204 SLEEPLESS

"You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain
You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane."
I'm So Tired Lennon/McCartney

"And as we all know from experiments conducted during the Korean War,
Diane, sleep deprivation is a one-way ticket to temporary psychosis."
Agent Cooper Twin Peaks

"To die, to sleep.
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil
Must give us pause."
Hamlet Shakespeare

SYNOPSIS

NEW YORK CITY
BROOKLYN
QUANTICO
NORTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY
LONG ISLAND EXPRESSWAY
BRONX STATION
STAMFORD, CT
FBI BUILDING

Marines were recruited during the Viet Nam war as guinea pigs for the government to make a perfect soldier, one who doesn't need sleep. Twenty-four years later, the dudes still haven't slept and have vividly awful dreams of fire and bullets, killing them.

SCULLYVISION

Our Ms. Dr. Scully is still ensconced as an instructor at Quantico while poor Mulder is still on wire tap detail. It's only when he hears about a case, an X File, does he come to life. A man called 911 about a fire in his apartment, but then they arrived, the apartment was fine and the man was dead, as if he had been burned. Mulder requested the case and Skinner agreed, only one problemo... another agent by the name of Alex Krycek requested it first. When Scully meets Mulder's new partner for the first time, her reaction is interesting. A little jealousy there? She is wearing latex gloves when Mulder and Krycek arrive, and she doesn't shake Krycek's outstretched hand because of them, but she does touch Mulder as she walks by them. She gets right to business of the dead guy who was burned, but not by any earthly fire she can figure out. Is she showing off, showing her skills to the new kid? Don't get too happy in your new job, punk, I'm still here and Mulder is still my partner? They do continue their short-hand. Mulder uses the handle George Hale, harking back to Little Green Men, to signal he is coming to see Scully. She finds from the autopsy of the man who died in the non-existent fire actually did die of a fire. His body reacted and died as if he was in one.

Even though she isn't assigned to the case, Dr. Scully not only does the autopsies but works after hours researching Mulder's case. She seems eager to work with Mulder again, examining the top secret file and even locating Dr. Gerladi for him. Adorable Professor Scully looks smart when she wears those glasses. There is gentle teasing between Scully and Mulder about his having a partner now who doesn't always second guess him. Mulder replies that it is, he's surprised he put up with her so long. The silent pause afterward as they just hold the phones to their ears spoke volumes about how much they both want to get back to normal. Although normal may be a state they can't achieve again because Scully has been identified by Krycek as a major problem. "All problems have a solution," says the Smoking Man as he grounds out his cigarette.

OH COME ON!

Mulder has been listening to how many surveillance tapes, and he's only written one line on the computer?

Guys that haven't slept for twenty-four years are all working dead end jobs or on disability? Couldn't Howard Gordon have just had one guy use those extra hours in a day to work hard and get some dough? Live the good life? Put one over on others or society? Figure this all out himself and take care of Cole?

THINGS LEARNED
or All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned From the X Files

Nick Lea is hot!

If an agent beats you to get a case, and you're on it, keep an eye on both the case and your partner.

It's handy to have a full time Quantico teacher at your disposal to do your autopsies and research after hours.

Did I mention Nick Lea is hot?

Get your eight hours of sleep in a night. If you don't, you'll have unsightly red circles under your eyes.

RECURRING CHARACTERS

Skinner, Krycek, X

JO'S KRYCEKVISION

Woo boy! The show just got an injection of hubba, hubba with the arrival of FBI Agent Alex Krycek. Sure, he was brought on because Gillian Anderson was preggers in real life and would need some time off, but what a character he is.

He first appears with his hand outstretched to Mulder, announcing that his name is Bond, James Bond... not wait. His name is Krycek, Alex Krycek. He calls himself 'green' to Mulder, but there's a lilt in his voice that just might be hinting that he is anything but. He said that he requested the X File first, but we wonder just how he got there, and by whose manipulation. Krycek also acts indignant when Mulder is trying to ditch him. Hm. Scully doesn't like it when Mulder does that either... will Mulder ever learn?

Krycek tries to ingratiate himself to Mulder's reassigned partner, Scully, but she isn't impressed. Also, Krycek is squeamish to see a dead guy. When Scully and Mulder are talking over the body, they basically ignore Krycek, even though he tries to make his way into the conversation. When they do look at him, after Scully makes her conclusion to how the body died, he can only raise his eyebrows. Considering the end of the episode, when Krycek met with a certain guy who smokes Marleys, we know that he isn't as overwhelmed by Scully's news as he appeared to have been. What he is impressed with, is that Scully is a dogged protector of Mulder and is no push over.

Mulder knows that Alex has a 'friend' from Homicide, does he really? Or is Alex Krycek already spinning a web of deceit? Was he a green FBI Agent who wants a great case to solve to move up in the organization, or is he there to kill Augustus Cole, leader of the Marines who were tested on, to clean up the loose ends? A telltale scene was when Gerardi, a doctor, and Cole were both seen by Mulder at the train station, and Krycek told him he was seeing things. Lo and behold, Gerardi and Cole are in another area. Was it his assignment to have Cole kill Gerardi, and get Mulder out of the way, then shoot Cole, to cover all traces? Mulder believes that Krycek shot Cole to save his life... Nothing like buttering up a guy to get info on what Mulder knows.

There is much more to the Agent than he is letting on, and we're in for the ride to find out who he is, why he's there, and what he has done in the past and during this case, and more importantly, what he will do in the future.

Great foreshadow of the three episodes to come: Krycek told CSM that Scully's a problem, to which CSM replied, "Every problem has a solution..."

NOT NAUGHTY MARTY

It is a stretch to think that Mulder rewound that surveillance tape just so he could hear that woman call herself a bimbo a second time. All you Marty fans just settle down.

WRITER
Howard Gordon

Thank you Mr. Gordon for creating another of my favorite characters in the show, Mr. Alex Krycek. Interesting storyline, and nice interactions between Scully and Mulder. Another step forward was using the 'friend at the FBI' that Mulder found out he had in Little Green Men, Mr. X. On the DVD, there is a deleted scene of Mrs. X. Good choice to lose her and instead cast Steven Williams, a bad ass, non-nonsense replacement of Deep Throat. We get to see him, hear him, 'meet' him, but he's still a big mystery, just as he should be. He tells Mulder, "I'm not here to do your thinking, Mr. Mulder." The most important thing that he tells Mulder, to show that he is not warm and fuzzy Deep Throat when he needed to be, was, "The man we both knew paid for that information with his life, a sacrifice I'm not willing to make." The rules are set. Use him, but only when Mr. X wants to be used.

DIRECTOR
Rob Bowman

The dreams of the men are creepily vivid. He makes Augustus Cole appear as both victim and cunning villain. Gotta love the guy who's first work as director on the show was Genderbender, the first appearance of Nick Lea, as Michael. One hears that Rob and Nick got along so well, Rob suggested Nick for the role of Krycek.

RUNNING TALLIES
Flashlights
Guns - lots of guns. Cole's favorite weapon
Sunflower Seeds
Scully and Mulder wears glasses
Scully does an autopsy
Mulder transcribes surveillance tapes
Scully types a report
Raining - wet pavement
Cell Phones
Necklace

Side note: Krycek's first episode!!!!!!!!!!!!
(John: Oh brother.)

POINT/COUNTERPOINT

JO: This is a great show, but the appearance of Krycek put it into the stratosphere!

JOHN: I think you mean Rat-osphere! Can we use the rat reference yet?

JO: No.

JOHN: I know Mulder recognized him from his "real" first episode and should have made some mention of his genderbending in front of the office personnel.

JO: Nick does leave an impression.

JOHN: This is indeed a fascinating character. He seems green and naive at first but by the end of the episode we see him as a deceitful and sinister cohort of the Smoking Man. Not to mention that he targets Scully for a Smoking solution. This is someone we are going to love to hate, don't you think?

JO: Yes! Oh...........YES!

ATHENAEUM

Lurking among the dark alleys and living in the shadows had occasional benefits. He literally stumbled down some broken stairs and found himself in a huge secret library. "Athenaeum," said the sign over the hidden door. Perhaps he could at last find some answers down here. Not knowing where to begin, he approached the information desk only to find the Curator sound asleep. "R. V. Winkle," said the nameplate in front of the snoring man. The Assistant, a kind elderly woman, offered her assistance. When he told her what he was looking for she glanced at him over the top of her glasses.

"Augustus Cole? I heard you were dead."

"Nah, that was just an illusion I created for the benefit of two boy scouts-I mean-FBI agents."

"I don't know if we have what you are looking for, but you could check out our video section. I believe Sleepless In Seattle is presently on the shelf."

Cole did not laugh. In the resulting silence he became aware of distant music. "Silent Night" was the song playing. It was from the album "Merry Texas Christmas, Y'all." by Asleep At The Wheel. Cole was not amused by that either.

"Dr. Grissom's nurse said there were 38 insomnias and parasomnias. What are they?" Cole asked the Assistant again.

"Let me think. There's chronic insomnia, Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome, Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome, drowsy driving, idiopathic hypersomnia, insomnia, jet lag, Kleine-Levin syndrome, microsleep, narcolepsy, mixed sleep apnea, sleep apnea, narcolepsy..."

"You said narcolepsy twice."

"Just making sure you were awake, Preacher Man. May I continue now? Hypnic jerk." The Assistant paused to let that diagnosis set in. "Negative sleep conditioning, nocturia, nocturnal myoclonus, normal hypersomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, pavor nocturnus or night terrors, Periodic Limb Movement Disorder, Pickwickian syndrome, postprandial dip, post-traumatic hypersomnia, recurrent hypersomnia, Restless Legs Syndrome, short-term insomnia, sleep deprivation, sleep maintenance insomnia, sleep onset insomnia, sleep paralysis, somnambulism, somnolence and transient insomnia."

"That's only 33," Cole pointed out.

"I guess I'm not as smart as Dr. Grissom's nurse. So shoot me."

Cole raised his worn bible and pointed it right at her. "If you insist," he drawled tiredly as the Curator and Assistant disappeared in a puff of smoke.

EDITOR'S NOTE: In real life, sleep disorders are not a joking matter. There is a great deal of useful information on the internet on sleep and sleep disorders such as the web site for the National Sleep Foundation at www.sleepfoundation.org/

QUOTES

MULDER My source, the only one I have ever trusted, is dead.

KRYCEK Agent Mulder?
MULDER Yeah.
KRYCEK It's your 302. Assistant Director Skinner just approved it.
MULDER There's a mistake here. There's been another agent assigned to the case.
KRYCEK That would be me. Krycek, Alex Krycek.

MULDER Listen, I appreciate the show and tell, and I don't want you to take this personally, but I work alone. I'll straighten things out with Skinner.
KRYCEK It's my case, Agent Mulder. Look, I may be... green, but I had the case first and I'm not going to give it away so quickly.

KRYCEK Hey, I don't appreciate being ditched like someone's bad date
MULDER I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.
KRYCEK Where do you get off copping this attitude. You don't even know the first thing about me.
MULDER Exactly.
KRYCEK You know, back at the academy, some of the guys used to make fun of you.
MULDER Oh stop it, or you'll hurt my feelings.

MULDER Spleen or pancreas?

MULDER This is Alex Krycek. We're, uh, working the case together.
SCULLY Good to meet you.
KRYCEK You too.

SCULLY This degree of limb flexion is observed exclusively in burn-related victims.
KRYCEK But there was no fire.
SCULLY Some how, this man suffered all of the secondary, but none of the primary physiological signs of being in a fire.

SCULLY It's almost as if his body believed that it was burning.

COLE He had to pay, Henry. All of us have to answer for what did over there... can't get away from it.

KRYCEK According to his medical history, the only surgery he ever had was an appendectomy.
MULDER Well, unless they got to his appendix through his neck.

X Who I am is irrelevant.

X You think I want to be here, Agent Mulder? I don't want to be here.

X Data from a top secret military project. Borne of the idea that sleep was the soldiers greatest enemy.

X To build a better soldier. Sustained wakefulness dulls fear, heightens aggression. Science had just put a man on the moon. So they looked to science to win a losing war.
MULDER And Willig and Cole were the lab rats.
X Lab rats with the highest kill ratio in the marine corps. 4,000 plus confirmed kills for a thirteen man squad.

X I'm not here to do your thinking, Agent Mulder. All I know is Augustus Cole hasn't slept in 24 years.

MULDER So how do I contact you?
X You can't
MULDER I may still need more.
X You still don't get it, do you? Closing the X-Files, separating you and Scully was only the beginning. The truth is still out there, but it's more dangerous. The man we both knew paid for that information with his life, a sacrifice I'm not willing to make.

MULDER Well, the military all ready sent troops to radioactive mushroom clouds, I guess they figured they had to top themselves, right?
SCULLY Sounds like your new partner's working out.
MULDER He's all right. He could use a little more seasoning and some wardrobe advice But he's a lot more open to extreme possibilities then. . .
SCULLY Then I was?
MULDER . . .then I assumed he would be.
SCULLY Must be nice not having someone question your every move, poking holes in all your theories.
MULDER Oh yeah, it's... it's great. I'm surprised I put up with you so long.

KRYCEK Come on, you just about killed somebody back there. We both know I'm covering for you by keeping it between us.
MULDER All right, what do you want to know?
KRYCEK What's the truth? There are things you're not telling me that I need to know.
MULDER It's just that my ideas usually aren't very popular.
KRYCEK I told you, I want to believe. But I need a place to start.
MULDER I think that Cole possesses the psychic ability to manipulate sounds and images to generate illusions that are so convincing they can kill. How's that for a theory.
KRYCEK Puts a whole new spin on virtual reality but at least it begins to explain some things.

COLE I'm tired.

COLE They cut out a part of my brain. They made me into somebody else. I can never get back what they took away from me, and I'm gonna stop them from taking anything more.

KRYCEK He had a gun. He was gonna shoot you.
MULDER You did the right thing.

CANCERMAN Do you know where he got this?
KRYCEK Not yet. But he got it. Which means he's either found another source, or another source has found him. Sir, if I can recommend something. You'll see that I have outlined several counter measures.
CANCERMAN What about Scully?
KRYCEK Reassigning them to other areas seems to have only strengthened their determination. Scully's a problem. A much larger problem than you described.
CANCERMAN Every problem has a solution.

END