Akte X: Die unheimlichen Fälle des FBI Born Again (1993– ) Online

Born Again the Limerick:

If a man could come back from the dead

And live in a little girl's head

Revenge he would get

For the murder he met

By the guy that's now in his wife's bed.

For me Born Again is a highly under-rated, classic episode that makes up a part of what defined The X-Files for me before I started watching it. I saw a few segments before when the show first came on and I was much too young to watch it such as parts of The Jersey Devil, but I very specifically remember watching this episode as an 11 year old and being absolutely creeped out by the scene where they guy gets choked to death by the bus and then the hypnosis scene with the little girl. I tell you I couldn't sleep for weeks! For this reason the episode has a special aura about it now of the creepiness factor that I have since grown to enjoy. Its enough to let me look past some of the obvious flaws in the plot such as why the girl had to wait until she was 9 before her previous life spirit really began to exact his revenge. Or what she was doing just randomly sitting on a bus in the middle of the night. You'd think her parents would have been worried. And maybe they were we just don't really see that part of the story. And was was with the telekinesis? Other than adding the really cool Carrie factor to the already creepy story, there really wasn't any kind of good explanation for it. But even with its little flaws, in my mind this is a classic episode and has little to no reason for me to not like it. 10 out of 10.

Born Again is a sub-standard episode from season one. It deals with the subject of reincarnation and just doesn't fly. I've never been big on reincarnation and that could be part of my apathy toward this episode. It does reference the Tooms case which is some nice continuation from the previous episode. But the positives end there. Which is unfortunate because that takes place at the beginning of the episode. I think it's ludicrous that a dead guy would chose to reincarnate in the body of a completely unrelated girl. And he waits until the girl turns eight to start exacting revenge. There's even a serious lack of witty Mulder & Scully dialogue to keep the episode afloat. If you're into reincarnation, maybe this episode is up your alley. If you're not, then at least you can learn what bradycardia is.

Overall, this episode was so-so. Not my least favorite, but not stellar enough for me to remember it over 10 years later.

There was one thing that, as a person with a degree in psychology, really annoys me when I hear it. During the interview with Michelle's psychiatrist, a condition is described in which one's emotions are so profound that the psyche creates other personalities in order to contain them. Mulder then asked, "Oh, like schizophrenia?" No, Mulder. Schizophrenia is when a person's SENSES report things that are not there, like phantom smells or sounds or, in extreme cases like in A Beautiful Mind, whole people. He has an advanced psychology degree; he should have known this.

The condition described in that meeting is extremely rare, very difficult to verify, and is called multiple personality disorder. Geez, even the writers of The Exorcist (which came out what, 20 years before this episode?) knew the difference between the two disorders. Sloppy pop psychology on the writers' part, here.

You know it had to kill Mulder to write up his investigation of the Michelle Bishop case and have to tag it Status: Unexplained. Come on, it was perfectly logical that eight year old Michelle (Andrea Libman) was reincarnated as her deceased father to seek revenge on the three members of his police precinct who had him killed and then made it look like a Chinese gangland hit. Gosh, can't all these other detectives see the simplicity of that explanation?

The only thing that bothered me about this story was how the young girl wound up all over the city of Buffalo to take it out on the bad guys. Finding her in an alley wasn't too bad, but the bus ride in the middle of the night should have raised some red flags with somebody. Winding up in the Fiore family home was the kicker though, however since she lived there at one time as Charlie Morris, I guess she knew how to find it well enough.

The bit with the origami was a nifty touch to add to the script, and the salt water aquarium was a nice little plot device to explain how Morris was killed. Seems the creative juices of Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa were working overtime on this one. The way everything tied together with the disfigured dolls at the shrink's office brought the resolution of the case full circle. Not bad. Officially the case may have gone unexplained, but we all know better now, don't we?

Only on a very rare occasion does an episode of the x-files fail to generate any excitement or does the episode contain anything which is just totally boring to watch.A detective and his former partner both die in unexplained circumstances.The deaths are linked to the presence of a little girl who was there when the deaths took place.Mulder has devised a theory that a policeman murdered by his colleagues has come back reincarnated as the little girl and is exacting revenge.Now for the bizarre bit.The little girl has no connection at all and seems to just a random person chosen as the reincarnation.I think this was slightly lazy writing by the writers and this episode ranks as one of the worst in x-files history!

Oh my... "Born Again" manages to combine two of my least favorite things in horror and in fiction in general: reincarnation and creepy little girls who stare a lot (only good if done humorously ala "The League of Gentlemen"). Yeah, sure, the girl isn't actually evil, just the unfortunate choice of someone else for reincarnation, but she does stare a lot, and no, the script doesn't make any more sense than that does.

"Born Again" features barely any redeemable values really. I guess Mulder and Scully are always fun to watch, even in a Gordon/Gansa script (which means you can forget about witty banter outside of some attempts which tend to fall flat). This plays like a cheesy, forgettable old horror film, the worst of the sort you could expect to find on the drive-in channel. It's probably my pick for the worst episode of season one, actually, generating more complete disinterest from me than "Ghost in the Machine" or "Space".

2/10

A little lost girl is being interviewed by a detective who suddenly hurls himself out of window to his death. The girl's behavior was strange, granted, but why did a self-admiring detective feel a need to commit suicide. This is how we start and it's decent enough. Soon though things go downhill. A session with a sketch artist suddenly pops up a finished picture of a detective who died nine years earlier...This apparently with little help from the artist/operator. Mulder and Scully interview the mother who describes her daughter as disturbed and scary. The little one is under the care of the worst psychiatrist in the tri-state area,the doctor is treating her for some kind of schizophrenia, yet is oblivious to any of her phenomenal telepathy which manifests itself many ways of which murder is a specialty. Her doctor lets her keep mutilating dolls and, even stranger, witnessing murders - since the diagnosis and drug-therapy is working no need to rush. I get the feeling the writers should have settled on one or the other - that is, powers of mental telepathy or reincarnation.

Instead, we get a little girl who is both host to a reincarnated spirit and a world-class purveyor of psychic powers manifested physically. I must say I like it better when an episode doesn't require 100% belief suspension of belief, no such luck here. I could have got "on board" if the girl was the daughter of the original deceased bad-cop who was out for revenge and happened to have unexplained powers, but lumping on reincarnation too just pushed it too far. It came off too campy to park the old right brain filter just that slight measure required. I think the writers over reached - too silly to be truly mysterious/cringe inducing. The X-Files is at it's best when there's some realism to freak you out to the point you can go with the weird practically unbelievable stuff. Very pedestrian, and certainly not required viewing.

"Do me a favour Mulder and let me say it. Reincarnation." – Dana Scully.

Episode 22, 'Born Again', original air date April 29th, 1994. Written by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, directed by Jerrold Freedman. Monster of the week episode count, 17. Gordon & Gansa are an interesting writing duo to analyze. Their work over the course of the first season, beginning with the lacklustre mythology entry 'Conduit' and ending with the undoubtedly superior 'Born Again', displays an evident growth in their writing. In regards to screen-writing, their inexperience was very evident in their early work, as episodes like 'Conduit' and 'Ghost in the Machine' sluggishly meander through uninspired plot lines that lack focus and direction. As they become more comfortable with the themes of the series, we see episode like 'Fallen Angel' and 'Lazarus' which show a significant step up in quality. Contrary to popular belief among both fans and X-Files crew regarding 'Born Again', I believe it is their most accomplished work as screenwriters from their season 1 material. Recurring themes are witnessed throughout their work, such as reincarnation or rebirth, 'Lazarus'/'Born Again'/'Miracle Man', and spectral entities or disembodied forces, 'Ghost in the Machine'/'Born Again'. In 'Born Again', the concept of a child receiving messages or being influenced by a supernatural entity is also similar to the young boy in 'Conduit'. Viewing their progression as a whole, one might see their final season 1 entry as a culmination of these themes. Having learned from their mistakes and reflected upon their successes, we could consider 'Born Again' as the amalgamation of these ideas brought together to form their most successful episode. As writers they are treading on familiar ground here but it's worth the revisit as their experience so far helps them to deliver a tightly woven supernatural thriller that plays out like a procedural cop drama, with an X-Files twist.

The story involves a young girl named Michelle Bishop (Andrea Libman), who appears to possess some kind of supernatural ability. Her mother describes her as deeply disturbed and her psychiatrist has diagnosed some type of dissociative identity disorder, the cause of which is unknown. Bishop is linked with the apparent accidental deaths of three separate police officers throughout the episode. An investigation in to their deaths reveals a suspicious murder from the past and we learn that a former police officer may have been murdered to cover up a crime. Mulder is convinced that Charlie Morris, the detective who was murdered 9 years ago, has been reincarnated as Michelle Bishop and is enacting his revenge.

The argument has been made that this episode was too similar to earlier entries, in particular Morgan & Wong's 'Shadows'. However I argue that this is a far more successful attempt at tackling a similar theme and builds upon some of the concepts explored in earlier shows. During the early stages of the episode Gordon & Gansa borrow from both their previous work and earlier episodes to hint at possibly explanations for Bishop's abilities. The opening sequence arouses our interest without spoiling the mystery. Are we dealing with a vengeful ghost like in 'Shadows', or does Bishop possess some type of psychokinetic ability? Unlike 'Miracle Man', the episode is still enjoyable to watch even when we know the ending. This is because the writer's have offered us more than simply the desire to find out the twist. The pacing is handled well, like any well-made procedural detective story, 'Born Again' feeds us just enough information to keep us interested without giving too much away. More than this though, the characters that move the story along display a depth not seen in Gordon & Gansa's earlier work. This is certainly helped by some decent casting in Brian Markinson and Maggie Wheeler. The ending is satisfying and unpredictable without being implausible. Mulder's revelation at the image of the deep sea diver which reveals to him Detective Morris' cause of death is a well-played moment that's justified by his unconventional way of thinking. Mulder requests that they perform hypnosis regression therapy on Bishop to determine her connection to Charlie Morris. This is something that the character often refers to and attempts to utilise throughout the series. No doubt due to his own personal experience of this treatment which allowed him to recall the events surrounding his sister's abduction. Mulder will often testify to the positive effects of hypnosis throughout the series, though he is often alone in this opinion and very rarely does he actually get the results he hopes for.

Mark Snow's score is an integral component in the building of tension throughout this episode. The music is often used to suggest a supernatural element, even if the on screen action doesn't directly indicate this. The tension builds steadily as the deaths pile up and the character's become more desperate to solve the case. While credit is certainly due to the writing, there's no doubt that Snow's score and Freedman's direction play an important role in the transition from page to screen. The overall presentation of this episode displays a maturation of the show's visual style when we compare it to early episodes, with the exception of 'Squeeze' which is a positive anomaly. It's interesting to note that Howard Gordon himself was apparently unhappy with the episode, citing that it was a little to much like a cop show. I think that through the benefit of hindsight and retrospectively viewing the series without the hype or pressure of TV ratings and financial success, episodes like 'Born Again' have a chance to find a second home on DVD.

Following the monster of the week "Tooms" is the 22nd x-files episode entitled "Born again". This is one of a few episodes pertaining to reincarnation which became a bit of an overkill.

After two deaths were witnessed by a little 8 year old girl, Mulder believes she is involved and that the she is perhaps a reincarnation. the first death takes place in a precinct when a female employee sees the little girl eerily sitting in an alley whom supposedly was lost. However, her true intentions become clear when she is being questioned by a detective and uses ghostly power to throw him out of a window making it look like a suicide. She states she saw a man throw him out of the window.

The second death was something that would later remind me of the Final Destination movies. A man WHO ALSO works at the precinct leaves to get off a bus, but this "ghostly power" lifts the scarf back into the path of the closing bus door. The bus driver notices this after a few seconds and tries to stop, but the ghostly power is pushing on the accelerator. Eventually the driver gains control again when the man dies. For some odd reason the bus driver didn't question the fact that the little girl was also on the bus staring menacingly at the dragging man. Also, the man could of just removed the scarf. Oh well.

The little girl identifies the man who did these two killings to be a former detective at the precinct who we found out later was killed by these two colleagues. A guy named Charlie. Charlie is enacting revenge against his killers through the body of a little girl, which I think is kind of cool, because you would not expect a little girl to be involved with murder. However, one man remains who knew of the murder, Tony. Tony happens to be the former partner of Charlie, and is the husband of Charlie's former wife. Confusing, I know.

The ending is satisfying enough but contains lots of blank staring by the 8 year old. Nothing particularly stands out about this episode, but I felt it entertaining enough. Lazarus still remains a better reincarnation tale but I do like what Carter tried to do in making the viewer change from thinking the girl is a crazy bitch to feeling sympathy. More good than bad here.

6.5/10 or a generous 7

The reason why I thought this Ep was FAR from Sub-Standard, is because it steps along the Fringe - Right on the Very Edge of what is commonly referred to as "religion" but I call "Spirituality." But this ep really has nothing to do with any organised form of group-spirituality, eastern OR western. But it does use a few tenets from both East and West spiritual ideologies.

David Duchovny's real life GF of the time, Maggie Wheeler, is Detective Sharon Lazard, looking and sounding very much like Sarah Silverman from the Reitman/Duchovny film "Evolution." Her accent is perfect. The Great Dey Young (From Rock n Roll High School) is Michelle's Mom, who Mulder seems to not p*ss off as badly as he usually p*sses off parents.

Plenty of Maguffins to go around here - A Detective, (Dwight Koss) apparently suicides by jumping out of a high window. When Mulder and Skully look at the scene, it appears the man was forcibly ejected. The only other person in the room was a 9-year old Girl Michelle (Andrea Libman) who says there was another guy in the room - When they try to use a computer to make an image of the person she saw, the software glitches and out pops the picture of Charlie Morris (Jonathan Walker - who was last seen in Fringe "Forced Perspective") — and he was killed 9 years previous to the events here. One by One, the Police Officers Charlie used to work with are being killed off — systematically. Caprica's Brian Markenson is "Tony" - Who married Charlie's Wife "Anita" (Mimi Lieber).

Nobody ever comes out and says "Reincarnation" or even "Ghost," but that is what is being referred to here - Although "Ghost" is far from what is actually happening. What makes this interesting is the slow way the relevant conundrum is revealed. We know the kid Michelle has something to do with what is happening, but what exactly? And is she directly involved?

Skully finds that Charlie had been drowned in Seawater before being "Accidentally Killed" in action. This is just one of many little puzzles about this X-File - All relevant.

This story has no EBEs. This story has no Black Oil. Well, this was before the black oil... But the X-File of this Monster of the Week ep is still sound scientifically, although not falsifiable at this time. But whether something is falsifiable or not cannot dictate if something is either real and proved or if it is based on Fantasy, Science Fiction, or Myth.

This ep was expertly directed by veteran TV Director/Writer Jerry Freedman who had previously directed the episode "Ghost in the Machine" and written by producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa.

Hmmm, yeah this episode is extremely underrated.

Even though there is a LOT of bad writing and acting at parts. I think the good over wins the bad.

I love the origami parts and the big 'twist' at the end. I absolutely love that scene when Michelle confronts Tony. It's actually one of my favorite scenes of Season 1.

For some reason, people have always hated the Reincarnation episodes, yet I have always liked them. They're not the best, in terms of writing. but the theme really does interest me,

I'm gonna give it a THREE star, but if the writing were a little more consistent i'd give it FOUR.

Born Again is a okay episode of Season 1. The reincarnation bit, in my opinion, is cool. The more I watch it, the more I like it, yet it will never rise above 'Very Good' for me. Even though it is not very memorable, i'll always remember it as the reincarnation episode. Anyway, now I will say what is good and bad about this episode,

The Good: Oragami. Oh Yeah!

That Fish tank was nice. =]

Thrown out of a window. Very classy. x]

The Bad: Marry your Best Friend's wife!? O_O

What a random pick to reincarnate.

Why didn't the guy who died by having his scarf tangled up, try to take his scarf off instead?

Conclusion: Okay episode, not very memorable. 7/10