The X-Files season 11 episode 6 preview: Kitten

FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner gets some more screen time in this week’s episode of The X-Files. Here’s what to expect from “Kitten.”

How much do we really know about Walter Skinner? There are the basic facts, of course — he’s an Assistant Director for the FBI. He fought as a Marine in the Vietnam War. His middle name is Sergei. He has suffered from sleep disorders that may stem either from too many drugs in Vietnam or related back to a succubus (you know, typical X-Files stuff).

At the beginning of The X-Files, Skinner was a bit of an antagonist. He’s effectively Mulder and Scully’s supervisor, so you can see why he’s a bit grumpy. Imagine you have an employee that goes off on long, poetic tangents about Bigfoot or extraterrestrials, and you’ll get it.

The unwanted appearance of the Cigarette Smoking Man in his office implies that he’s under the conspirators’ thumb, but Skinner eventually redeems himself and becomes a valued ally. Even a later nanotech infection by baddie Alex Krycek didn’t slow him down for too long.

Well, until season 11, anyway. The very first episode, “My Struggle III”, shows Skinner and the CSM having a meeting of sorts in a parking garage. The CSM tried to get Skinner in on the whole “infect humanity with an alien virus and cleanse our horrible species” deal, but we never saw Skinner’s response.

In last week’s episode, “Ghouli”, we even see that the CSM has once again stationed himself in Skinner’s office. We can only imagine how long it took for Skinner to get that cigarette smell out of the carpet, only for the CSM to waltz in for round two.

As far as anyone can tell, Mulder and Scully don’t know that Skinner may or may not be under conspirator control yet again. However, they’ve picked up on his weird behavior. Walter Skinner has been even more enigmatic lately, skulking around and being decidedly vague about where he’s been or why he smells like tobacco smoke.

Then again, he’s also helped out the agents. In “This”, he tracked Scully and Mulder down in the middle of the woods while they were running from ominous, armed government contractors. He gave them a few hints and some money, even.

What’s eating Walter Skinner?

So, what’s up with Skinner? According to the episode synopsis for “Kitten,” something about his past causes him to go AWOL. If the previews are to be believed, it likely has something to do with his past military service.

Those hallucinogenic visions that disturbed his sleep will also probably come into play, given that someone’s face turns into a horse skull. Between that and Haley Joel Osment’s demented cackling, something tells us that the mental landscape of the characters are going to be pretty rough this week.

How will Mulder and Scully get involved? That remains to be seen, though it’s nearly certain that their complicated relationship with Skinner will motivate them.

Meanwhile, will we get a definitive sense of Skinner’s loyalties? What does “Kitten” refer to , anyway? Will he finally catch a break from all the drama? Hopefully, actor Mitch Pileggi will get in some good moments. At least he won’t be stuck glowering behind a desk this time.

Next: The X-Files season 11 episode 5 recap and review: Ghouli

Above all, retain some sympathy for poor Walter Skinner. It must be difficult to be caught up with the insanity of the X-Files. Moreover, he has to deal with all of the shadowy government forces that are trailing Mulder and Scully. Even worse, imagine all of the paperwork that Mulder’s antics must generate.

“Kitten” airs Wednesday on FOX, at 8:00 p.m. ET.