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"Aubrey" is the twelfth episode of the second season of The X-Files. Written by Sara Charno and directed by Rob Bowman, it first aired in the United States on January 5, 1995 on the Fox network. Aubrey is a "Monster-of-the-week" story, independent of the series' mythology arc.
Synopsis[]
When a detective mysteriously uncovers the remains of an FBI agent who disappeared in the 1940s while investigating a murder case similar to a modern-day one she is currently investigating, Mulder and Scully believe that the original killer had passed his genetic trait of violence to his descendants.
Summary[]
In Aubrey police station, a female detective, BJ Morrow, enters an office and tells her boss, Brian Tillman, that she needs to talk to him. Tillman, who is busy and harrassed as there has been a murder, tries to dismiss her. During the conversation, Tillman receives a call. As he is talking, BJ writes on a piece of paper and shows it to him; the writing says "I'm pregnant". After he puts down the phone, he tells BJ to meet him at a motel where they can talk.
Cut to the motel that evening. BJ is about to enter when she starts to hallucinate; she sees a man taking a dead body out of a truck and carrying it to bury somewhere. Through this vision, she manages to locate the dead body in the middle of a field and dig it out from where it was buried. With the dead body, she finds a badge that says FBI on it.
Cut to the FBI headquarters, where Scully and Mulder are discussing the dental X-Rays of the body performed to determine the identity of the victim. Scully asks Mulder who they belong to. Mulder replies, "Special Agent Sam Chaney" and adds that he was an FBI agent 40 years ago and was a legend investigating serial murders. Chaney and his partner disappeared whilst investigating serial murders in 1942. The hallmark of the murders was the word "SISTER" carved on the victim's chest. The murderer, Harry Cokely, was apprehended at the time and sent to prison.
At the crime scene, Mulder and Scully question BJ about how she found the body. She lies to them that she was having problems with her car and whilst trying to sort it she noticed a dog digging in the field. Mulder and Scully are unconvinced, pointing out several holes in her story. Tillman, who is also present, intercedes and demands that they leave BJ alone. Through this interaction, Scully quietly summises that they pair are having an affair.
Cut to the Coroner's office, Scully is conducting an autopsy on the corpse. They discuss the case in 1942 which was being investigated by Agent Chaney when he disappeared. They identify marks on the ribcage which may be indicative that this victim, too, had something carved on his chest. BJ enters the room while Scully and Mulder are talking and ask them if they have made any progress on the case. Using the crime scene photos and special software, Mulder and Scully find that the notches on the skeleton do not match the word Sister and ponder over what it could say instead. Looking at the skeleton, BJ experiences another vision where Chaney is being tortured by the killer. She leaves the room in distress, and is followed by Scully.
Cut to the washroom, where Scully has a brief conversion with BJ in which BJ talks about the nightmares. She says that it's always that the same in the house and feels almost familiar; she recognizes the man but doesn't know him. Scully asks her if she is pregnant as she suspects as much, and BJ confirms it, but asks Scully to keep it to herself, along with the fact that the father is Detective Tillman. They return to the office where Mulder is still studying the letters. BJ looks again at the corpse and realises that the letters spell out "BROTHER". Tillman enters the room and looks at the files, and, mistakenly thinking that they are from the recent case, indignantly says these are crime scene photos and they are sealed, and that no one has access to them. Mulder replied that he is mistaken and they are from the 1942 serial murders. Tillman looks at the files again and sees the date; he is stunned and reveals to the agents that the same kind of incident took place 3 days ago where a young woman was murdered and the word sister was carved onto her chest and painted on the wall. Meanwhile, another detective enters the room and says that there has been another murder.
Cut to the crime scene of another murder, where a woman named Johnson was murdered in the same way. BJ, looking at the corpse, identifies her and says that "it's the woman in my dreams".
Cut to Lincoln Park, Mulder, Scully and BJ talk about BJ's dreams. BJ describes the suspect she sees, and looks through an old album of criminals. She identifies the guy she sees in her dreams as Cokely, the original killer. Scully and Mulder try to ascertain why it is BJ having these visions; Scully theorizes that BJ's father was a cop and she might have had seen the suspect when she was a kid and is starting to remember it all now through traumatic hallucinations. Mulder and Scully discuss the possibilty of Cokely being involved, and head to Cokely's house to interrogate the man, but they find him wheelchair-bound and on oxygen. Cokely insists that he did his time for the crimes and he is not involved in the recent ones.
Cut to BJ's house at night. The detective awakens from another hallucinatory dream. She has blood all over her body and heads to the mirror to check where it has come from; she finds the word sister carved on her chest with a blade. She has another vision and travels to someone's house, where she bursts in uninvited and starts digging in their cellar. The owners call the police and Mulder and Scully also attend - BJ has found another body. She is taken to hospital to treat the wounds on her chest. At the hospital, she identifies Cokely as the man that did it to her, but Cokely as a much younger man as he was 40 years ago. Cokely is brought to the police station for questioning, but still maintains his innocence.
Scully and Mulder go to the house of Linda Thibedeaux, a woman who was attacked by Cokely 40 years ago but survived, to see if they can shed any more light on the mystery. While questioning her, Mulder delicately asks whether the attack left Mrs. Thibedeaux pregnant with Cokely's child, as she attended hospital nine months after the incident. She admits it and tells them that she gave the child up for adoption. Adding more, she says that the child was a spawn of evil. She hands over the adoption agency's address.
Cut to the motel, Scully and Mulder are discussing the murder, and Mulder comes to the conclusion that Cokely is not responsible for the murder, but that Cokely's descendants are that and somehow Cokely's memory was genetically inherited. Digging around in the information they obtained from the adoption agency, they find out that Thibedeaux and Cokely's son is, in fact, BJ's father. They conclude is that BJ is unknowingly responsible for the recent murders - that somehow the genetic memories are possessing her and causing her to kill.
Meanwhile, BJ has broken into Thibedeaux's house to kill her and finish what Cokely started. Whilst BJ is trying to catch the woman, Thibideaux reveals that BJ is her granddaughter and BJ's real self is able to resist Cokely's memories and desire to kill Thibideaux. Instead, BJ sets off for Cokely's house. Mulder, attending Thibideaux, realises where BJ has gone and rushes to Cokely's house, finding BJ about to kill the man. She attacks Cokely and then Mulder, who appeals to the "real" BJ as BJ holds a razor to his throat, making her hesitate. Cokely, who has been mortally wounded, dies just as BJ is about to kill Mulder, and Cokely's memories' hold on BJ vanishes.
The episode ends with BJ in prison. A voice-over from Scully reports that BJ has been placed on suicide watch, after she tried, unsuccessfully, to self-abort her child. In her cell, BJ rests her hands fearfully on her stomach, terrified at the thought of what her child's legacy will be.
References[]
Aubrey; Missouri; Nebraska; murder; coroner; Shamrock Women's Prison
Quotes[]
Scully: Mulder, I don't think BJ was in the woods that night because of engine failure.
Mulder: What are you talking about?
Scully: Well, the Motel Black would have been a perfect meeting place. Away from town, away from his wife.
Mulder: What do you mean?
Scully: It's obvious BJ and Tillman are having an affair.
Mulder: How do you know?
Scully: A woman senses these things.
Background Information[]
Trivia[]
- Harry Cokely is watching His Girl Friday right before he is attacked at the end.
Cast[]
Main Cast
Guest Starring
- Terry O'Quinn as Lt. Brian Tillman
- Deborah Strang as Detective B.J. Morrow
- Morgan Woodward as Harry Cokely
- Joy Coghill as Linda Thibedeaux
Co-Starring
- Robyn Driscoll as Detective Joe Darnell
- Peter Flemming as Officer #1
- Sarah Jane Redmond as Young mother
- Emanuel Hajek as Young Harry Cokely
External Links[]