Walter Sergei Skinner. Ex-Marine. Assistant Director of the FBI.
In the eight years that I've watched the X-Files I've become an enthusiastic Skinner fan and supporter. I've often asked myself...why? After all, what makes me enjoy watching a character the audience knows little or nothing about and only appears in the series on a sporadic basis?
Perhaps I can find an answer to that question by having Skinner point the way with his own words from SR819:
"Every minute of every day we choose. Who we are. Who we forgive. Who we defend and protect. To choose a side or to walk the line. To play the middle. To straddle the fence between what is and what should be. This was the course I chose. Trying to find the delicate balance of interests that can never exist. Choosing by not choosing. Defending a center which cannot hold. So death chose for me."
I was continually fascinated about why Skinner made that choice...what kind of man would make it? What kind of man could be caught between two agendas... the one represented by CSM and the one represented by two of his agents? And when would he change his mind and climb down off that fence on the side where I thought he seemed to be leaning? The side of support for those two agents...Mulder and Scully.
Since I saw Skinner as a potential good guy, I asked myself how did he get embroiled in the Consortium's machinations? Did they blackmail him with something dastardly from his past? We know they tried to kill his wife...did they threaten her before? Or did they simply lie to him in a way that made him think he was working to expose some kind of corruption within the Bureau or the US government? Did Skinner think he was one of the good guys, a whistle blower, and then got himself in too deep to back out? Was he afraid to back out because it would jeopardize his usefulness to Mulder and Scully? Did he feel he was more effective if he played both sides in order to aid them?
It seemed to me that through the years, the writers on the show were moving Skinner toward working to help his two agents more and more. We saw him go from a skeptical bureaucrat who looked to CSM for an opinion as to Mulder and Scully's veracity in "Tooms", to a man who was willing to help spring Mulder from the hospital in "Fight the Future" so the agent could rescue Scully. Along the way, Skinner was shot for delving too deeply into the death of Scully's sister, and openly defied CSM to back Mulder and Scully up in "Paper Clip". And last but not least, we saw him risk his career and safety in "Zero Sum" in exchange for a cure for Scully's cancer, and to protect Mulder from having to make a deal with CSM himself for that cure.
So, I've always felt that no matter what reason Skinner had for walking that line, he was still moving slowly toward eventually jumping off on the right side. I still felt he'd throw in his lot with Mulder and Scully despite a detour like the lamentable episode, SR819, which attempted to distance him from Mulder and Scully again.
I find it rather ironic that SR819 went to such trouble to put Skinner in an untenable position with the nanocytes so he'd be vulnerable and caught in the middle even more. That someone decided he was becoming too much like "family" and needed to be given back his "man of mystery" allure to make him more interesting. Allowing Krycek to blackmail him wasn't something I was excited about because it made viewers doubt his motives again as a result. But, it's ironic because the diminished involvement of David Duchovny in the series seems to have necessitated taking Skinner where he was headed anyway...toward full support for Mulder and Scully.
At any rate, in "Requiem", the finale of Season 7, and the two part premiere of Season 8, "Within/Without", we seem to see the culmination of Skinner's journey from fence sitting skeptic to supporting believer due to the epiphany of seeing Mulder's abduction.
However, even with Skinner's change of heart, I still wanted more background on this complicated character. I wanted answers to the questions I posed earlier. Eventually I got impatient with the idea that the writers at 1013 weren't answering many of my questions regarding Skinner. I began to answer them myself via writing fan fiction about the character.
Skinner has been an interesting character to analyze in order to write fan fiction about him. Maybe besides being a writer I'm a bit of a frustrated psychologist as well...or maybe that's not mutually exclusive. But suffice it to say, that analyzing Skinner's personality has been an absorbing and enjoyable challenge for me.
Next, I'll give you some thoughts on how I view the character, for what they're worth. When I write him, this is the template I use for depicting him. I've developed it after watching all the episodes he appears in multiple times to study them as well as discussing them with other Skinner authors. The template is, of course, my subjective opinion...your mileage may vary.
Walter Skinner is the epitome of authority. He's concerned with rules and regulations...protocol...the things that help him maintain control in his public life. Control is important to Skinner because he's not given to public displays of emotion. He's very closed off in private as well, as his estranged wife Sharon pointed out so eloquently in "Avatar". His inability to recognize the depth of his inner feelings and bring them out in the open contributed to the failure of his marriage. He's a private man who holds his thoughts and emotions close to his vest. He seems unwilling to give into his emotional wants and needs for the most part.
When he does give into his emotions it's usually at times of vulnerability such as when he was undergoing his divorce and ended up having sex with Carina Sayles in "Avatar". And I think the fact that Carina Sayles was a one night stand, a spur of the moment "zipless" experience with no need of commitment was rather indicative of that closed off place Skinner is in too. He wasn't aware she was a hooker, but I think he went with her because he just needed someone who would lend an ear but not expect him to be there for them in the morning. I think deep down however, the fact that he even went with that woman speaks of a Walter Skinner that craves an emotional connection. I think eventually he'll realize that need and then we'll see him acknowledge his own humanity more.
I think despite everything, Skinner does still take some pride in his job. He was trustful of the FBI and the US government and it must have been difficult for him to realize that corruption and deceit existed in both bodies, and he was a part of it.
I also believe that due to his circumstances with the Consortium, it's impact on his position at the FBI, and his realization that he should have supported Mulder and Scully better, Skinner probably has some sense of professional failure. Due to his divorce he may see himself as a failure in his personal life as well. He probably harbors a lot of guilt.
Skinner is however, intelligent, resourceful and very capable both behind his desk and in the field. He's large physically, and can be very intimidating but being aware of it allows him to use it to an advantage on the job without being brutal or unfair. Restraint would be a good term to use in this instance as we've seen him restrain Mulder more than once and refrain from injuring him in the process. Skinner can be arrogant as well and he has a temper but I think he's aware of both and rides herd on those tendencies.
He can also show a gentle, protective side which we've seen him exhibit with Linda Bowman in "Kitsunegari", and with Scully on more than one occasion especially recently in "Within" and "Without". He's even shown a softer side with Mulder, comforting him in the hospital outside Scully's room in "Redux II", and even bringing him flowers when he was in the hospital in "Triangle".
Skinner takes pride in his appearance. He's got a definite presence, personal magnetism and sex appeal and his clothing helps drive that home. His dress for success look is undeniable and he keeps in shape I think because he does have some personal pride in looking good. And dressing well and being well groomed in general is a savvy move professionally because if you're in a power position like AD, appearances are important. So, Skinner does know how to play Bureau politics to a degree even though it may irk him to have to continually do it.
Trajan Dunn, a talented and accomplished Skinnerfic author recently posted this observation in the Skinner folder on the "I Want To Believe" discussion board. I think TD's analogy here sums up Skinner rather well, using something that's become emblematic of his persona. To quote Trajan on Skinner's starched white shirt:
"The 'white shirt' is a good metaphor for his "by-the-book" approach. White cotton is basic, clean, simple, straightforward. But it can also be soft, inviting, seductive, and embracing. A nice contradiction that offers lots of fodder for fic."
The recent developments in Skinner's characterization in "Requiem" and "Within" and "Without" show a man who has had a profound shock to his worldview. He's somewhat adrift and at a loss as to how to react to his new role as believer. He's certainly unsure of how to deal with Scully in a more interpersonal way. But I see him going to the wall for Mulder and Scully now, as well as allowing his humanity to awaken at last, and I hope that the 1013 writers allow him to blossom as a character with a minimum of backsliding or calling his motivations into question.
I have to admit, I'm not a Season 8 fan. I haven't watched any episodes since "Invocation" unless Skinner was in them because I'm just not as interested in the way the scripts are being written or the Doggett character.
And although I have watched the Skinner episodes, I haven't been terribly pleased with the way he was depicted in "Via Negativa" and "The Gift". I thought he was written as too ineffectual and as merely a sounding board for other characters explanations of the action. I'd like to see Skinner pull himself up by his bootstraps now, take names and kick some ass to be honest. I don't want him to end up continually adrift from what he's seen to the point of being a useless prop for moving other character's storylines along.
I'd also like to see the nanocytes dealt with in a positive way, and closure for Skinner concerning Krycek. And I'll hope the AD wins the day in any confrontation between them.
So, my hopes for Skinner over the remainder of this season are for a respectful, interesting storyline with some closure his participation in the Mulder and Scully era if possible. Given my lack of interest in this season in general I'm not sure I'll continue watching the show beyond it. So, I'd like to see a character I care about get his due, and go wherever he's going to go on a positive note.
In conclusion, I'd just like to mention that a character is only as good as he's written and performed. In my opinion, Skinner hasn't been given a lot of breaks from the writers at 1013. They haven't worked that hard to make him a well rounded creation. But, he's certainly had an actor breathe far more life into him than the written words ever did. If it wasn't for Mitch Pileggi, I think my enjoyment of Skinner as a character would be greatly diminished. I'd like to take a moment to salute his fine performance as Walter Skinner and thank him for hanging in there on the show.
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