‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Episode 1.16 “End of the Beginning” (6 out of 10) Starring Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennet, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton; Tuesdays on ABC.
“Agents of SHIELD” is giving me a complex. It’s becoming like the father that promises to take me fishing only to bail at the last minute because “something came up.” Week after week, it dangles this beautiful geeky carrot in front of my nose only to lead me into a morass of clichéd, action movie dialogue, unabashed scene-chewing (but not the so-bad-it’s-good kind), and predictable detritus that has been exhumed from the remains of “Smallville” and “CSI: Wherever the Hell.” Tonight’s episode took a few big steps forward with the “Clairvoyant/Deathlok” storyline, but those steps had to hopscotch around some serious problems. Beware of spoilers ahead, friends.
Skye Gets a Promotion
In SHIELD’s increasing desperation to find and capture the Clairvoyant, they decide that someone who is talented in pattern recognition, computer manipulation, and other stuff Skye is good at should be put in charge of finding him. So, Agent Hand grants Skye full agent status, which is a big moment for her, along with Coulson and Ward, who show their approval with solemnly pursed lips. They figure that the Clairvoyant is someone who is in SHIELD’s Index, and Skye narrows it down to three possible individuals. Three pairs of agents are then tasked with finding and questioning said individuals.
There are two items of note regarding Skye in tonight’s episode. One, Fitz and Jemma are secretly running tests on Skye’s blood to figure out more about the blue goo that saved her life. I like how Fitz and Jemma are doing this secretly, and it seems to be strengthening their nerd bond. This could also give them the opportunity to make a big discovery about the mysterious gunk, and it would be nice to see the lab geeks become in charge of that sensitive information. The second notable item is the relationship that Ward and Coulson have with Skye. I get that the innocent and true blue Skye is designed as a foil for the warlike agents, but could they lay it on any thicker? If she’s going to get promoted to an agent then she can’t be treated like everybody’s little sister. She survived two bullets to the gut and has whatever immortality serum that was pumped into Coulson running through her veins. It’s time to cut the apron strings, Coulson.
The Clairvoyant
After May and Agent Blake (Hey! It’s the smoke monster from “Lost!”) manage to plug Deathlok with some tracking bullets, the SHIELD team moves in on his coordinates, which appear to be the Clairvoyant’s HQ. There he was, strapped to a wheelchair and speaking through a straw. He makes some vague threats, but when he starts talking about how he’s going to kill Skye, Ward puts a bullet through his chest. Ward claims that his emotions got the best of him, but that’s hard to believe considering he doesn’t have any of those.
It’s around this point that Fitz and Coulson get wise to the fact that there is a mole on the SHIELD team, and the helpless invalid that Ward just blew away was nothing more than a decoy. This makes Coulson suspicious of Ward, and an angry interrogation ensues. Fitz, however, is the one who actually discovers an encrypted line in May’s private quarters—which he promptly deactivates, causing May to chase after him with a gun. Apparently, she failed to notice that if she shot Fitz, people would likely have a lot of pesky questions. When Coulson shows up, more yelling ensues, but zounds, what’s this? The SHIELD plane gets remotely hijacked by Agent Hand? Is she the Clairvoyant?
Verdict
Every time I read a story about how the creators and actors on “Agents of SHIELD” get up in arms about the criticism that is leveled against the show, their defense always seems to be that fans just have to let the show get its sea legs. I think after sixteen episodes, the show either needs to grow those sea legs really fast (like, by next week) or realize that it has gotten away from the creators. I’m sure it’s a very difficult process to create a show that’s a cross-promotional free-for-all with a vast and intimidating mythology to draw from and simultaneously worry about quality storytelling, but it’s something that needs to be done here. From the moment that I saw Brad “Wormtongue” Dourif’s name as a guest star, the episode’s plot unfolded before me without much effort. Initially, having him play a decoy in the same way that Ben Kingsley played the Mandarin was a nice touch, but as soon as Ward shot the unarmed man (did I mention he was in a wheelchair?), it wasn’t too hard to figure out that he wasn’t the real bad guy.
As of now, I’ll maintain some faith in the showrunners’ vision of the show’s potential, but at some point, it’ll come time for them to deliver on some of these big promises that they’ve been making. Until next week, friends!