The X Files - Død Kalm / Notes

 The "aging Mulder/Scully" episode that reminds me of Star Trek's own similar plot where members of the crew age (there is also a Pulaski episode of The Next Generation in the second season that has a similar plot as well) at an alarming rate with a solution desperately needed or else. Mulder believes there was military experiments to make ships undetectable causing a time "wrinkle" or time band causing whatever (or whoever) is within this distortion to age. Case in point, a ship's crew of the Ardent, discovered by Mulder, Scully, and a ship captain from Norway (John Savage) who took them to the 65th Parallel. The Ardent looks as if it has rusted into a corrosive shell from long ago, despite its release in 1991. So not only do people age, so does the ship. However, one sewage pipe (and the water filtered through it) seems to not be effected and that is the key to surviving until help arrives from the US Navy. Vladimir Kulich is a Norwegian pirate whaler who hasn't aged, with a secret as to why, and Scully's chemical/biological expertise certainly come in handy when she is able to determine what causes the aging and how to reverse it. Her notes help a Naval medical staff come to their rescue. Savage's selfish, self-absorbed instincts refuse Scully or Mulder anymore of the water he killed Kulich to hoard for himself, but when he locks the door to the room that has it, he fails to realize how he has also sealed his own fate. The ship corroding so quickly it takes on water definitely increases as much chances of Mulder and Scully's demise as their worsening aging. While there is never a doubt that Mulder and Scully will make it out of this somehow, I was asking by episode's end if Scully's notes had provided a fountain of youth since their aging had been reversed. The "metallic object" that was causing the growth process is sort of left for us to ponder and any experiments or evaluations of the ship for Scully sunk into the ocean, removing any further investigation. Yes, the writers do sort of sink any insight on what caused the whole aging, intentionally and conveniently. And just as well. When Mulder and Scully talk about "not being done yet" and "how unfair it is they are placed in such a situation" is probably my favorite scene in the episode. As far as the aging plot, I'm not all that wild and crazy about the episode overall. This is that rare miss with me. The aging makeup was realllllly "latexy" but the ship itself and the petrified bodies was eerie enough. 2/5