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

A whole episode about Melinda May’s backstory! And the B plot is about Skye and her mother! I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I am grateful, because it’s everything I ever wanted. Okay, well, I could have done without fridging a little girl for May’s angst but still, generally I was here for this episode. Also the family dinner with a murderer was a little creepy, but overall this episode was awesome.

This week on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. we took a trip back in time to find the REAL reason Agent May is known as The Cavalry. In the present May is put in charge of Coulson’s S.H.I.E.L.D. base – much to Simmons’ happiness – because she’s agreed to look into Coulson. Turns out he’s been keeping some secrets, even from May. Meanwhile Jiaying begins to help Skye with her powers. It’s going too well, so Skye starts to doubt Jiaying’s intentions, and Jiaying is forced to tell Skye that she’s her mother. Also it looks like Raina’s finally discovered her gift.

The REAL!SHIELD plot took a back seat this week as they focused on two of my favorite ladies. While both storylines were seemingly unconnected, they converged in a beautiful way that explains so much about May, especially her relationship with Skye. I’m still not a fan of killing a female character to further the plot of anyone else, but I might be able to forgive this one IF it results in the furthering of a relationship between two women. I really hope it doesn’t end up with May and Jiaying on opposite sides with Skye having to choose, because that would ruin everything.

Skye’s superhero origin story continues to be the most consistently interesting thing about this show, and while this week slowed down a little action wise, it was still incredibly entertaining. They probably could have hyped Raina’s power reveal a little better. I forgot about her quest for much of the episode, so it was a little meh when it’s revealed that she was not just dreaming, she was having a vision.

I REALLY didn’t miss Coulson and Hunter’s bromantic road trip, to the extent that I had completely forgotten about them until they turned up at the end. As much as I want Fitz to get back in the action, and I really want to see the angst that will be caused by Fitz and Ward having to work together, there’s part of me that doesn’t want him to meet up with them because then it will be the biggest white boy club ever and I am just not interested in that AT ALL. Also anything that involves me seeing more Hunter is always a bad thing.

I DO want to see more of Bobbi, May and Simmons working together to figure out what Coulson’s hiding because while I trust REAL!SHIELD about as far as I could throw them, I definitely trust those three ladies to get to the bottom of things. Also they are all going through a crisis of faith, so I am genuinely curious whether any of them, or even all of them, will end up doing dark side.

Overall I really enjoyed this episode because it catered directly to my tastes, but it did more than that. It further developed the divide between REAL!SHIELD and powered people, which is something that is only going to become more relevant as we hurtle towards Captain America: Civil War. It was also great to see Jiaying develop into an actual character, and I’m glad they haven’t just forgotten about Raina because she’s such a fascinating character. But really, more ladies and less Lance Hunter is always a win for me.

Author: Undie Girl

Undie Girl (aka Von) has a BA (Hons) Major in Cultural Studies. The title of her honours thesis was “It’s just gay and porn”: Power, Identity and the Fangirl’s Gaze. She’s currently pursuing a Masters of Media Practice at University of Sydney. Von’s a former contributor The Backlot’s column The Shipping News and a current co-host of The Geekiary’s monthly webcast FEELINGS… with The Geekiary.

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