The mysteriously revived Spender tries to piece together sections of his past…

The original Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man was a masterpiece of unreliable narration, as the past of the then-unnamed CSM (he wasn’t called Spender till the sixth season) is apparently revealed in a magazine article found by Frohike. It put the CSM at the heart of many key American moments – and even gave William B. Davis his own “Forrest Gump” scene. Davis himself had problems with the contradictions inherent in the script (there’s a nice nod to that in this sequel), but it served to place his character at the heart of The X-Files.

Joe Harris’ single issue sequel is the basis for this play, and is one of the most intriguing and stylish stories within the Season 10/Season 11 original IDW run, with yet more deliberate contradictions for those who know their X-Files mythology – so yes, it isn’t an error to have Bill Mulder and Spender discovering things long before they should have done. Dirk Maggs’ adaptation broadens the canvas of each of the CSM’s flashbacks, with the immersive audio really bringing scenes like the Bay of Pigs invasion to life. Maggs adds further layers to the already-dense text, reminding listeners of the relationships between Spender and the Mulder family. It’s not a Mulder and Scully heavy episode – to put it mildly – and there’s far more of the younger Spender than there is Davis’ older version, which makes it stand out in the same way that the comic book did on its original release.

Verdict: More enjoyable insight into the Evil Forrest Gump of the X-Files. 9/10

Paul Simpson