I was really fascinated by this episode when I first saw it. The writing cleverly placed the Cigarette Smoking Man at the scene of significant turning points in the nation's history, with him literally pulling the trigger in the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. However it's done in such a way as to leave it to the viewer's own interpretation as to whether he actually did those things, or whether he was wistfully recalling those events and putting himself at the center of them in a way to effect the march of history. His conversation with Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin), who he calls 'Ronald' in the story, seems to suggest that he was really there (see my summary line), but of course, the Cancer man was not above lying to pursue his agenda.
As to his own identity, CSM appeared to go by the name of Hunt when he was in the Army with Bill Mulder and before he was recruited for a deep cover assignment while still a Captain. His rise in the hierarchy of the FBI is alluded to during a conference with J. Edgar Hoover while discussing the 'problem' of Martin Luther King, and I got a kick out of the scene years later in which he put off a call from Saddam Hussein. Not only did CSM have a hand in major political events of the day, but it was humorous to learn how he affected the outcome of Super Bowl XXVI (the Buffalo Bills will never win one during my lifetime). It was also instructive to see that he did have enough of a patriotic streak to have the American hockey team win it's 'Miracle on Ice' during the 1980 Olympics against the Russians.
With all that though, and even if we don't know his real relationship to Fox Mulder yet, when conversation with the global cadre began to focus on the FBI agent, it was CSM who declared that regarding the Spooky kid, "He's mine to keep an eye on". Most revealing however was when he got a manuscript published using his alias, Raul Bloodworth, only to become dejected by the way the publisher butchered the ending of his story. It was the only time he ever showed any emotion, uncharacteristically revealing that he was human after all.
As to his own identity, CSM appeared to go by the name of Hunt when he was in the Army with Bill Mulder and before he was recruited for a deep cover assignment while still a Captain. His rise in the hierarchy of the FBI is alluded to during a conference with J. Edgar Hoover while discussing the 'problem' of Martin Luther King, and I got a kick out of the scene years later in which he put off a call from Saddam Hussein. Not only did CSM have a hand in major political events of the day, but it was humorous to learn how he affected the outcome of Super Bowl XXVI (the Buffalo Bills will never win one during my lifetime). It was also instructive to see that he did have enough of a patriotic streak to have the American hockey team win it's 'Miracle on Ice' during the 1980 Olympics against the Russians.
With all that though, and even if we don't know his real relationship to Fox Mulder yet, when conversation with the global cadre began to focus on the FBI agent, it was CSM who declared that regarding the Spooky kid, "He's mine to keep an eye on". Most revealing however was when he got a manuscript published using his alias, Raul Bloodworth, only to become dejected by the way the publisher butchered the ending of his story. It was the only time he ever showed any emotion, uncharacteristically revealing that he was human after all.