Young at Heart

"Young at Heart" is the sixteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, premiering on the Fox network on February 11, 1994. It was written by Scott Kaufer and series creator Chris Carter, and directed by Michael Lange. The episode featured guest appearances by Dick Anthony Williams, William B. Davis and Alan Boyce, and saw Jerry Hardin reprise his role as Deep Throat. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Young at Heart" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.2, being watched by 6.8 million households in its initial broadcast, and received mostly negative reviews from critics. The show centers on FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. When they aid a former colleague of Mulder's in an investigation into a series of robberies, it becomes apparent that the culprit is an old nemesis of Mulder's—who had seemingly died in prison several years previously. "Young at Heart" originated as a script from freelance writer Scott Kaufer, who was a friend of Carter and former employee of the comedy development department at Warner Bros. Pictures. Carter rewrote the script, which included the addition of Barnett's salamander hand. Director Michael Lange felt the episode offered him excellent scope to try new techniques, noting that the series producers "encourage cinematic stuff". Davis makes his second appearance of the series in this episode, although his role is simply credited as "CIA Agent" rather than the more well-known "Smoking Man". Plot In 1989, Joe Crandall, an inmate at a federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania, hears screaming from the infirmary. Inside, he discovers the prison's doctor, Joe Ridley, amputating the hand of fellow inmate John Barnett. Ridley tells Crandall that Barnett is dead, threatening him with a scalpel. However, as Crandall leaves the room, he sees Barnett blinking.