Written by Howard Gordon
Directed by Kim Manners
And so after an
incredible beginning to the season, Howard Gordon gives us another one of his
trademark episodes where a character uses paranormal powers to wreak revenge.
But this one's a bit different in scope and style, because Darin Oswald isn't
exactly a Vietnam
vet wreaking revenge or a practitioner of voodoo. In fact, take away the fact
that he can conduct lightning somehow, and Oswald exactly remarkable. Truth is,
even with it, he's not exactly the sharpest needle. This is a teenager who
seems to be nothing but a loser---- his special education teacher felt sorry
for him even while he was failing, his mother doesn't think he's remarkable
because he doesn't appear on trash TV, his best friend is nicknamed Zero.
And even though
he's been given some awesome power, he can't find anything constructive to do
with it. When Zero suggests blowing the hick Oklahoma
town they live in for some place where he can use his power to make more money,
all he can think about his crush on Mrs. Kiveat, whose crush hasn't gotten any
more adult than anything else about him. All he does with his power is use it
to play video games, to fry cattle, and to cause cars to crash as busy
intersections. When his boss comes to a crash site, he can't decide whether
it's more impression to kill him or save his life--- so he does both.
The episode
plays a little lighter than the usual X-Files fair, mainly due to the slacker
comic performances of most of the cast. Legendary comedian Jack Black, just a
couple of years before stardom is very good as Zero, demonstrating some of the
superb comic timing he's been a master. Giovanni Ribisi is also good at
portraying the loser qualities of this rebel without a clue. He seems to be
having fun throughout the episode, but it's kind of a slack-jawed fun as if he
can't be bothered to enjoy any part of what he's doing. It's typical of a
villain that will start to evolve during the season of little men with
extraordinary powers who can't use it for any real purposes. When the episode
ends with doctors unable to find any evidence of anything remarkable about
Darin Oswald, there's something strangely fitting--- he's still just a little man
This is not
however, the most well done episode in other respects. Mulder and Scully are
given far less respect than they normally are, and for once, it's not clear
why. Mulder manages to make some of his more remarkable leaps in this episode
than he usually does--- how he figures out that Darin is capable of conducting
lightning is a pretty big leap even for him. As a result, both agents are
bullied by the sheriff from beginning to end, and it's hard to take a great
deal of pleasure from it when the man meets his end at Darin's hand. But we're
also seeing how difficult it is to deal with an X-File in the real world, when
the DA tells Scully he has no idea how to begin to build a case against Darin.
It's somehow a fitting fate for Darin ---- the world still doesn't have a place
for him even after they recognize what he's done.
I'll admit some
of the effects are rather impressive, and it's hard to resist any episode where
cow gets fried with a lightning bolt, but even so the episode is only
marginally above average in my book. It's funnier and more creative than the
typical Howard Gordon script, but it's nothing groundbreaking in the same way
that other writers this very season will reach when it comes to a similar
theme. There is however, one bit, that signifies more than anything else how
the series has changed even a season later, when in the final minute, Oswald
realizes his mother's ambitions as he flicks the TV with his eyebrows until we
land on the credit for Chris Carter. It's a personal revelation that, for
better or worse, The X-Files is now
part of the cultural zeitgeist. This will eventually become a point that gets
played on by many of the other writers, but for now, it's a creative end to an
episode that, truthfully speaking, isn't that much more creative.
My score: 3.25 stars.
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