Melinda

"Melinda" is the seventeenth episode of the second season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), revolving around the character of Skye as she learns about her abilities, her parents, and her titular S.H.I.E.L.D. mentor Melinda May, whose dark past is explored through flashbacks. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by DJ Doyle, and directed by Garry A. Brown. Clark Gregg reprises his role as Phil Coulson from the film series, and is joined by Chloe Bennet as Skye and Ming-Na Wen as May. Recurring guest stars Kyle MacLachlan and Dichen Lachman portray Skye's parents, while series regulars Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Nick Blood, and Adrianne Palicki also star. This episode reveals May's history, which had been teased since the beginning of the series, and which not even Wen had known about before reading the episode's script. Efforts were made to differentiate the younger May shown in flashbacks to the present day version of the character, and Blair Underwood guest stars as May's then husband Andrew Garner. "Melinda" originally aired on ABC on April 14, 2015, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 4.04 million viewers. Plot In flashbacks to 2008, Phil Coulson and Melinda May traveled to Bahrain to confront an enhanced individual named Eva Belyakov, who possesses super-strength. The encounter backfires when Eva and some local gangsters take a S.H.I.E.L.D. team and several locals hostage, and May enters the building they are using to rescue the hostages. She finds them acting out of character, and they attack her, but she defeats them and kills Eva in a fight, before discovering her young daughter, Katya, is the real threat, having taken control of the hostages to feed on their pain. When Katya kills the Bahrainis she is controlling, May is forced to fatally shoot her. S.H.I.E.L.D. assume Eva was the threat and Katya was caught in the crossfire, and May is lauded for saving the S.H.I.E.L.D. team single-handedly and given the nickname "the Cavalry". However, she is deeply traumatized, and retires from field duty to move to an administrative role. Her marriage to Andrew Garner also suffers, eventually leading to divorce.