Originally aired January 8th, 1991
about halfway through the fourth (and last) season.
This episode focuses on Melissa, a thirtysomething photographer preparing for her first big exhibit at the Edith Miller Gallery. Noelle is Cindy, a twentysomething (though in actuality you could leave off the "something" part) up-and-comer who works at the gallery, helping out Melissa, whom she greatly admires.
Melissa finds that reviewing all her work, which features a lot of her former boyfriends, brings about feelings of regret about her incomplete relationships, and an inability to make any sense of her life, to say nothing of her photographs.
Melissa's current boyfriend is a twentysomething artist, Lee Owens, who works at her cousin's ad agency. Lee is played by Corey Parker, a regular member of the cast this season, who in real life is Noelle's brother. This is the only time they've worked on the same project together, as far as I know, and this scene is the only time they're on the screen together, in a manner of speaking (though they almost cross paths later). Melissa is showing Cindy slides of her work, only to discover she accidently included this intimate shot of him at her apartment.
Cindy has all sorts of questions about the subject matter of her pictures. They all bring back memories for Melissa, this one about her past relationship with free-spirited Gary (this is not a clip episode, by the way: her relationship pre-dated the series).
It becomes clear that Cindy is meant to represent an earlier stage in Melissa's life, and their talks are like a conversation she's having with her younger self. Hearing Cindy talk about trying to find her way as an artist, and in her relationship with her fiance, Melissa realizes how little she seems to have changed, especially compared to her other thirtysomething friends.
In an awkward moment, Melissa goes to visit her cousin Michael and runs into Lee. Hello stranger! She invites him to the big show.
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