Jeffrey Spender
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| The X-Files character | |
| Jeffrey Frank Spender | |
|---|---|
| Affiliated with | FBI/Syndicate |
| First appearance | "Patient X" |
| Last appearance | "The Truth" |
| Portrayed by | Chris Owens |
Special Agent Jeffrey Spender is a character in the science fiction Fox TV series, The X-Files.
[edit] Biography
Jeffrey Frank Spender is the son of the Cigarette Smoking Man (AKA C. G. B. Spender), and CSM's ex-wife, multiple abductee Cassandra Spender. Heavily involved in the Syndicate at that time, CSM abandoned the family when Spender was 11 years old, most likely at the same time as the 1973 abductions. Thus, it can be assumed, but is never stated, that Spender was born in 1962. Subsequently, his mother was driven insane by what she claims were multiple alien abductions. Shortly after Samantha Mulder was abducted and then returned, Jeffrey and Samantha were raised together by CSM in California.
Spender met Agents Mulder and Scully in 1997. The same year, CSM began to send him letters; however Spender returned them unopened. In 1999, Spender was shot and apparently killed by his father in "One Son".
Three years later it is revealed in "William", that he survived the gunshot, but was subjected to horribly disfiguring experiments at the hand of his father. Posing as Mulder, he infiltrated Scully's house, and injected William with a magnetite substance to seemingly "cure" the baby of his telekinetic powers. The motivation or repercussions of his actions are never fully explained. He testified for the defense during Mulder's murder trial in "The Truth". He also revealed during the trial that Teena Mulder was having an affair with CSM, and that he and Fox Mulder are half-brothers. A DNA test conducted on a disfigured Spender in the episode "William" initially led agents Scully, Doggett and Reyes to believe he was Fox Mulder thus lending further credence to Spender's claim that both he and Mulder are the children of the Cigarette Smoking Man.
[edit] Career History and Work on The X-Files
Special Agent Spender first began working in close proximity to Agents Mulder and Scully in 1997, when his mother began contacting Mulder about her experiences. He approached Scully first and explained that he believed his mother was in a UFO cult, and mentally unstable. He asked that they stop investigating her case. Apparently very new in his FBI career, he was concerned that his mother's stories would give him a bad reputation. Reputation was clearly important to Spender, as he was extremely antagonistic toward Mulder and his "Spooky" reputation whenever the two crossed paths. Ironically, he met Agent Mulder in a time in Mulder's life when he had become disillusioned with the alien abduction conspiracy, and the two actually shared the opinion that Cassandra's abductions were simply delusions - a fact which Spender generally refused to believe. Spender reveals the roots of his contempt for the paranormal to Scully when Cassandra goes missing again in "Patient X". According to him, Cassandra became unstable when his father (later revealed to be the Cigarette Smoking Man), left the family. As a coping mechanism, his mother taught him to engage therapists with elaborate abduction stories that he simply made up. Spender blamed what he saw as his mother's insanity for ruining his childhood, and hated Mulder for what he perceived as Mulder's attempts to legitimize the paranormal. Early on, Assistant Director Skinner tells Spender not to worry about his reputation, because he has a "benefactor" - this eventually turns out to be the CSM.
In 1998, CSM, who had been recalled from his exile in Quebec by the Syndicate, revealed himself to Spender for the first time. This encounter, which was interrupted by Mulder (who had thought the CSM dead), began to tempt Spender into the fringes of the Conspiracy. At this point, Mulder was involved in an investigation which quickly began to deteriorate and ultimately would result in the closure of the X-Files after a Justice Department investigation into their propriety. After his former partner and love interest, Diana Fowley, was shot by a Syndicate assassin, Mulder angrily confronted Spender, whom he perceived as collaborating with the CSM, and pledged to ruin his reputation. Spender, in retaliation, went out of his way to testify against Mulder to the Justice Department - combined with CSM's string-pulling on Spender's behalf, this was enough for the X-Files to be closed for a second time. Hours later, the CSM entered FBI Headquarters and burned down Mulder's office, destroying all of the X-Files save Samantha Mulder's abduction file, which CSM took with him. On his way out of the building, CSM encountered Spender and revealed that he was Spender's father.
After the events of the feature film, the X-Files were re-opened. However, the CSM pulled strings so that Spender became primary investigator, with Diana Fowley as his partner. The newly-impassioned Mulder (reassigned with Scully to menial detail under Assistant Director Alvin Kersh) grew increasingly frustrated with Spender's apathy and disinterest in the X-Files, accusing him of only researching one case, that of his missing mother. Spender believed that CSM had only had him put in charge of the X-Files as a way to keep Fox Mulder down, and vocalized his dissatisfaction at his new role. As a result, Spender and Mulder once again displayed increasing animosity towards each other.
Near the end of Series 6, in the episode 'Two Fathers', the Second Elder was killed by one of the Alien Rebels, which then used the Second Elder's form to infiltrate the Syndicate. The CSM quickly discovered this deception and used the situation as a test of Spender's ability to follow in his father's footsteps as an assassin. Spender, overwhelmed by the task, failed and was nearly killed by the Rebel before being saved by Alex Krycek, who did the assassination for him on CSM's orders. This event was a blow to both Spender's denial of the paranormal and to CSM's confidence in his son, and ultimately led to Spender questioning the morality of his father's work.
At this point in the series, when his mother was inexplicably returned, and then killed, Spender felt both frustration over his inability to protect her and guilt over his part in aiding The Syndicate. In direct opposition to his father, he informed his superiors that he was not qualified to run the X-Files and heavily suggested they return the job to Agents Mulder and Scully. Shortly after packing up his office, he was approached by CSM and shot, after being told that he "paled to Fox Mulder" (arguably the CSM's other son). His character subsequently disappered from the series, and he was presumed killed.
In Season 9, it was revealed that CSM's shot had only wounded Spender, and that his father had afterwards subjected him to numerous tests. Although Spender survived, he was permanently disfigured. In the final episode, The Truth, Spender made his final appearance in the series testifying in at Mulder's murder trial, in which he revealed, among other things, that he and Mulder are half-brothers through an affair that CSM had with Mulder's mother. The legitimacy of this claim, presumably made to Spender by the CSM, remains in doubt, but seems likely due to other indications throughout the series that CSM and Mrs. Mulder were involved and the DNA test conducted on Jeffrey that proved a genetic link between Mulder and Spender.
[edit] Appearances
Jeffrey Spender appears in the following episodes:
Season 5
- "Patient X"
- "The Red and the Black"
- "The End"
Season 6
- "The Beginning"
- "Triangle"
- "Terms of Endearment"
- "Two Fathers"
- "One Son"
Season 9
- "William"
- "The Truth"
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