotionally charged, honest moments in the series so far, Scully gains a wild, if misguided determination. “Then I have to work.  I have to get back on the case.” she hisses through clinched teeth. She grabs her things and storms out of the hospital, leaving Mulder in the dust.

Back in Philadelphia we are in the crime lab. The band-aid has further been analyzed and it is made up of a particular spray paint sold in only one place in Philadelphia. Waiting outside a shop they chase down a young man that leas eve the paint shop with the suspected paint and ask, “Where’s the trash man?”  The graffiti artist  takes them to a building and leads them to a subterranean passageway.  They have a run in with a strange, shadowy figure in the tunnels below and in an instate it disappears.  The two come across a doorway and bust it down.  There is a man living in the space, the artist that painted the figure on the building, the figure that came to life and killed the two thieves. This is Trashman. (Rancid lead singer, Tim Armstrong.)

Trashman explains to them the issue. There is a cycle of mistreatment that he noticed. The homeless were being mistreated. “You don’t see a problem, there’s no problem”, Trashcan explains. Referencing the strange creatures out in the halls outside of his living space he says that he willed this into existence but they will go away too, eventually.” But the Band-aid Man was different.  It seems that Trashman sculpted this intimate monster from clay, using a band-Aid on the nose to hold it in place. “I brought him into the world but he told me what he wanted to be.”  Referencing Tibetan folklore, The Tulpa, we learn that this Band-Aid Man is some sort of “conjured thing” and “phantom” is a concept in mysticism of a being or object which is created through sheer spiritual or mental discipline. The problem is that it has gone on a killing spree against the unjust.”If you made the problem, if it was your idea, then you are responsible.  You are just as bad as the people you hate.”  Scully says.

So, Scully continues to have regrets about giving her son up for adoption as they are investigating a case that deals with the homeless.  Those responsible for helping the ignored are being punished by a supernatural being when they mistreat the ones in their care. We are, very forcefully, handed the parallel between the homeless and the baby that Scully gave away.  Remember, no subtlety here in this episode.

While talking to the Trashman they realize that the homeless are being moved, personally by yet another nefarious Philadelphia pencil pusher named Daryl Landry (Daryl Shuttleworth).  Mulder and Scully make the connection and race to the destination to save Landry from his certain death. Making his way through the new shelter Landry dodges the grungy people around him when they all, in total synchronicity, disappear behind their assigned doors.  Landry is alone now and there is a reason.  A big, hulking, band-aid wearing reason that he should be getting out of the building.

Landry begins to smell something awful.  Puddles of maggots littler the hallway as he, very stupidly, looks for the source of the smell.  The Band-Aid Man finally catches up to him. Mulder and Scully race to the scene. The Band-Aid Man attacks his victim and disappears into thin air.

We next cut back to Trash Man in his lair.  He is packing up his things. He passes by the original sculpture of the Band-Aid Man figure that now has a smily face in lieu of the brooding, bandaged face. As Trashman leaves, ducking under a chainlink fence outside, and we see the Trashcan painting on a building nearby

We cut to Scully and Mulder, sitting on a large log, Scully’s mother in a black urn, the two looking out at the body of water before them. If we did not pick up on the parallel before, the heavy-handed writing drives the point home again.  Scully has drawn a connection to the dejected homeless and the son she gave up for adoption.  She wonders, if they can find him.  She asks Mulder, “Does he doubt himself because we left him? I want to believe I need to believe, that we didn’t treat him like trash.” GUH!

This episode was a heavier one to be sure. The emotional moments were only matched by as many WTF moments making it a wildly unbalanced yet satisfying yarn in the cannon.

What did you think of this episode?  Sound off in the comments.