Entertainment
How An X-Files Episode Created TV's Scariest Villain
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Everybody (even those who have never even seen the show) knows that the Big Bad of The X-Files is the Cigarette Smoking Man, the shady nicotine fiend played by William B. Davis. This character has been in the show since the pilot episode, so many assume that he was always meant to be Mulder and Scully’s archnemesis. But in a twist worthy of this conspiracy-obsessed show, Davis was originally hired to be an unspeaking menace, and he wasn’t firmly established as the show’s archvillain until the excellent Season 2 episode “One Breath.”
Let’s start from the beginning; in this case, the very first episode of The X-Files. William B. Davis appears in this episode but never says anything. In the scenes where Scully is meeting with her superiors at the FBI, the Cigarette Smoking Man just lurks in the background, forcing the audience to wonder what the heck this creepy guy’s deal is.
Evil Finds Its Voice
The character didn’t speak until the Season 1 episode “Tooms,” which effectively cemented his identity as the CSM. This is important because Davis previously appeared as a CIA agent in “Young At Heart,” making it appear like the actor was little more than a glorified extra!
Because of this, the director of the Season 2 episode “One Breath” (Robert Goodwin) was worried because the script gave William B. Davis more to do on The X-Files than he had ever done before. Others on the production team shared his concerns that the actor wouldn’t be up to the task, and episode cowriter Glen Morgan had to convince the director that Davis (then a drama teacher) knew how to deliver a good performance. This was enough to mollify Goodwin, who was ultimately impressed by the actor’s performance.
The Truth Is In Here
But why, specifically, was Goodwin so concerned about whether Davis had the acting chops for this episode? The short answer is that “One Breath” firmly established the Cigarette Smoking Man as the show’s ultimate villain, someone willing and able to toy with the lives of our favorite FBI agents whenever he wanted to. In this episode, Mulder deduces that the CSM was behind Scully’s recent abduction and is doubly angry at him because she is currently in a comatose state; after convincing Deputy Director Skinner to give him the man’s address, Mulder actually ambushes the Cigarette Smoking Man at his own home.
Despite being held at gunpoint, the Cigarette Smoking Man is quite relaxed, informing his would-be killer that he likes Mulder and Scully, which is the only reason that Scully was returned to Mulder after her previous abduction. Even as he admits that he’s starting to respect Mulder, the CSM claims the other man won’t pull the trigger because it would mean killing the one man who knows the truth. He claims this is why he will always win, and a defeated Mulder ends up leaving the house, no closer to saving Scully or learning anything about who took her.
Mulder’s Dark Reflection
This X-Files scene is relatively short, but it positions Cigarette Smoking Man as the ultimate villain: he knows the elusive truth Mulder is always seeking and can have him and Scully killed whenever the mood strikes him. Adding insult to injury, he also points out that the only reason these two pesky FBI agents aren’t already dead is that he likes them. Just like that, Mulder learned that his fate is in the hands of a ruthless murderer who is starting to become his number one fan!
As director Robert Goodwin later noted, William B. Davis does an amazing job in this scene, presenting the Cigarette Smoking Man as a mirror image of Mulder himself. He, too, “wants to believe” and has dedicated his life to a cause that he thinks is righteous, one that he’s willing to kill in order to protect. Davis’ performance gives the character both steely menace and even a brief glimpse of vulnerability, emphasizing him as a very human threat that is nonetheless more dangerous than all the aliens and monsters on the show combined.
From here on, the Cigarette Smoking Man would appear in more and more X-Files episodes, including the series finale, the first movie, and even the show’s controversial revival. This would never have happened if William B. Davis hadn’t demonstrated his ability to bring TV’s scariest villain to life. In this sense, he owes both his fame and his character’s popularity to “One Breath,” an overlooked tale that is secretly one of the most important episodes in X-Files history.
Entertainment
Microsoft Office 2024 for Mac and PC gets smarter with AI, now 60% off
TL;DR: Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for Mac or PC is on sale for $99.97 through March 1 at 11:59 p.m. PT, offering 60% off Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more.
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If your work revolves around documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and email, Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business brings those core tools together with updated features designed to keep everyday tasks moving efficiently. The lifetime license for Mac or PC is priced at $99.97, representing a 60% discount off the regular price, and ends on March 1 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Included are Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook — the familiar lineup, installed directly on your device for both online and offline use. Office 2024 brings performance improvements across the whole software. In Excel, for example, working with large datasets or handling multiple workbooks is quicker and more reliable. For anyone who routinely works with numbers or builds reports, this added speed can make daily tasks less tedious.
Mashable Deals
Content creation tools have also been refreshed. PowerPoint now supports recording presentations with voice narration, video, and closed captions, which is a plus for remote meetings, online classes, or sharing presentations after the fact. Word adds Focus Mode to help reduce distractions as you write, alongside AI-powered suggestions to sharpen up your prose. Built-in research features keep citations and references at your fingertips, so you can stay in the zone without switching tabs.
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Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business is designed for users who already rely on Microsoft’s core apps and want updated features without changing how they work. For $99.97 through March 1 at 11:59 p.m. PT, the current deal makes it easier to step into the latest version at a lower cost, especially if those tools are already part of your daily routine.
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Entertainment
Super Bowl LX performers: Who is singing the anthems
The Super Bowl LX halftime show featuring Bad Bunny and the Super Bowl pre-show featuring Green Day may be taking up all the attention when it comes to Super Bowl performances — and rightfully so! Everyone is looking forward to what the internationally known artists will do or say regarding President Trump and ICE.
However, other musical artists are performing at this year’s Super Bowl as well.
Charlie Puth to sing national anthem
Kicking the show off with the U.S. national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner” is the Grammy-nominated singer Charlie Puth. Puth’s debut single, “Marvin Gaye,” featuring Meghan Trainor, was a Billboard chart hit upon its 2015 release. Puth has since had other hits, including “We Don’t Talk Anymore (feat. Selena Gomez),” “Attention,” and “Nothing But Trouble.”
Mashable Top Stories
Brandi Carlile to perform patriotic song
Next up, singing “America the Beautiful” is singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile. Carlile has a whopping 11 Grammys and two Emmy awards. Her biggest hit was 2007’s “The Story,” but she is also known for songs like “Broken Horses” and “The Joke.”
Coco Jones to sing Black national anthem
Grammy Award-winning R&B artist Coco Jones will sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Black national anthem. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” has become a Super Bowl staple since 2021, when Alicia Keys performed it at the event. Singer and actress Ledisi performed the song at last year’s game.
Entertainment
How A Star Wars Set Malfunction Caused A Cast Member To Meet Jesus
By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated
Would you believe that arguably the most recognizable figure in the entire Star Wars franchise once ran into Jesus? This was no Jedi, although it’s admittedly fun to imagine what the Son of God might have had to say to someone else who could come back from the dead as a powerful ghost. No, the Star Wars character in question was R2-D2, and he had an accidental meeting with the divine when a remote control malfunction sent him to the set of Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth tv movie!
A long time ago (1977, to be precise), in a desert far, far away (Tunisia), two very different filmmakers were working on two very different projects. Franco Zeffirelli (best known for his Oscar-nominated Romeo and Juliet) was working on Jesus of Nazareth, which blended the four Gospels of the biblical New Testament into a single TV movie. Meanwhile, fresh off the success of American Graffiti, rebel filmmaker George Lucas was working on Star Wars, a movie that would effectively define his life while reshaping pop culture history as we know it.
Meeting The Maker
Aside from the involvement of James Earl Jones, these projects didn’t have much in common, and Lucas and Zeffirelli generally stayed out of each other’s way despite their sets neighboring one another. That all changed thanks to a scene requiring R2-D2 to be piloted using a remote control. While actor Kenny Baker was often inside the droid for scenes where R2 had to stay relatively still, there were some scenes in which George Lucas simply needed to move the little astromech from Point A to Point B.
In this case, Lucas intended for R2-D2 to exit a scene by rolling out from behind a sand dune. To do this, they intended to use a remote control, but the unit malfunctioned. Therefore, instead of stopping where the filmmakers intended, R2 just kept going until (as if guided by a higher power) he ended up on the set of Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth.
Fortunately, the runaway astromech didn’t cause any damage to the set of the Jesus TV movie, something that we can only assume would be some kind of sin. These days, the whole incident has become a bit of amusing trivia for Star Wars fans to share among themselves. At the time, though, R2 encountering a savior from heaven was just one more reason that filming this sci-fi blockbuster had become a living hell.
When Droids Move In Mysterious Ways
Reportedly, this is one of many incidents in which the droids weren’t doing exactly what the filmmakers needed them to do. On top of that, the droids were powered by exotic batteries that were hard to replace, and those batteries were soon drained in the hot Tunisian sun. Making matters worse, the truck storing R2-D2 and other droids once caught fire, damaging valuable props and costing George Lucas money he couldn’t really afford to spend.
Fortunately, it all worked out: after all these onset issues, Star Wars became one of the most successful films ever made. There are many reasons for this, including its perfect cast, killer effects, and charming story. However, we can’t discount the possibility that the movie’s success is a product of divine intervention; after all, his excursion to meet Jesus proves R2-D2 is a droid with friends in very high places!
Microsoft Office 2024 for Mac and PC gets smarter with AI, now 60% off
Sam Darnold Is 60 Minutes Away From Erasing His Past
