4. Daisy’s Mom is A Super Villian?
One of the things that I, as a writer, will be forever bitter about is the lack of exploration of Dichen Lachman’s Jiaying. The Inhuman leader of Afterlife had made a paradise for the Inhumans of the Marvel Universe, a place where they could embrace their heritage and culture, and learn about their abilities. After being tortured by HYDRA and put back together by her husband, she married (presumably) Mr. Hyde and had Daisy who ultimately was taken away from her parents and became Sky before discovering she was Daisy Johnson in season 2.
Frankly we didn’t spend enough time in Afterlife. We deserved to see more of Daisy’s relationship with her mother. They gave fans a few great scenes however with Jiaying encouraging Daisy to embrace her abilities, causing an avalanche of snow and learning to love being an Inhuman while she had originally considered her transformation something to be afraid of.
Daisy’s story of embracing her power and ability means a lot to fans who wanted to see a positive role model on screen. The positive relationship between two Asian American women proves that SHIELD not only breaks the mold, but is relatable for everyone watching – which is part of the reason the ultimate twist with Jiaying was such a huge deal.
For half the season, the writers on SHIELD set up Edward James Olmos as the season’s big bad. He led a rival faction of SHIELD, he was against Coulson, and while he ultimately brought the show Hunter and Bobbi, he wasn’t a particularly “likeable” character persay. When the “real SHIELD” agreed to meet with Jiaying and the Inhumans he brought her back a charm with important cultural and personal significance to Jiaying. Jiaying then promptly killed him using one of the crystals that might have revealed his inhuman abilities.
Ultimately it was the confrontation between Daisy and her mother that led to the water supply on earth being contaminated with terrigen leading to new characters like Yo-Yo Rodriguez and Joey who became members of Daisy’s team and Secret Warriors. It also led to the creation of Lash – formerly Melinda May’s ex-husband Andrew Garner.
It’s hard to deny the impact that build up had. Jiaying remains a missed opportunity, but her sudden heel turn was an incredible thing and very worthy of respect.