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 In a message to his fans on the evening that *Existence aired, Nick Lea
said that he'd been hoping for a more in-depth exploration of Alex Krycek on
the show. Regrettably, that never happened. But the nuance,
complexity and contradictions of Alex Krycek as Nick brought him to life
had sparked my imagination long before that sad and senseless garage
scene. Though The X-Files barely scratched the surface of Alex
Krycek, Nick's portrayal of
him made me want to peek through Krycek's window, to figure out
what he might do in his off-hours, to know what he wanted from life and
what made him tick--what he got up for in the morning when his life
seemed to be a constant sprint to keep ahead of the falling dominoes
plummeting toward him.
As is common for a
writer, these character speculations of mine turned into stories. In the
process, my hope is that I've given the character of Alex Krycek the
opportunity to find himself in some of the in-depth types of
scenarios that Nick might have envisioned for him when he created this
arresting villain from a few lines of dialog and sheer inspiration.
A few of my favorites:
-
'Overhead,
the Stars': post-ep
for *The Red and the Black. Two weeks after Krycek surprises Mulder
in his apartment, he arrives home to find the tables turned. Two
very tired men, a language lesson, a houseplant.
A 2004 Spooky Awards winner.
-
'Through Walls':
Trapped in a colonist holding pen, Mulder's characteristic optimism
finally deserts him. The only thing that keeps him hanging on:
the visits of a ghost. A 2004 Spooky
Awards winner.
- 'Outpost':
A post-colonization scenario. At a dusty cafe, Scully and Krycek take a momentary break from the
work of fighting the Occupation.
More:
-
Contingency Plans:
1967. Pre-series. CSM does Teena Mulder a favor... but motives are rarely
unselfish. A 2004 Spooky Awards winner.
- 180:
post-ep for *The Red and the Black. By
episode's end, both Mulder's and Krycek's lives have been turned
upside down. Both men spend restless nights.
-
Pull:
post-ep for Existence. What if the garage scene had gone on
just a few minutes longer?
- In exactly 155 words (a writer's workout):
-
Silo
(For
Apocrypha)
He's not alone. He's
definitely not in control.
-
Rendezvous (Between
Zero Sum and Redux) Early in their
collaboration, Krycek and Marita meet to compare notes.
-
Sweet
Dreams (For Patient X) Nearly
in New York and exhausted, Krycek prepares for a few hours of
sleep aboard the freighter before taking on the Consortium.
-
Tovarisch
(For The Red and
the Black) The encounter in Mulder's
apartment from Krycek's point of view. One of my favorite
pieces of writing.
-
Kyrie
(For
The Red and the Black)
Waiting for the world to
end, WMM and Krycek go in search of serenity.
Longer Works:
-
Sanctuary
At the beginning of Season 6,
Mulder is tossed out of the Bureau on trumped-up charges. In
the process of fighting back against CSM's plot against him, he
keeps getting puzzling--and unexpected--assistance from Alex Krycek.
-
A Rat's Life
A backstory for Alex Krycek, starting
in childhood and eventually tying into the Sanctuary universe
(above) in early Season 6. Fills in backstory, the periods
between Krycek's appearances on the show, repairs some of 1013's
plot holes, etc. so K's canon appearances and actions make solid sense.
For me, this was an attempt to crawl into Krycek's skin and get a
better grasp of the character, to understand what had impacted him
and how. How did he get out of the silo? What did he go
through after the Tunguska villagers cut off his arm? What
were he and Marita Covarrubias actually up to, anyway? What
did Krycek want, ultimately, from Mulder? All this and more is
explored.
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