Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. New Episode Review: 'Melinda' Flashes Back to May's Origin

Season 2 of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. slowed down a bit on Tuesday night with "Melinda," an episode that more or less paused the main action of the season to give us an in-depth glimpse at Agent Melinda May and her dark origin.

When the pilot episode aired toward the end of 2013, I remember thinking that the show had done a great job of setting up some mysteries that made me want to keep watching. One of those mysteries was why Agent May was so dead set on keeping her desk job and not returning to the field. What happened to her that made her so shell shocked? From there, we got occasional references to Bahrain and May's origin as "The Cavalry."

And after nearly two years, "Melinda" paid off that reveal excellently. It seemed at first like May was going to take out a warehouse full of thugs, but that was misdirection. Then it seemed like her dark secret was that she killed an Inhuman, the dangerous Eve, but that was misdirection.

No, the real emotional gut punch here was that the true danger in that warehouse in Bahrain was a little girl, Eve's daughter, who had also been transformed by the Terrigan Mist before she was ready and went insane as a result. As the girl went mad and demanded more pain, she killed multiple people. So May made the most difficult choice of her life and put her down.

The flashback was extremely effective for three reasons. First, May was still married to Andrew at this point and they were trying to have a baby. Killing that little girl completely destroyed May, her marriage, and likely her chance at motherhood. It was heartbreaking to watch, and Ming-Na Wen absolutely crushed this episode with her emotional breakdowns and her transformation from happy agent to broken woman. She was stellar. And credit to the makeup department and fight coordinators too for making her battle wounds look absolutely brutal.

Second, the rest of the agents out there actually think that May did take out all those bad guys, even though the little girl was the one to do it. This explains why she has always recoiled at the nickname "The Cavalry." What's worse, saving the little girl is the reason she even went into the building in the first place.

Finally, the episode connected May's origin story to Skye in a way that didn't feel forced. Jiaying's presence on screen gives the Inhumans and Afterlife so much more weight and mystery, so it was a smart decision to link her to May, who is in many ways Skye's surrogate mother.

Skye is now aware that Jiaying is her mother, but May's backstory (and the knowledge that Jiaying failed to protect/train the psychotic little girl after she transformed) explains why they need to keep that relationship a secret for now.

I'm not 100% sold on Skye acting quite so comfortable around her father, but it did make sense given her character. She has always been someone who's yearned for family, even if the world seems intent on not giving it to her. So to finally see her at the table with her biological parents was a big moment for her and for the series. It also revealed that Raina has precognitive powers to go along with her new thorny appearance.

Elsewhere in the episode, Fitz unlocked Fury's toolbox, which put him in contact with Coulson and Hunter. The momentum has stalled a bit with the Real S.H.I.E.L.D. storyline, but it looks like it's going to pick up next week.

Notes:

- Mockingbird explained to May that Real S.H.I.E.L.D. thinks Coulson is keeping too many secrets and could be building a super-powered army. To the viewer, this just comes off as annoying because we know what kind of guy Coulson is. For him to suddenly turn evil like Ward did last season would almost certainly be too much of a stretch.

- Billy Riggins! I mean...Derek Phillips!

- Skye is gaining more control of her powers. Yes, please.

- How will Raina's new powers play into the rest of this season and possibly beyond?

What did you think of "Melinda"? Let us know in the comments section.