History Recap / TheXFilesS04E07MusingsOfACigaretteSmokingMan

* 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 SuperBowl.

* {{Shout Out}}: To {{Forrest Gump}}. Given the fact that CSM is essentially a [[DarkerAndEdgier dark Forrest]], it verges on {{Take That}}.
--> '''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.

* 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.

* WhyWereBummedCommunismFell: CSM starts off as a hardened anti-Communist who gets sucked into the Conspiracy fighting the Cold War. When the Soviet Union falls, he questions what else he could do with his meaningless life, until Deep Throat calls him about a crashed [=UFO=], and he realizes there's another secret war left to fight...
** Somewhat {{retcon}}ned later, or possibly just an unreliable narrator, as later episodes reveal he was aware of and fighting this war for many decades previously.

* ExecutiveMeddling: {{Invoked}} in the episode when the Smoking Man finds out his short story's ending was changed without his consent. This also applies to the episode itself, as he was originally scripted to kill Frohike.

* ADayInTheLimelight

* ExecutiveMeddling: {{Invoked}} in the episode when the Smoking Man finds out his short story's ending was changed without his consent. This also applies to the episode itself, as he was originally scripted to [[spoiler:kill Frohike]].

* DespairSpeech: [[BlackComedy Played for laughs]], though.

* 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.

* WhoShotJFK: CSM. He killed Martin Luther King too.

* WorthyOpponent: CSM claims he has respect for Martin Luther King. Which still doesn't stop him from killing the man.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Lee Harvey Oswald, James Earl Ray, J. Edgar Hoover all appear.

* WorthyOpponent: CSM claims he has respect for Martin Luther King. Which still doesn't stop him from killing the man.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: CSM goes from anonymous Army officer circa 1962 to one of the heads of America's shadow government by 1968.

* BenevolentBoss: Tries to act like this to his underlings, but doesn't succeed that well.
* ExecutiveMeddling: Invoked in the episode when the Smoking Man finds out his short story's ending was changed without his consent. Applies to the episode itself as he was originally scripted to [[spoiler:kill Frohike]].

* PetTheDog: The last couple of scenes show surprisingly sympathetic a side of CSM we've never seen before, an eager amateur writer who gets depressed when the crap magazine that published his story changed the ending. Also serves as a bit of a meta joke, since the ending of the episode that aired was different from the one in the script.

* WhyWereBummedCommunismFell: Smoking Man starts off as a hardened anti-Communist who gets sucked into the Conspiracy fighting the Cold War. When the Soviet Union falls, he questions what else he could do with his meaningless life. Until Deep Throat calls him about a crashed [=UFO=], and he realizes there's another secret war left to fight...
* WorthyOpponent: Claims he has respect for Martin Luther King. Still doesn't stop him from killing the man.

* YouLookFamiliar: Chris Owens, who plays young CSM later returns as Agent Jeffrey Spender.

* PetTheDog: The last couple of scenes show suprisingly sympathetic a side of CSM we've never seen before, an eager amatuer writer who gets depressed when the crap magazine that published his story changed the ending. Also serves as a bit of a meta joke, since the ending of the episode that aired was different from the one in the script.

-> 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.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: CSM.

* {{ShoutOut}}: To {{Forrest Gump}}. Given the fact that CSM is essentially a [[DarkerAndEdgier dark Forrest]], it verges on {{Take That}}.

* SympathyForTheDevil: CSM is already a major villain, and Frohike's revelation give him a further upgrade on the villainy scale. Nevertheless, he is also portrayed as a lonely, unfulfilled and bitter character, which humanizes him a bit.

* YouLookFamiliar: Chris Owens, who plays young CSM later returns as Agent Jeffrey Spender.
* PetTheDog: The last couple of scenes show suprisingly sympathetic a side of CSM we've never seen before, an eager amatuer writer who gets depressed when the crap magazine that published his story changed the ending. Also serves as a bit of a meta joke, since the ending of the episode that aired was different from the one in the script.

* YouLookFamiliar: Chris Owens, who plays young CSM later returns as Agent Jeffrey Spender.

* ArsonMuderAndJaywalking: 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 SuperBowl.

* WhoShotJFK: CSM. He killed MartinLutherKing too.