X-Files Cigarette-Smoking Man Is The Key To A Secret Shared TV Universe
The Cigarette-Smoking Man was the mastermind behind many an evil plot on The X-Files, but beyond that, his smoking habit ties him to a larger TV universe. Also known as Carl Gerhard Busch Spender, the always mysterious Cigarette-Smoking Man was usually at the center of most government conspiracy plots uncovered by Mulder and Scully during The X-Files' long run. Despite his clearly advanced age and myriad of health issues, CSM was always a threat, and had an unnatural resistance to dying.
Even now, afterThe X-Files' season 11 finale saw CSM get shot by Mulder and fall into a river, many assume he's still actually alive, waiting to surface and commit more bad deeds. True to his name though, the one aspect of CSM's character that became most iconic was his constant puffing away on cigarettes. In the case of the ever hard to kill Cigarette-Smoking Man, his brand of choice was Morley Cigarettes, and CGB Spender remained loyal to Morley throughout his storied existence in the X-Files world.
Related: Why The X-Files Killed Off The Lone Gunmen So Abruptly
What many X-Files devotees may not be aware of, however, is that the show didn't invent the Morley Cigarettes brand. Instead, Morley dates all the way back to 1960, having first appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's proto-slasher classic Psycho. Morley Cigarettes have since appeared in literally dozens of movies and TV shows, and since the brand doesn't exist in real life, there's a clear argument to be made that each and every one of these movies and shows somehow exists within the same fictional universe. Some of the other major shows to feature Morleys include Breaking Bad, Lost, Seinfeld, The Twilight Zone, and The Walking Dead.
As for why the fictional Morley Cigarettes brand -
Read more on screenrant.com
