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 Although he has a clear shot, he decides not to kill Frohike, quoting aloud to himself the last line from his unpublished novel: "I can kill you whenever I please, but not today". Production Writing Written by Glen Morgan and directed by James Wong, "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" was inspired by the DC Graphic Novel Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography (1989); Morgan later explained that he wanted the episode to show that The Smoking Man was