The X-Files “Syzygy”

I am so used to seeing actors I recognize on this show during this rewatch by now, that it has become almost old hat.  This episode has the late Lisa Robin Kelly, the first actress to play Lori Foreman on That 70s Show before her personal demons ended up costing her her life.  But then there was…RYAN REYNOLDS?!?!

I was so not expecting that.  Heck, he’s killed off in the cold open, but he doesn’t even merit getting his name listed until the closing credits, and he’s probably the biggest star I’ve seen on this show yet.

The Case:  Superhuman Teenage Girls!

The Rest:  What does it say that the whole “giving teenage girls superpowers” thing is such an almost cliched bad idea that Amazon Prime has a whole series about it.

I should consider checking that one out.

But here, well, it’s two girls with the same birthday that keep killing boys at school for one reason or another, and Ryan Reynolds was just the latest of them.  There’s a lot of talk of a Satanic cult, and in comes Mulder and Scully to assist the local detective, an attractive woman for Mulder to hit on and Scully to throw shade at.

Shade Throwing Scully is one of the best Scullys.

However, Scully’s general irritability seems to be much worse than usual, as is Mulder’s attempts to pick up the detective for a date or something.  Heck, Scully seems downright jealous at times.  Meanwhile, the leader of the angry mob is the normally mild-manner high school principal, and there’s the same Keystone Cops movie playing on every channel.  Toss in two high school girls with telekinetic power and nasty attitudes, and it isn’t exactly a stretch to see why everything is going wrong, but what’s up with Mulder and Scully, two outsiders, acting out of character?  I mean, I saw Mulder alone in his hotel room making himself a drink and didn’t think too much of it, but Scully was smoking cigarettes, and that did seem weird.

Well, maybe not to that friend I had in college who kept saying how smokin’ Scully was, and he wasn’t even watching the show.  He just had a thing for “Agent Scully”.

Alright, why was everyone acting weird?  Mulder seemed to be the only one to notice even as he and Scully were sniping at each other uncharacteristically.

Turns out it was about astrology.  Planetary alignment.  Mulder got the dirt from the town’s astrologist once he was able to return during business hours with a credit card.  Apparently, being born on a particular day gave the girls superpowers for a period of time.  And once they obviously turned on each other, the only thing to do was for Mulder to lock the girls in a bathroom and wait until the time ran out.  Then everyone started going back to normal.

Locking the girls in the bathroom was a good idea, too, when all the guns in the police station started going off at once.  That was kind of funny, but again, once the clock hit midnight, things were normal again.

Well, mostly.  Scully and Mulder were still arguing on the ride home, but at least Mulder let Scully drive for once.

Up next, possession and murder!