S4E7 · Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man

The Smoking Man, armed with a sniper rifle and surveillance equipment, spies on a meeting between Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, and the Lone Gunmen. Frohike claims to have discovered information about the Smoking Man's mysterious past, stating that his father was an executed communist spy and that his mother died of lung cancer, causing him to be raised in various Midwest orphanages.

The narrative changes to 1962. The Smoking Man is an Army captain stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He talks to a friend and fellow soldier, Bill Mulder, who shows him a photo of his infant son, Fox. The Smoking Man is summoned to attend a meeting with a general and several strange men in suits. The general calls the Smoking Man's late communist father an "extraordinary man" in spite of the threat he posed to national security, and indicates that he expects the Smoking Man to inherit his father's courage to act decisively and take drastic measures in defense of his principles.

It is revealed that the Smoking Man was already involved in Bay of Pigs Invasion and the assassinations of Patrice Lumumba and Rafael Trujillo. Ostensibly for these reasons, they selected him to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. In November 1963, posing as a "Mr. Hunt," the Smoking Man shoots Kennedy and frames Lee Harvey Oswald. Afterwards, he smokes his first cigarette from a pack previously given to him by Oswald. The assassination is motivated by Kennedy's "mishandling" of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the subsequent Cuban Missile Crisis and because he was turning away from the Cold War and seeking a negotiated peace with the Soviet Union.

Five years later, the Smoking Man writes an adventure novel using the pen name "Raul Bloodworth". After hearing Martin Luther King Jr. give a speech arguing that "communism is a judgment against our failure to make democracy real," the Smoking Man meets with a group of men, including J. Edgar Hoover. These men propose various plots similar to a previous failed plot to undermine King's marriage and manipulate him into committing suicide, but the Smoking Man believes a more "intense" solution is required. Unlike most of the men present, the Smoking Man admires King, but believes that his opposition to the Vietnam War might convince African Americans to object to fighting, causing the United States to lose. He convinces the group to have King assassinated and volunteers to personally carry out the assassination. Shortly thereafter, a publishing company rejects his novel draft.

In 1991, the Smoking Man meets with subordinates, discussing his orchestration of the Anita Hill controversy and the Rodney King trial, as well as the Buffalo Bills ' loss at the Super Bowl. He further reveals his drugging of a Soviet goaltender to ensure the outcome of the " Miracle on Ice " hockey match. He is also seen in direct talks with Saddam Hussein and is disappointed when he learns of Mikhail Gorbachev 's resignation. One of the Smoking Man's subordinates invites him for a family dinner. The Smoking Man politely declines and states that he is scheduled to visit family. On his way out of the meeting, he distributes his Christmas presents to each of the subordinates. All receive the same gift: a striped tie. He is next seen walking past Mulder's office.

Later, while at home, the Smoking Man receives an urgent phone call from Deep Throat, who meets him near the site of a UFO wreck. An alien from the UFO survived the wreck but is critically injured and apparently on life support. Deep Throat and the Smoking Man reminisce about the multiple times they changed the course of history "from the shadows," without any public recognition. Deep Throat persuades the Smoking Man that the alien must be killed, pursuant to a UNSC resolution stipulating that any signatory nation that comes into possession of an E.B.E. shall kill it. The two men flip a coin to decide who will fulfill this obligation. Deep Throat loses the coin toss, and reluctantly shoots the alien.

A few months later, in March 1992, the Smoking Man attends the meeting where Scully is assigned to the X-Files and eavesdrops on her first meeting with Mulder. In 1996, he receives a letter telling him that his novel will be serialized in a magazine. The Smoking Man types up a resignation letter, quits smoking, and excitedly seeks out a copy of the magazine issue at a newsstand. However, he finds that the ending has been changed. Bitter, the Smoking Man sits on a bench with a homeless man and delivers a pessimistic and likely satirical monologue comparing life to a box of chocolates. He tears up his resignation letter, resumes his smoking habit, and leaves the magazine at the bench.

Returning to the present year, Frohike tells Mulder and Scully that the account he told them is based on a purportedly fictional story he read in a magazine to which he subscribes. Frohike decides to investigate and verify the story and as he leaves, the Smoking Man aims his rifle at him. Although he has a clear shot, he decides not to kill Frohike, quoting aloud to himself the last line from his unpublished novel: "I can kill you whenever I please, but not today".