The X-Files Episode So Disturbing A Mother Took Her Child Out Of The Cast

“Terms of Endearment” was conceived as a kind of reverse-Rosemary’s Baby. Rather than trying to have a demonic child, the character played by cult horror legend Bruce Campbell is a demon trying instead to have a perfectly normal human child. When the sonogram for his wife’s child comes back showing abnormalities, Wayne makes sure the baby doesn’t survive.

Wayne’s wife Laura (Lisa Jane Persky) wakes up in the middle of the night with her bed surrounded by flames and a demonic form at the foot of her bed. She tries to fight him off, but he takes her baby from her, and we see the child’s telltale horns protruding from his head.

We don’t know the name of the mother whose baby was originally going to show up on camera as Wayne’s child in “Terms of Endearment,” but whoever it was she wasn’t comfortable with her baby appearing in the story.

A devout Christian, the mother wasn’t okay with the idea of her baby depicting a devil child. Director Rob Bowman was understanding and it took less than an hour to find a replacement for the scene. It was the first ever example of a cast member leaving the show on religious grounds.

While Bruce Campbell may be best known for more over-the-top roles like Ash Williams of the Evil Dead franchise, in “Terms of Endearment” he plays it straight and the result is a devious but ultimately sympathetic villain.

Wayne is far from innocent, of course. He frames Laura for their baby’s death and tries to murder her when she discovers what he is. We also learn he has a second pregnant wife on the other side of Roanoke, Besty (Grace Phillips), and that he’s been suspected of killing other wives of his when he lived under different names.

But in the end, he’s just a guy who wants a kid that isn’t pure evil. He also uses his literal dying breath to save Laura.

Wayne is so sympathetic that there are moments of “Terms of Endearment” when it’s Mulder who comes off looking like a jerk.

“Terms of Endearment” is a monster-of-the-week episode divorced from the show’s larger UFO mythology, but its story is still impacted by Mulder and Scully’s search for “the truth.”

It’s set during a time when the pair have been thrown off the X-Files and replaced with the Smoking Man’s son, Agent Spender. Their replacement puts the case in the shredder when he gets it, but Mulder finds it by picking through his garbage.

So for most of “Terms of Endearment,” Mulder is without the moderating presence of Scully in Roanoke, and he does the kinds of things his partner might normally be able to stop him from doing.

Namely, he harasses Wayne. As Laura is being arrested, Mulder—already convinced that Wayne is a devil—turns to Wayne as he leaves his house, saying, “I know what you are.”

Later Mulder teases Wayne as he trails him in his car, forcing the devil in disguise to do some quick thinking to not reveal his second secret family to the agent.