Alvin Kersh

Alvin Kersh
James Pickens, Jr. as Alvin Kersh
First appearance	"The Beginning"
Last appearance	"The Truth"
Portrayed by	James Pickens, Jr.
Information
Occupation	FBI Deputy Director FBI Assistant Director
Birthname	Alvin D. Kersh
Affiliated with	"The Smoking Man" "Toothpick Man"

Alvin D. Kersh is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction series about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of extraterrestrial existence. Kersh was introduced as an Assistant Director at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the sixth-season opener, "The Beginning", when Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully were temporarily transferred under his supervision. The two agents were previously in charge of the X-Files office, which is concerned with cases with particularly mysterious or possibly supernatural circumstances that were left unsolved and shelved by the FBI; in contrast to their previous supervisor, Assistant Director Walter Skinner, who had become their ally, Kersh kept them away from the X-Files and even attempted to separate the two partners. After not appearing in the seventh season, he was re-introduced in the season-eight opener, "Within", as a new Deputy Director at the FBI. The character was portrayed by American actor James Pickens, Jr.

Character arc

Kersh was a Navy A-6 Intruder weapons officer during the Vietnam War. He is known for using the same instincts that served him as an aviator in the military to guide his career in the FBI.^[1]

As an Assistant Director, he temporarily became supervisor to Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully when they were assigned away from the X-Files division.^[2] During this time, the "Cigarette Smoking Man" could be seen in his office, reminiscent of his silent presence in Walter Skinner's office in early seasons.^[3] Kersh assigned Mulder and Scully mostly to menial tasks, such as terrorist details and Federal background checks. When they did investigate an X-File behind his back, Kersh would charge them for expenses they incurred on the case, forcing them to pay out of their own pocket.^[4] He also attempted to separate Mulder and Scully, believing that Mulder threw away a promising career as a criminal profiler, but that Scully's career could still be saved.^[5]

When Mulder and Scully were reassigned to the X-Files Section, Kersh continued to climb the ladder, culminating in an assignment as Deputy Director. It was not long after his promotion that Mulder was abducted by aliens. Kersh assigned John Doggett to run the manhunt for Mulder.^[1] When the manhunt failed, Doggett was assigned to the X-files with Scully, until Mulder was found. When Mulder returned, Kersh refused to assign him to the X-Files, keeping Doggett in that position.^[6] When Mulder and Doggett pursued an unauthorized case, Kersh was prepared to fire them both, but Mulder accepted full responsibility and was dismissed from the FBI.^[7] Shortly thereafter, Mulder disappeared again. After Doggett saw Kersh in a late night meeting with two conspirators, Knowle Rohrer and Gene Crane, Doggett brought in Monica Reyes to help him investigate Kersh's involvement in Mulder's disappearance. The investigation turned up nothing. Although Doggett seemed convinced that Kersh was involved in the conspiracy, Kersh insisted that he was actually protecting Mulder.^[8]

During the ninth season, the "Toothpick Man", a key conspirator, could be seen in the company of Kersh, much like the"Cigarette Smoking Man" before. In the end, Kersh showed a heroic side when during the series finale, he helped Doggett and Skinner free Mulder from a military prison. Following this, Kersh had to permanently close the X-Files to appease his irate superiors.^[9] The X-Files are still officially closed when Mulder consults with the FBI 6 years later, when FBI Agent Monica Bannon goes missing, however, Kersh is noticeably absent.^[10]

Conceptual history

The character was named after Dr. Kersh and Anton Kersh, characters from Vampire Circus – one of Chris Carter's favorite movies. According to Frank Spotnitz, the creation of the Kersh character was due to the writers desiring to create another of the several characters in the series who put pressure on Walter Skinner.

When casting James Pickens, Jr. for this role, Spotnitz called him "another great find", continuing "So many times over the course of the series we just got so lucky with the actors that we cast in these guest parts and just kept bringing them back because they were so wonderful. That's what happened with William B. Davis as the Cigarette-Smoking Man and with Nick Lea as Krycek, and with Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner, and that's what happened here with James Pickens. Just a fantastic actor, not at all like this person, really transformed himself to play this part".^[11] Spotnitz thought that, for a viewer who had weekly been watching The X-Files' sixth season, there was a great sense of gratification when – in the final moments of "One Son" – Spender essentially withdraws and tells Kersh that Mulder has been right, all along, precisely because the last thing that Kersh wanted was for Spender to behave in this way.^[12]

Pickens prepared for this role by observing several of Kersh's real-life counterparts at the FBI's Los Angeles office, where – according to the actor – the most useful thing he learned was that most of the people at Kersh's level had been with the Bureau for twenty or twenty-five years and had not reached their positions in the FBI hierarchy by taking their work less than seriously or bucking the system without good reason.^[13]

Robert Patrick, who portrayed John Doggett, recognized that his own character and Kersh were "both military men – Air Force, Marines". Patrick (who had some similarities with Pickens in both their backgrounds, including the fact that they were both from Ohio) thought that, as Kersh, Pickens would "come in each week and just nail his stuff" regardless of what else was going on, and director Kim Manners agreed with this opinion of Pickens' performances as Kersh.^[14] Similarly, Frank Spotnitz thought that "Robert Patrick and James Pickens really had a chemistry, loved playing scenes together. And I think their scenes together were some of the finest ones in the last two years of the show."^[11]

Reception

Michael Avalos from Knight Ridder Tribune was overall positive towards the introduction of Kersh, saying he harbored "almost fond memories" of the former recurring character, Section Chief Scott Blevins.^[15] George Avalos and Michael Liedtke from the Contra Costa Times reacted positive towards James Pickens, Jr.'s performance in "Via Negativa", saying the story "clicked" thanks to Kersh and Walter Skinner.^[16] Salon writer Aaron Kinner when writing a review for the ninth season, noted that he was the first black character since "X" in season four, while not positive towards the character's development during the ninth season and the season overall.^[17]

References

General

• Meisler, Andy (2000). The End and the Beginning: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 5. HarperPrism. ISBN 0-06-107595-7. http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Official-Guide-X-Files-Vol/dp/0061075957. 
• Hurwitz, Matt and Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series the Myths and the Movies. New York, US: Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-72-5. http://www.amazon.com/Complete-X-Files-Behind-Myths-Movies/dp/1933784725. 

Specific

1. ^ ^{a b} "Within". Chris Carter, Writ. Kim Manners. The X-Files. Fox Broadcasting Company. No. 1, season 8.
2. ^ "The Beginning". Kim Manners, Writ. Chris Carter. The X-Files. Fox Broadcasting Company. No. 1, season 6.
3. ^ "Triangle". Chris Carter, Writ. Chris Carter. The X-Files. Fox Broadcasting Company. No. 3, season 6.
4. ^ "Drive". Rob Bowman, Writ. Vince Gilligan. The X-Files. Fox Broadcasting Company. No. 2, season 6.
5. ^ "Tithonus". Michael Watkins, Writ. Vince Gilligan. The X-Files. Fox Broadcasting Company. No. 10, season 6.
6. ^ "Deadalive". Tony Wharmby, Writ. Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz. The X-Files. Fox Broadcasting Company. No. 15, season 8.
7. ^ "Vienen". Rod Hardy, Writ. Steven Maeda. The X-Files. Fox Broadcasting Company. No. 18, season 8.
8. ^ "Existence". Chris Carter, Writ. Kim Manners. The X-Files. Fox Broadcasting Company. No. 21, season 8.
9. ^ "The Truth". Kim Manners, Writ. Chris Carter. The X-Files. Fox Broadcasting Company. No. 19-20, season 9.
10. ^ "". Chris Carter, Writ. Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz. The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Fox Broadcasting Company.
11. ^ ^{a b} Spotnitz, Frank (2003). Audio Commentary for "Deadalive" (DVD). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 
12. ^ Spotnitz, Frank (2005). Audio Commentary for "One Son" (DVD). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 
13. ^ Meisler 2000, pp. 10-18.
14. ^ Manners, Kim; Patrick, Robert (2003). Audio Commentary for "Within" (DVD). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 
15. ^ Avalos, Michael (November 19, 1998). "X-Cursions: This episode gave everyone a headache.". Knight Ridder Tribune. 
16. ^ Andersen, Soren (June 19, 1998). "Movie Review: The X-Files Will Satisfy Series fans / Movie Version of TV Series Packed With Paranoia, Plot Twists, Romantic Tension". Contra Costa Times. 
17. ^ Kinney, Aaron (May 17, 2002). "The truth is, um, where, exactly?". Salon. http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/tv/feature/2002/05/17/x_files/index.html. Retrieved October 23, 2009. 

External links

	United States portal
	Television portal
	Fictional characters portal

• Alvin Kersh on The X-Files Wiki, an external wiki