I think it says a lot about Mulder and Scully when this episode lets it be known Mulder’s seemingly only friend is the one FBI agent who doesn’t treat him like a joke but Scully’s friends include a concert cellist.
The Case:Â A De-Aged Serial Killer!
The Rest:Â Apparently, any mad scientist can go to work in a prison, and when he claims notorious serial killer John Barnett is dead to a curious inmate who heard screaming, said inmate doesn’t believe it, mostly because those cataract-y eyes keep blinking.
Wouldn’t that make for an interesting and bizarre case? Some corpse just keeps blinking. Nothing else weird or unusual happens. The corpse just keeps blinking. No reason for it. Just a blinking corpse. Not every case needs to be earth-shattering.
But this one does! John Barnett was Mulder’s first case with the FBI. He followed procedure when the FBI finally cornered that serial killer, but said procedure ended up with the death of a hostage and one FBI agent. Mulder naturally blames himself, but one Agent Purdue doesn’t think so. He worked the case with Mulder all those years ago and called him in to look into a recent murder at a jewelry store during a robbery. Said killer left a note that looks like it was written in Barnett’s handwriting. Small problem there: Barnett was right handed, and said hand had been amputated following an infection in prison. Also, he died four years earlier.
Huh. That could be a problem. Is it a ghost? No, it’s something else. Mulder figures out that somehow the mad scientist made him younger, and since he was arrested as an older man, there was no way to know what he looked like as he did the classic TV or movie serial killer shtick and left behind notes that were clearly freshly written by left no fingerprints (hard to imagine given the guy had lost his writing hand) but couldn’t have been done by gloves, and that wasn’t including when he made cryptic phone calls, threatened to kill all of Mulder’s loved ones, and just basically snuck around and his in plain sight.
Apparently, Mulder’s loved ones are Purdue and Scully. Mostly because the series hadn’t introduced Mulder’s mama yet. And since Scully is a regular character, that means Barnett will kill Purdue, proving once again how the black man tends to die first.
As it is, Barnett ran off with the research necessary to make more of him. Or just to de-age people. Deep Throat says the government is negotiating with the guy. Man, Deep Throat is not a good ally, is he?
Nevertheless, Mulder sets up a sting at Scully’s friend’s recital.
You know, this is the second time we’ve seen one of Scully’s friends. The previous time was when she went to her godson’s birthday party a few episodes ago. Meanwhile, Mulder just hangs around the basement and reads porno mags and X-Files.
Anyway, Scully does get shot, but she had a lot of kevlar on, and Mulder has to shoot Barnett dead as he held the poor cellist hostage. Scully really should not introduce her friends to Mulder. It doesn’t end well. Barnett, who’d been infused with salamander cells, and he had a half-formed new hand but his eyes wouldn’t change, and I’ll give the episode credit for not giving the viewer a clear look at the younger Barnett’s face until the end of the episode. Oh, and he left the research inside an airport locker where it will never be found, I’m sure.
Anyway, next up…wait, the Lone Gunmen?!? I thought they came in later.
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