Josh recaps Season 2 Episode 19 of Agents of SHIELD, titled The Dirty Half Dozen, where the old SHIELD team is back together! Sort of. Following the recap, both Josh and Violet share their thoughts about the episode.
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Episode Recap of Agents of SHIELD, Season 2 Episode 19: The Dirty Half Dozen
Agents of SHIELD begins this episode with Raina having visions of Skye, Gordon and HYDRA. She wakens to see her mother asking about her dreams. Cal, meanwhile, is flipping out about nearly being banished. Gordon then tries to go back for Lincoln who was left behind, but he comes back injured. Apparently HYDRA is tracking his teleports. Jiaying, meanwhile, tells Cal to calm down. Raina witnesses all of this and seems to realize her new gift.
Jiaying tells Skye that they can’t go back for Lincoln, worried about her people getting caught. Skye isn’t happy about it. Jiaying says that Lincoln would rather keep their people safe. Meanwhile, in captivity, Lincoln and Deathlok talk, and it looks like they are about to be experimented on.
Dr. List and Bakshi talk about Lincoln and Deathlok, and they begin their experiments. Things aren’t looking too good for them.
Back aboard his own ship, Coulson is held in the holding cell we are so familiar with. Coulson explains he wants to work together with Gonzales to take down HYDRA and stop their enhanced persons project. Gonzales wants to know why he should trust Coulson, and Coulson decides to open Nick Fury’s tool box if Gonzales joins his mission. So what is the plan? Coulson wants to use a small stealth mission to get inside. Mostly Coulson’s own men will be joining the mission.
Outside the plane, Ward has been following them, and is allowed to board. No one seems to happy about seeing him again. SHIELD’s leaders vote on the mission, and it comes down to a draw, with May being the tie breaker, and Gonzales surprisingly wanting the mission to go forward. Later we find out that Gonzales thought the risk of using Coulson’s men on a high risk mission was a win-win for him, whatever the outcome. But May wants to talk about the mission in private with Coulson before making a decision, and she actually is ticked because Coulson was working with her ex-husband behind her back. Coulson tries to get her back on the mission though, and she decides to go ahead with the mission.
Meanwhile, Simmons and Fitz have been discussing their disgust about Ward, and Simmons wants to blow him up with a splinter bomb. Fitz thinks she is joking, but it sounds like she isn’t… Simmons sure has gone dark.
Back with Skye, Gordon wants to try to rescue Lincoln. Raina then tells Skye and Gordon that she has “seen” Skye save Lincoln. Apparently that is enough to convince Gordon to take Skye. Where he actually takes her is aboard the SHIELD plane.
On the plane, Ward wants to leave his new girlfriend Kara behind, so she can get her memories back. She is concerned, and doesn’t want to leave Ward behind. Simmons makes her cause to join the mission to Coulson, and we can see her intentions–she has packed a splinter bomb. Coulson allows her to come along. Better look out Ward!
So Skye shows up, and the gang is back together. Time for the mission to start. Ward addresses the team with what Bakshi is helping out with, but everyone is giving him the stink eye. He tries to apologize, but no one seems to be buying what he is selling. He genuinely seems broken up about hurting the team. Wonder if it is real, or if he is just a sociopath. None of the team seems to be buying it. Coulson tries to reel them back in to the mission, and they move out. After a harrowing flight, and some subterfuge by Agent May, the team gets on the ground and infiltrates the base.
Jiaying and Cal have another chat, and they seem to have reconciled some. She has decided to let him stay for now, and Cal apologizes for being so hotheaded. But they both see Raina, and she is making new friends. Cal tells Jiaying to keep an eye on her.
Inside HYDRA’s base, Coulson and company are greeted by Bakshi. The groups split, and they begin moving through the base. Skye and Simmons end up with Ward and Bakshi, and we get to see Skye use her new power, actually under control. Ward seems impressed. They find Deathlok, and he has been taken apart–literally. He is alive, but not feeling well. Coulson, meanwhile, works with May and Fitz, and downloads some information from a HYDRA computer. We then see Skye find Lincoln, and she has a pretty sweet scene taking down several HYDRA agents in a very professional manner. Moving to Lincoln, she uses her powers to restart his heart.
Then we see Simmons make her move. She gets her splinter bomb ready. Unfortunately, Bakshi meddles, and winds up taking it instead of Ward. Ward is hurt, and decides to make his own exit from the team. The teams head out, and it looks like Deathlok will have to be sent to a “specialist” to put him back together. Skye, meanwhile, waits for Lincoln to wake up. All the while, Gonzales is watching her, concerned about her being dangerous. But he is more than happy to have his own enhanced person on his plane. He isn’t sounding much better than HYDRA. Coulson walks up and gives Gonzales the toolbox, and tells him to have fun with it, at least until Nick Fury shows up.
On that note, Coulson gets a call from Maria Hill about finding whatever it was he located at the HYDRA base.
Back with Jiaying and Raina, Jiaying warns Raina to not use her power to send people off. Raina then gets a vision of Loki’s scepter. Coulson and Hill are talking about the scepter as well, and it looks like this is moving right into Age of Ultron here. Hill then asks about Theta Protocol being ready. Coulson says it is, and it’s time to bring in the Avengers.
Josh’s Thoughts: Agents of SHIELD, Season 2 Episode 19: The Dirty Half Dozen
This episode was supposed to lead into Avengers: Age of Ultron, and after seeing the movie, it seems lightly attached to it. Dr. List makes an appearance in both, which is interesting. I should say that the special effects in the show are getting better and better. The landing of the jet during the firefight was really fun to watch. I also have to say that Skye’s action scene was a lot of fun. It was reminiscent of the scene in the church for the Kingsmen movie. It was fluid, efficient, and a lot of fun.
I had a hard time figuring out Ward this episode. Did he really want to rejoin his team? Or was he just being a sociopath? I really couldn’t tell, especially when Simmons tries to kill him and the call Ward makes to Coulson explaining how he wants Kara to return to SHIELD. Either way, he is creepy. I wonder if this is the last we see of him for a while.
This episode had Gonzales and Coulson working together, but I don’t like Gonzales any more. He seems just fine sacrificing people as long as they aren’t his. I really hope that Coulson gets his plane and leadership back.
We’re getting close to the season finale. I am hoping we get to the real showdown between Gonzales and Coulson. I am tired of Adama from BSG trying to boss Coulson around! Adama is supposed to be a good guy! Sorry, wrong show.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 2 Episode 19 of Agents of SHIELD: The Dirty Half Dozen
It’s all connected. That’s what they’ve been telling us about the MCU, which includes Agents of SHIELD. This episode was the episode that aired just before Avengers: Age of Ultron was released here in the U.S. a couple days later. So, was it all connected? Yes, somewhat. I would say a lot more so than the tenuous connection between Agents of SHIELD and Thor: The Dark World back in 2013, but a bit less so than the connection with Captain America: The Winter Soldier last year. In this episode, we do hear them talk about Dr. Strucker and “the Twins,” which, of course, are Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, who appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Then at the end, Coulson has a secret meeting with Maria Hill about bringing in the Avengers. At the beginning of Age of Ultron, the Avengers have in fact been brought in as a result, and we even see Dr. List, who was on this episode. Also, Maria Hill continues to be involved in the mission throughout the movie. And we can’t forget Raina and her vision about Loki’s scepter, and metal men destroying cities. Overall, it didn’t really feel like all that much of a connection, just a slight reminder that they’re in the same universe. Maybe the next episode will connect the two in a more satisfying way? We’ll see.
Anyway, about the episode itself, it was weird seeing the whole gang back together, and felt a little too easy that not only was Gonzales fine with this team, but that Skye was able to get brought in as well, even though they’ve been trying to find her all this time. I’m still not sure what to think of Ward. It does seem like he really does care about Agent 33/Kara after all, and that he wants to be good. It also seems like he really cares about his former SHIELD family, and regrets having torn them apart. He could have killed Simmons, especially since he knew that she tried to kill him. But he decided not to. Maybe he figures that they’re even after he almost killed her? Or maybe it’s more than that, and he still cares about her, remembering the good ol’ days. But it appears he’s not going to be sticking around.
It looks like now we’ll be delving more into the Inhumans storyline, which could be interesting.
Scenes from Agents of SHIELD, Season 2 Episode 20: Scars
Here are scenes from next week’s Agents of SHIELD episode titled Scars:
