The X-Files

Melinda's first appearance on the X-Files. My favorite episode. Coincidence? I think not! To me, Melinda's portrayal of Melissa Scully was one of the highlights of the episode. For the first time, we got a hint that the Scully family might not be as perfect as we thought. More on that to come in the 5th season. For now, we can thank writers Morgan and Wong for creating a character that embodies all the qualities we admire in Dana Scully - courage, honesty, independence - without reducing her to a caricature.. Melissa Scully, wonderfully portrayed by Melinda, was central to the plot of the episode and helped save both Mulder and Scully during their darkest hour. To this day, Melissa Scully remains my favorite Melinda McGraw character.

On the other hand, maybe it was a Wong Brothers thing. After an absence of several months, Melissa returns to the X-Files in the 3rd season premiere written by Chris Carter. Ex-surfer Carter manages to water down Melissa into a somewhat irritating spouter of New Age doctrine in this episode, leaving one to wonder if this is the same character who once managed to make Fox Mulder admit his feelings to Scully. Perhaps realizing how poorly he writes Melissa, or perhaps out of a misguided sense of drama, Carter has her shot in the last scene of this episode.

Melissa spends much of the episode in a hospital bed, then dies. Not even Mulder and Scully hugging can redeem the pain this episode left in my heart and soul.

In this Christmas themed episode that doesn't quite succeed, Melissa returns in flashbacks/dream sequences. Her dialogue is slightly better (most likely the influence of Vince Gilligan), but still fails to live up to One Breath. But a definite improvement over TBW and Paperclip, if for no other reason than Melissa isn't shot or killed in this one. One of the default highlights of the fifth season.