‘Nothing Lasts Forever Plot Summary:’
A vampiric cult run by a former Hollywood star by Barbara Beaumont (Fiona Vroom), and her partner (Jere Burns) is harvesting human organs for consumption in order to reverse the aging process. Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) must investigate this, and a string of killings committed by the vengeful sister (Carlena Britch) of one of the cult members.
Over the past few weeks The X-Files has opted for its “standalone” episode model. Episodes that have nothing to do with the overarching plot of the season (the end of the world via The Smoking Man which some how involves Mulder and Scully’s son William).
This end of the world plot is kinda whatever, so based on that fact alone, the standalone episodes were a welcome respite. However, these episodes, for the most part, have been pretty awesome. ‘Rm9sbG93ZXJz‘ and ‘The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat‘ were excellent episodes while ‘Kitten’ (starring Haley Joel Osment – who was awesome), and ‘Familiar’ gave us tense, but flawed tales of horror and intrigue.
‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ was probably the worst of the episodes. The plot was kind of ridiculous, even for an X-Files episode, and the pay off was too quick, and unemotional.
But this episode wasn’t really about a vampiric cult, and a religious zealot avenging angel — it was about Mulder and Scully, and the end of things. Not the end of the world, but the end of The X-Files.
The theme of Season 11 seems to be “we’re getting too old for this,” and “are we even relevant anymore?” The series has incorporated this theme into every single episode whether through comedy, dramatic monologue, or action sequence. Hell, even the title of this episode plays into this theme.
And we get it. We seriously get it, guys. The show’s not what it was. We all know Gillian Anderson is leaving the show. The ratings are nowhere near where they used to be. (Yet, we still hear rumblings Season 11 will not be the final season.)
So, why all of this? Why the constant reminders? Is this to soften the blow when Anderson leaves the show? Is this to lessen the impact of when the show is not renewed? I don’t know the reason, but it’s frankly annoying at this point. If you keep question your relevance, and if you’re too old — we’re going to start to believe the show isn’t relevant and the characters are too old.
Yet, despite the negatives of this week — poor story, and annoying series-ending reminders — we are treated, once again, to the amazing chemistry of Duchovny and Anderson. These two have shared some terrific moments together this season, but tonight’s was their best. They were intimate moments that revolved around religion, fate, hope, love, and the soul.
And that’s what has saved every mediocre-to-bad episode of this season — Duchovny and Anderson on screen together. In all honesty, their final scene together at the church would’ve made for an excellent series finale. However, everything wrapped around it was pretty subpar, so I’m glad this wasn’t the curtain call.
Next week’s the do-or-die episode, the Season 11 finale. If this is the finale of the series, let’s hope it’s a good one.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
