Toby Lindala thus created unique "bark suits", but these suits proved awkward and demanding, leading to most of the effects being done on a computer during post-production. Visual effects supervisor Laurie Kallsen-George was tasked with creating the glowing red eyes of the monsters, which she created by merging various "eyeball images"—including shots of her family's dog—to achieve the desired effect. Cultural references The plot and nature of the episode resemble the film Predator (1987), in which a creature that is able to perfectly camouflage itself, almost to the point of complete invisibility, stalks several humans in a dense jungle. While camping in the woods overnight, Scully sings "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night while Mulder rests so that he can know she is awake and on guard. Originally, Scully was supposed to sing "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", a 1949 country song by Hank Williams. However, series creator Chris Carter requested something more "off the wall". Spotnitz, instead, chose "Joy to the World" and later said, "in retrospect, the song was perfect". When talking, Mulder admits that the only time he has ever thought about "seriously dying" was at the Ice Capades. Reception Ratings "Detour" premiered on the Fox network on November 23, 1997. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 13.2, with a 19 share, meaning that roughly 13.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 19 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 22.8 million viewers. Reviews "Detour" received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Francis Dass of New Straits Times was positive toward the episode, calling it "imaginative". IGN named it the seventh best standalone X-Files episode of the entire series. The site called the sequence wherein "Scully holds a wounded Mulder and sings 'Jeremiah was a Bullfrog' " the "best scene" of the episode and praised the depth of the characters' relationship. Zack Handlen from The A.V. Club gave the episode an A and called it a "solid" entry in the series. Handlen complimented the episode's cold opening, structure, monster, and the relationship between Mulder and Scully; writing that the "core relationship" between Mulder and Scully "was remarkably strong". He also noted that their conversation in the woods was reminiscent of the third season episode "Quagmire" and was "sweet". Jonathan Dunn, writing for What Culture, highlighted "Detour" for its cinematic appeal and included it in the