Season 9: Audrey Pauley (9X13)

Written by: Steven Maeda
Directed by: Kim Manners

At the end of a long workday, Reyes drives Doggett to his house and they share a momentary rapport before Doggett exits. Moments later, the sound of a car accident fills the air. Reyes is rushed to a hospital, where Dr. Preijers and Nurse Edwards examine her condition. Strangely, Reyes soon finds herself inside the same hospital trauma room by herself. She makes her way to the exit, but sees nothing but a dark void surrounding the hospital. She soon encounters another patient, Steven Murdoch, who introduces her to a Mr. Barreiro, who is in the same position. A discussion ensues about whether or not they're all dead. Reyes is convinced they're not.

Meanwhile, Scully tells Doggett that Reyes is technically dead, but Doggett refuses to accept this. Dr. Preijers tells the agents that Reyes signed her organ donor card and surgeons will soon be harvesting her remains. In the netherworld, Reyes takes an interest in the fact that all writing in the hospital is indecipherable gibberish. She spots a figure in the hallway, but they soon vanish into thin air. Mr. Barreiro begins screaming and is suddenly engulfed in electricity. He, too, vanishes into thin air, but in a different way.

Back in the real world, Dr. Preijers comforts Mrs. Barreiro as she mourns the death of her husband. Nearby stands the mystery woman Reyes chased through the netherworld hospital earlier. Her name badge reads "Audrey Pauley". Doggett shows an anomaly in Reyes' EKG to Dr. Preijers, then makes his way to Reyes' room, where he finds Audrey at her bedside. She tells him that Reyes's soul isn't gone yet.

Audrey makes her way to her room in the hospital basement, where a model of the hospital stands. It looks as if she constructed it herself. She concentrates her energy on the model and is transported into the netherworld version. There she encounters Reyes, who asks her to tell Doggett that he's "a dog person." Meanwhile, Nurse Edwards tells Dr. Preijers that she saw him give Reyes an injection of epinephrine, which was not mentioned in his notes. A few moments later Preijers grabs Edwards from behind and injects something into the back of her neck. A hospital staffer finds Edwards' body. In the netherworld, Reyes begins to suspect that whatever she and Murdoch are trapped in is the product of someone else's doing. Shortly thereafter, Murdoch collapses onto the floor.

Dr. Preijers has disconnected Murdoch from life support at the request of his wife. Audrey conveys Reyes' message to Doggett, who reacts with disbelief. He follows her to her room and quizzes her about the hospital model. Audrey tells him it helps her communicate with the people in the netherworld and tells him about Murdoch and Barriero. Doggett realises that both men were Preijers' patients.

Doggett asks Audrey to convey a message to Reyes. He tells her to say goodbye, and vows to catch the man who put her on life support. But when Audrey returns to the netherworld, Reyes accuses her of creating the place she's trapped in, which explains why she's capable of passing between both worlds.

Preijers comes to believe that Audrey could expose him. He injects her with a drug and watches as she dies. In the netherworld, Audrey tells Reyes that the only way out is to jump into the void. Reyes takes the plunge, and awakens in her hospital bed. She speaks one word: "Audrey." Doggett rushes to the basement, where he slams Preijers into a wall and recovers the spent syringe. He then finds Audrey's body. When Reyes recovers, Doggett gives her a ride home. Another moment passes between them, but is ruined when Reyes is distracted by headlights from another car.

Notes:
This is the second time that Tracy Ellis has had a guest appearance on the show. She played Lucy Householder in the Season 3 episode "Oubliette".

This episode marks the 50th time that Kim Manners has stepped behind the camera to direct an X-Files episode, making him without a doubt the longest serving director on the show. His debut was for season 2's ''Die Hand Die Verletzt''.

In a funny blooper from this episode, Annabeth Gish has a coughing fit while lying in the hospital bed, while Scully is trying to convince Doggett that she is brain dead.

Quotes:
Stephen Murdoch: Hello. It's okay. I was a little freaked out, too... at first.
Reyes: Who are you?
Stephen Murdoch: Stephen Murdoch. I don't even know if that matters any more but... my name is Stephen. Did you just look outside? Yeah. Don't do that.
Reyes: Where did everybody go?
Stephen Murdoch: I think the question is; 'Where did we go?' Were you in an accident?
Reyes: I think I was hit by a car, on my way home.
Stephen Murdoch: I came in with chest pains. Mr Barriero, someone new. I found Mr Barriero wandering around here, same as you. He fell at a construction site where he used to work.
Reyes: You think we're dead. (Stephen Murdoch nods) No. No, I don't believe that.
Val Barriero: Have you ever been dead? So how do you know you're not?

Scully: It's true, John. She's gone.

Doggett: I don't accept that. Look at her breathing. Her heart's still beating. There's got to be hope.
Scully: There's no measurable electrical activity in her brain. Brain death is... indeed death, John. I'm sorry.

Stephen Murdoch: Okay, so this woman you saw — she went through the wall?

Reyes: I don't know. She was here, and then she disappeared.
Stephen Murdoch: Disappeared? What do you mean, like Mr Barriero did?
Reyes: Different than Barriero.
Stephen Murdoch: Okay, okay, let's concentrate on one unexplainable event at a time here. What the hell happened to Mr Barriero?
Reyes: My opinion? I think he died. You can't die if you're already dead. Which backs up my belief that you and I are alive. I have no idea where she went.
Stephen Murdoch: Hold on. If he's dead... and we're not... then where the hell are we?

Doggett: You live down here?

Audrey Pauley: The nuns let me stay. I wanted to be a nurse, only I can't do much, but they let me help out.
Doggett: This is this hospital. You made this? (A model of the hospital) Why?
Audrey Pauley: I like to visit it. I sort of go... inside my head.
Doggett: You go into the model?
Audrey Pauley: I like it there. It's quiet. I used to have it all to myself but then some people showed up. Hospital patients. Your friend.
Doggett: This is where you say you talked to her? Right inside here?
Audrey Pauley: Well... not so much like tiny people in a... in a model, but... inside my head? Up here, I guess. You don't believe me.
Doggett: Audrey... you said that you saw some other people besides my friend. Other patients? Can you tell me who they are?

Audrey Pauley: Monica? John wanted me to tell you something.

Reyes: You gave him my message?
Audrey Pauley: He says, you don't have very long. He says, you have to give them some kind of sign. I know... I'm sorry.
Reyes: Are you really going to leave me here to die?
Audrey Pauley: I can't... do... anything. There's... there's something wrong... you know, up here. And I can't help anyone. I deliver the flowers. It's all I do. And I have to even get help with that because I can't read what's on the little cards.
Reyes: You can't read?
Audrey Pauley: I see it all jumbled up.
Reyes: This is your hospital. It's you who created it. It's all you, Audrey. This place is all you. And that means you can make the rules work any damn way that you want them to. You can help me escape. Audrey?

Episode Number: 193
Season Number: 9
First Aired: Sunday, March 17, 2002
Production Code: 9X13

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