It is episodes like this that make me appreciate agents Doggett and Reyes. Much like Scully, I pine for Mulder in this episode (and the entire 9th season, which I am still watching for the first time), and to some extent I miss Scully as well, who we hardly see in 'Audrey Pauley', but Reyes and Doggett come close to making up for the void by the displaying the strength of their bond and loyalty to each other. The blackish-greenish, dark, scary, vast space of the unknown was haunting and I felt sad for Monica when she realized that she had to cast herself into it. I won't give away any more but the performance of Tracey Ellis as Audrey was especially poignant as the illiterate patient aid who didn't realize just how much she was capable of. Seeing her again evoked memories of her portrayal of a half-way house resident in another X-Files episode, 'Oubliette'. This would have been a nice Mulder and Scully story line, one without all that alien conspiracy confusion, in a perfect world, but Reyes and Doggett filled their shoes quite effectively in this one. I have never been able to say "Mulder, who?" but I definitely rate 'Audrey Pauley' as but one of the best Mulder-free and Scully-lite X-Files chapters.
Review of Audrey Pauley
