Lazarus (4 Feb. 1994)
"The X Files" Lazarus (original title)

Scully and another agent, Jack Willis, are on a stakeout in a bank that they believe has been targeted by a pair of married robbers. In the ensuing gunfire, both the robber and Agent Willis... See full summary »

Director:

David Nutter

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator), Alex Gansa,

Stars:

David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Christopher Allport

Cast

Episode cast overview:
David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Christopher Allport	...	Agent Jack Willis
Cec Verrell	...	Lula Phillips
Jackson Davies	...	Agent Bruskin
Jason Schombing	...	Warren James Dupre
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Tommy
Jay Brazeau	...	Prof. Varnes
Lisa Bunting	...	Doctor #1
Peter Kelamis	...	O'Dell
Brenda Crichlow	...	Reporter
Mark Saunders	...	Doctor #2
Alexander Boynton	...	Clean Cut Man
Russ Hamilton	...	Officer Daniels (as Russell Hamilton)

Storyline

Scully and another agent, Jack Willis, are on a stakeout in a bank that they believe has been targeted by a pair of married robbers. In the ensuing gunfire, both the robber and Agent Willis are seriously wounded. At the hospital, Agent Willis is revived and the robber, Dupre, dies. As time goes on, Mulder becomes convinced that it is Dupre's consciousness that survived but in Willis' body. Scully is disbelieving even after Mulder demonstrates that the new Willis is now left-handed and has forgotten Scully's birthday, even though they were born the same day. When Jack takes Scully prisoner, it's up to Mulder to rescue her.

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Plot Keywords:

bank robbery | wedding ring | breaking a window | defibrillation | phone trace | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 February 1994 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Stage 2, North Shore Studios, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

20th Century Fox Television, Ten Thirteen Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

While directing the search for Scully, Mulder says that "200 units of NPH insulin were taken, along with a box of syringes" from a drug store break-in. All vials of insulin sold at that time were sold in 10-milliliter, 1000-unit vials.

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Connections

References America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back (1988)

User Reviews

"Even ugliness is beautiful... thanks to her"

It's a Gansa/Gordon script so you can expect the inevitable hokey, cheap storytelling and stilted dialogue (oh how much better Gordon ended up being without Gansa). Once you get past some hilariously bad dialogue this isn't a particularly awful episode, if still a bad one. It's got some tense scenes and some effective use of characters, particularly Scully. Once the dilemma is set up the episode gets more interesting, but that's not saying much. It turns into a standard thriller towards the end.

What made "The X-Files" great was how it regularly put a fun and different spin on things every time it slipped into more traditional and predictable territory. You would think that you knew what was happening then they'd put something in there that elevated the script above the standard. What I don't like about a lot of season one episodes is how that special spark is seriously lacking, and how many of them seem like subpar anthology show episodes or, worse, subpar police procedurals with a supernatural twist. "Lazarus" is just more mediocrity.

4/10