Last night’s hot streak of Agents of SHIELD continues, proving that a second season can wildly improve and in some ways validate an uneven first season’s shortcomings (sorry, Selfie). Join us as we talk about arguably the biggest episode of the season, because a gauntlet has been thrown and I’m here to pick it up for you!
As a note, spoilers are unavoidably discussed.
1. The Secret Origin of Daniel Whitehall
Last night we got the full details of exactly who Daniel Whitehall (also known in the comics as the Kraken) is. Formerly known as Werner Reinhart, he was both the Red Skull’s teacher and one of the worst Nazis to get involved with Hydra. He was imprisoned in 1945 by Agent Carter with no pardon (unlike Wernher von Braun) until the late 80s, when a younger Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford’s character in Winter Soldier — see how everything clicks together?) freed him. It was at this point that Hydra agents took Whitehall back to his old stomping grounds, where he found a young woman (played by Dichen Lachman of Dollhouse, clearly picked so she can come back to the role later), who he had experimented on in the 1940s and who was still young. So what’s an old, dying man to do but cut her open and replace all his organs with hers?
There’s a bigger twist than that which we’ll get to in a bit, but I like that SHIELD went out of its way to basically remove any sense of pretense about the character being a likable villain. Whitehall is played wonderfully by Reed Diamond who, besides an unconvincing German accent, has made the character quite wonderfully sinister but cool; if he is ever to fully become the Kraken, then the character Diamond plays now would be the calm before that storm. And yet, it’s a very despicable storm, if perhaps a cold and calculating one — making Whitehall essentially an answer to the complaints Marvel has received about Malekith and Ronan, two villains that had a singular goal in mind and ran through their respective films like steam engines on a track with no pause or end in sight (which, for the record, I liked; singleminded villains only interested in destruction and domination are fine in my comic book movies just like they are my comic books).
Whitehall is a big step of for SHIELD, and he’s helped to really catapult this season forward at a breakneck speed. Of course, his one single mission leads us to…
2. Come On, Just Say “Terrigen Bomb!”
Last night SHIELD danced all around this subject. The Diviner isn’t a weapon; it’s a key! It’s not just a key; there’s something inside! Scientifically speaking, it’s pretty cool! From teases of stories of a “star that fell from the heavens” and “blue angels” that came to conquer — no, to end the human race, with the Diviner choosing a select few to survive whatever is to come, they are really doing all that they can to not just say the words Kree, Attilan, Terrigen, or Inhuman.
Which makes sense, I suppose. Why put all the cards on the table so early in the season? The Inhumans film isn’t for another few years as well. But there’s no escaping whatever this is now; the city has been found and, with the breakneck pacing of this season, I would imagine we will have some answers quite soon. I am excited.
3. Coulson and Stitch (Sorry I couldn’t come up with a more clever Hawaii-related title for this)
For Coulson, Skye, Trip and Fitz, the big game was set in Hawaii and Australia as they attempted to hack a satellite that would help them locate the city they’re looking for. It was a pretty well-done sequence all in all, proving that the show has finally gotten a grip on how to spin plates against what else was happening (Ward’s story, Whitehall’s origin, etc).
What was interesting about this to me, though, is that it once again put the emphasis on Coulson from the perspective of the other characters. My least favorite aspect of the first season was how everything hinged upon Coulson, how he was the only character given any sort of emphasis since he was the one we assumedly were all here to watch. This got better in the second season where Coulson somewhat went to the background, but last night Trip gave a whole speech about how Coulson is the most important character, the smartest, the sharpest, the one with the plan, etc. It was kind of weird to see Coulson come back into focus like this when the opening of the episode had Mac question his leadership in the wake of his freakout last episode.
Continued belowStill, Coulson did show some good leadership, and Fitz is back in the game, so that’s something.
4. Back to the Well
One of the most emotionally charged sequences last night was Ward confronting his brother Christian by bringing him back to the well where their traumatic experience took place as children. It was a big deal last season when it was revealed, and Ward’s relationship with his brother has been rather strained since (to say the least). However, with Ward loose and without morals in this season, this entire scenario was only ever going to end in one way — and that’s in fire and blood.
Interestingly enough, last night is perhaps the first time I’ve thought that Ward has any form of humility whatsoever. Ward is cold and calculating, but deep down there’s someone in there who wants some form of absolution — whether it’s because he has feelings for Skye or because he realizes that all of his life he has been manipulated by someone into doing their dirty work. Ward is a tragic character, for sure, though I still think he’s a prick and don’t like him very much.
Still, Ward is an interesting place by episode’s end, which brings us to…
5. The Enemy of My Enemy is My Enemy
The smartest thing that last night’s episode did was bring everyone together. Honestly, there were some great maneuvers overall, but this was the best: Coulson finally met the Doctor, Ward joined up with Whitehall, and we learned that the Doctor has a much deeper connection with Whitehall than perhaps Whitehall realizes (given that the young woman Whitehall vivisected was the Doctor’s wife, and Skye’s mother). Tension and tempers were running extremely hot last night as so many characters had to come face to face with their enemies, all leading to a rather clever line about the Doctor liking to look his enemy straight in the eye.
The short version of the story is that, at this point, everyone hates everyone and everyone is trying to kill or hurt or at least stop everyone else. SHIELD is of course rallying against Hydra, but within Hydra’s own ranks there are at least two agents that perhaps have their own plans to take them down. I made reference earlier to spinning plates, but SHIELD has a lot up in the air right now in a battle that spans almost a hundred years at this point, if not centuries given the role of the city. If this isn’t evidence that SHIELD has smartened up and given a much bigger emphasis towards the role the show plays in the MCU, then I don’t know what else could be.
