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Whitewashing Krycek
by Ali

Alex Krycek is the bad guy in the X-Files universe. He was Mulder and Scully’s nastiest, deadliest, most persistent and sexiest enemy! We mustn’t forget the sexy part, because it is very much a huge part of his appeal. Now many of us like the bad guys, I know I do and I certainly enjoyed seeing Alex Krycek on the show and regretted that he wasn’t on there more. But, and this is a big but, Alex Krycek was a liar and a murderer. He was a rogue FBI agent, a syndicate assassin, a wanted man - by both sides, a law unto himself and a wild card, his actions and his loyalties always doubtful and suspect.

When we first meet him he was playing the wide-eyed, naïve young agent, but we soon discovered he was playing for the other side, low on the ladder, but willing to kill the tram operator to prevent Mulder from getting up the mountain as per his orders. Next we see him kill Bill Mulder, or we see it implied that he killed Bill Mulder as he consistently denied that he did so. We also see his involvement in Melissa Scully’s death when he and his fellow assassin were actually sent to assassinate Scully!

We see him become an independent agent after surviving the black oil possession. There again being left to die by your superior (the smoking man) in a silo would turn anyone. From there on we’re never too sure who he’s working for. He involves Mulder, gives him clues, lures him to places he wants investigated and gets into the thick of things. Krycek may be many things, but he is not a coward. He puts his life on the line many times to achieve what he wants. He loses his arm in the most appalling of circumstances, yet that still doesn’t put him off his stride, nor make him any the less deadly or efficient.

He’s the ultimate adversary, the bad guy whose loyalties and motives are always in question. Sometimes he’s on the good guy’s side other times he’s with the bad guys. His actions are notorious; he spares no one, least of all himself. He double and triple crosses the Syndicate and in so doing shows us that the Syndicate is as fallible as the next organisation.

His most interesting relationship is with Mulder. He appeared to help Mulder one day and hinder him the next, but he never denies Mulder’s importance and until the last he swears that everything he does is to protect Mulder.  It is his reluctance to kill Mulder, for a reason I’ve never really understood or feel in anyway justifiable, which results in his own death a Skinner’s hands.

Alex Krycek was an exciting, thrilling, dramatic and wonderful character. He was a superb adversary for Mulder. He added danger and glamour to the show, BUT he was a baddie and if I have to read another M/K story that whitewashes this part of his nature I’ll scream. I’ll repeat, Krycek was a truly wonderful baddie, why oh why then do people want to whitewash him, give him sainthood and in so doing disparage Mulder and everything he stood for? Mulder may not have treated Krycek particularly well, but for heaven’s sake he had quite enough reason for his actions, betrayal being just the first of them, and absolutely nothing to apologise to Krycek for. Neither Mulder nor Krycek were saints, neither were demons, but Krycek sure gave the devil a run for his money, and I like him for that. Alex Krycek was one sexy, bad rat. Please keep him that way and stop whitewashing one of the best baddies I’ve ever seen on TV.


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