Josh recaps this week’s episode of Agents of SHIELD titled One of Us. Both Josh and Violet, as usual, provide their thoughts on an episode with a lot of different things going on. Check it out after the jump!
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Episode Recap of Agents of SHIELD, Season 2 Episode 13: One of Us
So, Agents of SHIELD has been a bit of a letdown lately. There is one really good storyline going on for me, but other than that I have not been too excited about what is happening. Let’s talk about last week’s episode, and see how it was.
Cal and His Band of Merry Inhumans
Let’s start with the main storyline–Skye’s dad has decided that he needs some more men/women for his cause. He pays a visit to a creepy, disheveled woman named Karla Gideon. She has some odd contraptions on her fingers as she tries to cut and eat some food. What could be the reason? Does she have powers like Rogue from X-Men, and can’t touch anyone? Does she shoot constant lightning from her finger tips?! What could it be?! Well we have to wait a little bit to find out, as she gets a knock at the door! It is none other than the infamous Calvin, Skye’s dad, with some new henchmen. It looks like he is out to recruit new members for his team. She declines at first, but seems to make a pretty good case as to why she would want to get some revenge on SHIELD. It looks like she was the subject of some experimentation. We find out exactly how as well–turns out she has had surgery attaching metal blades to her fingertips rather than normal finger nails. That’s a bit…underwhelming. It’s kind of like if Wolverine was a kitten. Yeah their claws are sharp, but how much damage can they really do? Either way, why is the only solution to cover her hands in robo-gloves? Couldn’t she like, cut the blades off if they are that much of a problem?
Cal wants to bolster his ranks more though, so he heads to a psychiatric hospital. Turns out this specific hospital houses some other former SHIELD experiments in human form. We are seeing the dark underbelly of SHIELD more and more these days it would seem. The recruited guy is named David Angar, or more importantly, known as The Screamer. We find out why later this episode, but I have a guess given that his mouth is literally chained shut.
Cal gets hungry though, and he and his merry men head to a diner for some dinner. Cal shares his desires to make evident–he wants to take down SHIELD. Primarily because SHIELD has his daughter and that Coulson killed Dr. Whitehall. Cal knows how to hold a grudge, and is definitely a little crazy.
But Cal has a big plan for Coulson coming up. Before we get into that, let’s go over the other side of this story.
Coulson “Fights On!”
Coulson has been trying to track down Cal, and learns that Cal broke into the mental hospital. Eventually, Cal winds up leaving a message for Coulson, “Fight On”. Now, “Fight On!” to me refers to USC being the University of Southern California, but to Coulson it apparently refers to a Wisconsin school. Coulson heads there with Bobbi to investigate what is going on, pretty sure he is walking into a trap….
The Skye is Trembling
Let’s rewind a little bit more though. May has decided to get Skye analyzed by a shrink–speaking of mental hospitals. Skye is insistent that she is fine, May says she needs to be cleared if she has any hope of getting back in the field. May brings in an independent guy to help, Dr. Andrew Garner. Apparently he was a former SHIELD employee, but is now disillusioned by what SHIELD stood for. He agrees to help, but only if everything is transparent to everyone, including Skye herself. Oh, one more thing to mention–apparently this guy is May’s ex-husband. Drama….!
Skye has various sessions with Dr. Garner. She is very deflecting at first, and Garner tries to get her focused. She opens up some, and it looks like they are getting somewhere. Later though, Skye is sleeping, and the tremors start–while she is dreaming. She is woken up, and is able to stop the shaking again. Garner wants to know exactly how all this is happening, not convinced she is just “better”.
May heads to back up Coulson in Wisconsin. Skye says she is going into the field, but May and Garner both don’t think it is a good idea. Skye comes up with a decent plan though…Let’s get to Wisconsin!
So before SHIELD gets to Wisconsin, we get a taste of The Screamer. He is released from his facial confinements, and boy could he use a face wash, a tooth brush, and frankly–a whole new mouth. But he lets a scream fly, and instantly everyone on the Wisconsin football field falls over unconscious.
When Coulson arrives, Cal announces the “game” via the radio booth on the football field, trying to egg Coulson out from his hiding place. Bobbi and Coulson are about to head to the field, but they try to wait for back up from May. Having hostages, Cal is able to force Coulson’s hand.
May shows up finally, and is holding Skye “hostage”. May tries to bluff Cal, threatening to kill Skye. Cal was really interested in knowing Skye’s power. May tries to keep the focus on talking to him, but Cal isn’t interested. Cal hands the mic over to Screamer, but he is interrupted by a familiar no-eyed man. He teleports in, grabs Cal and teleports away. This causes chaos though, as Cal’s men attack Coulson and company. Skye watches from afar with Garner, and we can see the helpless feeling in her eyes. Tremors begin, and the shaking gets more and more. She manages to stop them, but looks down to see her hands covered in bruises, and she passes out. SHIELD retreats to the plane, and Skye finds herself waking up and in arm casts. Turns out that she was internalizing the shaking, which wound up giving her a bunch of hairline fractures in her arms–ouch.
Coulson has a private meeting with Simmons, the advocate for stopping these “inhumans”. Coulson wants her to figure out how to stop them, including Skye. Simmons is also to keep this mission quiet. Garner obviously suggests that Skye should leave SHIELD, but May tries to defend keeping her safe. Garner isn’t buying it though, and refuses to help SHIELD, telling May, “It hasn’t changed”.
Back with Cal, he has been taken to a room, and has gone a bit off the rails. This eyeless man seems annoyed with Cal, telling him that he is “making too much noise”. Turns out there is a bigger player here that we don’t know about yet. Looks like Cal is going to meet him now…
Wait, Did One of the SHIELD’s Not Get the Memo?
Now, the storyline I really have been into–What is going on with Bobbi and Mac? Well, as we saw last episode, Mac took Hunter out, literally. He has him chained up to a sink, and throughout the episode, Bobbi has been in contact with Mac, trying to figure out an extraction method. Well, finally at the end of the episode, Mac gets extracted. Where to? SHIELD of course. Huh? That doesn’t make any sense…Well apparently, there are two SHIELD organizations now? I think we need more information…didn’t Nick Fury give the reigns to Coulson?
Josh’s Final Thoughts: Agents of SHIELD: One of Us
So it looks like we are getting a few competing factions here. We have Coulson’s SHIELD agents, that seems to have a few moles in it, that seem for the most part to be on the hero path, trying to do what is right. Then we have our Cal and his band of merry Inhumans really wanting to stick it to Coulson and the gang. Then we have whoever is behind Cal, who seems displeased with Cal’s ruckus he is making. Then on the other side of Coulson we have SHIELD #2. It sounds like we have a lot to work through this season.
I am really interested to see what happens with this new group of SHIELD agents. Edward James Olmos seems to be the leader of the other group, who is best known for his work on Battlestar: Galactica. I am curious to know if this is intentional or not, but the plot is starting to feel a bit like BSG. In one season of BSG, Adama (played by Olmos) commands the supposed only Battlestar ship left of his civilization–until another group who shows up, and decides they want to lead this rag-tag group. It feels like Olmos is now playing the other side of the coin, and I am really interested to see how that plays out.
As for Cal, I kind of hope whoever his boss is puts him in line. I am not a big fan. I am curious to see what the actual big-bad is this season though.
As for Skye, I am sad about her current situation. She was a character I really didn’t like at first, but I have grown to actually appreciate her on the show. I really have no idea what could be done to help her, I hope we get some answers soon.
But Garner might be right about SHIELD not changing at all. Coulson seems to be heading right back down that path–keep secrets and trying to stop “innocent” people just because they are stuck with some ability they didn’t necessarily ask for. I don’t know if that makes SHIELD a “bad guy”, but it certainly puts the organization into the gray area. I guess we will have to wait and see how gray SHIELD #2 is.
The last thing I wonder is where Hunter’s loyalty will lie. I am hoping he remains loyal to Coulson. I liked Hunter when he was defending Coulson, and hope he sees that through till whatever end.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 2 Episode 13 of Agents of SHIELD: One of Us
The new villain of this episode, Karla, was a bit underwhelming with her “power” of having metal spikes for fingernails. The Screamer was a bit more interesting, at least. I keep feeling like I should be more into this Inhumans aspect of the show, but I’m not yet, for some reason. Maybe things will get more interesting now that the eyeless Inhuman guy has Skye’s dad.
It was interesting learning that May had an ex-husband, and seeing her interact with him. But I have to admit, that I much more enjoyed the interaction between Simmons and Fitz that came from it. She was actually trying to joke around with Fitz, and it almost felt like the good ol’ days… but it didn’t quite get there, unfortunately. But still, it’s a bit of progress.
Finally we learned who Bobbi and Mac are working for: SHIELD. The “real” SHIELD, apparently. Um, wait, so how did this happen? I’m really curious to find out, especially since it looks like Edward James Olmos (aka Adama from Battlestar Galactica) is the director! I love that guy!
Scenes from Agents of SHIELD, Episode 14: Love in the Time of HYDRA
Here are scenes from the next Agents of SHIELD episode, titled Love in the Time of HYDRA:
