History Recap / TheXFilesS04E07MusingsOfACigaretteSmokingMan

** During the meeting on December 24th 1991, Cigarette-Smoking Man is informed that Gorbachev has just resigned. Gorbachev actually resigned the following day, in the evening of December 25th. Even accounting for time zone differences, the earliest time the news would reach the United States would be in the morning of December 25th. Though given his connections, CSM likely knew beforehand.

* UnreliableNarrator: Frohike notes that there is no real way to confirm the information he has found. CSM's position on cigarettes and movies changes between scenes too, but this may just be him lying. It's also implied that Frohike got most of his information from the story the CSM wrote. If so, then how much truth was included in the CSM's work of fiction (and from there, how much was changed by InUniverse ExecutiveMeddling before Frohike even saw it) is up for debate.

* WhoShotJFK: CSM. He killed Martin Luther King too. At least in this story...

* BeenThereShapedHistory: Cigarette Smoking Man and Deep Throat.

* StartOfDarkness
* SympatheticPOV: Of CSM.

* TakeThat: "Payback's a bitch, Ivan." Cancer Man's involvement in helping the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team win can be taken as either a TT against them, and/or the infamous 1972 basketball finals where the Soviets essentially cheated to win.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The episode [[ADayInTheLimelight focuses entirely]] on the titular Smoking Man and [[WholeEpisodeFlashback his younger days]].

** The CSM hates movies, but tells Lee Oswald otherwise when arranging a rendevous in the movie theatre where he is to be arrested.

* CallBack: We see the alien from "E.B.E." being executed.

* UnreliableNarrator: Frohike notes that there is no real way to confirm the information he has found. CSM's position on cigarettes and movies changes between scenes too, but this may just be him lying. It's also implied that Frohike got most of his information from the story the CSM wrote. If so, then how much truth was included in the CSM's work of fiction is up for debate.

--->'''Cigarette Smoking Man:''' Life... is like a box of chocolates. A cheap, thoughtless, perfunctory gift that nobody ever asks for. Unreturnable, because all you get back is another box of chocolates. You're stuck with this undefinable whipped-mint crap that you mindlessly wolf down when there's nothing else left to eat. Sure, once in a while, there's a peanut butter cup, or an English toffee. But they're gone too fast, the taste is fleeting. So you end up with nothing but broken bits, filled with hardened jelly and teeth-crunching nuts, and if you're desperate enough to eat those, all you've got left is a... is an empty box... filled with useless, brown paper wrappers.

* {{Adorkable}}: Our big bad villain is astoundingly revealed to be this. When he finally gets an acceptance letter from a publisher, the CSM is positively ''beaming'', completely beside himself with boyish glee, and can barely contain his excitement.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: This episode's account of CSM's backstory is loosely modeled on E. Howard Hunt, the notorious CIA operative who was a key figure in the Watergate scandal. Hunt has been tied by RealLife conspiracy theorists to the Kennedy Assassination, and used the alias "Raoul" which CSM employs while meeting with Oswald and James Earl Ray. Hunt also wrote pulp novels under an alias although, unlike CSM, he was quite successful at it.

!!![[AC:Recaps]]: [[Recap/TheXFiles Index]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E01Herrenvolk 1]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E02Home 2]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E03Teliko 3]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E04Unruhe 4]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E05TheFieldWhereIDied 5]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E06Sanguinarium 6]] | '''7''' | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E08Tunguska 8]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E09Terma 9]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E10PaperHearts 10]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E11ElMundoGira 11]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E12LeonardBetts 12]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E13NeverAgain 13]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E14MementoMori 14]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E15Kaddish 15]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E16Unrequited 16]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E17TempusFugit 17]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E18Max 18]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E19Synchrony 19]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E20SmallPotatoes 20]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E21ZeroSum 21]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E22Elegy 22]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E23Demons 23]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E24Gethsemane 24]]

!!Tropes

!!![[AC:Recaps]]: [[Recap/TheXFiles Index]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E01Herrenvolk 1]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E02Home 2]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E03Teliko 3]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E04Unruhe 4]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E05TheFieldWhereIDied 5]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E06Sanguinarium 6]] | '''7''' | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E08Tunguska 8]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E09Terma 9]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E10PaperHearts 10]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E11ElMundoGira 11]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E12LeonardBetts 12]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E13NeverAgain 13]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E14MementoMori 14]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E15Kaddish 15]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E16Unrequited 16]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E17TempusFugit 17]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E18Max 18]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E19Synchrony 19]] | [[[Recap/TheXFilesS04E20SmallPotatoes 20]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E21ZeroSum 21]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E22Elegy 22]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E23Demons 23]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E24Gethsemane 24]]

-- '''Theatre/HenryIV''', Act V scene i]]

* WorthyOpponent: CSM claims he has respect for Martin Luther King. Which still doesn't stop him from killing the man. He's mostly urged on by King speaking against the Vietnam War, and fears this will turn black people against it so the US loses, saying if this were just a civil rights issue, he'd support him for President.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: As well as master-minding a conspiracy to suppress knowledge about aliens and generally control the United States Government, Cancer Man also set up The Miracle on Ice (by doping the Soviet goalie) and ensures that the Buffalo Bills never win the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl.

* CryForTheDevil: For his many, many flaws, CSM is portrayed as a pitiable man in several respects. His short story implies that he holds no small regret for the course he's taken in life; its central theme is a second chance. It's also emphasised that the man has no private life and that his years alone have eroded his social skills, leading to rather awkward attempts at Christmas shopping.

--->''Cigarette Smoking Man:''' Life... is like a box of chocolates. A cheap, thoughtless, perfunctory gift that nobody ever asks for. Unreturnable, because all you get back is another box of chocolates. You're stuck with this undefinable whipped-mint crap that you mindlessly wolf down when there's nothing else left to eat. Sure, once in a while, there's a peanut butter cup, or an English toffee. But they're gone too fast, the taste is fleeting. So you end up with nothing but broken bits, filled with hardened jelly and teeth-crunching nuts, and if you're desperate enough to eat those, all you've got left is a... is an empty box... filled with useless, brown paper wrappers.