29 years ago, this episode of The X-Files took us by storm and the network never aired it again!

In the 90s, The X-Files revolutionized the world of TV series and took its investigative duo to the top! David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, as well as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, were M6’s heyday (or rather beautiful evenings) from 1993-2001.

Although the series returned for several episodes in 2016 and 2018, it never regained its former glory. However, the show has explored many mysteries throughout its 11 seasons, much to the delight of fans!

Warning, this article contains spoilers for The X-Files Season 2 Episode 4.

Among the series’ 218 episodes, the second of season 4, called La Meute, remains one of the most memorable and saddest. If you only had to watch one episode of The X-Files, it would probably be this one, which happily leans toward Wes Craven’s The Hill Has Eyes.

Directed by Kim Manners and written by Glenn Morgan and James Wong, The Pack is the first X-Files episode to be preceded by a violence warning. Broadcast in 1996, it was also not recommended for people under the age of 17. Inspired by true events, the episode takes us to the Pennsylvania village of Home.

Terribly disgusting story

The story begins in an absolutely awkward way by introducing a woman who gives birth to a completely physically deformed child. 3 The man, also suffering from a deformity, buried the newborn still crying in the field next to the farm.

The little body was found by kids playing baseball, who immediately alerted the local sheriff, Mr. Taylor. The latter, completely stunned by this macabre discovery, decides to call the FBI. So the Bureau sends in two of its agents who specialize in this type of case, Mulder and Scully.

The duo learns that the farm next to which the child’s remains were found belongs to the Peacock family. The latter lives here completely isolated from the rest of the world, completely self-sufficient. According to the sheriff, there is a sick rumor surrounding the peacock. They interbred for several generations.

After the baby’s autopsy, Scully discovers that it was buried alive. She then assumes that her malformations are genetic and that she is the child of one of the 3 brothers at Peacock Farm. According to the investigator, they kidnapped and raped the woman before arresting her.

Mulder and Scully return to this macabre household to confront them, but no one is there. However, they find enough evidence to accuse the peacock of killing the baby. Tandem does not see that the woman is hiding under the floor and hears everything.

the unbearable truth

Then we learn that this is the mother of the 3 men and that she is the one who gave birth to the deformed child. Then we learn the absolutely terrible truth: the brothers have always slept with their own mother, and from time to time she gives birth to deformed children, which they bury without humanity.

This revelation is one of the most shocking of the series, making this episode one of the most controversial, if not the most controversial. Screenwriters Glenn Morgan and James Wong wanted to push the boundaries of what could be shown on television. Thus, they consciously pushed the cursors and took inspiration, in particular, from Brother’s Keeper, a documentary that evokes the story of the 4 Ward brothers.

The latter lived on a farm that had been in their family for generations, and one of them was accused of murdering the other before being acquitted. They also played an anecdote told in Charlie Chaplin’s autobiography. The director recalled his meeting with a family whose son had amputated all four limbs; His parents took it out from under the bed to give it to the film director.

Often compared to the work of David Lynch, this episode of The X-Files is perhaps the most disturbing because it deals with a taboo topic that is, moreover, in prime time on American television: incest. In addition to being a satire of the American dream, La Meute takes motherhood at its worst. Fox, which aired the series, subsequently refused to air the episode.