In a very abrupt shift from 'The Blessing Way' and 'Paper Clip', 'D.P.O' is the most case-of-the-week of case of the week episodes. I think the contrast probably makes this episode seem worse than it actually is.
Because the episode is not bad, and despite the overall creepiness and violence of Darin Peter Oswald, manages to highlight the loneliness he felt throughout his life and later as a result of his condition.
Reading the Wikipedia article about this episode, I saw that Sheriff Teller was named after Teller of Penn and Teller, who had wanted to appear on the show, but since the writers couldn't find a way to get them into an episode, they settled for naming a character after one of them. My thought was, really? Why weren't they in 'Humbug'? That seems like it would have been the perfect episode for them.
Another thing I noticed is that there are some volume issues in this episode, but for deliberate effect. When I started season 3, I observed that the intro music had been remixed. Some of the arpeggios sounded a little louder and more prominent, and the percussion was more noticeable. Plus, the whole mix was generally much louder than the episode itself. (Aside, looking for distinct differences in the theme music from season to season, I stumbled on this epic creation, which is really really eerie. Like, more so than the actual intro.)
In 'D.P.O.', though, the cold open ends with music absolutely blasting, and then cuts into the intro sequence which suddenly seems quiet, even though I'm sure it's being played the same volume as it was in 'The Blessing Way' and 'Paper Clip'. In fact, the music playing whenever Oswald is listening to music is exceptionally loud. It's jarring, and also something that I didn't observe in my post about the music in the show, it's rock music, rather than Mark Snow's score, which doesn't seem to happen very much in The X-Files.
As for the story, it wasn't awful, just kind of weird? But it sure was unsettling. Oswald was sufficiently stalkerish and malicious, but it's interesting to see where that came from, and how his isolation, partly due to being ostracised for his apparently lower intelligence and partly due to his rather exceptional ability, influence his behaviour. I actually kind of felt sorry for him, much the way his teacher, Mrs Kiveat, did.
At least, I'd feel sorry for him if I didn't know he was, you know, a murderer. And what he did to Mr Kiveat was beyond sick. Did he really think that orchestrating a heart attack and recovery would impress the man's wife? Well, we've already established he wasn't the deepest thinker, and there was an implication he used drugs, too. (Aside: Jack Black plays a stoner? You don't say!)
The scenes involving Mrs Oswald were a little strange, and kind of implied that she had absolutely no idea her son was involved in anything unusual. She'd do well in Sunnydale, wouldn't she? "Huh, the TV's all wonky. That happens a lot, but no one else has that problem. And my son keeps getting hit by lightning. Oh well, I guess I should replace the batteries in the remote!" or whatever. But in the end, she at least cooperates and allows Mulder and Scully to search Darin's room, where of course they find the clipped photo of his teacher. (At least there wasn't a creepy stalker shrine, though inserting her picture into a pornographic magazine is creepy enough.)
But I did get the distinct impression that the Sheriff was deliberately covering for Oswald, though we never actually see if there's a connection between the two. I mean, the guy's a complete dick to Scully, but also to the FBI in general. He doesn't want them there, and he's so viciously condescending to Scully in the beginning that I'm convinced he's a Fox Noise viewer (or would be if it had existed in 1995). "Scientists will tell you, push come to shove that they really don’t know what makes lightning work at all." Uh, scientists actually of do know how lightning works. It's not really that huge a mystery. Since I utterly loathe anti-intellectualism and opposition to scientific fact, this guy got on my bad side pretty damn quickly. And Scully's, too, because she is having none of his shit.
And that led to one of the few moments of clever banter in the episode, because in that conversation, Mulder is conspicuously silent, and Scully notices. I can't say it enough: this show is at its best when these two are just talking. They have a great connection, but also a great contrast in style. It just works.
But as for why the Sheriff is a dick, again, I can't really figure it out. Maybe he's just one of those people in a position of power who doesn't like to be proven wrong, especially by outsiders. Or he just really hates science. That's the best I can come up with. And it leads me to think this story is somehow incomplete - we never really see his story resolved, or Darin's mother, for that matter. The episode just ends with the resolution (possibly) of Darin's story, though there's enough uncertainty even there that it seems he's likely to go free again.
I don't think his ability was particularly well thought out. Even if you accept that he has power over the electricity generated in his body, it's played more like a psychic ability to affect electricity than actual electrical control. If it were literally electricity, you'd see sparks whenever he turned a car on or off, or manipulated the traffic lights, or stopped someone's heart. He couldn't just arbitrarily control the electricity within other things, especially not without a visible effect.
Also, it is endlessly amusing to me that in this small town in Oklacouver there is an intersection that is always approached by two cars at such a time and speed that they would collide or come close to it were it not for the traffic light being manipulated by Oswald. I mean, really?
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