D.P.O.

"D.P.O."
The X-Files episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 3
Directed by	Kim Manners
Written by	Howard Gordon
Production code	3x03
Original air date	October 7, 1995 (Fox)
Guest stars
Giovanni Ribisi as Darin Peter Oswald Jack Black as Bart "Zero" Liquori Ernie Lively as Sheriff Teller Karen Witter as Sharon Kiveat Steve Makaj as Frank Kiveat Peter Anderson as Stan Buxton Kate Robbins as Darin's Mom Mar Andersons as Jack Hammond Brent Chapman as Traffic Cop Jason Anthony Griffith as First Paramedic Bonnie Hay as Night Nurse
Episode chronology
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"D.P.O." is the third episode of the third season of television series The X-Files.

Plot summary

In a Connerville, Oklahoma video arcade, Jack Hammond argues with Darin Peter Oswald and Bart "Zero" Liquori over a game of Virtua Fighter. Hammond pushes Oswald to the ground, after which the power in the arcade mysteriously shuts down -- except to a jukebox, which plays "Ring the Bells" by James. When Hammond goes outside to start his car, he finds the same song playing on the radio. He is then fatally electrocuted through the ignition. Oswald, who caused Hammond's death, returns to the game.

Fox Mulder and Dana Scully arrive in Connerville, where Hammond is the latest of five young men who have died due to lightning-related causes. Upon inspecting the arcade, Mulder finds Oswald's high scores as "D.P.O." on Virtua Fighter, realizing that he was playing the game when Hammond died; Oswald was the first of the victims, and the only one to have survived. When the agents visit a local garage to question Oswald, he claims to have not witnessed anything. However, Mulder's cell phone mysteriously overheats in Oswald's presence.

Zero later visits Oswald at his home, alarmed by the FBI's presence; a drunk Oswald dismisses him and summons lightning to strike down nearby cattle. The lightning strikes him instead, but he appears unharmed. The next day, the agents visit the scene and find a melted shoeprint in the ground with anti-freeze in it, linking it to Oswald. Darin uses his abilities to manipulate the local traffic lights, causing a car accident. The agents visit Darin's home and find a picture of his boss's wife, Sharon Kiveat in his high school yearbook. Soon after Darin causes his boss to suffer a heart attack. The agents question Sharon at the hospital, who was one of his teachers in high school. She is aware of his crush on her and claims that he told her that he has unusual powers. The agents also go through the medical records of Darin which show that he exhibited acute hypoglycemia i.e. high levels of electrolytes in his blood.

The agents apprehend Darin but he claims innocence. The local sheriff releases Darin, who causes his friend Zero to be struck by lightning, thinking that he betrayed him. The agents return to the hospital to protect the Kiveats, but the power goes out when they arrive there. Darin confronts Scully and Sharon, who agrees to leave with him. The sheriff tries to stop him, but Darin kills him, allowing Sharon an opportunity to escape. While screaming out for her, Darin summons lightning but ends up getting struck himself again. Darin is held restrained in a psychiatric hospital, although the local District Attorney has no idea how they will be able to prosecute him. As the agents look at him he changes the channels of the TV in his room with his mind, while the Vandals album, Live Fast, Diarrhea, plays in his head.^[1][2]

Production

The original concept for the episode was a one line concept card stating "Lightning Boy" that had been tacked to a board in series creator Chris Carter's office since the first season. Carter's idea was solely about a boy who could control lightning, and the concept wasn't fleshed out into an episode until the third season. Writer Howard Gordon stated that the key moment in the episode's conception came when he decided to use the boy's power as a metaphor for disenfranchised adolescence.^[3] Gordon described the episode's concept as "Beavis and Butt-head electrified".^[4] Gordon claimed that the episode suffered conceptually having come directly after a trilogy of mythology episodes.^[3] Story editor Frank Spotnitz claims that there were originally ideas on incorporating some of the events from that trilogy into this episode, but those ideas were eventually scrapped due to the producer's desire for each episode to be able to have its own integrity and stand alone.^[4] Spotnitz said the episode was a risky one to do for a show with an adult audience due to the high school setting and the fact that the episode was about adolescence and violent impulses when one is a kid.^[4]

The sheriff, Teller, was named after Teller from the comedy duo Penn and Teller. The pair had wanted to appear on an episode of the show, but when Chris Carter couldn't find a way to work them into the show this reference was added instead.^[3] The Astadourian Lightning Observatory was named for Mary Astadourian, Chris Carter's executive assistant.^[3] Darin Oswald was named after writer Darin Morgan.^[3]

Giovanni Ribisi won the part as Darin after some coaching from casting director Rick Millikan after Ribisi's initial audition failed to provide what Chris Carter was looking for.^[5] Spotnitz described Ribisi's performance as "really, really good".^[4] Director Kim Manners' best friend was killed during the third day of shooting. There was consideration on replacing him with another director for the episode but at his insistence he completed the episode.^[3]

A "lightning machine" used for the sequence where Darrin is struck by lightning was created by Special Effects David Gauthier and buried under the ground. Giovanni Ribisi stood on a stand with the device rigged underneath him. Mirrors were used to establish the effect of the lightning flaring up and outward, and were augmented by sparks and smoke.^[3] Art Director Graeme Murray states that the biggest construction event in the episode was the scene where Darrin manipulated the traffic lights. The producers had to plant telephone poles and build a billboard for the scene.^[4] The farmhouse used for Darin's home was owned by a 94-year-old man and also used for the movies Jumanji and Jennifer Eight.^[3] The producers had difficulty obtaining permission to use a dead cow in the episode due to concerns over animal rights groups. When the fake cow created failed to look realistic enough, the producers were able to use a dead cow obtained from a slaughterhouse for the episode.^[4]

Reception

The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.9, with a 20 share. The episode was watched by 15.57 million viewers.^[6]

Footnotes

1. ^ Lowry,Brian (1996). Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. pp. 87–89. 
2. ^ Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel press. pp. 187–189. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Lowry,Brian (1996). Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. pp. 88–91. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. pp. 143–144. 
5. ^ Hurwitz, Matt, Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. p. 74. 
6. ^ Lowry, Brian (1996). Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files. HarperPrism. p. 251. 

External links

• D.P.O. at the Internet Movie Database
• D.P.O. at TV.com
• D.P.O. article at X-Files Wiki