Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Turn, Turn, Turn – Didn’t See That One Coming, Did You?

Welcome back WormholeRiders dedicated to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

Are you still breathing after this week’s wild episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Major spoilers for Captain America: The Winter Soldier and, of course, the episodes, will be in this review.

Before anything else, I need to say that if you have not seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier, this week’s episode of ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ likely had little to no context for you. The events of this week’s episode took place concurrently with the film, and if you are able to afford at least the matinee price, I highly recommend the movie.

In these exciting episodes, Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team battle off a seductive Asgardian, learn the true identity of the Clairvoyant, and bear witness to the rise of HYDRA on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,”

“Yes Men”, “End of the Beginning”, and “Turn Turn Turn” all feature great guest stars including David Conrad as Ian Quinn, J. August Richards as Mike Peterson/Deathlok, Saffron Burrows as Victoria Hand, Bill Paxton as John Garrett, B.J. Britt as Agent Antoine Triplett, Maximiliano Hernandez as Jasper Sitwell, Brad Dourif as Thomas Nash, Elena Satine as Lorelei, and Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif.

‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ is currently one of the best examples of what happens when a fanbase allows a show to survive a rough patch (too bad ‘Alphas‘ did not hang in there…it could have been great). A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that this show had hit its stride.

After a somewhat sloggy start with more character-development plots, seemingly easy takedowns, episodes that wrapped up neatly with a bow, and the primary outcry of: “where is the overarching plot?”, ‘Agents….’ let loose the big one.

Piggybacking on the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and proving to us once again that TV and film can work together in the same universe, ‘Agents…’ left all of us gasping for breath with its last two episodes and I think we can safely say that the Etch-A-Sketch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been shaken clean.

And We Are Off!:

All right, let us summarize the past few weeks. After a breathtaking two-parter that featured the capture of Ian Quinn, the shooting of snark-alec Skye (Chloe Bennet), and the revelation of T.A.H.I.T.I. (aka Blue Man In A Tube), we took a short break to inject some sex and comedy into the series with the stunningly hot Lorelei, following the expected storyline of a seductress who can sway men (but not women) to her power.

Given that writers Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen and series creator Joss Whedon like to throw in hints of what is to come, I doubt Lorelei’s seduction of half the team and Lady Sif’s ensuing catfight with her were just for us to take a breather between storylines, but you never know.

I had two little problems with Lorelei’s storyline. First, we have seen this story before: a heartbreaker of a woman (often red-headed), graces the screen with a raw sensuality that leaves men drooling in her wake, appealing not only to their sexual natures but their protective ones, thus making them into a fighting force to be reckoned with. However, have you ever seen a villainess who has this effect on both men and women, thus making her weakness much less easy to find (and making these episodes less of the typical ‘women power’ solution.)? If so, please tell me in the comments, I would love to see it.

Second, and speaking of comedy, the writers missed a golden opportunity for comedy by making Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) the real danger and not Leopold Fitz (Iain de Caestecker). Phil Coulson would have been the traditional ‘leader in charge’ role, though seeing his protective natures and his flirtatious side all bumped up would have been even funnier. Coulson is still the adored one of the series, and there would have been a lot of laughs and possibly a few memes generated had he fallen under Lorelei’s spell. But Fitz? He would have been a riot. The few moments we had with him under Lorelei’s spell proved this. He was comical, a little over the top, silly in a way many of us might associate with Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), and ultimately he could have been a major threat. Ward is all muscle, and therefore Lorelei’s first choice for man candy because he can protect her. But never underestimate the power of a nerd, a geek, engineering, or mathematics. Subtlety would have made everything so much more menacing.

But Lorelei was silenced, and Lady Sif left as grandiosely as she came, and we moved on to the meat of the series for this season. In earlier reviews, I mentioned that things seemed deceptively easy, that the writers were likely holding out a little, that the biggest problem was still to come. I was both thrilled and relieved to be right. We have been hearing about the mysterious Clairvoyant since the beautifully seductive Raina (Ruth Negga) graced our screens back in episode five.

The writers have been weaving and building to the massive reveal provided by Captain America: The Winter Soldier…no, much more than that. Marvel itself has been planning this since the release of Iron Man back in 2008, building its own cinematic universe and just hoping the fans will allow it to grow on its own. I do not think we have been disappointed (save for the lack of Loki in the next Avengers movie. I believe Mark Ruffalo single-handedly saved the Hulk name from its earlier troubles). Clark Gregg consistently says on Twitter: “It’s all connected.” It sure is, people! Raina gave us the clues when we were still looking at this series going: “Wait…what?” Now…HYDRA is back!

Before we get to HYDRA however, we have to deal with Deathlok in the next episode ‘End of the Beginning’. This has been an exceptionally tragic storyline, and watching the growth of Mike Peterson has been a quiet subplot through the entire first season. Manipulated by the Clairvoyant and built by tech genius Ian Quinn, Mike’s personality is being pushed away and suppressed while he works as a bodyguard. On top of all of that, he manages to escape, not only deceiving the agents on his trail, but making it back to his hideout and getting a package from the Clairvoyant. After outfitting himself with the contents, Deathlok spots a note informing him it is time to meet the Clairvoyant. Raina would be quivering with anticipation, but Deathlok shows no emotion. It’s showtime.

Though still showing the pain of the conflict within him (his son, loss of his free will, and seemingly trapped in a life worse than death), Deathlok creates a number of problems for our team, including being a disastrously dangerous diversion, leading Ward, Coulson, Garrett, and Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) off the trail and driving Ward to murder supposedly the very man who has been tormenting them for almost a full season. The ensuing fallout has the SHIELD team spinning – and it does not stop there.

In the final ten minutes of the episode, it seems most of the alliances that have been forged over the course of the season collapse. While we know May has been secretly reporting to someone, the overall question is who? Fitz, while using his own encrypted line to speak to Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) on their project (trying to figure out what exactly GH-325 is), stumbles on May’s communication, bringing her to attempt the impossible: shooting him point-blank in the head, (thank goodness for bulletproof glass).

In the meantime, Coulson is questioning the heck out of Ward, demanding to know why he shot the Clairvoyant. He is interrupted as May’s deception comes to light, and he helps new S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Skye (hurray!) trap her in the cargo bay of the plane. Certain she knows information and horrified at the betrayal, Coulson turns his gun on her and demands to know who the real Clairvoyant is, since he already knows what he is: a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Before May can answer, the plane bucks and turns, selecting a new destination. The question becomes where they are heading, but not even May can answer.

Victoria Hand, however, can. She is bringing the plane in, killing everyone on board, and sparing only Agent Coulson. At least, that is the plan as the episode wraps up.

Turn Turn Turn indeed, those of us watching last week’s episode spun in consistent circles for most of it. Deception was the word of the day. What do you do when the secret you have been guarding for months on end finally explodes? In last week’s episode, we dealt with the relatively ‘minor’ secrets of May tracking Coulson, of what Jemma and Fitz are working on, and of course the identity of the Clairvoyant.

What has been the driving force behind much of this season became somewhat overshadowed as the release of The Winter Soldier performed an upheaval the likes of which have not been seen in…years. An ancient enemy has risen again, and S.H.I.E.L.D is decimated from within. In a thoroughly enjoyable but a little nerve-wracking twist, the episode did not end all wrapped up with a bow, nor did it clearly indicate where the allegiances of our beloved characters lie. Who is lying? Who is deceiving? We do not know. We can only wait for the nail-biting next installment, and boy are the writers giving it to us!

In the pilot, Melinda May said: “He can never know.” It was a simple sentence, speaking about Coulson and the circumstances of his death. It was not touched again, and for some people it may have been forgotten. But last week we learned that it has been May’s motivation through almost all of season one. She has stuck by Coulson’s side not just as a team member but as a protector and an observer. She has been ordered to watch him, to make sure he stays alive and healthy. It is clear she cares for Coulson beyond her assignment, though he certainly does not return the warm fuzzy feelings (who would?) and Melinda May the Cavalry, now has to deal with Melinda May the woman, thrown in the cell beside the possible traitor Ward.

Ward has fallen victim to his own emotions as well. We have seen far too much evidence of this throughout the season for it not to come up, and come up it has: Grant Ward really is not feeling anything for Melinda May. It is all for the 0-8-4 hacker Skye, who may return the feelings but is a little too focused on the mission ahead to address them. The quiet pact between May and Ward is ‘do not let it get personal’ – but how could it be anything but at this point? Time to use those emotions to get some work done!  But even with all of that on the table, Ward is suspiciously quiet this episode, opening up only to Skye when he thinks they are about to die.  Later on, however…

Emotions were not just running high with the specialists. Jemma Simmons became an unwitting damsel in distress, protected as she was by the brave Antoine Triplett while Victoria Hand ran around playing the ultimate chaotic-I-have-no-idea.

After Triplett manages to speak the correct code words, proving at least that he and Simmons are not evil, Victoria tells Simmons that Coulson is HYDRA, thus spinning us in yet another direction. Is she lying? Is she deceiving? For the moment, she is on our side, using whatever methods she can to figure out what is going on, nefarious or otherwise.  Simmons, however, is completely unconvinced, her unshaking trust in Coulson causing her to square her shoulders and stand true.

Also, with Simmons possibly in danger at the Hub, Leo Fitz is a wreck. Once the team reaches the Hub, they make a clever escape to infiltrate the halls themselves (dodging Hand’s men who were ordered to kill them), in order to figure out the source of what ‘attacked’ Garrett, save Simmons, and track down the true Clairvoyant. What they find, however, is the world blowing up and falling down around them as John Garrett slips up in his speech, letting loose his motives to kill Hand and dropping information he could not possibly know. 

With a quiet: “Damn it,” John Garrett turns on the team, putting them all at gunpoint, and then takes on the mantle of the elusive Clairvoyant (which Coulson is only too happy to give to him).  As he threatens them with the direction their lives are about to take, Leo Fitz gets another hero moment that was tear-jerking and cheering all at the same time.  Fitz has proven he has mettle, proven that he has a more powerful, sturdier core than most scientists in this type of show.  In an agonizing scene, with tears streaming down his face, he looks John Garrett in the eye and threatens him boldly.  “You’re gonna suffer for what you’ve done, and I plan on being a very big part of that.” 

With possibly nothing to lose (since it seems like he thinks Simmons may be dead), Fitz rallies and stands strong, cementing his place in the S.H.I.E.L.D. list of badasses.

Who is on what side? Turn turn turn. In perhaps the episode’s biggest shocker, Ward presumably saves Skye by taking out a whole hallway of agents, but once the apparent Clairvoyant is with him, he turns his gun on Victoria Hand, a presumed ally, betraying not only his teammates (and FINALLY possible new love interest Skye), but S.H.I.E.L.D. entirely.

Garrett is left alive and the S.H.I.E.L.D team is picking itself up amidst the burning ruins of what was once an impenetrable counterespionage organization.  To make matters worse, there is still evidence to suggest that there is a traitor still among them, and while Ward may look like the obvious answer I think the episode itself has proven that anything could still happen.  Ward could have a ‘good’ reason for shooting Hand.  John Garrett being the Clairvoyant still seemed too easy.  Thomas Nash and even Victoria Hand were options, and again, all of that seemed to be too easy.  Somewhere out there is a traitor and something tells me that the revelation of HYDRA to overshadow the identity of the Clairvoyant may have been on purpose.  Call me paranoid, but you cannot deny it is fun to speculate!

Speaking of speculation and limping away from last week’s episode, we still have a thousand questions to answer. Is Coulson truly a HYDRA sleeper agent, manipulated by doctors under the guise of being brought back to life? Nick Fury is not around to answer those questions (seems like only Captain America knows he is alive). What has Garrett let slip to HYDRA and his followers regarding GH-325 and Skye (who, as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, now has files and records he can access?)? Who is the traitor – Ward, Skye, someone else…and I have even heard Jemma Simmons as a suspect! Is the Clairvoyant still out there and if so, who are they?  While we know the depth of HYDRA’S infiltration, how can the team go around combating it, and who can they trust? With this enormous retooling of the series and shattering of the world, the writers (and indeed Marvel itself), has created a whole new reality that has a number of season-making storylines. I am more than excited for what is to come and I hope the fanbase is as well!

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Nayari09 (Pam)