X-Files Theory: Cigarette-Smoking Man Has John Doggett Captive

Many fans wondered why John Doggett didn’t appear in The X-Files revival, and the answer could tie back to the sinister Cigarette-Smoking Man.

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The Cigarette-Smoking Man may have played a role in John Doggett’s absence from The X-Files revival. When it came time for the return of The X-Files in 2016, many viewers hoped that they would get to see all their favorite characters back; or at least the ones who managed to survive season 9. By the time The X-Files season 10 and season 11 were complete that wish had mostly been granted, as in addition to Mulder and Scully leading, Monica Reyes, Jeffrey Spender, Skinner, William Scully, the Cigarette-Smoking Man and even the long-dead Lone Gunmen made appearances.

The only major surviving character to not appear was John Doggett, played in the original X-Files run by Robert Patrick, best known for playing the T-1000 in Terminator 2. Doggett joined the X-Files cast when Mulder actor David Duchovny stepped away for most of season 8, becoming Scully’s new partner at the FBI’. The usual dynamic was swapped, as Doggett was perhaps even more skeptical than Scully was back in season 1 while after all she’d seen, Scully was much more open to the supernatural.

While Doggett wasn’t an immediate hit with X-Files devotees, he eventually developed a friendship and chemistry with Scully and was actually the focal point of some of season 8’s best episodes. The addition of Doggett’s longtime friend and season 9 partner Reyes proved more divisive, but with her return in the flawed X-Files revival, it always seemed strange that not only did Doggett not come back, he wasn’t even mentioned. There might be a good reason for that, and it involves a potential kidnapping by the Cigarette-Smoking Man.

John Doggett Was Completely Absent From The X-Files Revival

There’s a reason Robert Patrick didn’t return for the X-Files revival. While Patrick says he was never officially asked to return for season 10, he wasn’t really excited by the prospect either way, as the actor had some lingering resentments about signing a five-year contract to play Doggett, only for The X-Files to get canceled after two. Patrick eventually got over that issue, leading Carter to write him into season 11, only to have to change plans due to Patrick’s commitments to his former CBS drama Scorpion.

While those are the real-world circumstances though, it’s completely unclear what Doggett has been doing since season 9, as he also sat out the financially disastrous X-Files: I Want to Believe movie. After all that Doggett saw during his time working on the X-Files, it’s hard to imagine he just went back to a normal law enforcement career afterward. Especially since – while he and Mulder were far from best friends – Doggett grew quite fond of Scully and vice versa, so it seems likely he would’ve remained part of her life in some way. Then of course there’s Reyes. Doggett and Reyes were at the very least close friends, and at times hinted to have romantic feelings for each other. For Reyes to not even bring up Doggett to Scully during the revival feels off somehow. It also begs the question as to where Doggett was when Reyes got approached to join the frequently dead Cigarette-Smoking Man, as he surely would’ve tried to talk her out of it. That is unless he was in jeopardy himself, and thus in no position to intervene.

Monica Reyes Turning Evil Didn’t Make Sense

It’s true that Monica Reyes was far from a saint. She had her dark secrets and bad habits like other characters on the show, but when push came to shove, she did what was right and frequently helped Mulder and Scully on their quest to expose the truth. No impression was given during Reyes’ original X-Files run that she’d be the type of person to flip sides and accept a deal from someone as vile as the Cigarette-Smoking Man (whose origin is wild). Her heel turn doesn’t make sense and her explanation to Scully – which admittedly did occur during a prophetic vision had by the latter – feels weak.

Reyes had faced potentially deadly situations before, so the idea that she would just roll over for CSM the moment he offered to save her from an apocalypse he claims is coming doesn’t fit her established character. The character later claiming to be working from the inside to protect Mulder and Scully again also feels flimsy, as she’s still done terrible things under his employ, likely even murdering people, as she threatened to do to her old boss Walter Skinner. Yet, Reyes’ turn to the dark side would be easier to understand if CSM had some personal leverage over her, a bargaining chip he could use to force her compliance. That leverage could be John Doggett.

Cigarette-Smoking Man Used Doggett To Make Reyes Comply

As with most actions taken by the Cigarette-Smoking Man (aka Carl Gerhard Busch Spender), it’s unclear exactly why he wanted Reyes on his payroll. At the same time, once the CSM decides he wants something to happen, he has seemingly limitless resources to make it so. It’s quite possible when he first approached Reyes, she was hesitant to accept his offer as would fit her previous character. That is until he revealed his trump card; the emotionally haunted John Doggett. CSM knew Doggett wouldn’t work for him under any circumstances – as he was too proud and stubborn – but also knew that Doggett would surely get in the way of his plans to recruit Reyes. So, he could’ve easily solved the problem by taking Doggett out of the picture.

Smartly though, he wouldn’t have just killed Doggett, as that would’ve ensured Reyes could never stomach joining his side. Instead, the CSM keeps Doggett prisoner in a remote facility. If Reyes does what the Cigarette-Smoking Man says, Doggett is treated as well as a prisoner can possibly be. If she refuses an order or attempts to let one of the X-Files revival’s many returning characters know about Doggett’s predicament, Doggett is threatened with torture and possibly even death. As close as Doggett and Reyes were, it’s believable she would do whatever it took to protect him from harm. CSM having taken Doggett prisoner would him dropping off the X-Files map between seasons 9 and 10 in addition to Reyes’ evil turn, and even why Reyes doesn’t mention Doggett. Sadly, it doesn’t seem like a season 12 will ever arrive to either confirm or disprove this theory.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/xfiles-john-doggett-where-cigarette-smoking-man-theory/