Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S01E18 – Review

Story By: Brent Fletcher

The Story: They may not be able to track superpowers anymore, but they can still watch YouTube.

The Review: Now that the old S.H.I.E.L.D. paradigm is in shambles, we have a few episodes before us in which Coulson and his team struggle to adjust. Finding new purpose is easy: destroy Hydra, or get in their way as much as possible. Figuring out the logistics of doing so is going to be a lot harder. Without continued resources from S.H.I.E.L.D., taking down a global cult—that’s what Hydra basically is, right?—is going to be a rough task. After Coulson runs into breakdowns and defects in every corner of the Bus, he comes to Skye pleading for good news.

“We have internet.”

“Yay!” he says, with some genuine enthusiasm. “And boy, have I lowered my expectations.”

Lucky for him, he can raise those expectations right back up thanks to good ol’ Nick Fury, who directs Coulson’s team to a secret outpost in Canada (“Providence”), which offers every necessity and most conveniences. Basically, our heroes are back in the black by the end of the episode, which is such a quick transition that the aftermath of S.H.I.E.L.D. feels not so much like reconstruction as a placement transfer.

This is not to say that the status quo hasn’t completely changed within the team, however. The betrayals of the last couple episodes have scarred certain relationships, especially the ones that up till now seemed strongest. The addition of Triplett to the team puts a new wedge between Fitz and Simmons, as Fitz has to deal with another strapping specimen picking up on his lady. And Coulson isn’t about to get over May’s underhandedness anytime soon, not when there seems to be no end to her cornucopia of secrets, like her theory that he may have been reprogrammed by Hydra.

Of course, there’s also the matter of Ward, who’s loosened up and taken on new edges since revealing himself as a Hydra man. Separated from the others, he relishes his work in ways he never did when playing the rigid agent. He bets Garrett a steak dinner on whether there’s something hidden beneath the Fridge; he’s lavishly cocky about his own sex appeal (“I’m everyone’s type.”); and as far as truth and honor goes, he doesn’t take much stock in either anymore, apparently.

Meanwhile, Raina seems to be developing in the opposite direction. Having truly believed in the Clairvoyant’s clairvoyance, she can’t quite mask her shock and disgust when he turns out to be a turtleneck-wearing burly-man with a jocular air. She agrees to continue work on Project Centipede out of a commitment to changing the world, but her side glances make it clear she has doubts as to what Hydra’s vision of the world may be. Hey, it’s only fair that Hydra have at least one potential traitor in their midst, after all the backstab wounds S.H.I.E.L.D. has suffered.

But this episode suggests that Garrett may have two possible traitors to worry about, as Ward isn’t 100 percent behind his mentor on all matters. This is particularly true where Skye is concerned, so turning to the dark side hasn’t entirely put the kibosh on that inevitable coupling. Hopefully, if Ward does go back to S.H.I.E.L.D., he’ll have a better reason than the cute hacker he has a crush on. Even though he tells Raina that he owes Garrett “everything,” he admits he owes Coulson something.

With all this regrouping, the action takes a backseat, which is just as well, as I’m sure last episode’s Winter Soldier tie-in drained quite a bit of resources from the stunt/special-effects budget. That probably explains why the Fridge has only two guards blocking the front door and apparently zero anti-air capability. It also explains why Providence is only protected by one old-timey automated machine gun—and Patton Oswalt.*

Conclusion: Still getting its bearings after some fairly momentous events, the show has only just started to pivot towards a new direction.

Grade: B

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: * Not a huge fan of Oswalt, but he’s pretty fun playing Eric Koenig, who vacillates between passive-aggressiveness (after immediately offering Coulson a lanyard, he looks witheringly at the rest of the team: “Lanyards for others will be distributed on a case-by-case basis.”) and unbothered directness (when Coulson demands if Eric is threatening him, Eric replies, “100 percent”).

– Eric also seems right off the bat to have the most common sense of anybody on the show. “So you just lied to my team,” Coulson says to him accusingly.

“Well, I don’t know them,” Eric replies. Yes.

– I think I can reasonably guarantee each episode will get at least a passing grade if I can hear Fitz shrieking like a valley girl in a slasher film at least once.