D*C Review: May

In honor of the Tribal Gathering at Dragon*Con 2006, a review's in order. Our focus today is May, played by D*C first-timer Laura Wilson.

May joined The Tribe cast for just a few scenes in S-2 & then became a regular in S-3 through 5. This girl was a chameleon, street-smart, tough. The first we see of her, May definitely made an impression--she successfully scammed Lex & sent him back to the mall minus his boots! That was just the beginning.

We never learn much about May, just what we see on the screen. She adapts to whatever situation comes & makes "friends" easily. Those friendships are usually one-sided, though. She keeps them from touching her inside. She cozies up to the Guardian & his Zoot-followers when needed, then just as quickly joins the Resistance (mostly because she is attracted to Pride in a big way).

Interesting enough, following Pride's death, it's the character of May that The Powers That Be choose to experiment with, drawing subtle pictures of her deepening friendship with Salene. Is this or isn't it a lesbian attraction? If you go strictly by what's on screen? Well...it got cut pretty quickly, so I guess it doesn't matter. But those scenes were sensitively drawn & fell logically with the way the plot was headed.

Throughout the show, May lives pretty much in her own black-n-white world. There aren't too many shades of gray for her. Whatever needs doing, she'll do it--from surviving the Guardian to living under Mega's blackmail threats, getting antibiotics for Salene or a pregnancy test kit for Ruby, to dealing with her own Paradise-addiction.

It's not hard to imagine that this tough lady still survives somewhere inside Tribe-world.

Laura Wilson consistently gave a vivid, strong performance as a character who's been through the ringer & means to live long enough to see how it all ends.

Glad fans will have a chance to meet her at Dragon*Con! --Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"