Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man 

The Lone Gunmen reveal the (possibly fake) secret history of the Smoking Man to Mulder with focus on three episodes from his life - the assassination of JFK, his attempts at becoming a novelist and one of his UFO cover ups.

Director:

James Wong

Writers:

Chris Carter (created by), Glen Morgan

Stars:

David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, William B. Davis

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder (voice)
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully (voice)
William B. Davis	...	Cigarette Smoking Man
Morgan Weisser	...	Lee Harvey Oswald
Chris Owens	...	Young Cigarette Smoking Man
Donnelly Rhodes	...	General Francis
Tom Braidwood	...	Melvin Frohike
Bruce Harwood	...	John Fitzgerald Byers (voice)
Jerry Hardin	...	Deep Throat
Dan Zukovic	...	Agent
Peter Hanlon	...	Aide
Dean Aylesworth	...	Young Bill Mulder
Paul Jarrett	...	James Earl Ray
David Fredericks	...	Director
Laurie Murdoch	...	Lydon

Storyline

While the Cigarette Smoking Man listens in on a conversation Scully and Mulder are having with Frohike, he recalls his own past and how he got to be where he is today. As a young army officer, working alongside Mulder's father, he was recruited by a general and an intelligence operative. His past was effectively erased and from that point working only in the shadow world. He was implicated in the assassination of presidents and civil rights leaders. He was also a frustrated mystery writer but his bizarre tales of assassinations and alien conspiracies are seen as too outlandish by the publishers he approached.

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Plot Keywords:

john f. kennedy assassination | fort bragg north carolina | assassination | cigarette smoking | conspiracy | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Wong's first credit as a director.

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Goofs

CSM has some letter head with an address in Pasadena California. La Cienega is not a street in Pasadena and the zip code is not a Pasadena zip code. Rather, the Zip Code is in nearby South Pasadena and La Cienega is in Los Angeles.

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Quotes

[last lines]
The Cigarette Smoking Man: [looking through a rifle sight at Frohike] I can kill you whenever I please... but not today.

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Connections

Features War Is Hell (1961)

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Soundtracks

The X-Files
Written by Mark Snow
Performed by John Beal

User Reviews

internal continuity

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 November 1996 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Stage 2, North Shore Studios, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ten Thirteen Productions, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

4:3