“So, what are we supposed to charge him with, ‘assaulting a cellular phone’?” – Dana Scully.
D.P.O [Standalone] Aired October 6, 1995
Episode: 3×03 / 52 Overall
Director: Kim Manners • Writer: Howard Gordon
The agents investigate the deaths of several young people who were apparently struck by lightning in the same small town.
D.P.O are the initials of Darin Peter Oswald, the shows lead antagonist who is played by a young Giovanni Ribisi. He is one of two budding Hollywood starts to feature in this tale of teenage angst, Jack Black was cast as Ribisi’s best friend in the episode. Although this was prior to his breakout in film, Ribisi had actually done quite a lot television work at this point, Black was less known to the public though regardless it’s the pairs on screen chemistry that propels the episode forward and likely prevents it from ultimately becoming a parody of itself. There were apparently some concerns early on that conceptually the script was too juvenile for the show’s target adult audience and that the characters adolescent outbursts would fail to capture the interest of a more mature viewer. This was thankfully not the case as Ribisi’s sociopathic loner proved to be genuinely compelling, so much so that he’s arguably one of season 3’s more memorable characters.
Darin is really not a villain, and that’s why he’s an interesting character. His destructive power could easily be seen as the literal and physical manifestation of his post pubescent hormones raging through him. His misplaced affection for Miss Kiveat is a powerful emotion for him, as a teenager he is feeling perhaps for the first time, these lustful emotions and the logic of their age difference is irrelevant. This is of course a very normal young adult behavior, Howard Gordon then turns this on it’s head and asks the ‘what if’ question by externalizing Darin’s surging hormones with the primal and unpredictable force of lightning. There’s a lot of pressure riding on Ribisi’s performance in this episode, most of the story is told from his perspective and there was a risk that the character could become simply a bland teenage stereotype. Thankfully he owns the role and emanates on screen presence that it’s certainly no wonder he went on to bigger roles in film. Jack Black does a fine job also but he has less to work with and ultimately, as he tends to do, is playing a version of himself admittedly drastically toned down from his usual overblown comedic style. The pair work well in tandem, Zero is needed to bring some levity and energy to the heavy gravity of Darin’s moody and withdrawn nature. It’s a successful pairing that was expertly cast, had this dynamic not worked so well the episode would surely have fallen to the ranks of the forgettable.
The visual effects are surprisingly convincing for the time period. There’s a lot of lighting strikes, electrical interference and destruction of property and once again this could have been a major detraction if not done well but it’s all very convincing and effective. The final climax with Darin letting loose his rage works well, the lightning effects in conjunction with Ribisi’s fierce energy make for a satisfying finale. There’s not a lot to say about Mulder and Scully in this episode, not due to any failing on their part as actors but simply because the focus is so heavily placed upon Darin’s character and to telling his story. On paper this might have seemed a very silly premise: moody teenager commands lightning to win over his high school teacher, but somehow it works. A great example of the right casting, a competent director and excellent characterization that makes for a memorable early season standalone.
★★★☆☆
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