 The writers felt that this was the perfect time to bring in Skinner's deal with The Smoking Man (William B. Davis) to cure Scully's cancer, made in the episode "Memento Mori".Frank Spotnitz said of Skinner's deal, "The hard thing for Skinner was that we had to keep him in the middle.We had him tell Mulder not to bargain with The Smoking Man in order to save Scully's life.