The X-Files (TV Series) Lazarus (1994) User Reviews

Don't worry, baby. It won't make any difference in the dark.

[DWilliams1089 · 6/10 · 11 August 2010]

The Gordon and Gansa scripts of season one were admittedly not the finest moments of that particular year, and for every "Conduit" and "Fallen Angel" we were given a "Ghost in the Machine" and "Born Again." Episode fifteen, "Lazarus," falls somewhere in the middle of the pack, offering up a mildly interesting premise but failing to deliver the tension that made classic X-Files such delicious TV candy.

I think the concept of "body-switching," of transposing one consciousness independent of its physical body into another, is quite interesting. Even in more recent times, on shows such as Lost, the concept is used in various fashions. There have been enough reported cases of near-death and out-of-body experiences to give the phenomenon some sort of foothold in the backdrop of reality. It is certainly an idea that provides food for thought.

While "Lazarus" manages to execute this idea in a believable fashion, the pieces don't completely come together. The case revolves around Scully's ex-boyfriend Jack Willis. While it's nice to see the writers once again delving into Scully's pre X-Files life, our only glimpse of him is in the teaser, as he is shot during a bank robbery and subsequently "possessed" by the shooter, Dupre. Thus, we don't really have a baseline to compare his later actions. There are also quite a few gaps in logic, just in the hospital scenes alone. How anyone could not have noticed Dupre's body convulsing on the stretcher remains an X-File in itself, and it makes absolutely no sense that a physically and psychologically suffering Willis would have been allowed right back on the case.

Still, this episode earns points for Scully's scenes. Duped by Dupre/Willis during a chase of his girlfriend Lula, Scully is kidnapped (for the first of many times), yet never lets her situation get the best of her. There are some great Scully "backbone" moments here, including the final scene in which she attempts to resurrect memories in Willis's trapped conscience. It provides tension in an otherwise tension-lacking affair.

"Lazarus" earns points for a solid premise (that would later be revisited in a different manner in "Dreamland"), fine acting and for reminding us that Scully has a spine. If it were a more engaging, logically consistent episode, I would probably rank it higher. As is, I give it a 6 out of 10.

Lazarus, come forth.

[Muldernscully · 7/10 · 13 April 2006]

Lazarus is a fine, body-switching episode. Although it's difficult to tell who got the better end of the deal. True, Jack Willis' body is still alive, but he has another man's soul in him. Warren Dupre has lost his body, but his soul is very much alive in another man's body. What a perfect disguise for a criminal, as an officer of the law! In Fire, two episodes before, Mulder had a past love interest show up. In Lazarus, it's Scully's turn, as Jack Willis is her former FBI academy instructor whom she dated. But the results are not similar, as Mulder shows no hints of jealousy at all. In Tempus Fugit, Scully comments that in the four years she's known Mulder he's never remembered her birthday. In Lazarus, Mulder gives Scully a birthday card signed by Willis two months early to test him. I wouldn't exactly call that never remembering. Another excellent guest performance given by Christopher Allport as Jack Willis. Plus, this episode has a nice little twist at the end that surprised me.

Body Transplant

[thebigeasy555 · 8/10 · 22 September 2006]

FBI agent Jack Willis is involved in a bank robbery shoot out with robber Warren Dupre.Both men are rushed to hospital as a result of their injuries.Dupre dies when Willis pulls through and lives.When Willis leaves hospital and returns to his FBI duties his behaviour seems a bit bizarre and totally out of character.Mulder comes to the conclusion Dupre has come back to life in Willis's body.Scully has doubts about this as she reveals she had a relationship with him before.

Its welcome to catch a glimpse into Scully's past revealing a lot more of the character plus Mulder appears to take this Revelation well not displaying any jealousy or animosity towards her.

I enjoyed this episode a lot and the twist at the end provides a good ending

The X-Files - Lazarus

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 12 January 2016]

During the attempt to prevent a bank heist, a FBI agent (Christopher Allport), a long time friend and mentor to Scully (Gillian Anderson), is shot by the robber. Scully shoots the robber when he turns to gun her down with his shot gun. As both the robber and Agent Jack Willis (Allport) lie dying in an operating room, Scully insists that the hospital crew keep attempting to resuscitate her good friend…what she couldn't anticipate was a type of transference where Jack seems to leave his body and the robber takes his place! When the robber obsesses over finding his bank heist accomplice and "wife", Lula (Cec Verrell), trying to disguise himself Willis long enough to catch up to her, Scully will start to realize that the man she once knew no longer exists…that won't keep her from trying to reach Jack if does exist deep down inside him. What the robber doesn't realize is that Lulu wanted him dead and out of her life! Even worse, Scully is kidnapped by the robber in Jack's body and knows that Jack is a diabetic in need of insulin…problem is that Lula doesn't care and hopes he dies so she can spend the money the couple took from other bank heists all by herself! Meanwhile, Mulder (David Duchovny) heads a FBI task force trying to find Scully. Mulder, all along, was suspicious of the "transference", but getting Scully to accept that wild theory was another matter entirely. The end with the stopped watch is a doozy! Another "Scully episode", once again her character is developed and I'm all for that! I really like seeing her up against supernatural occurrences that test her skepticism while allowing Mulder to offer theories that she typically has a hard time taking seriously. It is a journey she is on, and I think the show did her character a world of good as she tries to continue challenging the otherworldly scientifically, even when doing so becomes a bit stubborn of her in the face of so much proof. Still, this show didn't deny Gillian a chance to build a multi-faceted character while facing one strange case after another. Mulder's reputation in the X-files has made him a bit of a joke to other agents, but the primary FBI agent working in concert with him realizes that this young man is far more than some "spooky alien guy". What I liked about the plot of this episode was the ways the robber in Jack's body incriminates himself and casts doubt in his direction (and Allport is excellent at showing the disheveled crook coming to terms with the new body, and the turmoil of the crazy development is conveyed by the actor realistically), with someone like Mulder (an open mind and studious in matters as odd as soul transference) picking up on his chance in behavior while Scully isn't as able to do so.

Apparently tattoos are printed on the soul as well as the body.

[Sanpaco13 · 6/10 · 17 September 2009]

Lazarus the Limerick

An FBI agent survives

But has a different spirit inside

The criminal's wife

Then takes his life

Right after he remembers a snowy drive.

This is another one of those someone from the past episodes that Season 1 could probably have done without. I don't hate this one as much as others but as an X-File it is pretty weak. An FBI agent and a bank robber are both shot and in the E.R., the agent is revived but somehow the spirit/soul/essence/whatever philosophy you subscribe to of the criminal enters the body of the agent. I have two major problems with the way this is presented: the other guy's body spasming when they shock the agent with the defibrillator, and the transferring of the tattoo. These two elements just don't make any sense at all and seem to only be added to drive some kind of point home about the transferring of the soul. But did we really need these things in order to figure that out? No. There were a couple things I did like. I liked the guest actor. He did a pretty good job I thought. Not annoying at all. And I liked Mulder in this episode going to all lengths to try and prove to Scully that the souls were switched. All in all I give the episode a 6 out of 10.

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

[ametaphysicalshark · 3 September 2008]

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

Did you know?

[SavageBoy · 7/10 · 27 March 2021]

38:20 into the episode, Mulder says they have 1000 households to check. They have 100 officers, and each officer can check 30 households per hour. He says they will cover the area in 3 hours.

100 officers x 30 = 3000 households per hour. 3 hours should be 9000 households. They should be able to check the 1000 households in 20 minutes, not 3 hours. It's strange no one of the cast or production team realized this.

"I just wasn't myself!"

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 16 May 2017]

For a non-UFO related case, this one was right up Spooky Mulder's alley. The only thing is, it seems to me that in this and other episodes of 'The X-Files', Mulder often came up with his theories way too quickly. Pretty much right out of the gate in this story he's ready to conclude that there's some sort of transference that took place between FBI Agent Willis (Christopher Allport) and the 'dead' outlaw Warren Dupree (Jason Schombing). This is obviously a consequence of putting together a story with a time limit of forty five minutes or so, but it does make it seem like Mulder was virtually clairvoyant. Almost like one of his X-Files subjects.

With that little nit-pick aside, I thought this was a pretty creatively written episode. One thing I thought was pretty cool was when one of the skeptical agents at the FBI field office wondered if Mulder came up with anything new on the Kennedy assassination. He might have been privy to a future story in the series.

With all the hints thrown at the viewer and all the instances of showing Willis using his left hand after it was revealed he was right handed, none of that seemed to matter in solving the case. I thought that was interesting. What seemed to be a little troubling to me was the way Scully was able to confuse 'Dupre' by having him summon up some of Jack Willis's memories of the past. That inconsistency would have required two different minds existing in the body of Willis to my thinking. The story didn't even try to explain it.

Perhaps better than any other, this story ends with a cautionary way of looking at things that can't be explained. When Scully and Mulder ponder how Willis's watch stopped ticking at the exact moment he experienced cardiac arrest, Mulder put it in the most unscientific way he could - "It means whatever you want it to mean".

A bit of a strange one and not in a good way

[JaydoDre · 6/10 · 29 December 2012]

Now let us forget for a second the scene of one guy getting the defibrillator shock but the dead body of another guy convulsing from that shock or the tattoo of one guy appearing on the arm of another or that same tattoo disappearing from the skin later. This is X-Files - it can be forgiven. Each episode of X-Files gets...6 chances.

What messes this episode up are Chris Allport and Cec Verrell making their guest appearances as the baddies. It is not so much their acting but the cheesy roles and dialogue they are given to play. The other side characters and their texts only make things worse. The whole episode gets a B-movie tint.

But it also has a gritty 80's atmosphere, and apart from the body-switching motive, this is actually one of the more down-to-Earth FBI investigations of the series.

The body-switching premise could have been executed a little better though, both in terms of believability and fun. This is one of the more awkward episodes.

Underrated X-Files episode.

[ebert_jr · 9/10 · 3 April 2022]

Features a great story premise, great guest acting, and we see Mulder and Scully's acting fully develop and mature in this episode - season 1 featured some spotty acting especially on David's part but by this episode, our two main leads fully embrace and mature their characters that later be the foundation for future seasons

The score is also amazing in this episode, and the music perfect synced with the tension. Probably one of the best scores I cna recall in any X Files episode.

The story premise is presented and framed in a engaging and creative way and the tension and story pacing are fantastic and riveting.

I don't get why some critics at the time gave it marginal reviews but I would bet they would change their minds upon a revisit to the episode.

Just Like The Bible Says...

[Dresden_Doll_101 · 9/10 · 1 September 2007]

Lazarus is actually a really good episode. It involves Scully's ex boyfriend getting in a spot of trouble, well, he is not really him, he is someone is, in his body, but... Ah, never mind. You'll get it when you see it. Anyway, i'll give you some good and bad points about this episode,

The Good: Scully's personal life. x]

That little twist at the end. Totally unexpected.

Very interesting plot idea.

Adventure in the snow. <3

The Bad: Did she ever really love him? :(

Conclusion: Brilliant episode. I really enjoyed it. 9/10

Some nice ideas.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 18 September 2020]

I struggled with this episode, it definitely has some nice ideas, but the execution of them just doesn't work somehow, and it's the first time this series I've been kind of bored.

I am fascinated by the idea of transference, it's a great concept, but here it was too heavy handed, they could have done it in a subtle, menacing way, and it just doesn't work.

The idea of the tattoo has been copied since, if anyone has watched Dr Who's spinoff Class, I'd argue they lifted ideas from here.

It's forgettable, 5/10.

Mulder: It means ... It means whatever you want it to mean. Good night.

[bombersflyup · 5/10 · 3 May 2020]

Lazarus is about a bank heist gone wrong and the switching of consciousness upon death.

An okay episode, good premise reduced to a dull outcome. Guest appearances weak. Mulder seems to know what's going on right out of the gate. He tells Scully and shows her evidence, but she shrugs it off and gets herself into a bad situation. She sees firsthand and still dismisses it asking questions she already knows the answers to. Mulder gets a tad snarky about it and rightly so.

Stinker

[benprichardsdotcom · 5/10 · 18 November 2021]

A great idea but let down by an incredibly poor delivery. There's not a cats chance in hell that the antagonist would know how to navigate an FBI office.

boredom to the max

[SleepTight666 · 2/10 · 20 July 2008]

My gods, that was terribly boring. You could literally put someone to sleep with it. It almost put me to sleep. and the dialog made me cringe more than just once.

The whole 'body switching' crap is so terribly uninteresting for me. The episode is also completely forgettable, I keep forgetting about it unlike other bad episodes like 'Space' where you immediately know what it was about. Honestly, only good thing about this episode was Gillian Anderson's acting. She's entirely believable.

This episode is my third ONE star. I think I might even like Ghost in the Machine better. This is boredom to the max.

Twofold mind

[chaos-rampant · 19 May 2013]

This provides the usual X atmosphere plus a few standard TV thrills. Not a favorite with the fans it seems, but I think it is as deep as X-Files has been.

Which is to say, it is not mind-bending stuff because we have a 'real' super-reality but within those limits, it exemplifies some worthwhile layering much better than usual for the series. Usually, what extralogical forces Mulder and Scully encounter can be understood as inner mental urges of the characters, standard noir rules; Mulder's fear of a fiery love affair from his past as the volatile combustions of Fire, Scully's assertion of feminine independence in Jersey Devil and so on.

The story here is that simultaneously two men die, FBI agent and psychopathic robber, one is resuscitated back to life but in those few minutes of dead time the identities have shifted, the 'evil' consciousness returning in the agent's body.

The robber (as the agent) seeks to be reunited with his girlfriend accomplice, with whom they had a deep, dangerous love affair, this is mirrored in the past love affair Scully had with the colleague she resuscitated. So her ex- is now 'evil' and acting strange, which from Scully's always hesitant pov becomes the reluctance for commitment we know from Jersey Devil.

In the latter stages, we have Scully 'trapped' between the passionate couple, seeing as helpless observer the kind of corrosive passion she has kept from herself, conjuring in the man's mind memories of a past trip together as her attempt to awaken the 'good' person she knew.

Even more tantalizing: in this quasi-magical reality of having survived death, the robber experiences a nightmare of betrayal and heartbreak, with love as a sham.

So this is an attractive episode in narrative terms, again constrained by hard presentation. It is deep, in the sense that you can read a series of altered realities as inter-leavened dreams from opposing pairs of eyes.

No Relationship to Reality

[geneone · 5/10 · 23 February 2009]

This episode supposedly ends in Catonsville and then Arbutus in Baltimore County. I have lived in both areas (not far from each other), and the locations used in the episode bear little resemblance to reality.

1) There is no "Catonsville PD." There are no incorporated cities in Baltimore County. The lowest level of law enforcement is the Baltimore County Police Dept (good at speed traps and not much else).

2) Both areas are middle class--older houses but well kept. God knows why they thought it was rundown like the episode shows.

3) Washington County Airport? There is a Washington County in Maryland, and it may have an airport, but it's nowhere near Baltimore County. They may have been thinking of BWI (Baltimore-Washington International) which would have been Friendship at the time, but that's a large commercial airport. No light planes.

I realize these episodes were shot in Canada, but I'd think they'd know a bit more about the environs of DC.

Two men died in that crash room, Scully. One man came back. The question is, which one?

[alexandercappelli · 9 August 2015]

"Two men died in that crash room, Scully. One man came back. The question is, which one?" – Fox Mulder.

Episode 15, 'Lazarus', original air date February 4th, 1994. Written by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, directed by David Nutter. Monster of the week episode count, 11. Gordon & Gansa return for their fourth and arguable finest installment to date, the writing pair are maturing with each script and as such their contributions to the show are justly receiving greater recognition from the fan base. 'Lazarus' departs from the previous episode's focus on the mysterial and otherworldly nature of many X-Files episodes and delivers a more straight forward F.B.I investigation story with Scully playing a pivotal role at the center. David Nutter is back after a short break to direct this entry with the same skill and precision we last saw in the season one highlight, 'Beyond the Sea'. While the episode certainly employs some supernatural elements it serves first and foremost as an unconventional love story with a further look at Scully's past life, pre-X-Files. Gillian Anderson is given a decent amount of screen time to expedite her character's development and it's a perfect example of how the series brought to life one of the best examples of a strong, complex female lead that can captivate the audience and hold her own in an episode without her male counterpart by her side every step of the way.

According to the Christian church, St. Lazarus was miraculously brought back to life by Jesus Christ, thus we have the justification for the episodes title which implies the central plot point. Wanted violent criminal Warren Dupre (Jason Schombing) is shot dead in a failed bank robbery by agent Scully, but not before taking the life of Agent Jack Willis (Christopher Allport), Scully's former boyfriend. While attempting to resuscitate him, the soul of Dupre enters Willis' flat-lining body and after being brought back to life proceeds to search for his beloved Lula (Cec Verrell). Scully attributes Willis' altered demeanour and state of mind to post traumatic stress disorder while Mulder of course suggests a more supernatural explanation. Despite the unconventional nature of Willis' soul swapping experience the episode continues for the most part as a straight up F.B.I manhunt that culminates in Scully being taken hostage and forced to watch her old friend die from a diabetic coma caused by hyperglycaemia. Lula confesses she set Dupre up and he kills her just as he dies himself, a tragic end to the pairs love story.

We've seen glimpses of Scully's previous life in earlier episodes however this is the first time we're introduced to a previous boyfriend. The character interactions are handled with care as we can see that while Scully has very much moved on from this relationship she still cares for Willis as a friend. This explains her determination to justify his actions as PTSD. It's refreshing however to finally see Scully bare witness to the crucial scenes in which she can see that Dupre is in fact inhabiting Willis' body. Though ever the sceptic and scientifically minded she nevertheless struggles with accepting the reality of the situation. Mulder is hesitant to try to persuade her to his point of view, she asks him what this all means and in a display of sensitivity towards her connection to the deceased he simply states, "It means whatever you want it to mean." Mulder is quickly developing an understanding and acceptance of Scully's hesitance towards the paranormal and her reliance on her faith. This shows the burgeoning relationship between the two is developing as Mulder clearly regards Scully as more than just another co-worker. He takes her kidnapping personally, "This one's important to me," he reminds the agents as they begin canvassing households in their attempt to locate his partner. He calls her Dana on the phone, a rare occurrence. The series did great job at developing the romantic relationship between Mulder and Scully through a very gradual and realistic development of character, steadily providing subtle cues at the distant possibility of deeper connection.

As mentioned, the character of Agent Scully is a feminist role model to women and girls. She is treated with respect by the writers of the shows, never objectified and consistently portrayed as an equal to Mulder. Despite the fact that in this particular example she is ultimately taken hostage and rescued by Mulder there are arguably many significant moments where the roles are reversed and she helps save Mulder from a variety of perilous situations. She is arguably more logical than Mulder with her analytical approach to cases and almost always characterised as a highly capable F.B.I. agent in her own right. Her reaction to Dupre's threat of violence as he aims his gun at her in the beginning of the episode is a key example of her rationality and competence as an agent. Seemingly un-phased by the aggressor she moves slowly to the ground, unwavering and clearly assessing the situation with expertise, as any trained agent would. She catches and detains Lula without her partners assistance and although she is held captive by Dupre she ultimately prolongs her life in time for Mulder to find her by convincing Willis' consciousness to break through Dupre's influence. What is ultimately most significant about the way the character is written is that her actions and their justification are almost never determined by her gender. She is first and foremost a highly capable F.B.I. agent, the fact that she's a woman is secondary.