 Skinner remembers having seen , on numerous occasions , a bearded man who showed up suspiciously and who is actually running the scheme . He saves Skinner and sacrifices one of his own men . The case is closed and Skinner is , once again , aggravated with the agents , ordering them to report exclusively to Assistant Director Alvin <unk> ( James <unk> , Jr . ) . The bearded man was actually Alex Krycek ( Nicholas Lea ) , a rogue FBI agent who formerly worked for the Syndicate , who continues to control the potentially debilitating <unk> in Skinner 's system . 
