352:), and go to Boom's funeral. Scully, in a bad mood, is skeptical of these claims. The high school principal, Bob Spitz, interrupts the funeral by ranting about Satanic cults murdering their children when suddenly the coffin starts smoking and catches on fire. Mulder and Scully go into separate rooms to interview Margi and Terri, both of whom offer an identical story about a satanic ceremony where a baby was sacrificed. Scully thinks their stories are clichéd and points out that no account of a satanic conspiracy has ever been validated. Looking at the latest victim's body, Mulder and Detective White find a burn mark in the shape of a horned beast; Scully says she doesn't see anything. Mulder goes to see White to apologize for Scully's behavior and the two visit the local astrologist Madame Zirinka, who claims the town's crazy behavior is due to the rare planetary alignment of the planets Mars, Uranus, and Mercury. Terri and Margi watch basketball practice, lusting over one of the players, Scott, whose girlfriend is fellow cheerleader Brenda (much to Terri and Margi's displeasure). One of the other players accidentally spills a table of drinks on them, so they cause the basketball to bounce underneath the bleachers and it closes when he goes to get it, killing him. Scully is angry at Mulder for ditching her to be with Detective White.
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an angry Terri arrives. The two argue with each other and end up accidentally killing Scott after causing one of the springs and the garage door to fly at him. Margi goes to Mulder, telling him that Terri is responsible for the murders, while Terri goes to see Scully and tells her the opposite. The agents call each other and bring both girls to the police station, where the place starts shaking, causing the furniture to move around and all the guns to go off on their own. Mulder locks the girls in a room together and their power goes away once the clock ticks midnight. When the town mob and
Detective White finally see Terri and Margi as the culprits, Spitz claims it was the work of Satan. Mulder and Scully drive home, arguing again over directions; when Scully defiantly runs a stop sign, Mulder notifies her but she tells him to shut up, which he does.
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528:'s scripts, without success; she noted "the laughs here are emptier than they were the week before in 'Coprophages'"—and adding that "every time you think the episode has figured out a way to plant its foot firmly in comedic territory, there's a horribly judged moment of 'drama,' like Mulder's final monologue." Connie Ogle of
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gave the episode a moderately negative review and awarded it one-and-a-half stars out of four. Vitaris called the outing "a lost opportunity," noting that the episode's humor "falls flat, because the humor exists in a vacuum". Furthermore, she argued that if the episode had been played-straight, then
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Mulder goes to visit Madame
Zirinka again, who tells him that the planets come into alignment like this only once every 84 years, and additional alignments will cause anyone born on January 12, 1979 (Margi and Terri's birthdate) to have an abundance of cosmic energy. Margi goes to see Scott alone but
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The show proved to be much more difficult than I anticipated, and there wasn't enough time to shoot the show properly because we were so close to the
Christmas break. I felt extremely pressured and frustrated, although there are things in it I love, particularly the banter between Mulder and Scully.
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was somewhat disappointed in the reaction that the episode received, stating that there were hints to the satiric nature of the episode strewn throughout "Syzygy" that fans simply did not understand. Other fans understood what transpired, but disliked the episode due to their desire for Mulder and
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and is locked in, then killed by glass from a shattered mirror. Detective White heads to Mulder's hotel room because she found a box which inside had her cat's collar, and then she attempts to seduce Mulder, but they are interrupted by Scully, who informs them about Brenda's death. Terri and Margi
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A town mob searches for a mass grave in the woods and finds a bag belonging to the town pediatrician filled with bones, which Spitz assumes belonged to a child. The angry mob goes to see the doctor, who claims that he had sold the bag to Terri
Roberts. The bones turn out to belong to Terri's dog.
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gave "Syzygy" an A, describing the episode as "another uproarious send-up, this time of teen venom, B-movie paranoia, and our agents' painfully restrained rapport", with praise to the villains and the discussion on why Mulder always drives, considered "one of Mulder's and Scully's funniest
568:'s odd behavior towards each other resulted in criticism from critics and fans on the Internet. Vitaris called the relationship between Mulder and Scully in the episode "ugly". Shearman called the scenes featuring Mulder and Scully's bickering "hard to stomach".
272:. In this episode, Mulder and Scully investigate the murders of high school students in a small town where everyone is acting strangely. They discover that two teens are responsible, due to a rare planetary alignment that affects their behavior.
330:). The girls tell Boom that the cult seeks a blonde virgin as a next victim, convincing him to turn off the road. The next day, the police find Boom hanging from a cliff. Out of sight of the police, Terri and Margi sit at the top, laughing.
283:. "Syzygy" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.8, being watched by 16.04 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed reviews, with many critics and fans upset by the negative portrayal of Mulder and Scully.
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But overall, I thought the show was very oblique. I don't feel that the characters ever knew what was going on and I don't think it is all that cool that kids are murdering people. I didn't feel like I was shooting an episode of
294:, and a moon or planet. In addition, the episode contained various fan in-jokes, such as Scully getting upset because Mulder is always the driver, which was inspired by complaints from fans.
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in
Pasadena, California. Regarding the tone of this episode, Duchovny later explained that the show's comedic episodes were generally more ludicrous than others, saying, "There's
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445:(1971), but the rights to the footage were too expensive so the producers settled on another choice. Carter felt that in retrospect it ended up being a better fit.
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Mulder and Scully's fight about Mulder always driving was based on fan critiques about how Mulder was usually the one driving the car; according to series co-star
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this complaint had been raised at "the beginning of the show". Mulder's joke about Scully's "little feet" was a joke that Carter had made before at a
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Scully gets upset over a joke Mulder makes and tells him she's returning to
Washington. Margi and Terri celebrate their birthday and Brenda uses a
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listed Margi and Terri among the best monster-of-the-week characters of the series, describing "Syzygy" as a "hilarious send-up of
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veers away from the C and spells out Satan. Upset, Brenda rushes to the bathroom where Margi and Terri are chanting
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printed up T-shirts featuring the phrase "Sure. Fine. Whatever." spoken multiple times by Scully in this episode.
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try to console Scott, who tells them off. Turned down, Terri is mad at him but Margi still likes him and leaves.
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gave a B−, describing it as "an entertaining hour that never rises to the level of those other episodes" like "
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348:) arrive in Comity after arguing over directions along the way. They meet a local detective, Angela White (
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Wanting to
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Wanting to
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as well, in which the characters are really not quite the characters that we know."
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High School, the setting for much of the action in this episode, references a
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of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. A total of
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233:. The episode first aired in the United States on January 26, 1996, on
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got wrong when he appeared on the show. The scene where Mulder sees a
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772:"The X-Factor: A Look Back at 'The X-Files' Greatest Monsters"
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The name of this episode, "Syzygy," refers to a straight-line
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Television episodes written by Chris Carter (screenwriter)
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viewers watched this episode during its original airing.
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for their dead friend, the purported victim of a local
268:) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called
715:"X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3"
326:), get a ride home from a jock, Jay "Boom" DeBoom (
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541:Not all reviews were positive. Paula Vitaris from
573:Scully to become a romantically involved couple.
503:The episode received mixed reviews from critics.
464:of the mythology, and then there are the comedic
400:. Bowman was "not a fan of the episode", saying:
288:astronomical alignment of three celestial objects
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810:Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "Episode Guide".
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893:Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files
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548:"Syzygy" could have "been a horror classic".
18:13th episode of the 3rd season of The X-Files
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492:of all television-equipped households, and
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611:Hurwitz & Knowles (2008), pp. 236–240.
392:The episode was written by series creator
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421:in a gravitational system. The name of
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681:The X-Files: The Complete Third Season
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388:appeared as a teenager in the episode.
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237:. It was written by series creator
217:" is the thirteenth episode of the
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780:. PopMatters Media. Archived from
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510:exchanges". Emily VanDerWerff of
137:Denalda Williams as Madame Zirinka
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1301:1996 American television episodes
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744:"Syzygy"/"Grotesque"/"Piper Maru"
286:The episode's title refers to an
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770:Ogle, Connie (July 28, 2008).
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1316:The X-Files season 3 episodes
1113:Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose
855:. Little, Brown and Company.
431:question that series co-star
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143:as Brenda Jaycee Summerfield
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660:Lowry (1996), pp. 152–153.
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476:"Syzygy" premiered on the
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484:. The episode earned a
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874:. Insight Editions.
872:The Complete X-Files
851:X-Files Confidential
720:Entertainment Weekly
506:Entertainment Weekly
248:The show centers on
149:as Jay "Boom" DeBoom
723:. November 29, 1996
277:Monster-of-the-Week
442:A Clockwork Orange
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275:The episode is a "
156:Episode chronology
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1062:I Want to Believe
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881:978-1-933784-80-9
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753:. Retrieved
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725:. Retrieved
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1162:Revelations
1035:The X-Files
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942:The X-Files
820:(3): 18–40.
685:Los Angeles
683:(booklet).
566:Dana Scully
478:Fox network
462:The X-Files
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342:Dana Scully
308:high school
302:In Comity,
262:Dana Scully
230:The X-Files
56:Directed by
35:The X-Files
1295:Categories
1218:Hell Money
1190:Piper Maru
1099:Paper Clip
788:August 25,
777:PopMatters
562:Fox Mulder
530:Popmatters
494:17 percent
398:Rob Bowman
377:Production
362:planchette
334:Fox Mulder
254:Fox Mulder
243:Rob Bowman
102:44 minutes
91:1996-01-26
66:Written by
60:Rob Bowman
51:Episode 13
1197:Apocrypha
1183:Grotesque
1141:Oubliette
585:Footnotes
472:Reception
428:Jeopardy!
281:mythology
184:Grotesque
1280:Category
1249:Wetwired
1242:Quagmire
1134:The Walk
1120:The List
1083:Season 3
993:episodes
948:"Syzygy"
938:"Syzygy"
577:fans in
535:Heathers
199:season 3
167:Previous
43:Episode
1003:Seasons
575:X-Files
520:" and "
466:X-Files
316:Satanic
270:X-Files
221:of the
180: →
165:←
89: (
38:episode
1235:Avatar
1204:Pusher
1176:Syzygy
1106:D.P.O.
920:
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878:
859:
518:Humbug
340:) and
312:eulogy
260:) and
215:Syzygy
26:Syzygy
1148:Nisei
358:Ouija
292:Earth
1127:2Shy
952:IMDb
918:ISBN
899:ISBN
876:ISBN
857:ISBN
790:2010
757:2011
729:2011
564:and
298:Plot
178:Next
79:3X13
1155:731
950:at
940:on
538:".
480:on
250:FBI
235:Fox
45:no.
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