Skinner begins this series as a company man who does whatever he's told (much the same, in one respect, as Scully.) We see CSM sitting in Skinner's office, letting his toxic smoke drift all over the room. He listens in. He gives orders and Skinner appears to carry them out without much consideration for their negative effects. Just doing his job, as he often says. 

Yet at a certain point he's obviously had enough. His first little indication of rebellion, putting the 'Thank you for not smoking' sign on his desk, is immediately challenged by CSM, yet Skinner is not deterred. Often we wonder about his allegiances.  He seems to know the value of working behind the lines, and yet more and more he seems to come through for Mulder and Scully, such as in Paper Clip, where he tries to bargain for their safe return to the Bureau.  In Memento Mori he tries forcefully to protect Mulder by not letting him attempt to make a deal for Scully's life with CSM, because he knows from personal experience CSM's treachery and modus operandi. Dealing with CSM is like borrowing money from the mob; Skinner understands this and stands firm against Mulder's attempt to get him to arrange a meeting between himself and CSM. 

But--and this seems to be a huge 'but'--Skinner turns right around and, very conscious of the consequences, makes a deal with CSM himself for Scully's life. Not to let the significance of this decision slip past us, Zero Sum follows Skinner through an entire episode where he is reduced to doing whatever dirty work CSM assigns him in order not to be exposed. 

My questions here (and I don't have answers--I'm throwing this out for discussion) are: 

-Why did Skinner do this? 

-Did it have something to do solely with Scully? Though he's hard on her at times, he seems to genuinely admire her and what she's doing (and the way she steadies Mulder.) Several times Skinner seems to be there to catch Scully just when she's about to fall, including the incident where she faints in front of the review board at the end of Redux. 

-Is there something personal here I've missed? (Not sure this is it, but I'm willing to hear any of your opinions/observations.) Skinner is a very closed man on the outside, probably partly personal inclination and partly his Marine background, I would imagine. There's nothing obvious like the hints we see of Pendrell's crush on Scully (good old Pendrell!) Also, Scully seems concerned about Skinner (remember how she goes to the hospital after he's shot, and how she chases down the ambulance transferring him from one hospital to the other?) Not suggesting anything big here, but I can't see her rushing out to help some other AD in the same way. Is it just that these are core characters in the story so they're naturally going to keep coming in contact with one another?

-Or does all this effort just show Skinner's backing/admiration for Mulder/Scully's work as a team. We know he admires Mulder's courage in looking into the paranormal from his little speech in the basement in One Breath, where he recounts his Vietnam near-death experience but admits he didn't have the courage to look further into the experience he'd had. 

Thoughts/comments/observations here? This one has been, as a horse-riding friend would say, a burr under my blanket for some time now. 

-
.....................................
Responses below, same topic

Agents in the night, exchanging glances
Author: Littljoe

I think Skinner was deliberately kept as a cypher the first few seasons, so we were never sure whose side he was on. It's true, it's when Scully is in jeopardy that we see Skinner at his best in the early episodes; but still we're not sure, which was why Scully's suspicion of him in Redux played so well. From there on he becomes more and more of an ally, until we see him actually encouraging them to attend meetings from which they have been barred and enabling them to steal files and mislead congressional committees. 

My take on Skinner is that he is a good, but lonely and reserved, man caught in an impossible situation. He is under the thumb of both the FBI mainstream and CSM, trying to accommodate both agendas while still protecting the agents under his care to the best of his ability. You have to admit he has good reason for liking and being grateful to M&S, such as: 

--their excellent case resolution record makes him look good, even though their unorthodox behavior occasionally is a problem; --they saved his career, his marriage and perhaps his life in *Avatar --Mulder refused to implicate him in *Redux, even though it means risking his career; --other stuff too, I'm sure, which I no doubt have forgotten--help me out here --they make his life so damn interesting! 

Besides which, as you observe, he obviously admires greatly their integrity, their investigative abilities, and their devotion to each other. All of these factors seem to make him greatly inclined to overlook their little sins whenever possible. When I think about it, the only time I can recall him REALLY giving them a hard time (like when he talks to Scully in *Tooms) is when CSM or other FBI officials are present, and I get the distinct feeling that he is being forced to do it. 

Most importantly, think about what Skinner's wife said about him in *Avatar; even with her he was a lonely man, a loner, who doesn't talk much and shares even less. What must it be like for a man like that to watch M&S working together so closely, sharing so much, willing to give their lives and their careers for each other at the drop of a hat. Don't you think that as the series goes on, you see more and more of what looks like envy in his demeanor toward them? Don't you think he would love to be part of their "club" if he could, if only to bask in its warmth, so to speak? And don't you think he would do anything to preserve what may be one of the very few bright spots in his life? 

...................................
Response
bardsmaid

Your idea of Skinner on the outside (as a loner/quiet/interior person) looking in on the incredible bond that holds these agents together is something I hadn't thought of (see, that's why we have these discussions!) If he's so alone within himself, he's certainly going to notice this M/S dynamic the way a cold man in the snow notices a campfire (and is drawn to it.) 

Beside whatever his own nature may be, I'm sure Skinner's Vietnam experiences have added to his solitary ways. So many guys came home from that horrendous year and never talked to anyone about it, in part because no one would understand if they hadn't lived through it themselves, and also because nobody wanted to hear it. Those who tried to talk were treated as if they'd brought road kill into the house and laid it on the dining room table. In addition, in his Vietnam monologue Skinner tells Mulder that everyone else in his unit was killed. I have a friend whose father was at the great Chosun Reservoir massacre in Korea, and he was the only one in his unit to escape. My friend said he still has nightmares--over 45 years after the incident occurred. 

People who have not been affected in this way don't realize that the horrific event is always with these people--it just doesn't show on the outside. Those of us who have lost children, like you and I, Littljoe, have bumped up against this ourselves: people who think now that it's over and past for them (hearing about your loss), it's over and past for you, too. Then there are those who don't want to say anything to remind you of it, as if there were anything else in your head/heart...well, you know from experience. That intense experience of death somehow separates you from the rest of the world. It's an interesting and uncomfortable phenomenon, that you think before you're affected by it that death only takes away the one who has died. But in actuality it removes you from the everyday world, and you sit there watching daily life from a distance and in black and white as if through bulletproof glass.) 


................................
Response
Author: Livasnaps

For me, the most telling example of how Skinner sees the Mulder/Scully relationship comes in *Herrenvolk when Mulder returns to the hospital where his mother is being treated following her stroke. Immediately prior to his return, Skinner and Scully are talking outside Mrs. Mulder's room, and both of them are concerned about the fact that Mulder's plan to bring back Jeremiah Smith has fallen through. Mulder comes down the hall, Scully sees him first and becomes immediately and intensely focused on him. She notes that he is freezing and in shock and guides him into his mother's room. Skinner starts to follow them in and sees Scully draping a blanket across Mulder's shoulders to ward off the shock. Rather than continue into the room, he looks at them and quietly closes the door behind them. 

I've watched that scene many times and there is so much going on on Skinner's face as he's closing the door--protectiveness, regret, envy. But he knows what they've gone through and gives them space and privacy especially, I think, from the swarms of agents waiting in the hall for the assumed return of Smith. In so many situations, he's served as a buffer for them from the "higher ups" who've wanted to see them shut down and reined in. But that was the first time I saw him as a buffer for them from their peers and colleagues. Mulder and Scully get the "Mr. and Mrs. Spooky" thing from their peers quite a bit, but I also think their peers know that Skinner is definitely on their side and hold it down a lot. 

Thanks for the insight into the problems of Vietnam veterans. I'm just a few years younger than you (43), but enough years so that I don't have the understanding and examples among people I know. It helped me see a plethora of other possibilities in the character of Skinner. Do you think that he views Mulder as a warrior, too, and maybe identifies with and defends him on that basis? Mulder has waged his "war" for the truth tirelessly for a long time and has suffered numerous wounds in battle. Maybe part of the envy has to do with the fact that Skinner sees himself as a loner soldier and envies the fact that Mulder has a staunch and unquestionably loyal ally in Scully. 

..................................
Response
Author: bardsmaid

Re Skinner seeing Mulder-as-soldier: This may hold true to some degree. Skinner does admit to admiration for Mulder's courage in pursuing something he couldn't bring himself to look into (his near-death experience). This may be analogous to a battlefield situation for Skinner, where he sees someone make a risky move he can't bring himself to pull off. 

                                                                                                       

site design © bardsmaid 2005  |  Hosting by NinePlanets