Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Review: 2×17 “Melinda”

We keep thinking Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. can’t get much better, and then it does. The truth about the Cavalry, and it’s continued emotional impact today, were without a doubt—worth the wait.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — As Skye (Chloe Bennet) explores both the magnitude and subtlety of her abilities with the help of Jiaying (Dichen Lachman), May (Ming-Na Wen) accepts a leadership position in the new S.H.I.E.L.D. and begins to question Coulson (Clark Gregg), who has been keeping enormous secrets from everyone. Jiaying in an emotional reveal, admits she is Skye’s mother. Stunned, but not entirely surprised, Skye agrees to keep the secret when she learns that things have gone terribly wrong in the past. A very troubled, but extremely powerful rogue Inhuman, Eva Belyakov (Winter Ave Zoli) proved that. Unfortunately for Melinda May, the incident earned her the unwanted nickname, The Cavalry when Melinda is faced with a horrific choice.

RELATED | Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Review: 2×16 “Afterlife”

Eva’s young daughter, Katya (Ava Acres), also a rogue, must be stopped. Melinda must decide if she can lose her soul and pull the trigger before Katya kills everyone in her path. With such a huge connection between May’s past and Skye’s present, it’s only a matter of time before the emotional truth of that day is known, but in the present almost everyone is questioning what Coulson is really up to as S.H.I.E.L.D. as we know it is scattered and divided. With huge reveals, even bigger questions and so much to discuss, let’s smash our way through all the things that made this episode one of the best of the season!

Melinda became exponentially more complex in just one episode.

Melinda May began as a complete enigma. With only rumors and talk of stories, we had little to go on as her character was introduced, but it was just enough to intrigue us from the start and invest us. As her character grew and pieces were peeled away to expose parts we’d never seen, May became much more than just a stoic, bad ass capable of winning the day on her own. She became a flawed, vulnerable and loyal human being we could relate to—that just happened to possess some of the finest fighting skills in the world.

If there were flaws in May’s self-titled episode, they were right at the beginning. Ming-Na Wen is a talented actor, but even she struggled a bit to show May loose and relaxed in the early moments with Andrew (Blair Underwood). As she slipped into her element amongst agents and on a mission, the relaxed May came through more naturally and any difficulty she had early was gone by the time crisis hit with Eva. As May prepared for action, the short call with Andrew was exceptional work by both actors. Andrew knew her well enough to not try to talk her out of her mission. Instead, he focused on reassuring her and giving advice for the victims. That was great writing and even better delivery by both actors.

But all of it paled in comparison to May’s ultimate choice that changed her character forever. Despite any early struggles to wrangle “happy” May, the second half of this episode was without a doubt Ming-Na Wen’s finest performance to date on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Actors have to be incredibly grateful to writers that put them in moments that change a character forever. As a battered, bloody and broken May inched back from Katya, with the lives of a dozen fellow agents hanging in the balance, the discovery of the gun behind her allowed May to do the unthinkable. She put down a little girl who had clearly lost her mind in a feeding frenzy of pain.

“I need a new mother. I’ll take your pain” ~ Katya

“Stop. Don’t — just put your hand down and stop. Everything’s gonna be all right.” ~ May

Ironically, the pleas of ‘give me your pain’ from Katya were exactly what May was left with after taking the shot to end a child’s life. Everything would be all right for all of those she saved, but not May. Her choice, to absorb the worst in order to save everyone else, left her with all the pain of the moment and she was never the same again. How could someone choose to start a family after a moment like that? How could you forgive yourself or love yourself again? No one would truly know unless they’ve been there and in showing us that experience, Ming-Na Wen was raw, real and simply brilliant. Every misconception about May was laid bare. We know this, after seeing the truth, we’ll never refer to May as The Cavalry again.

The choice to make Skye Inhuman is paying off in spades. Skye’s decisions and drive open limitless opportunities for her character arc.

Dichen Lachman brought her A game and it was needed. Mentoring Jiaying’s daughter was both a moving and emotional endeavor, but both women had a near instant chemistry. Chloe Bennet has displayed tremendous depth this season and Lachman matched it as the two explored Skye’s abilities. Thanks to amazing visual effects from Mark Colpack’s team and an ethereal new thematic score by Bear McCreary, Skye’s first real display of power became a scene stealing moment to remember. We seriously need a soundtrack to this series, and soon.

As dramatic as the avalanche sequence was, nothing could match the emotional gravity of Skye’s second training session. Skye possesses tremendous power, but playing tones from the glasses showed exactly what Lincoln (Luke Mitchell) and Gordon (Jamie Harris) had been emphasizing from the beginning—her gift can be something beautiful.

Breaking the wine glasses, and Skye’s story in general, balanced this episode with something gratifying and tender to offset the horrific experience of May in Bahrain. We didn’t expect it so soon, but Skye’s damaged past and a mother’s love were too much for Jiaying to not play her trump card. If there was a dry eye as Jiaying finally revealed to Skye that her birthday was July 2nd, we’d like to check that person for a pulse.

Lachman and Bennet created a special and pivotal moment in this show. Everything for Skye changed in an instant. Her character arc was suddenly presented with the opportunity for a huge step forward. The emotional performances from both women made the payoff worth the wait. The one thing Jiaying could have said to truly put a frustrated and wary Skye at ease was perfect. Everything Skye had longed for was standing right in front of her. Her mother was alive, but as we learned there’s risks, the episode went from great to extraordinary.

“People have died when the process for selection and training has been ignored.” ~ Jiaying

“But I already skipped that process.” ~ Skye

“And I protected you from the swift response that usually brings. It’s happened before.” ~ Jiaying

The blending of story lines between May’s past and Jiaying’s very sound reasons for keeping Skye’s identity secret were brilliantly clear. This was exceptional writing that gave us a far deeper understanding of Jiaying’s reasons. Skye’s decision to honor that secret and finally sit down to dinner with her father showed she’s buying in to her heritage and growing as a character. The Skye from Season One, or even the one as Season Two began wouldn’t have agreed to such a thing. Skye is evolving as a character almost as much as she has done so physically, and that’s the mark of a writing team that cares deeply about the arc their characters take feeling genuine and true.

Where outstanding threads converge, greatness happens.

There was far more good in this episode than could possibly be covered in a single review. Yes, this episode was that good. But as the various distinct plot lines wound down in the final fifteen minutes, it became abundantly clear that a number of stories and characters were much more intimately connected than we realized. That’s fantastic work in the writers’ room before the season began, but that great work was made even better by an outstanding script by DJ Doyle.

Nearly everything unconnected at the beginning of the episode was threaded together as the minutes wound down to zero for the hour. That happens from time to time, but this episode is a cut above most for drawing together so many threads in such clever and profound ways.  We’ve all wondered what May’s story from Bahrain might have been, but to find that it was so intimately connected with Skye and Jiaying made it all the more impactful. It would seem that the Inhuman existence is one rich with stories, lore and risks. And one of those stories damaged May, perhaps beyond repair.

After Jiaying finished laying it out for Skye, we completely understood why the entire Inhuman community might frown upon Skye even further. Not only has she inadvertently broken the rules, but if others were to learn that her mother had protected her, things could unravel in a hurry.

“You made the rules and now you’re afraid they’ll think you broke them for me.”  ~ Skye

“Our people know too well, what a woman will do for her daughter.” ~ Jiaying

This entire sequence blending Jiaying’s story with May’s fall was masterfully done. The revelation that rules have been broken in the past could also mean other rogue Inhumans may be out there as well. If these incidents aren’t contained, the power to protect Skye may be limited by those that put Jiaying in charge of Afterlife. Could that come back to haunt everyone?

It’s interesting to note that May has very much been the mother figure for Skye for some time and Jiaying, Skye’s real mother, was there the day May lost herself. Could Jiaying have changed things? Could she have prevented all the pain that May went through after? The hollowness? The pain? The divorce? Are Jiaying, and now Skye since she knows, the key to Melinda finally recovering a part of her humanity she’s lost? We’ve seen what a mother might do for a daughter, but what will a daughter do for a mother? Will knowing the truth about Bahrain mean Skye is the person that can finally help Melinda heal? All are interesting questions that give these characters opportunity to grow beyond the revelations of this episode by the choices they make.

As the episode drew to a close and Raina’s (Ruth Negga) gift was revealed to Lincoln through the dinner with Skye, Cal (Kyle MacLachlan) and Jiaying, one final thread came together. Raina may have gained the one thing she found the most disappointing about the truth behind the Clairvoyant from Season One. She may indeed have the power to see the future, making her the true Clairvoyant. Marvel’s motto about the MCU is true. It is all connected and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. writing team has worked those connections like magic in this show’s second season.

FINAL VERDICT: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. just keeps delivering. Converging threads and moments of depth added numerous avenues for character growth in a memorable and emotional entry that may be one of the best this season.

May, like any good television character isn’t the product of any one person. It takes a team of writers with an insightful vision and an actor that believes in the role. May it would seem has both, but characters don’t become compelling because of what happens to them. It’s what they do when faced with choices that make them unforgettable. In that regard, the writing team, especially DJ Doyle in this episode, and Ming-Na Wen made us see an already complex character in an entirely new light that makes us want to go back and watch ALL of May’s choices up to now with a different perspective. That’s exceptional character development by all involved.

This review would have to be twice as long in order to detail all the elements that made this episode as good as it was. With only a few minor flaws, this was one of the best of the season. It opened doors for nearly every major character and shed light on elements we’d wondered about for some time. May’s past was worth the wait. Tying it to Jiaying and Skye’s Inhuman storyline made it even more compelling than it could have been on its own. That’s great work by the writers’ room and DJ Doyle did an outstanding job fleshing those constructs into a tight, emotional script that revealed complex layers to so many characters.

Skye, Cal, May, Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki), Coulson, Raina and even Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) with a very brief moment were all presented with opportunities that will allow them the choices to grow and expand in new directions from here. That’s what any series hopes for it’s characters and Doyle made it work amazingly well with the help of Director Garry A. Brown and Editor David Crabtree. Overlapping stories, Jiaying’s monologue narrating May’s struggle and amazing performances all made this an episode to remember. To top it all off, the music was perfect. Each moment or theme was just right. Bear McCreary never ceases to amaze us, but his theme for Skye’s training, her dinner with her parents and May’s heartbreaking moment were all amazing work that just reaffirmed he is the perfect choice for a series that has such complexity.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has set itself up for a fantastic finish this season. With so many intriguing plots, character choices and impending clashes yet to come, we can’t say enough about how good the second season of this show has become. There simply hasn’t been a lackluster episode all season and that doesn’t look like it will happen any time soon with so many fascinating elements all converging. We’ve been rooting for this series to reach its potential and forge its own way and that’s very much what’s happening. The MCU has some amazing material, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has come into its own and we’ll be there for every minute as the season ramps up for yet another memorable finale ahead!

Questions, Comments, Concerns and My Reaction on Twitter…

• He’s always early. That’s our Coulson.
• Looks pretty strong to me too.  I wonder if they had supernatural coverage on that car. o.O
• So much for Inhuman skiers. Oops.
• Wow. The Force is strong with this one.
• Drop the damn gun? How about drop the damn kid!
• I hate it when they are only looking for pain. That never ends well.
• Since I’ve been here? Let me see. Um Never.  Skye is special. Very special.
• Not everything has to be out in the light of day. That can be just as bad.
• Stay out of it spark plug! Haha! @LukeMitchell__
• Raina has really developed a prickly personality. #PunsForDays
• Oops. You blew up your new piano Skye. Until then it was awesome!
• July 2nd?? Oh wow. Thats a hell of a bombshell. That moment was amazing.
• Pieced me back together. Yikes.
• Ah. The catch. Uh oh.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. is not authorized for any action. Go. What are we saying this time?
• Damn. Was that SpiderMay?
• When a room full of trained agents asks for your pain, I can only imagine that’s going to hurt—a lot.
• Oooohhh. Story collision. I like where this is headed. It’s likely gonna suck, but I like the writing here!
• Damn! That shot to the leg hurt!
• Wow. It looks like emotion got zapped from May anyway. That’d mess anyone up. For a long time.
• It wasn’t a dream. Woah. That was a hell of a twist.
• It’s safe. I stole it first.
• Because one of those bathroom dryers always makes things better. Said who?? lol
• That episode was absolutely worth the wait! @DoyledAgain. Outstanding! I’m still stunned. Loved converging the stories!
• Spectacular! The payoff for Raina after her Clairvoyant disappointment was genius. And May, that was worth the wait! The convergence of story lines was outstanding. May’s Inhuman tie was stellar writing to give us perspective on Skye’s present.