Young at Heart

Episode aired Feb 11, 1994
TV-14
46m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

5.7K

YOUR RATING

Conspiracy Thriller Adventure Crime Drama Mystery Sci-Fi Thriller

A criminal believed to have died in a prison years earlier wages a vendetta against Mulder.A criminal believed to have died in a prison years earlier wages a vendetta against Mulder.A criminal believed to have died in a prison years earlier wages a vendetta against Mulder.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

5.7K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
The footage of the young girl with progeria was filmed after the production crew contacted the Progeria Society and were put in touch with the family of Courtney Arciaga, who was a young girl with the disease. She and her family were fans of the series, and were flown from their San Diego home to Vancouver to shoot the scene.

Goofs
(at around 43 mins) Young Barnett is seen in the hospital with a bullet wound on his left shoulder, received from the shot fired at him by Mulder. However, his left shoulder was earlier hidden behind his hostage, so could not have been the target of Mulder's shot. Only his right shoulder was visible, which could have been the target of the only shot fired at him by Mulder. However, a shot fired at his shoulder could not have incapacitated him the way it was depicted, which could only have been possible with a shot aimed at his head. But, as seen in the hospital, his head was completely injury-free. Moreover, a shot fired at his shoulder should have also given his arm a strong backward thrust, which was not seen.

Quotes
Scully: Mulder, I know what you did wasn't by the book.
Mulder: Tells you a lot about the book, doesn't it?

Connections
Referenced in Gone Home (2013)

Soundtracks
The X-Files
(Credited)
Written by Mark Snow
Performed by John Beal

User reviews15

Featured review

5/10

Fox can't guard the chicken coop.

"Young at Heart" starts off strongly enough with an eerie teaser in which proclaimed dead prisoner John Barnett blinks toward the camera with glazed-over eyes, but quickly loses steam thereafter. I think an episode delving into Mulder's beginnings at the FBI was a great idea, but this one is a mess and can't hold a candle to later ones like "Grotesque" or "Paper Hearts," which attempted to do the same thing after a fashion. The idea of reverse aging makes for an intriguing X-File alone, yet wanton inclusions such as Barnett's salamander hand and deteriorating vision are never thoroughly explained and haven't the slightest impact on the storyline. This episode was penned by Chris Carter and Simon Kaufer, and it would appear as though the two had to compromise their own distinct visions of the plot to come up with this jumble.

There is some good guest acting on the parts of Dick Anthony Williams, who plays Mulder's ex-partner Reggie Purdue, and Christine Estabrook (who I immediately recognized as Desperate Housewives' Ms. Huber), who has great chemistry with Duchovny in her respective scenes. That one of these characters is killed off and the other not seen again is lamentable, as their performances are the highlight of an otherwise pedestrian effort.

On a side note, I think John Barnett is one of the most annoying villains of the entire series. Just the sound of his voice is enough to tarnish a scene. Throw in some poorly-explained genetic mumbo jumbo and you have one very unfulfilling episode.

A generous 5 out of 10.