The X-files
D.P.O.
Episode: 3X03
First aired:10/06/95
Written by: Howard Gordon
Directed by: Kim Manners
In a
video acarade late at
night, a
teenager pushes Darin Peter Oswald to the ground when Darin tells him he was playing the game. Zero, Darrin's friend says that he shouldn't have done that as the
lights go off. The bigger teenager leaves and gets into his car when it shorts out and he starts to
spasm widly as Drin watches through the door.
Mulder and
Scully arrive at the
crime scene. The teenager is the fith apparent
victim of lightning in the area. Mulder is unsure that
lightning is what killed the boy since 60 people die of ligtning in a year and 4 have died in this area alone. He also notes that the victims have all been
young males
They talk to Zero at the arcade who shows them the
game that the victim was last playing. All the high scores are the same initials "D.P.O.", i.e. Darin Peter Oswald, the lone
survivor of the five lightning strikes.
Darin encounters his boss's wife, who is clearly
uncomfortable around him. His boss says that the
FBI are coming to talk to him. As Mulder and Scully question him, Mulder's
cell phone suddenly starts somoking and he throws it on the ground.
Zero, worried about the FBi goes to talk to Darin who doesn't care. He calls for lightning on top of a hill and is hit, but seems to enjoy it. The
sheriff finds the dead
cows that were hit by the previous lightning. He tells Mulder and Scully that they should leave. However, Mulder sees in the hill a
footprint that was melted into the ground. They link the print to Darin.
Darin finds fun by changing
traffic signals and eventually causes a
crash amound passing cars. Mulder and Scully look in Darin's room and find the shoe matches. They aslo dind a picture of his boss's wife, Sharon, in a
skin magazine.
At the car crash scene, Darin akes the his boss
collapse. When the
paramedic's
equipment does not work, Darin uses his hands to jolt the man's chest and get a
heart beat.
Mulder tries to talk to Sharon at the
hospital but she is reluctant to talk. Mulder looks at Darin's chart which shows an
electrolyte imbalence the may explain his
conductive powers. Mulder says he is lightning and they have to stop him before he strikes again.
They can't question Darin since the
lack of evidence. Sharon admits he has a
crush on her. She begins to recieve unusual phone calls and Darin tells her hs has dangerous powers. Darin believes Zero has
betrayed him and
zaps him with a lightning bolt. Mulder and Scully go to the hopsital to protect the boss and his wife but the lights go out.
Darin and Scully have a standoff but Sharon leaves with him as he asks. The Sheriff stops them and Sharon flees as Darin kills the man. Mulder pulls her to safety as lightning strikes Darin again and knocks him
unconscious.
Darin is restrains in a
psychiatric hospital and his tests are normal.
Important Quotes:
Scully -- "...I hope you're not thinking this has anything to do with
government conspiracies or
UFOs."
Mulder -- "None of the
evidence so far indicates either of those possibilities."
Mulder -- "That's great, now can you make me a little
cherub that
squirts water?"
Scully -- "The tread looks like a standard
military boot. Mens... size 8 1/2."
Mulder -- "8 1/2? That's pretty impressive, Scully."
Scully -- "Well, it says it right here on the
bottom..."
Mulder -- "Oh."
Scully -- "So what? Are we supposed to charge him with assaulting a
cellular phone?"
Back to The X-files: Season 3