"The X Files" Synchrony (1997)

Director:

Jim Charleston

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
Howard Gordon (written by) ...

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

13 April 1997 (Season 4, Episode 19)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A mysterious old man is killing scientists working on the development of a cryobiologic compound. He freezes them to death with this same compound that doesn't even exist yet. |

Plot Keywords:

Spontaneous Combustion | Time Travel | Deep Freeze | FBI | FBI Agent

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Joseph Fuqua	...	Dr. Jason Nichols
Susan Lee Hoffman	...	Lisa Ianelli
Michael Fairman	...	Older Jason Nichols
Jed Rees	...	Lucas Menand
Hiro Kanagawa	...	Dr. Yonechi
Jonathan Walker	...	Chuck Lukerman
Alison Matthews	...	The Doctor
Norman Armour	...	Coroner
Patricia Idlette	...	The Desk Clerk
Brent Chapman	...	The Security Cop
Terry Arrowsmith	...	Uniformed Cop
Aurelio Dinunzio	...	Detective (as Aureleo Di Nunzio)

Runtime:

Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:13

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Goofs:

Factual errors: Scully uses an electronic ear thermometer to take the temperature of the dead campus security cop, which turns out to be 15 degrees Fahrenheit. However, electronic body thermometers don't register subfreezing temperatures.

Quotes:

Mulder: If Lucas Menand never gets hit by that bus, his complaint gets heard before the grand committee, Jason Nichols loses his funding and he never gets to collaborate on his research with Dr. Yonechi. Therefore, this photograph never gets taken because this celebration never happens.
Scully: ...And if your sister is your aunt and your mother marries your uncle, you'd be your own grandpa!

Back to the Future!

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

If you haven't seen Back to the Future, you should. It's good, harmless fun. Synchrony explores the time traveling concept as well, but doesn't do as well. It has too many plot holes. I bring up Back to the Future because the teaser to Synchrony plays similarly to the mall scene at the end of Back to the Future, with the emphasis on the clock, the bad weather, and someone running to try to save another's life. Nice homage, but the similarities end there. Synchrony is much more dark and serious. Time travel is always an intriguing concept which is why I still like this episode. However, the actress playing Lisa wasn't all the great. Also, the three big inconsistencies are this: the injection freezes others, but it helps boost the old man? And, the old man has the ability to make himself spontaneously combust? Lastly, at 104 degrees body temperature, Dr. Yonechi was convulsing, but Lisa was still and never convulsed at the same body temperature. The episode also never really explained how Jason Nichols time traveled. We just had some vague Mulder theories. Like I said, time traveling is an ever-entertaining concept which made this episode interesting, but it was filled with too many story holes and inconsistencies to make it a really good x-file.