Young at Heart

"Young at Heart" belongs to the group of episodes which focus on a case from Mulder's past coming back to haunt him, and although it is not as good as some of those, such as "Beyond the Sea" from earlier in the first season, it is probably Chris Carter's best standalone script for season one outside of "Darkness Falls".

There are some issues with the episode. I don't care at all for the actor who played Barnett, although he was acceptable when he was just a voice, but his appearance towards the end is hammy and ridiculous. Duchovny isn't quite as capable dramatically as he would be later on, so the full emotional aspect of the script isn't conveyed as well as it could have been.

Still, "Young at Heart" has an interesting plot and is more or less a confident script, but if it had come in a later season I probably would have been harder on it. In comparison to some season one episodes it's a masterpiece.

7/10