"The Truth Is Still Out There" Re-Watch: "Lazarus" & "Young at Heart"

 The X-Files

I'm sure I've said this before, but this first season has so many standalone episodes. That isn't the worst thing since the mythology episodes get worse as the series goes on but some of these are experiments gone awry. Luckily, if you squint hard enough, there is a common theme running through both of todays episodes.

"Lazarus"

Dana Scully: "What does that mean?"

Fox Mulder: "It means... it means whatever you want it to mean."

Mythology or Monster of the Week: MotW

X-File of the Week: Scully is working with her ex-partner, Jack Willis, to capture a pair of bank robbers. When they confront the male half of the duo, Warren Dupre, Dupre and Willis shoot each other at the same time. At the hospital, Scully browbeats the doctors into continuing resuscitation efforts until Willis revives. Once Willis wakes up, he leaves the hospital acting very strangely. Scully chalks it up to stress and trauma, but Mulder believes that Dupre is possessing Willis.

Birthday buddies.

I mentioned a common theme in the intro to this post and it really is one that you kind of have to search to find when it comes to these two episodes. It feels like the writers really wanted to take these premises that you've seen on procedurals and run them through the lens of "The X-Files." That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the main issue here is that these episodes are kind of boring. 

This episode is a pretty blatant "Bonnie & Clyde" riff. It's relatively straightforward. From the bank robber perspective, it checks all the boxes. Star crossed lovers. Check. Dupre was a guard at the prison where Lula Phillips was incarcerated. Betrayal. Check. Turns out that Lula double crossed Dupre on that last job, leaving him at the mercy of the authorities. Tragic ending? Check. The two die in each other's arms after Dupre shoots Lula and... something happens to Dupre.

The main issue is that the supernatural aspect of this episode, the body swap, is pretty weak. It's an interesting concept. Because Dupre and Willis died at the same time, Dupre was able to enter Willis' body but it's not really fleshed out too much. Like, why did Dupre's tattoo appear on Willis' arm? Was the tattoo the reason for the transference? It couldn't be for the agents to realize what happened. Neither Mulder nor Scully comment on it. It's Willis' whackadoo behavior that puts everyone on alert.  I just do't get the significance. I've said before I don't want nor do I need "The X-Files" to ever explain every single little thing, but explain a little. Help this makes sense.

It doesn't help that the actors playing Willis and Lula have zero chemistry and are about as compelling as watching paint dry. Seriously. The black and white photo they keep showing of her is more interesting than the character herself. Not great when a lot of the emotional weight is resting on that. Have you noticed how Mulder seems to have experts for everything? In this episode, he brings his near death expert out to tell Scully why she's wrong.

One great thing about this episode, this is the episode I learned that Scully and I share the same birthday. Well, month and day. So, that was pretty cool.

Grade: C+

"Young at Heart"

Dr. Joe Ridley: "My work has cost me dearly. I'm an outcast in the medical community. I was called Doctor Mengele, Doctor Frankenstein... but I didn't care.

Dana Scully: "Because you knew if your theories panned out..."

Dr. Joe Ridley: "The man who owns the fountain of youth controls the world."

Notable Guest Star: Christine Estabrook as Agent Henderson

Mythology or Monster of the Week: MotW

X-File of the Week: An old case has come back to haunt Mulder. Mulder and Scully are called in to help investigate an jewelry story robbery by Mulder's first partner when he became an agent, Reggie Perdue. There is a note found addressed to Mulder very similar to notes left by a killer Mulder put away, John Barnett, except John Barnett is dead. Or is he?

This guy.

The first half of "Young at Heart," aside from the cold open, is very pedestrian. The cold open features a prison inmate stumbling upon another inmate seemingly getting cut up and then being threatened by the doctor for his trouble. Your interest is piqued. But then the episode settles into a pretty pedestrian episode about a former nemesis taunting an FBI agent. It's very "Criminal Minds" and I never want "The X-Files" to evoke "Criminal Minds." Yes, that is shade towards "Criminal Minds." Deal with it people. Don't get me wrong, it's kind of fun to learn about Mulder when he was a rookie agent, and learn there was a time when he actually followed the rules, but that can only take you so far.It is similar to the point I made about "Lazarus." It feels like the writers wanted to write an episode about this and then found a way to shoehorn it in to help it make sense. 

Then, the episode hits its halfway point and things get cuckoo bananas. Mulder and Scully meet with the wheelchair man from cold open. Turns out he's Jon Crandall, Barnett's cell mate. Crandall relays the story about the doctor and the amputation and the scalpel to the throat and how he believes that Barnett may still be alive. Turns out the doctor is Dr. Joe Ridley, another in a long line of horrific "X-Files" doctors. Does Chris Carter not trust medical professionals? Is he on Twitter right now throwing out Covid conspiracy theories. I don't know but I like to casually throw that out there to cause chaos. Turns out Ridley had his license revoked for performing unethical experiments on humans to stop and reverse the aging process. 

Ridley shows up at Scully's apartment and honestly, doesn't seem like a bad dude. Why not experiment on heartless, remorseless murderers? What's the harm? It turns out Ridley was able to succeed in reversing the aging process by replacing Barnett's hand with salamander DNA because why the fuck not? Plus, we get that gross visual of the weird frog hand on the human. Turns out, Barnett stole Ridley's research and is negotiating a sale to the US government. We learn this thank to a patented Deep Throat Info Dump. Man, they do that a lot. 

The final act veers back into ho hum territory with a shoot out at Scully's unnamed friend's cello recital. A cello recital? What full grown adult has a cello recital that they are inviting friends to? We get a brief cameo from the Cancer Man trying to revive Barnett after he's shot, but alas, he dies taking Ridley's work with him. 

This episode is really too all over the place to really say that's good. The first half and like the last 10 minutes are pretty boring. And the writers realizing midway through they are actually writing an "X-Files" episode and hitting the gas and piling on the X-isms doesn't really save it. Plus, Perdue seemed like he could make a good recurring character and they killed him. Lame.

Another small note, the notable guest star this week, Christine Estabrook, is most known for her work on "Desperate Housewives" as nosy neighbor, Martha Huber. Her sister was played by previous notable guest star, Harriet Sansom Harris. Fun!

Grade: C

Next up, we are back in the mythos along with the Lone Gunmen (squee!) then the agents find religion at a tent revival.

What did you all think of these episodes? I was really bored honestly. They are the kinds of episodes that can make a re-watch a slog. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.