"The X Files"
Audrey Pauley (2002)

Director:

Kim Manners

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
Steven Maeda (written by)

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

17 March 2002 (Season 9, Episode 11)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Reyes is seriously injured in a car accident and finds herself in a hospital similar to purgatory with other hospital patients suffering from serious traumas. Slowly they all begin to disappear. Meanwhile, in the real world, Doggett refuses to accept his friend's 'mortal' wounds and uses a bizarre hospital employee to both connect with Reyes in the other-world and capture a 'Dr. Death.' |

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title | Female FBI Agent | FBI Agent | Male Female Relationship | Cult

Cast

Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Robert Patrick	...	John Doggett
Annabeth Gish	...	Monica Reyes
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jack Blessing	...	Dr. Jack Preijers
Tracey Ellis	...	Audrey Pauley
Michele Harrell	...	Mrs. Murdoch
Ana Maria Lagasca	...	Barreiro's Daughter (scenes deleted)
Esther Mercado	...	Mrs. Barreiro (as Esther 'Tita' Mercado)
Joe Nieves	...	Barreiro's Son
Cynthena Sanders	...	ER Nurse
Stan Shaw	...	Stephen Murdoch
Vernee Watson-Johnson	...	Nurse Whitney Edwards (as Vernée Watson-Johnson)
Del Zamora	...	Mr. Barreiro

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Quotes:

Audrey Pauley: Your name is John, right? She has a message for you. She says you're a dog person.
John Doggett: Wait. Where did you get that? Who said that to you?
Audrey Pauley: I told you. She's not gone.

Soundtrack:

Goodnight

Dog people and cat people

Audrey Pauley just doesn't sit right with me. Audrey Pauley is the Doggett/Reyes "relationship" episode. I think what my biggest gripe about this episode is is that it's succumbing to network TV pressure. Mulder and Scully took 143 episodes to kiss for the first time. It's taking a whopping 13 episodes to show Doggett's interest in Reyes. What made the X-Files unique was the ability to keep Mulder and Scully from bed-hopping for so long. With Doggett and Reyes already getting interested in each other romantically just 13 episodes makes it like any other TV drama.

Reyes does the little dog people/cat people bit to set up the line later on in the episode. It's true. Doggett is a dog person. Aren't all cops?

I liked the car wreck scene. Wow! That looked real. It was very well done.

This episode bears a similarity to season 2's 'One Breath'. In it, Scully has a living will, stating she doesn't want to live on life support. Mulder refuses to give up on her. In this episode, the same thing goes for Reyes, and Doggett won't give up on her. Another interesting thing is that Doggett was just in a coma in the previous episode, 'Providence'. So now it's Reyes' turn.

Audrey Pauley(whose last name is never mentioned in the episode) tells Reyes that Doggett loves her. And Doggett has a daydream of him and Reyes smooching. Once again. Too rushed.

Tracy Ellis and her Droopy Dog demeanor bug me. I thought she did well in 'Oubliette', but essentially using the same, depressed character here just doesn't work well and seems repetitive.

Why are Stephen and Mr. Barreiro in hospital garb but Reyes is not? They are all in comas. Seriously, that's an annoying inconsistency. I'm sure the writers just wanted her looking good. If so, Stephen and Mr. Barreiro should have been dressed in street clothes.

I don't like how the evil doctor killing off patients for his own amusement is not fully explained. At least Jack Kevorkian had the patients' permission before he euthanized them. Also, the guy appears to have a poison-filled needle in his pocket at all times in case he needs to 'off' someone, like his nurse.

I did like that Robert Patrick shows some dramatic range in his acting for this episode. It's a nice change and he's convincing.

Is this just 'One Breath' in disguise? I'm wondering now if it is. Audrey Pauley treads upon a classic episode and puts forth numerous inconsistencies that hurts it even more. Rushing Doggett and Reye's relationship is also not good. You may wish for euthanasia from Dr. Preijers after being subjected to Audrey Pauley.