10 Criminally Underrated X-Files Episodes
6. Young At Heart - S1E16
Some of the best early X-Files episodes involved cases from Mulder’s past. Beyond the Sea and its tale of the events surrounding the execution of Luther Lee Boggs (played to perfection by Brad Douriff) is one such example, and was lavished with plenty of critical acclaim. Young At Heart, which similarly dipped back into Mulder’s old case file in the very first season, received no such love, but really should have.
Featuring the return of John Barnett, an armed robber/murderer Mulder and his ex-partner, Reggie, believed had died in prison, Young At Heart is one of the rare X-Files episodes where the antagonist has no mystical power – but is still incredibly creepy. Leaving notes like “Fox can’t guard the chicken coop” and hitting home by taking out Mulder’s old pal Reggie, Barnett makes a convincing villain.
The paranormal side of the episode comes by way of a Mengle-style doctor performing his own rogue experiments at the prison that housed Barnett: he has replaced the man’s hand with that of a salamander as part of an attempt to reverse the effects of the degenerative disease Progeria – which ages its sufferers at astonishing speed. Unfortunately, his lone success turns out to be the villainous Barnett himself, who now appears as a young man.
The imaginative goings on here make Young At Heart well worth a second look.