Musings of a CSM

"For nothing can seem foul to those that win." Henry IV, Pt. 1, Act 5, Sc. 1

It seems that Mulder and Scully are present to hear some new information that Frohike has uncovered. As CSM sits listening, he lights up one of his ever present cigarettes with a lighter bearing the inscription "Trust No One"

He's in the Army and is bunking next to Bill Mulder. Bill shows him a picture of his wife and little son, Fox. He shares a sappy story with CSM about little Mulder's first utterance..."J.F.K."

When the assassination has been carried out, we see CSM sitting calmly in the theater as Oswald is dragged out and arrested. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes, lights up and takes a drag, sealing his fate.

Just before he goes though with the plan, CSM takes a picture out and gazes on it. It's the picture of Mrs. Mulder and her infant son. He may be contemplating what he's given up or considering who he feels his actions are for...the greater good of the country and specifically, these two who he seems to have adopted as his surrogate family.

It would seem that our image of CSM as evil-incarnate must be tempered with the knowledge that he is a hack writer whose dreams of publishing languish unfulfilled through the years.

As he sits home alone that Xmas eve, typing away on his Jack Colquitt novel, he receives a phone call from Deep Throat. "You'll never believe what we just got for Christmas."

"How many historic events have only the two of us witnessed together? How often did we make or change history? And our names can never grace any pages of record. No monument will ever bear our image. And yet, once again, tonight, the course of human history will be set by two unknown men standing in the shadows."

Deep Throat aims his gun and fires two shots into the entity, killing it. CSM looks on as he lights up a cigarette and takes a drag.

[Frohike] tells Mulder and Scully that it is all based on a story he read in one of his weekly subscriptions. It seems pretty clear that Frohike claims a subscription to "Roman a Clef" (the magazine that published CSM's work) and the article set off his radar. The problem is...what is real and what is fiction.

As Frohike leaves the headquarters, CSM has him in the crosshairs of his rifle scope and says, "I can kill you whenever I please...but not today."

Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man

The episode opens with CSM entering an abandoned building across the street from the Lone Gunmen's headquarters. The sign on the door reads "Publishers of The Magic Bullet Newsletter". This is actually odd since when we were first introduced to the LGM, I understood that their newsletter was called "The Lone Gunman" and that their nickname for the show was derived from that. CSM must have their building bugged since he sets up equipment and begins listening in on their conversation. It seems that Mulder and Scully are present to hear some new information that Frohike has uncovered. As CSM sits listening, he lights up one of his ever present cigarettes with a lighter bearing the inscription "Trust No One".

Before Frohike will spill his guts he says he wants countermeasures taken and they set up the CSM-25 filter which they say is unbreachable. CSM flips a switch on his equipment and breaks right through their filter and settles back to listen in. Frohike is telling Mulder and Scully that he fears for his life, that someone may be trying to kill him. It's certainly possible since we are watching CSM aim a high-powered, scoped rifle at the front door of their headquarters. Frohike claims to have everything on CSM...who he is and who he once was.

First turns up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His father was an ardent communist activist who was executed under the Espionage Pact of 1917 before CSM could walk. His mother was a cigarette smoker who died of lung cancer before CSM uttered his first words. He had no surviving family so ended up in several orphanages across the midwest. He had no friends. Spent most of his time reading...alone. There is no further record of his existence until one and a half years after the Bay of Pigs. We see CSM in a series of flashbacks. He's in the Army and is bunking next to Bill Mulder. Bill shows him a picture of his wife and little son, Fox. He shares a sappy story with CSM about little Mulder's first utterance..."J.F.K."

We see CSM being recruited by his superiors to carry out the assassination of JFK. (He is offered a cigarette and declines, saying he doesn't smoke.) He is informed that if he accepts the assignment he will no longer be an officer nor will there be any record of his service. He accepts the assignment. When the assassination has been carried out, we see CSM sitting calmly in the theater as Oswald is dragged out and arrested. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes, lights up and takes a drag, sealing his fate.

Next, we see CSM listening to a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. He appears to be quite a chain smoker at this point. He decides that MLK has to be eliminated but he clearly regrets having come to this conclusion. He sits at the head of a table, in charge of a meeting where the assassination is planned. He is following a course which he claims is in the best interests of his country. He tells the men gathered that he has worked very hard to make sure that no president knows of his existence. He wants to carry out the assassination personally, saying, "I have too much respect for the man." Just before he goes though with the plan, CSM takes a picture out and gazes on it. It's the picture of Mrs. Mulder and her infant son. He may be contemplating what he's given up or considering who he feels his actions are for...the greater good of the country and specifically, these two who he seems to have adopted as his surrogate family.

Throughout these events that Frohike recounts, we see CSM pounding away at an old typewriter crafting his novel, "Take a Chance: A Jack Colquitt Adventure by Raul Bloodworth (Nom de Plume)" It would seem that our image of CSM as evil-incarnate must be tempered with the knowledge that he is a hack writer whose dreams of publishing languish unfulfilled through the years. Every letter he gets, from various publications, is filled with dismissive terms of their disinterest. As we read over his shoulder, it's not hard to see why since his novel appears to be the hard-boiled, action/adventure of a typical spy novel...and not extremely well-done. One line..."I can kill you whenever I please...but not today." I don't know about anyone else, but I felt bad for him.

We are then privy to a meeting, much more recent in the X-Files timeline. CSM is heading the meeting where his underlings report the status of current "domestic unrest operations". (CSM is sporting a nicotine patch.) Items brought up on the agenda are the Anita Hill issue, their success in getting the Rodney King trial moved to Simi Valley, the Oscar Nominations, and CSM's adamant desire to keep the Bills out of the Superbowl. He also claims to be responsible for the miracle win of the US Olympic Hockey team. While they discuss these issue, CSM receives a phone call...Saddam Hussein on Line 2...to which he responds, "call back". When another call comes through with the news that Gorbachev has resigned the group is poleaxed. "There's no more enemies," one man says.

One of the final issue to be discussed is the trouble being caused by one Agent Fox Mulder. CSM replies, "He's mine to keep an eye on." This meeting is taking place on Xmas eve and as the group breaks up, one of the underlings makes a stilted offer to CSM to share Xmas with his family. He claims to have family of his own to visit. We see him passing by Mulder's basement office on his way home, pausing to listen at the door. It would appear that Bill Mulder's son, his surrogate family caught in an old photo, is the closest he has to a family. As he sits home alone that Xmas eve, typing away on his Jack Colquitt novel, he receives a phone call from Deep Throat. "You'll never believe what we just got for Christmas."

This segment of the episode was the most important in my mind with regard to the mytharc. The other aspects may or may not be true (as will become clear later) but this seemed very believable based on information we've gleaned over the last three seasons. CSM meets up with Deep Throat in Virginia where a downed UFO has been salvaged along with its occupant who is in critical condition. DT says they are working on a cover story but it will be hard to pass off since the Russians tracked the UFO to its crash point. The two men walk to a containment area where the craft's occupant is being kept on life support. CSM says, "How many historic events have only the two of us witnessed together? How often did we make or change history? And our names can never grace any pages of record. No monument will ever bear our image. And yet, once again, tonight, the course of human history will be set by two unknown men standing in the shadows." It's pretty obvious where he gets his material for those novels.

At this point DT takes out a gun and attempts to hand it to CSM. CSM protests, saying a living EBE could advance Bill Mulder's project by decades. DT tells him that Security Council Resolution 10.13 states "any country capturing such an entity is responsible for its immediate extermination."

DT: I'm the liar. You're the killer. CSM: Your lies have killed more men in a day than I have in a lifetime. I've never killed anybody. DT: Maybe I'm NOT the liar. CSM: I have a chance to go an entire lifetime without killing anybody...or any thing. DT: With all our work in the past 30 years, all our victories, if the world were to see THIS...it would destroy all we've gained in a few hours. Tonight we have a new enemy. [CSM flips a coin and DT loses the toss.] CSM: Go ahead. Make history.

Deep Throat dons a protective suit and enters the isolation unit. As he begins to draw his gun, we see CSM watching as he removes his nicotine patch. Deep Throat aims his gun and fires two shots into the entity, killing it. CSM looks on as he lights up a cigarette and takes a drag.

Frohike says that at this point Mulder's work was getting noticed on the top floors and we see the events that took place in the pilot episode when Scully was assigned to the X-Files. Afterward, CSM sits in a room listening in on Mulder's office which he obviously has bugged. We hear Scully introduce herself to Mulder and as Mulder says, "I was under the impression that you were sent to spy on me," CSM smiles.

In a final event that is clearly bordering on the present, CSM finally receives a positive response from a publisher who has seen his work, "Second Chance". Another Jack Colquitt novel that the publisher claims to be enraptured with, finding the author to have quite an imagination..."alien assassinations!" It's really rather pathetic to see CSM's unchecked excitement and eagerness at the idea of finally finding an outlet for his writing. He asks when the publication will hit the newsstands and the morning of that day, we see him typing out a letter of resignation. He also crumples up his pack of Morleys and tosses them in the trash. But when he goes to pick up the magazine in which he's found acceptance, he finds that it's a sleazy rag and that the editors have done a number on his story. "This isn't the ending that I wrote. It's all wrong." His disappointment is extreme and he purchases a pack of cigarettes and sitting on a bus bench gives his bitter "Life is like a box of chocolates..." speech. He tears up his letter of resignation and throws it away.

Concluding his flood of information, Frohike says, "...he believes these actions are all that life allows him. And yet the only person who can never escape him is himself." This is all profound but where exactly did Frohike stumble across this wealth of information? He tells Mulder and Scully that it is all based on a story he read in one of his weekly subscriptions. It seems pretty clear that Frohike claims a subscription to "Roman a Clef" (the magazine that published CSM's work) and the article set off his radar. The problem is...what is real and what is fiction. By CSM's own account, the article was changed and it's pretty clear that his own style of writing is filled with self-aggrandizing views of his life and work. Maybe some of it is true. I for one believe the rendezvous with Deep Throat really happened. But most of it is the stuff of CSM's Jack Colquitt spy novel style. The entire episode is designed to make us question everything we've heard. The source of the information, the CSM-25 filter, the self-important idea of his mission in life that CSM incorporates into his stories.

As the gathering in the Lone Gunmen's office breaks up, Frohike says he's going to get the information checked by some hackers and sources of his for confirmation. As Frohike leaves the headquarters, CSM has him in the crosshairs of his rifle scope and says, "I can kill you whenever I please...but not today," and he lets Frohike walk away from the building unharmed.