D.P.O.

"D.P.O."
The X-Files episode
Darin Peter Oswald summoning lightning.
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 3
Directed by	Kim Manners
Written by	Howard Gordon
Production code	3X03
Original air date	October 6, 1995
Running time	44 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
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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List of season 3 episodes List of The X-Files episodes

"D.P.O." is the third episode of the third season of television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on October 6, 1995, on Fox, being written by Howard Gordon and directed by Kim Manners. The episode is a stand-alone episode, like most episodes of The X-Files, and follows the normal Monster-of-the-Week pattern of the show. "D.P.O." earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.9, being watched by 15.57 million people in its initial broadcast, and received positive reviews.

The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder and Scully investigate a series of lightning-related deaths in Oklahoma, which are eventually connected to the only person to have survived a lightning strike, an emotionally charged youth.

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. The episode contained several scenes of elaborate lightning effects. Notably, a "lightning machine" used for the sequence where Darin is struck by lightning was created by Special Effects Supervisor David Gauthier and buried under the ground.

At a video arcade in Connerville, Oklahoma, two young men, Jack Hammond and Darin Peter Oswald, argue over a game of Virtua Fighter 2. 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. This makes Hammond nervous and he leaves, but when he 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 witnesses Hammond's death, returns to the game.