Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Seeds, the Growth of a Season!

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Hello and welcome to this intriguing episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.“Seeds”!

In an exciting episode, Agents Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Melinda May (Ming Na Wen) uncover disturbing and frankly startling information about Skye’s (Chloe Bennet) past, while the team is swept into a storm at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,”

“Seeds” features great guest stars including Dylan Minnette as Donnie Gill, David Conrad as Ian Quinn, Daniel Zovatto as Seth Dormer, Christine Adams as Agent Weaver, Maiara Walsh as Callie Hannigan and Boyd Kestner as Agent Lumley.

MAJOR SPOILERS START HERE!

Answers and aftermath seem to be the theme of the second half of the first season of ABC’s ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’. Only last week we were privy to the terrifying image of our beloved Phil Coulson laying on an operating table with his brain exposed to the air, listening to him beg for death, (a scene that ran chills up and down my spine), and learning that he is, in fact, the real Phil Coulson, the agent that brought the Avengers together.

No robots or Life Model Decoys or clones here (and let’s face it: if S.H.I.E.L.D. can do it, how about we rewrite the end of Stargate Atlantis so the Ancients have some technology that can heal and rebuild a body after it has been burned to death? You know what I am talking about, people.).

Phil is a character that has become a fan favorite after his “casual” appearances in the film, and admittedly he was the headliner for the series in general.

In my opinion, revealing Phil’s secret was a bold, brave, and intelligent move by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen.

It opens up questions (like how did they do that?) and gives Phil, Clark Gregg, and all of the fans a highly intense storyline to follow as they watch the drama, turmoil, and character development that should no doubt arise from this revelation.

The writers clearly have their work cut out for them, but in truth this could be an extremely layered and convoluted subplot that lends much to the story arc.

Speaking of the writers, has anyone else noticed that things are looking, feeling, and sounding different since the show made its low-key but triumphant return after the dead of winter hiatus? Yes, the previous episode – focusing on the takedown of Centipede – felt a bit wrapped up too quickly. It feels wrong, in fact, that something that big was taken down too fast.

Now some people may think that is a weakness on the show’s part. I invite you all to consider an alternative: they did not get it all. Why?

A house of cards that falls to pieces does not lose its basic materials. It is still a bunch of cards on the floor, waiting to be rebuilt. Surgeons, when operating, do their best to get all of the cancer out, because even one small group of cells that remain can start the whole process up again. Sometimes, surgeons miss cells.

Who is to say S.H.I.E.L.D. truly got all of Centipede? Raina, (Ruth Negga) may be in prison but the Clairvoyant is still out there.

In short, despite the somewhat awkward ‘tied up with a bow’ ending (which you may have missed the first time because you were still stuck on that image of Phil Coulson on the operating table), I think it is possible that Centipede – and our season one villains – have yet to make their final crushing move.

It seems I digressed a little. Back to the ‘new feeling’ of the second half of season one. Melinda May is talking more, trying to….yes that is what I said, she is talking more…help Coulson through his troubles.

Skye got a chance to prove her wits and her ability to be a field agent last week (instead of the snark machine she has been) without S.H.I.E.L.D. knowing about it, and then received seemingly devastating news that Coulson was stunned to see her turn around. Fitz (Iain de Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) seem to be written a little more seriously – in fact I do not think they finished one another’s sentences once in two whole episodes – while still keeping their charm and sense of comic timing.

Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) has a heart! Well no, we knew that, but how he is getting a chance to show it! On top of that, we have the brilliant and brilliantly tormented Donnie Gill.

Gill got sucked into a lot of illegal activity that resulted in the death of his best friend and gave him some superpowers that he definitely likes having (note the dangerous little smirk he gives at the end of the episode), potentially joining forces with billionaire Ian Quinn, (who you may remember from the third episode of the series as the man who worked with Franklin Hall on the gravitonium, turning the latter into a special effect and the former into an semi-undercover villain).

Quinn’s money, Gill’s brain, and Raina’s viciously soft seductive voice could prove to be worthy adversaries by the end of season one – and of course do not forget the apparently all-seeing Clairvoyant.

All the materials are there for one explosively exciting season one finale – how about we put a little faith in the writers to make it happen? Keep watching, people!

Seeds:

Now, how about we take a look at the last episode broadcast? Ian Quinn seems to have a fetish for the forces of nature – last time we saw him he was playing with gravity.

This time around he is willing to take a flier on a college student’s version of cloud-seeding that does not produce rain, but ice. Exactly what are his plans for that? Regardless, it seems to all come back to history and influences. A major billionaire takes an interest in an idea two brilliant scientists had years ago (yep, Fitz and Simmons were the original creators of the ice-death machine), and a college kid desperate to make a name for himself (and possibly pay off his college education), dusts off the old plans, finds the 190 IQ loner in the school, and gets crackin’.

It is not long before this incredibly dangerous idea takes on a life of its own and (okay, with a little help), starts spinning up a superstorm that would make Hurricane Andrew jealous. Of course, our intrepid team is smack in the middle of it – because Mr. Smart Guy (AKA Donnie Gill) realized he needed the original creator (AKA Leopold Fitz…love that first name!) to help him make the machine actually functional. Instead of calling him up on the phone, however, Donnie took a page out of the Book of Overkill, and just started testing the machine on various students around campus, thus getting Fitz and Simmons invited back to investigate. Presumably in revenge, the machine decided to freeze him in the middle of a welcoming lecture given by Fitz and Simmons and voila! I love it when a plan comes together.

While Fitz is making nice with Donnie (who is of course playing him the whole time), Coulson and May are making good on Coulson’s promise to track down information about Skye’s parents. What they find, however, is a dangerous story revealing that Skye is none other than an ‘0-8-4’ – an ‘object of unknown origin’.

Coulson called her one symbolically near the beginning of the season but now the phraseology is a bit more literal. While Skye has not demonstrated any kind of serious talents (save for her hacking skills and seeming ability to win people over even when they are about to kill her), the fact remains that 0-8-4 indicates she is not really of this Earth.

Also attached to that moniker is a warning: “Stay the hell away from her because where she goes, death follows.” Skye is the sole survivor of a village that seemingly died to protect her, news that May insists Coulson never reveal to her and news that Coulson, tired of the secrets and lies of S.H.I.E.L.D. (and still on the rebound from the devastating revelations of the previous episde), is unable to withhold. In a painful scene, Coulson tells Skye the story, causing her to break down in tears.

Skye is strong. She is brave and resourceful and becoming easier to like by the week. This kind of news is a dangerous thing for her to undergo this early in her character development – but what she does with the knowledge she now possesses shocks Coulson.

Instead of focusing on the family she lost, Skye finds new purpose in her life at S.H.I.E.L.D., realizing that they were, in fact, the only family she ever had.

It is possible that we will see Skye become more stable of a character now that her primary motivation has been fairly answered (of course now she is going to wonder more about her past, but her reason for coming to S.H.I.E.L.D. has wrapped). One thing is for sure though: The snark will never stop.

Coulson is reeling; our lovely agent with a confident snark of his own is unsettled and unrelenting. The revelation that Coulson was not, in fact, a decoy, robot, or clone was a shocking one last week as much to us as it was to the man. Why they kept it from him is not quite as much a secret as we thought – he lost the will to live, and what man wants to know that he gave up?

But why they did it is just as big as question as ‘what is Skye?’ What are Jed and Maurissa digging into as they plunder the vast depths of the Marvel Universe? Sure, we all love Coulson – but this was a heck of a procedure over days with a patient begging to die for most of the time. What makes Coulson so special to Nick Fury? Hopefully we will find that out with grace as the seasons of the show march on. Until then, we watch as Coulson tries to reconcile what he did with what was done, and try to choose his life as he can live it now. It is clear he has been rattled to the bone, his faith in everything shaken and his reality now a confused mess. Where he goes from here is a journey I hope we get to see.

The show is coalescing in its first season, and I agree that things have gotten off to a rocky start. There is a lot to play with out there, and a lot of room to expand on the basics we are being provided with. The characters are coming together, the writing is getting smarter with each episode, and the storylines are beginning to mesh and tie together.

As we head towards the end of the first season, it may take something big to push this show into its second season. But I have a lot of faith in the Whedon name, and I am going to keep watching as long as it is on the air.

Dazzle us!

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Nayari09 (Pam)