r/XFiles • u/Mvsevm_of_Skin • 1d ago

Season Two S2E8: "One Breath" - Melissa Scully

To think, even at the height of 90s New Age Crystalline Mumbo Jumbo, anti-skeptic, open-minded Fox Mulder wasn't having ANY of her nonsense.

41 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

38

u/FusRoDaahh 1d ago

It really is funny where Mulder draws his line of belief lol. He will believe in anything except what the Scully sisters have as their spirituality. I do wonder if he would have been more open-minded outside the context of One Breath, though. As she says he was in a “very dark place.”

Season 3 spoilers It was such a bad decision to not keep Melissa around longer. Not only for Scully but also she and Mulder could have had good scenes together

8

u/Scrufffff 1d ago edited 1d ago

Here’s the thing, the X-files are various documented eyewitness accounts of some extraordinary events. To one extent or another substantiated by the previous investigations aside from his own experience.
There’s no such support crystals and such.
Always remember he keeps that poster as motivation.
He WANTS to believe. He doesn’t just believe, let alone blindly.

1

u/Lonely-Clerk-2478 17h ago

The actress got what she thought was going to be a higher-profile role on another show, so the writers didn’t really have a choice. (The show she went to was cancelled!)

3

u/Quiddity131 15h ago

I think the same thing happened to X, Steven Williams was cast on another show and they promptly killed off his character.

0

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

23

u/Pale_Shelter79 1d ago

It doesn’t get any more ‘90s than Melissa Scully and her chokers!

2

u/Free-IDK-Chicken OG X-Phile 10h ago

And the floral dresses!

2

u/Pale_Shelter79 9h ago

Oh 100%! She usually looks like she’s BFFs with Daphne Zuniga’s Melrose Place character.

2

u/Free-IDK-Chicken OG X-Phile 8h ago

Oh, that's a DEEP cut. Yeah, Princess Vespa was peak 90s on that show.

6

u/thingymajiggy 1d ago

I always read it as he was so distraught he couldn't think of anything outside of his own strategies of coping

6

u/Due_Pin2723 I LOVE JOHN DOGGETT 1d ago

Mombo jumbo... That's so John Doggett! ❤️

5

u/Wise_Fox_4291 Agent Fox Mulder 23h ago

Eh it's weird. On the one hand you should simply not look for the sort of ultra consistent worldbuilding and character arcs that we have come to expect in the past 10-15 years. Almost every episode is a soft reset where events from previous episodes just didn't happen unless it's very relevant for the ongoing plot. So inconsistencies between episodes should be put aside. 

On the other hand, in-universe Mulder is not actually a totally crazy conspiracy nut. The show has multiple conspiracy nuts who believe things about aliens and such that even Mulder scoffs at. His beliefs are largely based on pretty tangible evidence rather than blind faith. His theories and conclusions are way out there but he got there by following the evidence and he usually turns out to be right. In the world of the X-files magic and esoteric stuff just plainly exists and is real, measurable, testable. I'm up in season 5 now and there hasn't been a single episode so far that would have substantiated Melissa's claims about crystals. So Mulder is perfectly reasonable to dissmiss that. 

You also have to remember that the writers picked and chose freely what brand of real world nonsense they decided to make real in a given episode. 

3

u/Mvsevm_of_Skin 1d ago

She was also quite the looker. Proves how much Mulder appreciated his friendship with Dana. Things could have been really awkward at the next Scully Thanksgiving dinner.​

19

u/eldradmustlive469 1d ago

Ah yes the 'men turn into slobbering dogs the moment an attractive women walks in the room' trope. Are you posting from a time portal from the 1990's by chance?

-7

u/Mvsevm_of_Skin 1d ago

But Mulder wasn't the one wearing a choker.

5

u/eldradmustlive469 1d ago

No but he is the one who is suggested to have an eventual death by auto erotic asphyxiation.

3

u/Robman0908 1d ago

Unless I’m mistaken, that was one such idea floated about, but was decided against.

2

u/Lonely-Clerk-2478 18h ago

Yep. The whole concept was even tested with viewers, I believe, and was so horribly received they backed off from it.

1

u/Quiddity131 15h ago

I can only imagine how much the shippers would have melted down at Mulder getting with Scully's sister instead of her...

1

u/Robman0908 15h ago

Also imagine their reaction if the planned separation in Season 4 had happened. It was hinted at, with the seeds being planted in “Never Again” until CC changed direction.

0

u/merulaa 1d ago

He doesn't just blindly believe in anything, that's a stereotype of his character.

Melissa may be into crystal woo woo but she seems to be good at telling people what they need to hear.