Violet recaps Season 1 Episode 21 of Agents of SHIELD, titled Ragtag, where we get some flashbacks of how Garrett recruited Ward 15 years ago, and the SHIELD team works on getting into Cybertek so they can activate Skye’s Trojan Horse! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts on the episode.
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Agents of SHIELD, Season 1 Episode 21: Ragtag Recap Overview
- Through a series of flashbacks, we see how Garrett recruited Ward from a juvenile detention facility 15 years ago and trained him.
- The SHIELD team infiltrates Cybertek, who has been working with HYDRA, and discover that Garrett was the first Deathlok.
- We find out that Garrett’s biomechanics are failing, but Raina is able to make a near replica of GH-325 and injects him with it.
- Fitz and Simmons are captured by Ward, but they get locked in an escape pod and Ward ejects them into the ocean.
- The rest of the SHIELD team goes to the barbershop to try to insert the flashdrive into HYDRA’s systems so as to activate the Trojan Horse Skye left on the hard drive, but they are met with a centipede soldier.
- Quinn meets with high ranking military officials to sell them super soldiers.
In a flashback to 15 years ago, we see Garrett recruit a young Ward from a juvenile detention facility, at which he is incarcerated for setting his house on fire with his brother still inside. Ward says yes to Garrett’s offer, and Garrett’s team breaks Ward out.
The SHIELD team watches a news report of Deathlok killing a druglord in Columbia with known ties to HYDRA. Coulson and May have figured out that HYDRA has been working with Cybertek. We find out the “gift” Skye left on the hard drive was a Trojan Horse. However, the only way to activate it is by plugging a flash drive into their computer systems. The plan is to go into one of Cybertek’s offices to do so.
On Coulson’s plane, Garrett praises Deathlok for killing the druglord, and rewards him with some video of his son. Raina reports that they’re close to replicating the drug that healed Skye and brought Coulson back to life.
Coulson sets up a meeting with Cybertek. Trip brings in some old spy equipment from the Howling Commandos, including an EMP disguised as a joy buzzer, and a cigarette that’s actually a laser.
In another flashback to Ward and Garrett 15 years ago, Garrett leaves Ward in the middle of the woods to figure out how to survive on his own. He also leaves his hunting dog, Buddy, with him.
Coulson and May go into Cybertek pretending to be interviewing to work there, as they wear earpieces so FitzSimmons can talk them through their pitch. Cybertek is not impressed. Meanwhile, Skye tries to use a Howling Commando pin that May is wearing to locate the Cybertek mainframe, but she isn’t finding any digital data. Skye pulls up building plans, and tell Coulson and May to go to the 4th floor. They exit their interview and beat up their escort on the elevator. When they reach the 4th floor, they encounter a guy, but May kicks his butt before he can reach the panic phone. They use the laser cigarette to get into the room, and discover that there is no mainframe because all the files are hard copies.
Mike Peterson asks if Raina if someone is controlling her, but she says no, that she is here for people with gifts – she is waiting for what’s inside to be revealed. Raina says that she thinks that inside she and Skye have something in common.
Coulson and May find files on Project Deathlok dating back to 1990 – and discover that Garrett was the first Deathlok. He tells Skye and Trip to get ready for a large file transfer, and they chuck the file cabinet though the window. Trip shoots a rope into the ceiling of the floor where Coulson and May are, and they zipline down.
We see a short flashback of Ward and Buddy in the rain 15 years ago.
In the present, Garrett and Ward get into an argument, and Garrett suddenly grabs his side in pain. Ward brings Garrett into the other room and kicks everyone out. Garrett lifts up his shirt, and we see that his whole left side is metal.
Back with the SHIELD team, they discuss Garrett being patient zero in Project Deathlok. Fitz still doesn’t believe that Ward is the bad guy.
Ward reboots Garrett’s biomechanics. Garrett reveals that the biomechanics are fine, but his organs are failing, and that the Cybertek team gives him a month or two, tops.
May and Skye discuss Ward. Neither of them believe that Ward is being controlled. May plans to put her anger away and save it to take Ward down when she sees him.
At a barbershop in Cuba, Ward and Garrett meet up with Quinn, who has had all charges dropped against him due to SHIELD’s status. Raina privately reveals to Ward some information she found out about Skye: her DNA seems to be a match for a baby girl for which a village in China which was torn apart by monsters looking for the baby girl. The monsters were the girl’s parents.
In the flashback, Garrett comes back for Ward after 6 months. Ward has been able to make it just fine on his own, and has a nice campsite.
In the present, Raina gives Garrett a vial of a near replica of GH-325, which should regenerate and heal cells, but it’s the only one they have.
The SHIELD team shows up in Cuba, and it appears that Garrett and the others are gone. FitzSimmons have located the Bus at an airfield. Coulson tells them not to engage. However, Ward finds them.
In a flashback to 10 years ago, Garrett tells Ward a story about how he got hit by an IED while on assignment for SHIELD, but they only gave him excuses when he asked for a med-evac. That’s when Garrett realized he was more loyal to SHIELD than SHIELD was to him. He then brings up HYDRA, which he says “understands the importance of survival.”
Back in the present, Ward brings FitzSimmons to Garrett on the Bus. Fitz uses the EMP joybuzzer, which shorts out Garrett’s mechanical system. Ward kicks everyone out of the room so he can concentrate on saving Garrett’s life.
Back to the flashback, Ward has learned to shoot. Garrett delivers the news that Ward has been accepted by SHIELD’s Operations Division. He also warns Ward that if he’s going to be working for HYDRA, he can’t get attached to anyone or anything, that he has to fight that weakness inside of him. He then orders Ward to kill Buddy, the dog, to prove that it’s not a weakness.
A dying Garrett tells Ward to kill Fitz and Simmons, and confirms with him that it’s not a weakness. Raina stays and looks after Garrett. He shows her that there’s a mechanical failsafe, and opens himself up. It turns out her centipede serum is the only thing that’s been keeping him going.
Meanwhile, FitzSimmons manage to run away and lock themselves in a room. Ward finds them there, and Fitz tries to appeal to him, still believing he’s a good guy.
In the flashback, Ward is unable to bring himself to shoot Buddy. Instead, he shoots into the air, and Buddy runs off.
Ward tells Fitz he has his orders, and tells them to open the door. They refuse. He whispers to himself that they’re right that he does care about them, and it’s a weakness. Ward uses the controls to eject FitzSimmons from the plane. The pod crashes into the ocean.
In the flashback, we see Buddy running through the perspective of a sniper rifle.
Raina injects the GH-325 into Garrett, and he begins convulsing and glowing. He calms down. When Ward asks him what he’s feeling, Garrett answers, “the universe.”
The rest of the SHIELD team finds a secret door in the barbershop. Before they’re able to insert the flashdrive into the system, a centipede soldier shows up.
Quinn meets with high ranking military officials in Washington, D.C., and proposes to sell them 1,000 super soldiers.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 1 Episode 21 of Agents of SHIELD: Ragtag
Agents of SHIELD continues to stay on track with good episodes! So many surprises this episode that I did not see coming! What, Garrett was the first Deathlok?? I had no reason to think there were any other Deathloks than Mike Peterson, or at least not that came before Mike Peterson.
It was very interesting to get more of a glimpse into Ward’s background. He always seemed like the squeaky clean guy gone bad, but as it turns out, he was kind of a bad boy growing up. But despite everything he went through, he still has a soft spot, a weakness, for those he gets attached to, and even admits that he cares for his former SHIELD team members.
Are we going to find out more about who or what Skye is, and why she was being hunted by her parents, who were “monsters,” so many years ago? What exactly did Raina mean by “monsters”? Were they human, but evil? Or were they alien monsters? She wasn’t really clear. There’s been all this hype about Skye being an 0-8-7, but we haven’t really seen her do anything special yet that would indicate her being an 0-8-7. Will she have some powers finally kick in?
Now that Garrett has been injected with the near replica of GH-325, which was able to heal Skye and Coulson, what will the effect be on him? It’s not the real thing, so maybe it will have some weird side effects.
What’s going to happen to Fitz and Simmons? Will they be able to easily get out of the pod? Or will they face imminent death? What about the SHIELD team that’s about to be attacked by the centipede soldier? Is there just one, or are there many? So many questions, and I can’t wait to find out the answers in the season finale!
P.S. I’m pretty sure when May went undercover to Cybertek, that’s the most we’ve seen her smile all season!
Josh’s Thoughts: Agents of SHIELD, Season 1 Episode 21: Ragtag
Another great episode of Agents of SHIELD, I feel like. The show is finally firing on all cylinders. There was enough humor this episode to make you laugh, but it was serious enough that you knew that “stuff” was really about to hit the fan. The scene where Coulson and May sneak into Cybertek really summed this seriousness yet funny balance. I thought that scene was done very well. The teams are really starting to jive, and I am starting to get the Firefly feel in this show, where the team aspect is the glue that holds the show together. I am really starting to feel for all of the characters. Even Ward, who has turned into a bad guy, I have more sympathy for than I did 10 episodes ago, when I felt he was a one dimensional character.
Fitz has slowly crept into being my favorite character, and I really have liked how is character has progressed the past couple episodes. His inability to reconcile what Ward has done to them now versus the man Fitz has seen since the beginning of Coulson putting this team together is not logically fitting in his head. I really have liked seeing Fitz’s struggle with this. His naivety of attempting to kill Agent Garrett, hoping to convince Ward to come back to the good-guy side was really sad. Then it is further heartbreaking when Fitz pleads with Ward through the window.
Agent Garrett has become more interesting as a character as well. We are seeing that he feels betrayed by SHIELD, and that his loyalty to HYDRA came from SHIELD leaving him for dead. It certainly makes his decisions to join HYDRA much more believable. I am very excited to see where this season ends.
Scenes from Agents of SHIELD, Season 1 Episode 22: Beginning of the End
Here are scenes from the next Agents of SHIELD episode, titled Beginning of the End:
I would really like to think that Ward will eventually turn good again. I’m not sure what will happen in the meantime, but I do see it happening.
I loved every thing about this episode. I know people thought it was slow and boring at first, but I’ve been 100% excited about every episode since #1. I proudly continue to worship at the alter of Whedon! SO excited for the 2nd season!