What role did Brianna Brown play on NCIS? Everything to know about her character

Brianna Brown, known for several high-profile television roles, has made a memorable impact across the NCIS franchise by playing not one, but two distinct characters. While she had a recurring part as Melody James on NCIS: New Orleans and a guest role as Talia on NCIS: Hawai'i, her most recent and complex appearance was on the flagship show, NCIS, in the Season 22 episode Knight and Day.

Brianna Brown plays Melinda Martin in this episode. She is the seemingly unaffected wife of a wealthy defense contractor who becomes the target of a plot to kidnap her. This character is introduced in the middle of a chaotic crime scene. She has a stern, bossy attitude that makes her stand out right away from the typical victim of crime who is worried.

Melinda Martin is one of the most important people in a high-stakes investigation on NCIS. At first, she is thought to be planning the kidnapping of her husband, but the FBI and NCIS team slowly and dramatically reveal who she really is.

Brianna Brown’s Role on NCIS: The Enigmatic Melinda Martin

Brianna Brown plays the character of Melinda Martin on NCIS. The character is a complex, wealthy blonde woman, married to Freddie Martin, a mega-defense contractor. Her first impression is one of cool detachment, as she appears "unfazed" by her husband's infidelity, the blood, and the dead intruder in her home. She is a woman of high society, commanding, and even condescending towards the law enforcement officers, including Agent Jessica Knight, whom she initially treats with "barely disguised contempt."

From a possible suspect to a target with a deeply hidden past, Melinda Martin's role changes a lot. The story gets more complicated when the NCIS team finds out that she seems to be the real target of the kidnapping and that there are no official records of her existence before 2002. It's Agent Parker's ties to the FBI that help piece together the shocking truth.

The FBI's past case history helps them figure out that Melinda is really April Day, a former homecoming queen and valedictorian who went missing with her boyfriend Jason Marino 22 years ago. Carla Marino was the powerful head of a large organized crime family in the Midwest. Jason was her long-dead son. Carla, the crime boss, is thought to have sent April, who is now Melinda, to D.C. society to get a defense contractor to join her crime family's web. The NCIS and FBI need to figure out how she did this.

Storyline of Melinda Martin: Secrets and Survival

The mystery of who Melinda is important to the plot. The story shifts from the attempted kidnapping of her husband to the danger she faces because of the Brighter Days Fund, the charity she runs that has a big bank account and makes her a target. Melinda's forced interaction with Agent Knight turns into a surprising and growing relationship. It starts with her criticizing Knight's decisions and ends with the two women working together to avoid being kidnapped.

While Melinda and Knight are stuck in a freezer truck, her past is revealed. April Day is her real name. She and Jason ran away to get away from his family, but Jason died in a motorcycle accident. April was scared that Jason's mom, Carla Marino, would take her child because she was pregnant. Someone kind in the church helped her set up a closed adoption for her daughter Lauren and start her new life as Melinda Martin. Because he kept her secret, the pastor is killed for this reason. 

At the end of the story, Melinda and Knight bravely escape their captors by hitting them with meat mallets. Carla Marino is caught when she tries to take her granddaughter. The NCIS team uses Melinda's whole story and her daughter's DNA to set a trap for her. Parker tells the crime boss to stay away from Melinda and Lauren because he knows Carla from his time working for the FBI. The episode ends with Melinda tentatively reuniting with the daughter she gave up 22 years ago, which suggests a new direction for the character.

NCIS episodes are available to stream on CBS.