This episode dares to ask what would happen if a mentally challenged teenage boy gained super powers. Unfortunately most teenage boys seem like people that are going to hell, and this boy is no different.
We start the episode in an arcade, a TV bully plays Street Fighter with no one else around him until a strange young man in a hoodie awkwardly walks up to tell him that's his game. The bully is like 'get in line' and blows him off, but the strange young man gets more insistent. Feeling annoyed the bully violently tosses him to the ground as Jack Black also shows up to tell the bully, he shouldn't have done that. Realizing as the lights go haywire that these two are not about to ask him to join us for pong, the bully flees to his car. But no sooner does he try to start the engine then the car goes crazy too and he's electrocuted to death.
Mulder and Scully show up after this because the town is having a rash of lightning killings, which is a bit strange since only 60 people a year die of lightning strikes in the US and never all in one town within a couple weeks of each other. The local sheriff however doesn't like all this talk of hocus pocus and insists nothing out of the ordinary could be going on.
Meanwhile we go back to the killer to discover he's in love with a soccer mom, who is also the wife of his boss at the local autobody shop. It's obvious this little weirdo has made some advances toward the wife, though he clearly expects her to appreciate his honesty as opposed to being totally creeped out. He's no ladykiller and she rebuffs him with a sort of frightened sympathy. And then the handsome husband/boss shows up to make it clear to him: that's my girl.
Mulder and Scully have no better luck as they question around town, with Jack Black telling them, squibbity doo, I didn't see anything at the scene of that homicide I saw last night. However, our heroes can tell the strange lightning boy is clearly a person of interest, the only person in town to be struck by lightning and survive, which in turn makes the villain, who is intimated to be slow to a degree of medical relevancy by the writers, suspect his friend may have betrayed him.
All Jack Black can do is tell him the only way the FBI would know is if the gov't could read my mind, but the lightning killer lets off steam by calling down lightning bolts on himself, and I guess a bunch of cows right next to his own house. The show really makes it clear he's a simpleton who is going to self-destruct at some point, and everything he does leaves behind a lot of incriminating clues which he doesn't have the mind to realize is happening.
This only gets worse for him shortly after as he's sitting watching a local traffic light, switching both lights to green as cars approach the intersection hoping they will crash together. Jack Black joins him to ask why he seems so troubled lately, he's not very bright either, and the villain explains how he loves the older lady. Jack Black is pessimistic as to his chances, she was their former teacher and while nice to him, clearly thought he was mentally challenged, which he is. While his friend reminds him girls turn 18 every day and that he should look elsewhere, he won't listen as this is no superficial love. Instead he causes two cars to crash together violently, seemingly killing one of the drivers.
When the evil boy's boss shows up with a towtruck to haul away a damaged car, he uses his electrical mind powers to nearly kill him, only to then walk up and defibrillate his boss with his bare hands. The paramedics there are like, OK, that was insane.
Hearing this account Mulder and Scully are now sure this kid is the killer, though the autobody owner's hot wife refuses to talk to Mulder because she's so busy. They nonetheless take the evil boy into custody, later finding the woman and talking over with her that only her testimony will allow them to press charges. As long as she does that, she and her husband will be safe.
But then they go back to the sheriff's office and discover he let the boy go. Scully's like, why, but the sheriff is like, you're not the boss of me, I'm the boss of me.
Now back out on the loose, the boy finds Jack Black, and not having learned that ape shall never kill ape, he murders him for having tipped off the FBI. Even though he didn't, the kid's just that stupid.
Mulder and Scully decide to defend the hospital where the trophy wife and her husband are, but the place soon has a total power failure, which is probably bad for hospitals. Mulder is pulled away by a distraction, and Scully and the wife end up cornered. Scully totally has a clear shot and is about to pull the trigger, but then the mom is like, no, I'll go talk to him, and stands in the way of Scully's bullet.
The boy goes on a walk with his former teacher, asking her to come with him so he can let the bad times roll. He makes it clear money's not an issue, as he can steal from any ATM and drive off in any car. Despite stopping Scully ten seconds prior, she immediately regrets her decision, and when the local sheriff pulls up she uses the distraction to run for it.
Mulder grabs the lady and ducks her into the tree line so they can hide, but the boy is like what about me? He makes it clear he loves this other guy's wife, but to no avail. Eventually the fat local sheriff manages to catch up and pull his gun on the kid. Where's your dignity, he asks, as the boy has a meltdown. Don't stop me now, the kid responds electrocuting the sheriff, a nearby tree, and apparently himself. So that saved the day!
To wrap up the episode we see Mulder and Scully outside the kid's padded cell, discussing how nothing out of the ordinary could be found with him. They peer in as the kid sits alone, eating the soup of the day, flipping through TV channels with his mind, and listening to some rock band.
We start the episode in an arcade, a TV bully plays Street Fighter with no one else around him until a strange young man in a hoodie awkwardly walks up to tell him that's his game. The bully is like 'get in line' and blows him off, but the strange young man gets more insistent. Feeling annoyed the bully violently tosses him to the ground as Jack Black also shows up to tell the bully, he shouldn't have done that. Realizing as the lights go haywire that these two are not about to ask him to join us for pong, the bully flees to his car. But no sooner does he try to start the engine then the car goes crazy too and he's electrocuted to death.
Mulder and Scully show up after this because the town is having a rash of lightning killings, which is a bit strange since only 60 people a year die of lightning strikes in the US and never all in one town within a couple weeks of each other. The local sheriff however doesn't like all this talk of hocus pocus and insists nothing out of the ordinary could be going on.
Meanwhile we go back to the killer to discover he's in love with a soccer mom, who is also the wife of his boss at the local autobody shop. It's obvious this little weirdo has made some advances toward the wife, though he clearly expects her to appreciate his honesty as opposed to being totally creeped out. He's no ladykiller and she rebuffs him with a sort of frightened sympathy. And then the handsome husband/boss shows up to make it clear to him: that's my girl.
Mulder and Scully have no better luck as they question around town, with Jack Black telling them, squibbity doo, I didn't see anything at the scene of that homicide I saw last night. However, our heroes can tell the strange lightning boy is clearly a person of interest, the only person in town to be struck by lightning and survive, which in turn makes the villain, who is intimated to be slow to a degree of medical relevancy by the writers, suspect his friend may have betrayed him.
All Jack Black can do is tell him the only way the FBI would know is if the gov't could read my mind, but the lightning killer lets off steam by calling down lightning bolts on himself, and I guess a bunch of cows right next to his own house. The show really makes it clear he's a simpleton who is going to self-destruct at some point, and everything he does leaves behind a lot of incriminating clues which he doesn't have the mind to realize is happening.
This only gets worse for him shortly after as he's sitting watching a local traffic light, switching both lights to green as cars approach the intersection hoping they will crash together. Jack Black joins him to ask why he seems so troubled lately, he's not very bright either, and the villain explains how he loves the older lady. Jack Black is pessimistic as to his chances, she was their former teacher and while nice to him, clearly thought he was mentally challenged, which he is. While his friend reminds him girls turn 18 every day and that he should look elsewhere, he won't listen as this is no superficial love. Instead he causes two cars to crash together violently, seemingly killing one of the drivers.
When the evil boy's boss shows up with a towtruck to haul away a damaged car, he uses his electrical mind powers to nearly kill him, only to then walk up and defibrillate his boss with his bare hands. The paramedics there are like, OK, that was insane.
Hearing this account Mulder and Scully are now sure this kid is the killer, though the autobody owner's hot wife refuses to talk to Mulder because she's so busy. They nonetheless take the evil boy into custody, later finding the woman and talking over with her that only her testimony will allow them to press charges. As long as she does that, she and her husband will be safe.
But then they go back to the sheriff's office and discover he let the boy go. Scully's like, why, but the sheriff is like, you're not the boss of me, I'm the boss of me.
Now back out on the loose, the boy finds Jack Black, and not having learned that ape shall never kill ape, he murders him for having tipped off the FBI. Even though he didn't, the kid's just that stupid.
Mulder and Scully decide to defend the hospital where the trophy wife and her husband are, but the place soon has a total power failure, which is probably bad for hospitals. Mulder is pulled away by a distraction, and Scully and the wife end up cornered. Scully totally has a clear shot and is about to pull the trigger, but then the mom is like, no, I'll go talk to him, and stands in the way of Scully's bullet.
The boy goes on a walk with his former teacher, asking her to come with him so he can let the bad times roll. He makes it clear money's not an issue, as he can steal from any ATM and drive off in any car. Despite stopping Scully ten seconds prior, she immediately regrets her decision, and when the local sheriff pulls up she uses the distraction to run for it.
Mulder grabs the lady and ducks her into the tree line so they can hide, but the boy is like what about me? He makes it clear he loves this other guy's wife, but to no avail. Eventually the fat local sheriff manages to catch up and pull his gun on the kid. Where's your dignity, he asks, as the boy has a meltdown. Don't stop me now, the kid responds electrocuting the sheriff, a nearby tree, and apparently himself. So that saved the day!
To wrap up the episode we see Mulder and Scully outside the kid's padded cell, discussing how nothing out of the ordinary could be found with him. They peer in as the kid sits alone, eating the soup of the day, flipping through TV channels with his mind, and listening to some rock band.