Aubrey (The X-Files)

"Aubrey"
The X-Files episode
BJ Morrow seen losing her mind
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 12
Directed by	Rob Bowman
Written by	Sara B. Charno
Production code	2X12
Original air date	January 6, 1995
Guest stars
Terry O'Quinn as Lt. Brian Tillman Deborah Strang as Detective BJ Morrow Morgan Woodward as Harry Cokely Joy Coghill as Linda Thibedeaux Roby Driscoll as Detective Joe Darnell Peter Fleming as 1st Officer Sarah-Jane Redmond as Young Mom Emanual Hajek as Young Harry Cokely
Episode chronology
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List of season 2 episodes List of The X-Files episodes

"Aubrey" is the twelfth episode of the second season of The X-Files television series. "Aubrey" features a detective discovering the body of an FBI agent who disappeared investigating a series of murders 50 years ago; murders that start occurring again soon afterward.

Plot

In Aubrey, Missouri Detective BJ Morrow tells Lt. Brian Tillman (Terry O'Quinn), whom she is having an affair with, that she is pregnant. He requests she meet him at a motel later that night. While waiting for him she has a vision that leads her to a field where she digs up the remains of an FBI agent. Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) head to Aubrey to investigate. The remains are those of agent Sam Cheney, who was investigating three murders in Aubrey in 1942 with partner Sam Ledbetter, both of whom disappeared. The agents find discrepancies in BJ's story but Tillman defends her. Mulder tells Scully of the case the agents were investigating, which involved three women raped and murdered with the word 'SISTER' slashed on their chest. Discovering similar cuts on Cheney's chest the autopsy reveals it to spell 'BROTHER'. BJ admits her affair and pregnancy to Scully.

Tillman reveals that a new murder has occurred where a woman had the word 'SISTER' slashed on her chest. BJ claims to have seen the victim in her dreams. She tells the agents of her vision, involving a man with a rash on his face and a monument that Mulder recognizes as the Trylon and Perisphere from the 1939 New York World's Fair. Searching old mug shot photos, BJ recognizes the man from her dream as Harry Cokely, who was arrested for raping a woman named Linda Thibedeaux and slashing 'SISTER' on her chest. Scully believes that BJ unconsciously recalled the case since her father was a cop and may have discussed it. The agents visit Cokely, now out of prison and old and feeble, requiring an oxygen machine. Cokely insists he was at his home when the murder occurred.

BJ awakens from a nightmare covered in blood, the word 'SISTER' slashed into her chest. She sees a young Cokely in the mirror. She heads to a basement and tears away the floorboards, revealing a body within that is found to be Ledbetter's. Cokely is arrested, who denies attacking her. Scully tells Mulder that blood on the latest victim matches Cokely's. The agents visit Thibedeaux who describes the rape in the 1940s. Mulder notices a photo of her at the 1939 World's Fair featuring the Trylon and Perisphere. When pressed, she reveals that the rape resulted in a child, which she put up for adoption. The FBI tracks down the child, who turns out to have been BJ's father, causing Mulder to surmise that BJ is the killer and may be operating on genetic memories.

As the agents are on their way to intercept her, BJ attacks Thibedeaux, but stops when she sees the 'SISTER' scars on her chest. The agents find Thibedeaux after BJ has left, and head to Cokely's house, believing him to be her next target. BJ, who has already arrived, cuts Cokely's respirator and attacks him with a razor. When the agents arrive BJ attacks Mulder but when Cokely dies she stops. BJ is placed in Shamrock Women's Prison Psychiatric Ward where she is put on suicide watch after attempting to self-abort.

Production

Writer Sara Charno began with the concept of 50 year old murders and the transfer of genetic memory. This was combined with a separate concept about a female serial killer. Glen Morgan and James Wong provided additional contributions to the script. The script was revised shortly before shooting, such as the scene where BJ attacks Mulder.

Morgan and Wong suggested casting Woodward as Harry Cokely, who had previously performed work for them on their series 21 Jump Street. Actor Terry O'Quinn later appeared as a different characters in the 1998 feature film and the ninth season episode "Trust No 1". He later had a recurring role as Peter Watts on the spin off series Millennium.

Chris Carter said of the episode "I think it came out great, and the casting was terrific. Deborah Strang, who played B.J. was top notch, and we put her in for an Emmy nomination. Morgan Woodward was excellent as well. Rob Bowman came through for us and gave us an excellent job." Director Rob Bowman was proud of the sequence where BJ wakes up with blood on her chest and had high praise for Deborah Strang's performance.

Reception

This episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.2, with a 16 share. It was viewed by 9.7 million households.

Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a B, describing it as "a well-paced murder mystery with an inventive wrap-up". Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club said that most of "Aubrey" was "fun", although BJ was not "particularly interesting". He stated that things got "dicey" for him around the revelation about Thibedeaux's child and that he did not buy Mulder's genetic impulse theories. He criticised the ending, writing that it "[sacrificed] whatever mood and character development the previous thirty had spent establishing for cheesy theatrics, and the whole thing lands with a resounding thud. There are too many problems with the concept; the nature/nurture debate has been going on for decades, and this ep throws the whole thing out the window in about two minutes. No other cause for BJ's actions is ever given...That's some lazy writing right there."

External links

• "Aubrey" on The X-Files Wiki, an external wiki
• "Aubrey" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Aubrey" at TV.com