"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" is the seventh
episode of the fourth season of the science fiction television series The
X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on November 17,
1996. It was written by Glen Morgan, directed by James Wong, and featured a
guest appearance by Chris Owens, appearing as a younger Smoking Man.
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" earned a Nielsen household
rating of 10.7, being watched by 17.09 million people in its initial broadcast.
The episode received moderately positive reviews from television critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David
Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the
paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the
skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Lone
Gunman Melvin Frohike (Tom Braidwood) finds a tell-tale magazine story
supposedly revealing the history of The Smoking Man (William B. Davis). The
episode illustrates his possible involvement in several historical events and
assassinations, although the reliability of the source is unresolved at the end
of the episode.
Executive producer Frank Spotnitz later noted that, while
parts of "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" may indeed be factual,
the majority is not actual canon. The production of the episode did not require
extensive use of Duchovny and Anderson on screen. The former's voice is only
heard and the latter appears only in archival footage. Davis, who portrayed the
titular character, was pleased with the episode, although confused with some of
the contradictions in the script. Although not directly furthering the series'
overarching mythology, the episode involves several of its events and
characters.