Staff Writer
Evening, Agents. This is AS reporting for duty.
This week on Agents of SHIELD sees the team fighting an invisible force that kills its victims by zapping them with tons of electricity and leaves them suspended in mid air. Yikes. That’s a bit much, I think.
Coming in to the episode, Skye, who I’m warming up to despite her betrayal, is still under surveillance but that doesn’t stop her snarky tongue when she’s talking to Coulson and Ward about the first victim, Adam Cross. The second victim, Frank Wayland, were both working at the same firehouse when the Chitauri attack happened in New York. They went in and came out with a souvenir, a Chitauri helmet that contained an alien virus.
Coulson and Co. arrive at the firehouse and Coulson corners a third victim, Garcia, who is sick and, literally, about to expend thousands of joules of electricity. He speaks to him and we get our first little glimpse of what Phil Coulson went through when Loki shoved his spear through his heart. It was a poignant scene which I, as a viewer, have been desperately craving since the beginning of the series. While I’m not sure heaven is the “magical place” he refers to when asked about Tahiti, he did call wherever he went “beautiful”.
Back at the bus, Coulson and May share another exchange which lends to the Coulson conundrum but other than that, this episode is brilliantly focused on amazing Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz. The wonder twins are amazing in this episode. Absolutely brilliant, for lack of a better word. Natasha Henstridge made me cry and I think SHIELD has finally found it’s intimate storytelling and it’s beautiful.
Ward starts to show a little heart when the team realize that Simmons has contracted the Chitauri super virus. He desperately wants to protect every one of the team, including Skye, it’s safe to say. While Jemma works to find the “anti-serum”, her and Fitz get into a shouting match and if you’re not listening carefully, you’ll miss some bit of backstory which is kind of intriguing. The two have been attached to the hip since before the academy and they always follow each other which causes Fitz to throw caution to the wind when Simmons has an idea. The two scrape the inside of the helmet to create the anti-serum and they try three rats and they’re practicallythisclose to figuring it out. But, Simmons isn’t so certain. In a touching exchange with Coulson, tells him to inform her father rather than her mother and she keeps working.
When the third rat in the experiment “dies” as well, Simmons knocks Fitz over the head and as the team discuss options up top, she jumps from the cargo hold. Enter Agent Ward, totally pulling a page from James Bond, and jumping from the cargo hold and racing like a speeding bullet toward the free falling scientist. The damsel is saved, Ward proves that having a funny bone doesn’t come easy, and of course, Coulson yells at Simmons because killing herself wasn’t her call to make. In the end, though, you could see that he was glad she was okay.
After Fitz and Simmons share their first “kiss”, May approaches Coulson in his office and asks about his medical results. At the beginning of the episode, he had a physical and she asks if everything is okay. Blood tests are normal. Everything is normal and then he reveals to her that he ordered the tests himself, not his doctors, as he previously told her. He says he feels different and there are visible tears in his eyes. May informs him that anyone who comes back from the dead will feel different and there’s wrong with that. And, in a blink and you miss it reveal, we discover that she, too, may have died as well. I think I have a new ship in the SHEILD universe.
And there you have it, Agents! What did you think of this very character driven episode? Don’t forget to tune in next week to catch a glimpse of Level 8. This is Agent Shelby signing off.
Field Notes
Thought(s) of the episode:
How in the world does Skye’s little bracelet work?
How did Fitz get all the way down to the cargo hold so quickly? Especially on those spiral stairs. Yikes.
Also, love how Stillwell got a bit part in this episode. I love how other agents from his past are getting to see Coulson act so differently.
Quote of the episode:
“This piece of paper is telling me everything is fine. But, it isn’t. I feel different.” – Coulson
“It’s nice to see you’re not dead.” – Agent Stillwell
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