“Oubliette” is episode eight of season three of The X-Files.
Children are being photographed at the Valley Woods High School in Seattle, Washington. One girl, Amy Jacobs (Jewel Staite), has her photograph taken and the photographer tells his assistant, Carl, that he needs a reload. Carl is looking at Amy and hasn’t got a reload ready. His boss asks why he bothered coming if he wasn’t going to do his job. Given by the way Carl is looking at Amy, that’s the answer, and it looks like a disturbing one.
Later, Carl develops Amy’s photograph in a darkroom and cuts it out. Putting it in a frame next to a photograph of himself. Well, that’s creepy. The darkroom is under the main part of the house and Carl takes more photographs.
Amy is asleep in her bed with her sister in the same room. The window opens and Carl climbs in. He grabs Amy by the mouth as she wakes and tells her that nothing is going to spoil them.
A woman is making coffee at a fast food restaurant. She suffers from a nosebleed, a bad one, and collapses to the floor, muttering the same thing Carl said to Amy. The time on her watch is the same as the time on the clock in Amy’s bedroom.
Mulder arrives at Amy’s house and asks to speak to the agent in charge. He sees Amy’s mother who asks who could do such a thing. She probably wouldn’t like the answer. Mulder starts saying he knows how she feels and she asks how could he really. Well, Mulder probably does have a decent idea.
There’s blood on the bedroom floor and a man, Eubanks, the agent in charge says it’s from a nosebleed Amy had when the kidnapper grabbed her. They’ve only got a vague description from the sister and not much more. Mulder mentions Lucy Householder, the woman from the fast food restaurant. And the reason he came. He asks Eubanks if the latter has any problems with Mulder speaking to Lucy. None at all.
Mulder is at the University Medical Centre when Scully arrives; her plane was delayed. Mulder explains what happened and that they are in the hospital to see Lucy, and why she was admitted. and that she was speaking the exact same words as the kidnapper at the exact same time, even though they were 20 miles apart. When Lucy was 8, she was kidnapped and held for five years until she escaped. Her abductor kept her in his basement the entire time. He was never caught.
Lucy wants to know why they’ve come to see her. It’s explained. She says the words she and the kidnapper said don’t mean anything to her. Her denial is not totally convincing. Lucy isn’t being helpful and just wants to know when she can leave. She’s told when the doctors say she can. She was told that the FBI had to release her. They explain they can’t hold her and Lucy immediately starts getting ready to leave.
Carl is on a road in the middle of nowhere with a puncture and his boot open when a tow truck arrives. The driver of the truck has got the wrong person, but offers to help anyway for cash. Carl doesn’t want help and drives him away with a wrench.
At the FBI field office, Eubanks tells Mulder that Lucy has a criminal record and has done time. Mulder doesn’t think this is surprising, considering her history. He also doesn’t think she’s involved. Afterwards, Scully tells him that something weird was uncovered. There were two types of blood on Lucy’s uniform, one her blood type, one Amy’s. Scully is getting the latter analysed for DNA. Mulder wants this kept quiet for now, as he doesn’t want Lucy treated like a suspect until it’s absolutely certain she is one.
Lucy is in bed, shivering, at the Bright Angel Halfway House when a man enters with a blanket. Lucy says it’s dark and she can’t see. She’s also got marks on her face. Amy is in the dark when Carl opens a hatch to look at her. She also has the same scratches on her face. Mulder arrives after the paramedics have been called and they tell him that Lucy is fine now. Mulder wants Lucy’s help finding Amy; she doesn’t think she can.
Scully is watching a video of Lucy just after she was found – she was in a bad way – when Scully enters. Scully tells him that school photos were mailed to everyone in Amy’s class, except Amy, and the photographer’s assistant, Carl, was fired the day after the shoot. Carl spent a good part of the last 15 years being institutionalised for bipolar disorder. Carl’s photo is being taken to show Amy’s sister; Mulder wants to show it to Lucy as well.
Of course, the DNA on Lucy’s clothes matches Amy, so people think she’s connected to the kidnapping. Like everyone else, Mulder thinks she is connected, just not in the same way. Really, his explanation is no dafter than the one the rest are going with. Mulder thinks there’s a psychic connection. The others believe that’s nonsense. It’s far more believable to them that Lucy is involved, even though there are many witnesses who can confirm she was miles away from the kidnapping when it happened. How, exactly, did the think the blood got there? Well, there’s DNA involved, so perhaps there is some scientific connection. Only it’s one that doesn’t make sense and would likely be tossed out of court. Mulder is the only one who really believes Lucy is just a victim.