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Syzygy

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Guest WaveCrest

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Guest WaveCrest

Felt inspired to start a thread for the mid-Season 3 episode "Syzygy" after reading a mention in a post by Mark in the Quagmire thread:

I even liked "Syzygy" which I've seen get slaughtered a time or too in reviews. I find it quite fun.

Eth

At the time it originally aired in the US on FOX (late January 1996) and in the UK on BBC2 "Syzygy" was an episode which people either loved or loathed. I personally enjoyed it, for the scenes and dialogue between Mulder and Scully (the thing which I remembered the most was the foot pedals scene when Scully was driving the car), and the night-time location shots. Among the guest stars was Ryan Reynolds before he became famous years later.

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I thought it was great fun. It was very much a blend of "The Craft" meets "Carrie" and I enjoyed it as a homage to b-movies whether that was the intention or not I have no idea. From what I can glean it seemed it was the shippers (again) who poured scorn on the episode citing the unusual behaviour of Mulder and Scully and the fact they didn't get together though I have no idea what such a thing would have been anticipated. Chris Carter said that people didn't get what was going on in the episode but I couldn't uncover what it was he thought people had missed. I'd be curious if anyone has a link to him talking about this episode in an interview.

Eth

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Guest WaveCrest

Were Mulder and Scully under the influence of the whole astrology thing (but not like the effect created by that device in "Wetwired" later on in the season)? What you said Mark, I do remember reading back when the episode aired that Chris Carter said people didn't get what was going on in "Syzygy". It was in a genre magazine, maybe even the Offical X Files Magazine.

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  • Elders (Moderators)

There's this bit from the season 3 official book "Trust No One":

Some hard-core fans on the Internet were critical of this episode, not realizing that Mulder and Scully's uncharitable and at times hostile behavior toward each other partly stemmed from the planetary forces that also affected Margi and Terri. "Chris wanted to keep it kind of abstract," admits director Rob Bowman.

[...]

Carter remains somewhat bemused by reaction to this episode. "There were all sorts of hints that no one got," he notes, beginning with the camera panning past a road sign that said 'Leaving Comity' - which literally means 'social harmony'. "That's one of the risks you run, that people become so hopeful and familiar and comfortable with something that when you turn it on its head, they don't understand it." Others got it but simply objected because of their desire for Mulder and Scully to get together on a more social level, despite Carter's insistence that such a relationship won't occur. At least one group of fans in San Francisco savored the show, printing up t-shirts that say 'Sure. Fine. Whatever.'

He's referring to the "Leaving Comity" sign which (from the transcript) was seen as M&S were entering the town, and the sign "Entering Comity" as they were leaving, i.e., the reverse of normal. Which should have been a big clue that whatever was going on the town wasn't anything to do with comity.

And of course the shippers were not happy with what Mulder and the blonde detective were doing in his motel room.

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Now colour me stupid but whether or not you noticed the cool little in-joke wasn't it fairly obvious from the narrative that Mulder and Scully were also behaving oddly because of the alignment? I have to confess to not spotting the in-joke either but it was pretty apparent to me what was happening in terms of Mulder and Scully's odd behaviour.

Now on to those pesky shippers. Who might not really be pesky. But they do seem pesky. :whistling:

CC always seemed fairly resolute that Mulder and Scully wouldn't get it together in the show. Especially in the early days. I have to confess it doesn't bother me greatly one way or another but if I had a choose a side I would opt for noromo. In any show I have watched, shipping isn't something that particularly grabs me. I have never really cared all that much if characters romance each other or not. I digress....when was the decision taken to change direction a little and bring Mulder and Scully closer together? Was it simply a natural evolution in their relationship or was it a response to the clamouring of the fanbase?

Eth

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