Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man

I enjoyed this episode - a nice view of the hollow nature of CSM's life - which was also shown in a previous show when Mulder tracks down CSM's apartment. "Look at me. No family, no life, a little power." he says then, and looked pathetic saying it.

My issue with this is that it contradicts a previous ep. (forget which, sorry) when we see a flashback to Roswell, 1947. CSM and Papa Mulder are already FBI agents then. It's clear from this ep. that CSM was still very young in the early 60s - so these two narratives are at odds.

Nitpicky, I know - but writers should try to keep the story internally consistent if possible.

In a nine-season long series, containing about 200 episodes, most episodes will be about the same quality. Some of the episodes however, will be merely crap - and very few, no matter how good the series is - or how good the rest of the episodes are, will be extremely good.

This singular episode S04E07, Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man is one of the best, if the not the best episode in the X-files universe. It creates a base both for the mythology - and the episodes seen before, and the episodes that are still to come in the rest of the episodes.

So, who is the Cancer Man / The Cigarette Smoking Man? That question is, at this point in the series not answered, but there are given some clues in this episode, that may not be the final answer. I will, however, not go deeper into that matter here - because I find it preposterous to leave any spoilers, for those of you who hasn't seen the series yet.

And if you haven't seen this episode yet, look forward to it with glee. It really is great.

Mainly because it tells us the background story of the cancer man and his story.

It tells us all of what he did in the past and where he came from and even some of his emotions surface in this episode.

We see that he wants out of the agency and wants to stop smoking but can't somehow.

And it even had a reference to my favorite writer! Tom Clancy! Apparently me and the cancer man share love for the same books!

The part about the Kennedy assassination was perfect and done very well by the director!

Great episode! It's worth it for the Forest Gump reference alone!

This is the best episode of the series, revealing the main "antagonist" of the series from the other side. From the side of feelings and emotions.

This is the best episode of the series, revealing the main "antagonist" of the series from the other side.

From the side of feelings and emotions. Showing not only the bad side, but also the good side of the smoking man. The series shows that a smoking man has feelings that he has a favorite thing to do, as well as that he is very lonely. Therefore, this series, in my personal opinion, takes its place among the best episodes.

And yes, a smoking man has feelings.

'Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man' is one of the most interesting episodes, as it opens up the packground of one of the most sinister and enigmatic (recurring) characters of the series. The episoode is fun and sad at the same time. as we learn how lonely is the man in that sort of profession. This episode also gives the viewers another takes on some conspiracy theories (assasinations of JFK and Martin Luther King), and humorous take about how Academy Awards are rigged. We get to see how CSM got his start, and how he evolved to become such seemingly cold and calculating man who has much more real power than one can expect from such grey mouse looking official. We also learn the more human side of CSM when it is revealed that he had aspirations to become a science fiction author, and how cruel the publishing world is to new writers. By the end of the episode I even felt sorry for the guy.

The episode gave much more human dimension to CSM so it is much easier to understand (and feel) the character and what drives him. Great episode and great character study.