04 07 07 Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man 17 11 1996 BOX

[@RDMacQ]

I kind of love how brave they were with this story. Instead of making CSM "cooler," the X-Files went in the opposite direction. They made him into this sad, pathetic lonely waste of a man. Someone who could have anything except the one thing he desperately wanted. The irony is with the power he possessed, he could have made himself into one of the biggest authors in the world. But he wanted to do it honestly. On his own terms. But he couldn't achieve that. It's a really interesting turn of events to tell a story where a man is sentenced to go back to being one of the most powerful men on the planet.

[@SMFCNA]

That's a good point but I'm cracking up thinking about some clueless Fox executive wanting to go in the complete opposite direction. "CSM? We got to show that he's cool! Give him some shades and make him talk like a suffer! He's the ruthless personification of post war government deceit...with attitude! Also make him a smoker!...Oh, he already smokes?"

[@HoustonSoto]

“A man sentenced to go back to being one of the most powerful men on the planet.” One of the finest descriptions of the character. Ironically at some point he accepts that’s all he is and truly becomes a frightening monster by the series end.

[@johnmac91]

@ARKM55 "Hitler...there was a painter! He could paint a whole apartment in one afternoon..two coats"! One of my favorite movie lines ever.

[@paulojalaska6896]

@Mark A en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perkins_(author)

[@nnthayer]

It's funny - he shows deep contempt for the public at large (see also: his metaphysical conversation with Jeremiah Smith in "Talitha Cumi"), but the publisher *and the public* accepting his writing is essential to him realizing his dreams. And the publisher, at least, does not - they mutilate it before printing.

[@cgavin1]

This was the best episode of the X Files for me. 20 something years later and I still think about it.

[@Handsome-Jim]

@@wilkeseyberry26 I’m not OP but it was just a great episode that really humanized CSM.

[@gdigital13]

That’s cus it’s propaganda and it was intended to do that

[@majikss]

@@gdigital13 propaganda of what? Aliens you dumbass

[@狐火-t4n]

me too.

[@dragomiruzelac2227]

It's all matter of taste. Honestly speaking not one of my favorites but I like it.

[@eliasgolf2024]

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. So, 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-shattering 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. -C.G.B. Spender

[@matthewjury4385]

The idea of CSM doing an impromptu Forrest Gump monologue in front of a random bum is hilarious

[@vmvm1319]

Hey, buddy... Did you see a bright light?

[@kyrozudesoya1829]

@@vmvm1319 LMAO

[@simonalmirante3313]

*"I can kill you whenever I please, but not today."* One of the best lines in the series from one of the best character in the series

[@RK-kn1fg]

You're no poet, please stop. One of, one of, one of, surely everything is one of a series of something?

[@LegacyArkGames]

Fun fact: at the end, he was originally supposed to have pulled the trigger. The director's commentary says you can tell from the rise in the music when CSM says "I can kill you at any time" but there was backlash among the staff because the Lone Gunmen were so popular. So, they changed it to CSM deciding not to shoot, and they felt they actually created a more fitting end to the story.

[@roguebritgravy1]

It's this very reason why cigarette smoking man is one of the best written villian's on TV. It's all down to the fantastic performance that only William B Davis could portray. I like to believe that to portray the character you must first be yourself LIKE then AS the character to make it realistic. Anyone can smoke a cigarette, but to do it so well and for so long... That's talent.

[@Theomite]

One act in one episode made you feel sorry for the man you spent 4 years *praying* for Mulder to kill. Now that's some boss-ass writing.

[@snowflakepillow8697]

He touched my heart when that intern said he was working on the Oscar nominations and CSM said he couldn't care less.

[@elisagiambartino3483]

Why can't he just be a writer? So he stops bothering Mulder hahaha... Anyway, this episode is awesome, It shows that even a monster has a heart, desires and ambitions. This make me sorry for him.

[@martinm.1967]

@@elisagiambartino3483 Why can't Hitler just be a painter? :=D

[@elisagiambartino3483]

@@martinm.1967 Ahhahaha lol

[@jadentheprinceofdarkness4824]

@@elisagiambartino3483 I agree this is probably one of the few times I felt genuinely bad for such a purely evil character ironic ain’t it

[@livinglegend1187]

I find this scene strangely inspirational and uplifting. Life can suck. Your dreams, like his dreams of being a writer, often get crushed. You get stuck in situations you wish you could get out of. The Cigarette Smoking Man is just another downtrodden person. ...Yet instead of just giving up on life, he realizes that he must keep doing what he believes is best for humanity (even though it burdens him). He is a hero.

[@slitor]

yeah...in the same way Isis does it, you think those fuckers got any self actualization=

[@patriceaqa288]

Reginald Greene I wrote what I thought was one of the greatest stories of all time once. 'Girl of the Favelas' whereby a lonely man who loses his partner travels to Brazil for the purposes of teaching English. An unnamed 'favela girl' he notices being picked up by street scum, her mother forcing her onto the streets weekly or daily to 'turn tricks' and make money. He decides to pick her up offers her a hot shower, a meal and some comfort. For the 'first time' someone actually 'asks' her what her name is 'Gabriella.' She takes him for a creep takes the usual street money and leaves, and he's crestfallen. Later in the week he sees the same girl being aggressively bullied into a car by a weirdo and honks his horn and she decides to go with him instead. She then realizes this educated manhas no sexual interest or malintent towards her, so she continues to be picked up by him weekly, so as to never be abused and to satisfy her mother's financial 'needs' They form a very close father daughter bond, and overtime plan to leave the Favela's together forever and get her into a proper schooland forge a normal life. As this is ongoing there is a serial killer in the Favela's whom kidnaps rapes and kills young girls. Their need to 'leave intensifies, but as they reach the point of escape it is revealed the killer is actually the police chief's son, and he can't accept a scandal like that so they look to frame someone for the crimes. When they pack their car up for her first trip 'anywhere' with food, books, radio and all they'll need to leave they get excited it will genuinely happen. She leaves her mother for what she thinks is the last time well dressed like any normal school girl, with her books and her bags and curses her mother for being 'Madre Diablo' the devil of mothers she no longer needs. Yet as he drives to pick her up he is falsely arrested as the patsy for the serial killings and taken into custody, she waits until nightfall and accepts 'this was just fantasy all along.' The story ends with him brutally beaten in prison, and her sitting on the edge of the bed of a creep who's picked her up. Their heads both raise and they briefly, simultaneously imagine the life they could've had together him picking her up from school and being happy. Then their heads bow and they realize they'll never be free from their respective cells again. (I wrote a happy ending to it also, whereby they escape because the serial killer picks her up as his last 'victim' she stabs him he is shot dead and the two get away in the car, she takes one last look back at the Favelas' knowing she'll never return, cries, and then looks forward with her hair blowing optimistically thinking about the future.) That story passed 7 stages of usage for a film and failed at the last hurdle. BREAKS your heart

[@Hmongboi228]

More like an "anti-hero..." 💡🤔🤨 🤝

[@stacifry4059]

I agree he was a hero.

[@deborahminter6231]

🤣 He was a person like any other who became pure evil.

[@Ranveer_Singh_sangha03]

it's was very sad sence he seems lonely all his life

[@Kevin-gy2do]

Yeah this made me sad too

[@TymphaRedbreaduwuowo]

he really loves to make books, that brings him little joy, but enough to keep him going.

[@elisagiambartino3483]

Despite everything he's done, I'm sorry for him. This episode is fantastic, it shows you that even a monster has desires, ambitions and above all a heart.

[@CaWFly]

Awesome acting by William B. Davis again I must of missed this back in the day , such a good back story about The Syndicate , I liked Chris Owens take on this guy too , James Wong and Vince Gilligan could make a flip side X-files show :P one of the better episodes !

[@VanillaLimeCoke]

2:13 This bum’s about to have a pleasant day. Some chocolates and a free magazine.

[@Lava91point0]

1:44 CSM was almost responsible for ending the Marvel franchise right there and then

[@nnthayer]

3:33 CSM casually throws his resignation letter - including, presumably, his real name - into a public wastebasket.

[@nucflashevent]

By itself, it means nothing...even if someone read it etc

[@kolos2006]

One of Davis best performances. What an episode!

[@emmanuelsilvera8032]

This was my favorite episode!

[@PapillionPictures]

“I can kill you whenever I please… but not today.” Words I’ve said myself every night I come home and look in a mirror for the last 8 years.

[@leax7061]

Lol you ok, bro? Should we call FBI?

[@AarenJable]

Are you okay or do I need to call you an ambulance?

[@Melody_Raventress]

Me too bro, damn, we should see a therapist or something.

[@LankNprYde]

Hope things are better for you now.

[@ActionableFreedom]

@@Melody_Raventress Therapists are a stupid idea and their profession is an ad hoc reflection of societal norms. What you should do is meet each other and conquer the world with others like you. If we who want to kill ourselves only knew how to meet each other we would be unstoppable for we already barely if at all fear death.

[@rtphotos4691]

At 3:05 - "I'm eating! Do you mind?!" 😆☠️

[@kenm2709]

The way he looked at his pack of cigarettes and crush them thinking this isn’t who I am anymore really hit me on personal level I lived this scene for real and yes I went straight back to cigarettes after my dreams were crushed

[@Hmongboi228]

I'm pretty sure you just can't "resign" from a job like that. The things he's done and seen. The way he has altered human history. He knows too much. If he were to give it up, he would know that his life would be taken shortly thereafter to maintain the secrecy of all that has been done/seen....

[@jayl1031]

Pretty true! Look at the Well-Manicured Man. He knew he was toast after helping Mulder in the first movie. Waited until Mulder was a clear distance from the car, closed the door, and *boom*. Pretty sure that's about the kindest form resignation takes with that bunch!

[@joermnyc]

Unless he has some kind of dead man's switch that will drop enough dirt on everything the group does to the public. Even then they might still risk taking him out.

[@eliasgolf2024]

his life would be taken? by whom? he is the ultimate boss.

[@brav0wing]

I thought so too but then again, he could have had, at the time, a very important position at the CIA or NSA as CGB Spender. Resign from.that position and then slowly retreat from making decisions from the Syndicate. Take a step back, as it were.

[@aaronclareyloveshr6918]

@Hmongboi228... Exactly! Whether you like it or not the job he signed up for is for life.. there is no 'altering courses' or retirement. Otherwise they'll 'retire' you.

[@gwp4eva]

shame that the X-Files faltered much of their mythology and core characters towards the end. Once CSM and the Syndicate started to become more fleshed out, there was definitely groundwork laid for their stories to be of misunderstood heroes. Men who had no choice but to bear the burden of terrible knowledge and power, forced to do terrible things while trying to secretly protect humanity from alien invasion. but then the writers just couldn’t figure out what to do and just resorted to making them all evil for evil’s sake. the nuance of episodes like this were completely thrown away

[@Mike19737]

@3D Modeller Start with Season 1 and just go through all the episodes. Forget if the mythology makes sense or not. The journey was AWESOME. There are the highest of highs (Episode Home.😈) and the lowest of lows (Series Finale). Overall the series DEFINITELY worth experiencing.😊

[@WeAtG17]

Well said. They did wonderful things until Season 6, and it all started to unravel

[@ericstosius2508]

What kind of fun set up did he have at the end, it looked like a pistol with and sock on it, a Ruger.

[@Boudica234]

I never saw a box of chocolates as a cheap perfunctory gift. I'll take some Russell Stover's over a pair of socks or a sweater any day of the week.

[@peterversionone]

The man who controls gets upset when his story gets controlled. That is irony

[@peterversionone]

@@davidstalley384 the things Mulder saw were true. He changed the narrative. When he gives his story they changed it. Everything here was deserved

[@VanillaLimeCoke]

1:53 The blessed day where a magazine and pack of cigarettes cost $5 or less

[@VanillaLimeCoke]

@3D Modeller I can get that for a little less at certain places today.

[@VanillaLimeCoke]

@3D Modeller Can of soda was 75 cents about a year ago at this chicken restaurant

[@tonynotaro3654]

There were 2 bills there. One was folded over the other

[@VanillaLimeCoke]

@@tonynotaro3654 Ok so even $10 for pack of Cigarettes and a magazine And in DC!!!!!

[@c.g.bspendersashtray3037]

@3D Modeller - I remember when a can of coke cost a quarter.

[@Tyr1333]

You die a hero, or you live long enough to see your self become the villain.

[@HoustonSoto]

I remember showing this episode to a friend of mine and just as he ended the phone call all excited, she said “oh no, they’re gonna make me feel bad for the Smoking Man”. Shows how talented William B Davis is.

[@johngamache7]

This seems just like my life!!! Lol

[@Test-sd2qp]

yeah

[@elisagiambartino3483]

I'm sorry... But I hope that not because you failed in something you will be a monster like him lol

[@johngamache7]

@@elisagiambartino3483 i failed in many things am afraid. Unfortunately

[@elisagiambartino3483]

@@johngamache7 It's okay, everybody failes in many things, me too.

[@thomasvleminckx]

I felt genuinely bad for CSM. It would have been so wholesome if he could quit smoking and become a proper, successful writer and leave his past of scheming and killing behind.

[@MapleSyrupPoet]

Congratulations Bill Belicheck ...on your 5 year contract with NC football ...should attract many excellent recruits Bill ...smart move NC

[@VanillaLimeCoke]

3:28 How the bum gets a little startled. I wonder if he read the letter CSM dropped in the wastebasket and then tried going to where he worked. They probably turned him down but then a week later found him. The bounty hunter studied his face so he could transform into him and then the syndicate decided to use him after all.

[@40edison]

I want his job

[@CleFesse]

You want his job? He's coach at Arsenal today.

[@Paghmani1sher]

Yea

[@Paghmani1sher]

CleFesse haha looks like Wenger yes

[@Taylor_Wolfe115]

What job? He's just a writer.

[@Taylor_Wolfe115]

@@Vtr-fw5md no idea what ur taking about,hes just a lonely writer

[@lalodaniels1388]

You have to respect the fact that he smokes, even with a suit on.

[@DeadManSinging1]

This scene made me realize that he was actually the hero the whole time

[@warrenl6863]

CSM had frog - face in his rifle sights and didn't pull the trigger.

[@Kevin-xe4kh]

finally, a relevant comment

[@joelwhitehead3677]

A great episode. Almost as good as Paper Hearts.

[@leeh6317]

Never another like the Smoking Man

[@thefriar8883]

Apt name for the magazine.

[@thisisedmundo]

Pack of Morleys.

[@c.g.bspendersashtray3037]

His asking for a pack of cancer sticks was the ultimate moment where he knew he was never turning back.

[@williamstanton4283]

Gotta love it- aerosmith

[@chrisxavier3147]

Pack of Morley's

[@richardmaier28]

I went to college in Montreal, smoked Players and Exports but in the late 60's I have heard of Marley's but never tried.Of course Balkan Sobranie made the finest in those tin boxes of 10.On this scene,one of the best, without CSM the show wouldn't work.

[@chrisxavier3147]

@@richardmaier28 I was a Number 7 guy when I smoked

[@richardmaier28]

@@chrisxavier3147 I tried a lot of brands,this was 68 for 2 years before I transferred but I loved the ambience, couldn't believe 25 in a pack, I read CSM had just quit and smoked flower cigarettes (my edit) he was the glue.Thats a long time ago but I think I'm in good shape approaching 72, take care friend

[@infjintegrityvsnarcissism7295]

@@richardmaier28I went to U of T smoked Belmonts $9 a pack in 2007

[@ratinacage4004]

Borisnikov?

[@zk116]

My bruda is sad

[@josephcontreras8930]

When magazine's were inexpensive

[@dars5229]

Reminds me a bit of Hitler failing to get into art school. Like, this sad little nobody of a man would have been quite happy spending the rest of his life churning out forgettable crap. But some bureaucrat thought better and inadvertently let a bitter, rejected evil piece of shit loose upon mankind.

[@deinurteil1091]

There was No shite loose.

[@ferdinandwang1165]

Believe it or not, this is the only episode of the X Files that I liked. The first one I saw was some guy getting his arm cut off by some one-armed weirdos in a forest and I was like, WTF... I'm more of a PSI Factor guy, but this smoker was the best character.

[@brownpapi2634]

I'll choose not

[@justinedse3314]

Good ole krycheck

[@juliorojasramirez6790]

Yo también fumo y no por eso voy a ser una persona de muy bajos valores espirituales en mi vida y mi mente se a distorsionar e incapacitar y sufrir alucinaciones perspectivas en mi conciencia humana y social

[@fletcherhamilton3177]

It's not his ending, but the rest was his? So, he _was_ published but they took some editorial license? Not an awful compromise?

[@leax7061]

Someone probably intercepted and edited it

[@c.g.bspendersashtray3037]

If you've ever had your writing published and had the ending or complete sections changed, it would make sense to you. It was like he was facing his failure at writing, the one thing that brought him joy, only to have it weakened by mediocre minds who changed the ending to appease the mediocre masses.

[@c.g.bspendersashtray3037]

This was a brilliant scene. It was like a Shakespearean tragedy.

[@dr.fabriciogerardoacevespl5390]

Im glad i am ovo-lacto vegetarian.

[@EDDIETRUJILLO-q8p]

Post a bill to tell people to post no bills.

[@bashojanggoon2167]

I wonder why he smokes cupping it that way- I would have thought it was from his time in the military, but he didn’t start smoking until he assassinated Kennedy

[@juliorojasramirez6790]

Willians B David Es para mi como el padre que lo sabe todo lo intuye todo lo ve todo lo oye todo y no sabe nada de nada en este mundo por que el veamos oigamos cosas anormales en nuestras vidas no influye para uno o nosotros desaparescamos de la nada sin saberlo de nuestros pensamientos psicológicos sociales ciudadanos Por nuestras mentes circula gran información que se distorsiona aveses sin causas algunas y nesicitamos mas Que una ayuda divina y profesional para no ver ni oír mas esas cosas que se manifiestan solo en nuestras mentes Y mas nadien cultivar la mejor educación social y ciudadana es mucho mejor que llevar una vida de crianza atrasada e inmoral humanamente posible esa es nuestra historia en este planeta tierra

[@andrewdilbeck9842]

So that's why he wants to destroy the world because no one likes his books ?

[@mr.peanutbutter6969]

His fault the bills will never win a super bowl lol

[@ericstosius2508]

As long as he's alive

[@mr.peanutbutter6969]

@@ericstosius2508 I wonder what he has against them

[@EddyTee99]

@@mr.peanutbutter6969 CSM was an aspiring writer, and he was trying to get his first writing published by "The Buffalo Publishing Company" and they rejected him.

[@theosprey7111]

And the Soviets lost the hockey game.

[@pross6525]

Cigarette smoking man was ready to create a new life for himself until the screwed up his story writing.

[@zeth8300]

He is not that bad.

[@sick_boy2967]

Hitler vibes :( !!

[@iamhanat6135]

SERINAUSSI MATI STORY CNN

[@freddiemolinajr.8397]

good video