Alec McDowell: Difference between revisions

X5-494, or "Alec", was an [[X5]] created by the covert government program known as [[Manticore]], and trained to be a professionalan assassin and a soldier. He was one of the 10 beta soldiers manufactured to use flirting as their weapon. until he managed toHe escapeescaped from Manticore in the year 2020 when the facility was destroyed in an attempt to cover up the program's existence.

Not long before "[[The Pulse]]" (an electro-magnetic pulse bomb set off over the United States), [[Max Guevara|Max/X5-452]] and a number of her unit [['09 Escape|escaped]] from Manticore in 2009. X5-494 was not one of the '09 escapees as he was not in their unit, although his identical twin brother [[Ben|Ben/X5-493]] was. Manticore tightened its grip on the remaining X5s, with the twins of the escapees being subjected to the harshest discipline for fear of them following in their footstepsbrothers ofand thesisters' "09ers", a term used to describe the escapeesfootsteps. 494 did not achieve his freedom until more than 10 years later, when Max instigated the destruction of Manticore and freed the transgenics. 494 did not have a name, so Max named him Alec for being a "smartSmart aleckAlec". Alec was already outside of the compound when Manticore was brought down, assigned to corral Max back to Manticore and to facilitate the capture and/or death of [[Eyes Only]]. Observing the facility in flames and human soldiers attempting to kill his fellow transgenics as they were escaping, he made a hasty retreat.

Trained as a Manticore supersoldier/assassin, some assumptions are that: he is highly skilled in CQB, recon, infiltration, tracking, observation, escape and evasion, espionage, computers, explosives, and handling vehicles (including various military planes and helicopters), has achieved fluency in many languages, and has a black belt in various martial arts such as Krav Maga, Taekwondo, and Judo.

Alec (then known as 494) met Max while she was imprisoned at Manticore. He was assigned as her "Designated Breeding Partner" and sent to her cell one night to carry out his orders. Max was initially startled by his appearance, thinking he was Ben back from the dead, however he quickly cleared up that confusion by stating his designation (494, not 493.) 494 started to undress himself, prompting Max to question his intentions. After he identified himself as her breeding partner and repeated their orders, “We’re supposed to copulate every night until you get pregnant.” he proceeded to tell her to get naked. Max was understandably horrified by the orders and kicked him across the cell, stating, “[That’s] the only kind of physical contact you and I are gonna have.” Unlike some of the other Manticore soldiers assigned to the Breeding Program, Alec didn't force Max to follow through on their orders. He also didn't immediately give away her attempts to escape. Max named 494 "Alec" at the culmination of their first meeting.

Shortly after they met, the two broke out of Manticore, Max to save Logan, and Alec under orders to ensure Max kill Eyes-Only with the genetically targeted virus she was unknowingly infected with and then return her to Manticore.

After running into Max and quarreling over a failed heist, Alec followed Max’ lead and took a job at Jam Pony, after which, he and Max settled into a complicated partnership. In the DVD commentary for [[Hello, Goodbye]], Director Jeff Woolnough and writer/story editor Jose Molina express how fun it was to create Max and Alec scenes: “I always like writing Alec with Max just because he is like an older brother who just lives for making his little sister miserable. And every chance he gets to crack a joke, especially at her expense or even better at Logan’s, he’s gonna take it. And it’s just because he loves her like a little sister, but the way he show it is by being a jerk.”

The writers and producers (Co-Executive Producer Kenneth Biller, Executive Producer/Writer René Echevarria, Co-Producer/Writer Moira Kirkland Dekker and Director Jeff Woolnough) wanted to add a male X5 to the cast since Season One. They liked the idea of having someone who contrasted with Max in that he grew up at Manticore and was amoral, fun and initially not so much interested in saving the world (a lot like Max in Season One.) This character, Alec/X5-494, was also created as a love interest for Max.