Six Thoughts on Agents of SHIELD’s “T.A.H.I.T.I.” [Review]

Agents of SHIELD is back, and so is our weekly look at the episode! Hooray! Didn’t you miss it? I know I missed our time together.

This week, we inevitably talk spoilers as the show gets into its #ItsAllConnected phase for the “Uprising” back-half of the season. Apparently this is where it gets good, so we’ll talk about some elements a bit more in-depth to see if it actually does get good.

Onward!

1. Our New Heroes

This episode introduces us to two new characters, Bill Paxton as John Garrett and BJ Britt as Agent Triplett. Both characters from Ward and Coulson’s past, Garrett is your stereotypical grizzled war vet and Triplett is your average cocky young gun, though both fit well into the show overall. They didn’t feel too forced, though they did stick out a bit.

I guess I just think it was strange how the show handled their introduction. Triplett seems like a character who could be interesting, but most of his lines particularly regarding Skye’s condition felt forced, or in the worst case just extremely out of place (“This girl’s a fighter.” Easy there, tiger, you just met and she’s in a coma). Garrett on the other hand seemed to be too relaxed; in many ways he sort of reminded me of a less Republican version of John Casey, and his willingness to let Coulson just stomp over his direct orders is incredibly suspect. Like, a whole bunch of fighter jets pull up around our team’s jet, and then they just… leave?

Which brings me to the question of if these characters are in fact genuine. I’ve come to understand that they’re both recurring characters, which is cool enough, and I’ve also seen a lot of theories already popping up on my various social media feeds assuming that either one or both of these characters are double agents of some kind. It’s highly possible, of course; the way these stories go, often times a villainous character is cast in the form of a hero so that the show can eventually shock the viewers with the Big Reveal. I wouldn’t really hedge my bets against either one of them being a double agent (though I’d lean more towards Garrett being the Clairvoyant, all things considered).

2. So, who did the Guest House belong to?

One of the new big mysteries this episode introduced was the GH facility, aka the Guest House. A facility that apparently does not belong to SHIELD, it’s where Coulson was brought back to life under mysterious pretext, the access of which only belongs to Level 10 Agents of SHIELD, like Nick Fury.

Of course, the facility not being a SHIELD facility is something that is frequently mentioned, to the point where it becomes perhaps a pivotal plot point within the episode. That SHIELD did not send Coulson to be revived in a facility they owned is a sticking point, and one that brings up the mystery: so, who did the Guest House belong to?

I’m probably speaking out of class here, but if I had to guess I think the biggest option would probably be Hydra. Why? Because the expendable character given to us was “Bob.”

Or, if we’re to assume that the show is finally tossing in easter eggs, the rather famous Bob, Agent of Hydra.

I don’t know if the Guest House actually belonged to Hydra. It wouldn’t be so horribly out of the realm of possibility for SHIELD to be colluding with Hydra, especially after Captain America found Hydra equipment in the Helicarrier in The Avengers. That and, as revealed in “Secret Warriors,” SHIELD owns Hydra. That would certainly make for an interesting development, though, as there are still many loose threads hanging around. Bringing Hydra back into the mix is certainly a way to actually create a Marvel Universe, right?

Or SWORD. I’d understand SWORD. That’d make a lot of sense (aliens + Whedon = SWORD).

3. TAHITI

I think one of the biggest mysteries of the episode is just what TAHITI stands for. As part of the GH facility, the secret TAHITI room houses the GH (which we’ll get to in a second), but we’re left with no great explanation as to what it means.

I looked around the internet for guesses, and the best one was on 4chan where one user suggested Technological Artificial Human Integration Transmission Interface. That honestly seems as good of a guess as any, particularly when we learn that inside the TAHITI room there is a strange body whose fluid is being siphoned to create some kind of magical elixir that helps stabilize and revive human beings.

Which brings up the question: what is the GH?

4. The GH

A point of contention for fans (as I’ve seen), many are wondering about the big GH reveal. GH was stated in the episode as “Guest House,” but when a body is shown and GH written on his tank door, I’d wager that the letters have a larger meanings beyond just one simple definition. Guest House seems largely convenient, after all. So does Growth Hormone, another strong contender.

But, considering the lack of definition around the body, we’re left with a lot of potential options for what he could be. Is he a Jotun? Possibly, though not likely; he lacks the scars. Is he Atlantean? Potentially; we haven’t seen that aspect of the Marvel Universe brought in yet, and it would be a good segue for Namor to be brought into the Marvel U.

But my guess? That was a Kree.

The Kree are involved with the Guardians film (Ronan is in the film, played by Lee Pace), they’re big, they’re blue — they’re Giant Humanoids. And if one were to crash land on Earth, you could certainly put it in a home that would belong to a type of guest. And mixing human and Kree DNA? That’s one of the biggest elements of Marvel around, like… oh, I don’t know, Captain Marvel? Or the Inhumans?

And, hey, aren’t Marvel doing a big promotional ramp-up with the inclusion of the Inhumans in their line of comics? What’s it called again? “Inhumanity,” a book where it turns out millions of people in the population are actually Inhuman?

OH, NOW I GET IT. #ITSALLCONNECTED

Up to and before this episode I’ve seen lots of speculation that Skye possibly has some kind of power set. I don’t think she’s going to oust Carol Danvers as a role, especially not with the popularity of the character at the moment and that rumor we heard, but we’ll certainly see where they’re going with this.

Edit: A rather strong theory I saw tossed out there was the name of Ultimate Captain Marvel, Geheneris Hala’son Mahrl Vehl. Certainly the blue ostensibly dead (in stasis?) alien being to which they are siphoning off some kind of life force that potentially empowers humans could be a variant of Captain Marvel.

5. And then there’s Lorelei

As the episode trails off, we’re given a short preview of what we’re in store for next week when Lorelei, the younger sister of Amora the Enchantress, comes to town. It’s short and sweet, if a bit unrelated to the rest of the episode (and, in turn, slightly off-putting), but I think it could be fun to see how the show handles actually dealing with a real Marvel villain for the duration of the episode, if a D-List one at that. We’ve certainly had villains and the birth of villains, but Lorelei being on the show is certainly something decidedly new to the show’s format.

Honestly, though, I’m just happy that this is an excuse to bring Jamie Alexander back, because I’ve really liked her in both Thor films and fully believe we need more Sif. High hopes for next week’s episode!

Finally,

6. A Short Review

So, now that I’ve gotten into all the fun speculatory parts of the article, I do just want to take the time to make a quick aside about the episode.

This was better. It really was. But the show is still pretty bad.

It was glacially paced with some very stiff performances, and the show is still putting too much emphasis on Coulson. Coulson used to be the only character we cared about, but honestly, his story has dragged on for so long at this point that every time I see Clark Gregg put on his “I’m sad because I have to remember sad things” actor face I just groan internally.

And there’s still a lot of silliness overall. The whole “LOOK AT OUR TECHNOLOGY” scene between Fitz and Simmons was a bit cheesy, though that seems like a petty argument against the show, and the slow motion running away from explosion scene at the end was just really poorly done. How the show doesn’t have a better budget is beyond me.

There are some interesting moments in the episode and some sneaky and potentially clever reveals, but if this episode of SHIELD proves anything, it’s that the showrunners are fully committed to the idea that you’re only going to care about the show because THERE WAS A PLAN and LOOK HOW CLEVER THE PLAN WAS and DID WE MENTION WE HAVE A PLAN BECAUSE WE TOTALLY DO YOU JUST DIDN’T BELIEVE US.

I guess that’s fine. In retrospect, watching SHIELD Season One when it’s all over may make for a more enjoyable experience. However, as someone who has to watch every episode and then think about it and formulate thoughts about it to share with the readers of the site while seeing other sites tout that SHIELD has finally become the show fans have wanted it to be, I find myself just wishing that it was Wednesday and I was watching Arrow instead.