Agents of Shield: End of the Begining
by J.D. Cook
Considering Captain America: The Winter Soldier comes out this Friday it is not surprising at all that connections abound between it and Agents of Shield. I have a feeling these episodes will be a lot more tied to this film then they were to Thor: The Dark World. The plot of Cap 2 seems to center directly on Shield so it will be really exciting to see how those events shake up the show. Without further delay let’s jump into this fantastic episode!
Some Spoilers Ahead so Check Your Clearance Level before proceeding
The Agents of Shield finally tracked down the elusive Clairvoyant after a run in with Deathlok. The shows beginning was fantastic because it re-introduced viewers to the large cast of high level Agents who have emerged in both the show and Marvel’s extended cinematic universe. We got to see Agent Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernandez), Blake (Titus Welliver), Victoria Hand (Saffron Burrows) and the fantastic Agent Garrett played by the incredibly awesome Bill Paxton. He got to give Skye (Chloe Bennet) a pep talk before stealing the show with almost all of his lines. Unfortunately I worry that he’s getting all these great lines because his death in the show is imminent.
As for the Clairvoyant, he turned out to be a quadriplegic named Thomas Nash…or was he? One of the best twists all season emerged when Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Skye deduced that the Clairvoyant may not be a psychic but may in fact be an Agent of Shield with high level access to information on their movements. The end of the episode makes it seem like the real evil behind everything might actually be Victoria Hand. Although this could all just be a matter of timing with Shield Agents being turned against each other by internal conflicts within the organization. Melinda May (Ming Na Wen) certainly doesn’t seem like she has been working for an evil enemy but for Shield itself keeping tabs on her fellow Agents. So is the Clairvoyant a Shield Agent or is he still out there enjoying the show as Shield tears itself apart? I have a feeling only watching next week’s episode and Captain America: The Winter Soldier will give viewers the answers to these questions.
Now onto Deathlok! The show’s creators did a great job of bringing the character to life and when we got to see an X-Ray view of him he looked even more like the character from the comics. After a few episodes where too little happened, it seems like things are piling into the show at light speed. I didn’t even get to mention that Agent Ward (Brett Dalton) impulsively killed Nash before the Agents could get any real information from him. Usually I root for a character making a cutthroat decision in a show but in this case it seemed really stupid and Ward actually should be sent to prison for killing an unarmed quadriplegic who wasn’t even proven to be anything more than a tool of another evil. That said everyone loves a redemption story so hopefully Ward get’s one.
Until Next Week!
Previous Episodes of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Episode 15: Yes Men
Episode 14: T.A.H.I.T.I.
Episode 13: T.R.A.C.K.S.
Episode 12: Seeds
Episode 11: The Magical Place
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