I’m not sure if the Pulp Fiction allusion at the beginning of the episode was intentional, but it worked. There’s little time for pumpkin pancakes and pecan syrup though because Ward and his new sidekick Agent 33 are on a mission to kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist who can fix 33’s nano mask. In case you’ve forgotten, Agent 33 was kidnapped by Bakshi and brainwashed by Whitehall to be a loyal servant for HYDRA before she impersonated Agent May and got electrocuted in a fight with the genuine article, making her a kind of Two-Face May.
Without HYDRA and without Whitehall, Agent 33’s loyalty is left somewhat in the wind, so like a lost dog she decides to make friends with the first person that offers a treat, and that’s Ward. If the cuteness of their breakfast together didn’t somewhat sicken, then the developments later on when 33 tried to seduce Ward by becoming Skye in a bad wig took ickiness to a whole new level. Ward’s obsession with Skye was already uncomfortably deranged, so why would any sane thinking person want to go there voluntarily? Fortunately, Ward isn’t interested, much to the relief of the audience, but he does get an idea on how to make 33 more like herself again.
Enter General Talbot, the one who’s currently in possession of Bakshi after he was turned over by Coulson. I’m not sure if it was the S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intention to make Talbot a kind of punching bag for all kinds of cliched antics of the uptight military man, but that’s how it seemed. Talbot basically became Frank Burns this week, as woefully incompetent and over-the-top patriotic as M*A*S*H‘s favorite punching bag. From his soliloquy about the subtleties of riding versus push lawn mowers to his half-assed interrogation of the potential Agent 33 suspects to mistaking his wife for Agent 33 and making her kiss the carpet, this was not Talbot’s week.
Of course, Talbot’s suffering pails next to Bakshi’s, who is eventually kidnapped by Ward and 33 in what he thinks is a jail break, but is really just a jail transfer. And since turnabout is fair play, Bakshi will now be the one who’s brainwashed, but to what end? Ward, I think, is now reliably unpredictable, so it should be interesting to see what his long-term plan is in all this. Does he think he’s found a kindred spirit in 33 and is now doing for her what Garrett did for him, or is she part of his new grand scheme? Who would have guessed that the former Agent Milquetoast would turnout to be S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most mysterious character?
We learned that Bobbi and Mack are undercover in S.H.I.E.L.D. for S.H.I.E.L.D., which means that the Avengers aren’t the only ones due for a civil war in the near future it looks like. Of course, the former is a bit closer now than the latter, but while the teaser for next week implied that a “mutiny” was coming, how much of what’s going is already made aware to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s (Fury picked) Director?
This swings us around to the “real” S.H.I.E.L.D., lead by Edward James Olmos’ Agent Gonzalez. Here we’re given a potential S.H.I.E.L.D. “Civil War” scenario, where a fractured segment of the organization does not believe that Coulson is the best man for the job. Ultimately, they’re kind of on the money with this one. Between the alien incidents, the lies, the insanity, the carvings on the walls — to say nothing of his resurrection — I don’t know if I would trust this guy being director of a worldwide crime prevention organization myself! I do find it odd that they wouldn’t take a more direct approach to handling the situation and simply talk with Coulson face-to-face, but we’ll have to see where this all leads and ultimately what it is they’re attempting to do. If we’ve learned anything from the show, it’s that usually nothing is what it seems. Through this drama, we were also given some of the funniest lines of the night from Hunter, who was dropping one-liners like nobody’s business. It added a nice balance to the proceedings overall, juggling the drama with that usual Marvel Studios’ wit.
Like poor old Lance Hunter, we too are caught by the idea that Coulson’s been a tangled knot of his own secrets concerning alien cities, technology and powers, but how does that jibe with the man we’ve come to know as the seriously dedicated S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who, if not above reproach, usually has his reasons for doing things? On the other hand, it’s really easy not to trust these new S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with their suits, and their protocols, and the fact that they’re seemingly based on the Helicarrier? Smooth move bringing back FitzSimmons’ S.H.I.E.L.D. science center mentor Agent Weaver to shade whether or not this new S.H.I.E.L.D. can be trusted.
Trust is relative, but when you have Edward James Olmos being all gruff and commanding as the other head of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Battlestar Galactica flashbacks kick in and you think, “So say we all!” when he asks for your loyalty. Hunter has clearly never seen Battlestar because he breaks out the first chance he gets after a verbal dance with Bobbi in trying to suss out whether or not her feelings for him were legit or part of the game. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Hunter is going to try and warn Coulson, if for no other reason than Coulson is the one that hasn’t betrayed him.
Doesn't Coulson get any points though for his tenure as Director? Did he not eliminate almost the entire leadership of HYDRA and sink an alien city that HYDRA was investing huge manpower and resources into finding? Isn’t the cost of one man’s life, even Trip’s, worth that in comparison? Apparently not. At least Coulson and May prove shrewd enough to know that something is amiss with Mack and Bobbi, but it remains to be seen just how much they know. I hope this all doesn’t end up with Coulson and the gang being fugitives again, because as much as that worked at the end of season one and turned the concept of the show inside out with new vigor, I hope that the writers aren’t going back to that well. Elsewhere, in Skye news, Coulson decides to take the advice of May’s ex and bench her for now in Nick Fury’s beautifully furnished cabin in the middle of nowhere meant as a way-station for people with powers. Skye also gets some fancy gloves from Simmons, a TV version of the gauntlets that Daisy Johnson wears in the comic books. Skye better get a hold of her powers pretty quick because it seems that her sudden removal from the board is pushing certain players to make moves before they’re ready. Now we wait and see which Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. team will prevail.
Another worthwhile moment of the episode was Fitz finally calling out Simmons on her recent behavior. It was an interesting thought that perhaps Simmons was so hard on Skye due to the fact that she just couldn’t handle the monstrous changes that the brash, young scientist perceived taking place in her, and in a roundabout way, unable to deal with the brain damage that Fitz had gone through at the end of the first season. The metaphorical debate between the two toward the beginning of the episode, with the dynamic duo using Captain America and Hulk as arguing points, was a nice touch. It was a way to subtly work in the Marvel Universe without beating us over the head with the shared continuity. I do find it a little strange that ultimately Fitz’s mental problems have somewhat been swept under the rug, as he’s come a long way from stuttering basketcase to fully functional operative in a short amount of time.
In this world where we now find our agents in of teleporting Inhumans and super-powered villains, it was somewhat disheartening to come crashing back to a scenario that feels very Season One. Ultimately, this latest installment helped to move the story along and had a good moment here and there, but was weighted down by its imperfections and well-trod narrative roads.
– Revealing 33’s real name to be Kara throws my theory out the window that she would turn out to be the Iron Man villain, Madame Masque (her first name is Whitney)
– The gloves and casts that Skye wears in the episode make her like quite like her comic book counterpart, Quake, minus the short hair.
– The scene between Skye and Coulson on the plane, sharing twizzlers, talking about Coulson’s father and the origin of Lola was top notch.
– Ward: “Was really looking forward to those pancakes.”
– May: “I can agree with my ex.”
– Hunter: “Where to now? To see the Wizard?”
– Hunter: “Perhaps we could have discussed this alone, without Hufflepuff looking on?”
– Coulson: “Ankle bone’s always the toughest.”
– Skye: “Just to be clear, I’m the Corvette in this story?”
– 33: “But you seem so well adjusted.”
– Talbot: “Little early for Taco Tuesday?”