Oubliette (The X-Files)
"Oubliette" is the eighth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, and originally aired on the Fox network on November 17, 1995.
Written by Charles Grant Craig and directed by Kim Manners, "Oubliette" is a "monster of the week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files.
The Fox network was concerned her situation was an uncomfortable parallel to the recent Polly Klaas case, resulting in her age being increased before filming could begin.
In Seattle, photography assistant Carl Wade (Michael Chieffo) watches as 15-year-old Amy Jacobs (Jewel Staite) is photographed for school picture day.
Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) investigates Amy's disappearance, drawn to the case because his younger sister, Samantha, was kidnapped in a similar situation.
In her room at a halfway house, scratches appear on Lucy's face and she experiences temporary blindness—injuries identical to Amy's, who is being tortured in the basement of Wade's cabin.
Scully informs Mulder of their new lead in the case, the school photography assistant Wade, who was recently fired under strange circumstances.
Mulder is adamant that Lucy, who admits that Wade was the man who abducted her, is not part of the kidnapping, and snaps at Scully when she suggests that Samantha's disappearance is causing him to become too involved with the case.
The investigation team receives a tip from a tow truck driver concerning Wade's location, which corresponds to the area where Lucy was found years ago.
[9][10] Though Craig left the staff shortly before "Oubliette" entered production for unknown reasons, he was credited as a supervising producer on several installments for the third season.
[1][11] The title was derived from the French word "oubliette", which refers to a pit-like dungeon consisting of "total darkness" with a hole that opens from the top.
[11] Series creator Chris Carter stated that in Craig's original draft Lucy was more "hard-boiled", but actress Tracey Ellis played her as a more wounded person.
[17][16] The reason for the concern was because the original screenplay featured similarities to the Polly Klaas case, which had received large public attention around the time of production.
[18] Ngaire Genge in her book The Unofficial X-Files Companion commented that "tragically, unlike Amy, Klaas didn't survive her abduction".
[25][26] Gillian Anderson's stand-in Bonnie Hay, who appears in a cameo, previously played a doctor in both "Colony" and "End Game" and a nurse in "D.P.O.".
[34] Thematic elements concerning the concept of "remote viewing"—the paranormal ability to perceive feelings from a distance—are later explored in greater detail in the fifth season installment "Mind's Eye".
However, she was critical of Ellis's performance as Lucy, finding that her characterization did not fit the character, and she noted that the installment fell into the trope of using women as victims.
[11] Robert Shearman, in his book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated "Oubliette" five stars out of five.
While writing that it was a difficult episode to watch, given how closely it paralleled the real world, Shearman wrote that "Oubliette" was "nevertheless one of the series' boldest and greatest achievements".
[39] Entertainment Weekly gave "Oubliette" a grade of "B−", stating that the plot wasn't as scary as it could have been considering the subject matter, positively critiquing that the episode was "worth it for Lucy's channeling sequences".
