Born Again (The X-Files)

Born Again (The X-Files)

"Born Again" is the twenty-second episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on April 22, 1994. "Born Again" was written by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, and directed by Jerrold Freedman. The episode featured guest appearances by Brian Markinson and Maggie Wheeler. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Born Again" earned a Nielsen household rating of 8.2, being watched by 7.7 million households in its initial broadcast, and received mixed reviews from critics.

The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. When Mulder and Scully are called to New York to investigate the death of a police officer, they come to believe that a young girl present at the incident may be the reincarnation of another officer murdered years earlier.

Several crew members disliked the episode, most notably, writer Howard Gordon and David Duchovny. Gordon felt that the episode was too similar to the other episodes that had been aired, whereas Duchovny bluntly-stated that he "detested" the episode.