# Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D S02E17: Melinda **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702 "2015-04-15T00:11:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/41 "2015-04-19T11:30:02Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > So why, exactly, couldn’t May have just knocked out the girl? That only works on T.V. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/42 "2015-04-19T11:36:59Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > So why, exactly, couldn’t May have just knocked out the girl? It seemed to me that there were plenty of heavy things around (like for instance the gun) that she could have used in order to just conk her on the head hard enough to make her pass out; true, this might not have loosened her hold over the SHIELD agents (though it’s usually how such mind control powers are depicted to work), but it’d have been worth a try, with escalating measures if it doesn’t help. The point is, it wasn’t made clear enough to me that she really, absolutely, had no other choice. The girl was able to take over minds with a single touch. That is not a power that you want to let get close enough to conk on the head. The chance of getting take over is just too great. You’re down with just a gun close to you and an enemy that can take you out with a touch and is coming closer to you seems clear to me that she had no other choice. > [@](#): > > Also, I’m usually quite tolerant of this, but those last couple of episodes, they’ve really laid on the ‘Skye’s a special snowflake’-sauce a bit thick—just consider her character’s arc: started out as an extraordinarily talented hacker (have we even seen her near a keyboard lately?), then was gradually revealed to be of some unknown, special origin (not just one, but the original 084!) A slight nitpick, she was not the original 0-8-4. That was the obelisk. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/43 "2015-04-19T12:24:35Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > A slight nitpick, she was not the original 0-8-4. That was the obelisk. And Van Halen was the original OU812. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/44 "2015-04-20T13:58:40Z")
Can someone explain to a thick person what the whole “dream” statement thing was from the Inhuman chap? I can’t help but feel the show has gone a little bit off the boil. I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly, but the last few episodes just haven’t gripped me like the rest of the season has. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/45 "2015-04-20T14:14:56Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > And Van Halen was the original OU812. But that wasn’t the original Van Halen… ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/46 "2015-04-20T14:15:59Z")
BTW I liked the episode and had no problem with the source of her traumatization. I’m not sure why some people think it was “cheap.” ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/47 "2015-04-20T14:53:33Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Can someone explain to a thick person what the whole “dream” statement thing was from the Inhuman chap? > > I can’t help but feel the show has gone a little bit off the boil. I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly, but the last few episodes just haven’t gripped me like the rest of the season has. Reyna (the spiky girl) was complaining of constant nightmares when she slept. One of them was that Skye was sitting eating dinner with her mother and father with a bouqet of daisies on the table. Later, that exact scene happened. The transitioner saw it and realized that Reyna was not dreaming, but having visions of the future. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/48 "2015-04-20T14:57:24Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > Reyna (the spiky girl) was complaining of constant nightmares when she slept. One of them was that Skye was sitting eating dinner with her mother and father with a bouqet of daisies on the table. Later, that exact scene happened. The transitioner saw it and realized that Reyna was not dreaming, but having visions of the future. Cheers. I thought it was something like that but didn’t pick up on the exact details. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/49 "2015-04-20T14:58:35Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > Reyna (the spiky girl) was complaining of constant nightmares when she slept. One of them was that Skye was sitting eating dinner with her mother and father with a bouqet of daisies on the table. Later, that exact scene happened. The transitioner saw it and realized that Reyna was not dreaming, but having visions of the future. And then realized that future events such as these could affect YOU in the future… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/50 "2015-04-20T15:02:29Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Can someone explain to a thick person what the whole “dream” statement thing was from the Inhuman chap? Assuming you mean Lincoln (has eyes, randomly shows up to serve meals to people)… He’d heard Raina describing her disturbing dreams previously, which were of two types: (1) she was on the run being chased/hunted but was trapped in thorns, and (2) Skye happy having dinner with her father with daisies on the table. Lincoln, randomly serving dinner to Skye and her parents, notices the daisies on the table and realizes that Raina’s dreams weren’t just disturbing, they were clairvoyant. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/51 "2015-04-20T19:01:01Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > BTW I liked the episode and had no problem with the source of her traumatization. I’m not sure why some people think it was “cheap.” I wouldn’t say it was cheap, but it was not as riveting as I was hoping. May is a bad ass. She should have no problem killing a crazy psychopathic child. She is such a bad ass that she should be able to kill hundreds of psychopathic children if the situation called for it. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/52 "2015-04-20T19:23:58Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > I wouldn’t say it was cheap, but it was not as riveting as I was hoping. May is a bad ass. She should have no problem killing a crazy psychopathic child. She is such a bad ass that she should be able to kill hundreds of psychopathic children if the situation called for it. Yeah I didn’t get that vibe from her. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/53 "2015-04-20T19:57:46Z")
“Bad ass”, to me, does not equal “killing hundreds of psychopathic children” to me. In fact, I suspect that if I asked hundreds of people to define “bad ass”, that would not be among their definitions. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/54 "2015-04-20T20:00:32Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > I wouldn’t say it was cheap, but it was not as riveting as I was hoping. May is a bad ass. She should have no problem killing a crazy psychopathic child. She is such a bad ass that she should be able to kill hundreds of psychopathic children if the situation called for it. There’s a difference between being a bad ass and being a psychopath. A psychopath wouldn’t have any problem with killing hundred of children but a bad ass would. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/55 "2015-04-25T01:45:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There’s a difference between being a bad ass and being a psychopath. A psychopath wouldn’t have any problem with killing hundred of children but a bad ass would. Indeed. A pretty standard hero template, both in stories and in real life, is the person willing to do violence to bad guys in order to protect the innocent. “Innocent” is variously defined, but just about always includes kids. The girl made some comment about being scared, seemed sort of out of control while being in massive control. It’s totally plausible that a badass warrior like May had her view of herself massively fucked up by being forced to kill a kid in order to protect a bunch of soldiers. Even if rationally she knows it’s the right thing to do, that’s gotta be a punch in the gut. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/56 "2015-04-25T17:03:12Z")
I don’t think there is anything wrong with May having a weak spot for kids. All heroes have weak spots anyway, and if anything is sexist, it’s the assumption that a male agent/hero wouldn’t have a soft spot for children, and May is weak because she’s a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702/57 "2015-04-26T01:24:44Z")
It may not have just been the girl. It was clear May had previously killed a lot of other people. But she was apparently able to compartmentalize that part of her life from the rest; she’d go on a mission, kill some people, and then return home to live a normal life with her husband. Killing that one girl may have pierced the wall. And what May was feeling was not just guilt for that one killing but guilt for all of the killings she had done over the years. She could no longer separate her home life from the things she did out in the world. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s02e17-melinda/717702.md?page=2)