'Deep Throat' is a
fictional character in the
television show ''
The X-Files'', played by
Jerry Hardin. The character is named after
W. Mark Felt, otherwise known as
Deep Throat of the
Watergate scandal.
Deep Throat first appears in the episode "
Deep Throat", warning agent
Fox Mulder of the danger he is in, and later offering to help him. He subsequently becomes Mulder's covert information source.
During the first season of ''The X-Files'', the paternal-like Deep Throat provided Mulder and
Scully with information they would have been otherwise unable to obtain, leading to some interesting investigations. Being a member of the then unseen
Syndicate, he was in a position to know a great deal of information. Generally, Deep Throat used his power to help Mulder, though without jeopardizing his own security, and so his information was sometimes vague and needed to be decoded by Mulder. Deep Throat felt that the truth that the Syndicate kept secret from the public needed to be known, and he expressed to Mulder that he believed Mulder was the one capable of doing so. However, Deep Throat had at least once provided Mulder with false information in order to divert him, later explaining that he believed the public was just not ready to know some truths.
During the
Vietnam War, and while still part of the Syndicate, he worked for the
CIA. A
UFO was spotted over
Hanoi by the
US Marines, who shot it down. The surviving
EBE was brought to Deep Throat who, following Syndicate policy, executed the alien. He later recounted this to Mulder and explained that his helping Mulder is his way of clearing his own conscience after that haunting experience and to
atone for what he had done. He has also stated that he was "a participant in some of the most insidious lies and witness to deeds that no crazed man could imagine". He became disillusioned with the Syndicate, though unlike
Bill Mulder or
Alvin Kurtzweil, he remained a member.
In the first season finale of ''The X-Files'',
The Erlenmeyer Flask, Mulder was taken hostage by a group of
Men in Black operatives, following his investigation into an
alien-human hybrid program. Fearing for Mulder's life, Deep Throat secured access for Scully to enter a high containment facility, where she managed to secretly remove a
cryogenically preserved alien fetus, which would then be used as collateral for Mulder's life. In the subsequent meeting between the operatives and Deep Throat, who would not allow Scully to make the exchange, he was gunned down by a Syndicate assassin, the
Crew Cut Man, on orders from the
Cigarette Smoking Man. He was buried at the
Arlington National Cemetery.
Trivia
★ Deep Throat appears in the later episodes primarily in
flashbacks, but also once as a
ghost and also in a dream.
★ Whenever Mulder needed Deep Throat's help, Mulder would place a
black light lamp in his window. This is similar to how
Bob Woodward would "call" the real-life Deep Throat of the Watergate Scandal, in which he claimed to move a potted plant on his balconly a certain way to signal a meeting.
★ Deep Throat's first name is possibly Ronald, as shown in the episode "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man".
Quotes
★ [''To
FBI Division Chief McGrath, concerning Mulder''] Deep Throat: "...but his occasional insubordination is in the end far less dangerous."
:McGrath: "With respect, sir-- less dangerous than what?"
:Deep Throat: "Than having him exposed to the wrong people-- what he knows... h'm [''smiles''], what he thinks he knows." - ''Fallen Angel''
★ Deep Throat: Always keep your friends close. But keep your enemies closer. - ''Fallen Angel'' {Famous line from
Machiavelli's, ''
The Prince''}
★ [''Handing Cigarette Smoking Man a firearm''] Deep Throat: "I'm the liar. You're the killer."
:CSM: "Your lies have killed more men in a day than I have in a lifetime. I've never killed anybody."
:Deep Throat: "Maybe I'm not the liar." - ''Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man''
★ Mulder: "They're here, aren't they?"
:Deep Throat: "Mr. Mulder, ''they've been here for a long, long time." - ''Deep Throat''
★ Deep Throat: "Mulder...if a shark stops swimming, it will die. Don't stop swimming." - ''E.B.E.''
★ [''His dying words''] "Trust no one." - ''The Erlenmeyer Flask''
Appearances
Deep Throat Appears in the Following Episodes:
''Season 1''
★ Deep Throat
★ Ghost in the Machine
★ Fallen Angel
★ Eve
★ Young at Heart
★ E.B.E.
★ The Erlenmeyer Flask
''Season 3''
★ The Blessing Way
★ Talitha Cumi
''Season 4''
★ Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man (Flashback)
''Season 7''
★ The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati
''Season 9''
★ The Truth(Flashbacks)