text: one breath ( the x - files ) " one breath " is the eighth episode of the second season of the american science fiction television series the x - files . it premiered on the fox network on november 11 , 1994 . it was written by glen morgan and james wong , directed by r. w. goodwin , and featured guest appearances by melinda mcgraw , sheila larken and don s. davis . the episode helped to explore the series ' overarching mythology . " one breath " earned a nielsen household rating of 9 . 5 , being watched by 9 . 1 million households in its initial broadcast . the episode received mostly positive reviews from television critics . the show centers on fbi special agents fox mulder ( david duchovny ) and dana scully ( gillian anderson ) who work on cases linked to the paranormal , called x - files . in the episode , scully is found comatose in hospital after her abduction in the earlier episode " ascension " . mulder attempts to investigate what has happened to her , but finds himself hindered by a man he had believed to be an ally . anderson returned to the series only days after having given birth , missing the previous episode due to her pregnancy . morgan and wong attempted to create a version of the earlier episode " beyond the sea " , this time centered on duchovny 's character mulder . the episode also introduced the character of melissa scully , an attempt to provide a romantic lead for mulder which was later dropped . plot background fbi special agent dana scully ( gillian anderson ) is currently missing , having disappeared after being kidnapped by a deranged multiple - abductee in the two - part episodes " duane barry " and " ascension " . her partner fox mulder ( david duchovny ) has continued his work without her , but is still investigating her disappearance , believing her to have been abducted by aliens . his investigations into similar abductions in the past have been aided by the lone gunmen , a trio of conspiracy theorists made up of john byers ( bruce harwood ) , melvin frohike ( tom braidwood ) and richard langly ( dean haglund ) . events scully 's mother , margaret , ( sheila larken ) tells mulder a story about dana shooting a snake with her brothers as a child and regretting what she did afterwards . she indicates she is ready to let go of dana , and shows mulder scully 's gravestone . mulder , however , refuses to give up . scully then turns up mysteriously at a hospital in a coma . an out of control mulder demands to know how she got there , and is escorted out by security but later calms down and meets with dr. daly ( jay ) , who reveals that no one can figure out how she got there or what 's wrong with her . he tells mulder and mrs. scully that she has a living will that dictates she be taken off of life support when her condition falls to specific criteria . at scully 's bedside , mulder meets her older sister melissa ( melinda mcgraw ) . scully has a vision of sitting in a boat , attached by rope to a dock where mulder and melissa stand , and nurse owens behind them . frohike visits scully and sneaks out her medical chart , which the lone gunmen later investigate . byers finds that scully 's blood contains branched dna that may have been used for identification but now is inactive and nothing more than a poisonous waste product in her system . the mysterious nurse owens visits scully at her bedside , trying to reach her in her coma . later mulder visits scully while another nurse takes her blood . when distracted , a mysterious man steals scully 's blood sample and runs . mulder chases him down to the parking lot where he is confronted by x , who demands that he stop pursuing what happened to scully and let her die . he then executes the man who stole her blood . when assistant director walter skinner ( mitch pileggi ) calls mulder to his office regarding the incident , mulder denies any involvement and claims that the cigarette smoking man is responsible for what happened to scully . mulder demands to know where he is but skinner refuses to tell him . in another vision scully lies on a table and is visited by her deceased father . mulder , sitting with melissa in the hospital cafeteria , is asked by a woman for change for the cigarette machine . when she says that a pack of morleys is already there and leaves , mulder opens it and finds the cigarette smoking man 's address inside . mulder bursts into the cigarette smoking man 's home and holds him at gunpoint , demanding to know why scully was taken instead of him . the cigarette smoking man claims he likes the both of them , which is why she was returned ; he reveals that he told skinner it was mulder who shot the man in the parking lot , although he didn 't believe this to be true , incidentally revealing himself as unaware of who did shoot the man , namely x. he tells mulder that he 'll never know the truth if he kills him , and mulder decides not to . mulder returns to fbi headquarters and types out a resignation letter that he hands into skinner . skinner visits his office as mulder is packing his things , and relates an out - of - body experience he had in vietnam . skinner refuses to accept mulder 's resignation and mulder realizes that he was the one who provided him with the cigarette smoking man 's location . heading to the parking garage , mulder is met by x , telling him that he 'll have a chance for revenge that night when men , believing him to have information on scully , will search his apartment at a specific time . mulder is waiting with his gun at his apartment when melissa arrives . although he initially refuses to leave , melissa is able to convince mulder to see scully , where he holds scully 's hand and talks to her . returning home to find his apartment trashed , mulder sits on the floor and cries . the next day , scully awakens . mulder is called to the hospital and sees her , returning her cross necklace , where she indicates she heard his voice while in her coma . scully tells him she doesn 't remember anything after being kidnapped by duane barry . later scully asks one of the nurses if she can see nurse owens , as she wants to thank her , but the nurse tells scully that no nurse named owens works at the hospital . production gillian anderson , who had just given birth to her daughter piper days before this episode spent the majority of the episode in a hospital bed . the episode title , " one breath " comes from a line from scully 's father when he talks to her during the episode . the character ' the thinker ' , who later appears in person in the episode " anasazi " was named after online x - files fan ' ' . the episode introduces melinda mcgraw as scully 's sister melissa . mcgraw had previously worked with writers glen morgan and james wong , who specifically wrote the part with her in mind . thoughts were given to having a romantic interest between mulder and melissa , but the concept never came to pass . writer glen morgan said of the episode , " duchovny challenged us to do a " beyond the sea " for him . the show had been so dark and bleak , and jim and i feel that there is a side to the paranormal that 's very hopeful . we wanted to do that side of it . i thought it would be a great opportunity for duchovny , but then the situation came up with gillian 's pregnancy . we needed to get her off her feet anyway . there 's a line in there where scully 's sister says ' just because the belief is positive and good doesn 't make it silly or trite ' . it was the whole theme of the show . " chris carter described the opening scene — in which scully discovers the truth about death , sadness , and sorrow — as " a way he would never imagined an x - files episode to begin with " , and that the related scene with scully 's tombstone was " a soft but beautiful opening " that " sets up the episode in a frightening way " . the image of scully in the boat was meant to symbolize " being tethered to something very tenuously , and that there was a chance for you to be cut adrift and slip into the unknown " . skinner facing the smoking man placed the character as " both an antagonistic and institutional figure " that tries to be both an fbi agent and an ally of mulder and scully — his refusal to allow the smoking man to smoke in his office " speaks of [ skinner 's ] alliances and allegiances to agent scully and his hatred of this man he cannot vanquish , he cannot get rid of , but he has to tolerate " . reception ratings " one breath " premiered on the fox network on november 11 , 1994 , and was first broadcast in the united kingdom on bbc two on october 16 , 1995 . the episode earned a nielsen household rating of 9 . 5 with a 16 share , meaning that roughly 9 . 5 percent of all television - equipped households , and 16 percent of households watching television , were tuned in to the episode . a total of 9 . 1 million households watched this episode during its original airing . reviews " one breath " received mostly positive reviews from critics . the munchkyn zone reviewer sarah stegall gave the episode a glowing review and rated it 6 sunflower seeds out of 5 . stegall stated the episode " works on several levels " and called it the " best yet " . john keegan , writing for critical myth , gave the episode a favorable review and rated it a 10 out of 10 . keegan stated " this is easily one of the best episodes of the series , if not the best " and concluded it is " truly a masterpiece " . nina sordi , writing for den of geek , ranked the episode as the eighth best in the series ' run , calling it " just too unforgettable " . sordi added that " verbal sparring matches between mulder and scully 's equally feisty sister , melissa , created an interesting dynamic in the absence of scully 's perspective " . nick de semlyen and james white of empire named it the fifteenth " greatest " episode of the series , considering it a " testament to the x - files writing staff 's ability to turn the temporary loss of one of the stars into a compelling , suspenseful and worthwhile piece of the overall mythology " . in a retrospective of the second season in entertainment weekly , the episode was rated a b. its " absurd symbolism and the introduction of scully 's dopey new age sister " were criticized , but it was felt that these elements did not prevent " one breath " from being a " richly layered installment " . it was also felt that the episode featured " arguably duchovny 's best performance " . reviewer zack handlen of the a.v. club hailed " one breath " as an essential episode of the show . he felt that there was a " sloppiness to the mythology " and that " the resolution of the whole coma situation is weak " . however , the " incredibly moving moments " and highlights such as mulder attacking the smoking man and skinner 's speech about vietnam turned it into an episode " more about the moments than the big picture " . in 1996 , chris carter declared " one breath " to be one of the series ' most popular episodes . co - writer james wong also enjoyed the episode , saying " i really love that show " . director r. w. goodwin said of the episode , " what 's so unusual about " one breath " is that it had very little to do with our usual x - file stuff . it was more about human emotions , drama , relationships " . awards " one breath " earned a nomination for an emmy award by the academy of television arts & sciences for outstanding cinematography - series .