Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S:02 E:12

Episode Title: Who You Really Are
Original Airdate: 3-19-15

I (Bubbawheat) am just here for one episode while Shah is off on vacation (lucky so and so) but he will be back to continue discussing the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. next week. After a great set up last week for the entire Inhumans-not-mutants situation, this brings in one of my favorite guest stars from last season Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif, but what it really does is focus on the inner workings of the team dynamics and how Skye’s change has shifted everything completely. This is one of the few superhero shows outside of Arrow that is not on its first season and so it’s more able to focus on the characters and team dynamics rather than all the world building that needs to be done on the other shows. Not only that, but the characters here already have gone through changes and arcs and are the farthest thing from one-dimensional. And besides all of the character interactions, there are also a small handful of important revelations in this episode that have far reaching consequences.

First off, the entire set up for the Inhumans is explored in this episode. From an outsider who knows a bit of the business aspects of everything, it’s fairly obvious that Marvel is playing up the Inhumans story line so that they can play down, or basically ignore the Mutants story line which is tied up with the rights owned by Fox and the X-Men. But having all this discussion in this series makes it an important lynch pin for the coming movies, as more and more metahumans, or Inhumans will be cropping up and this show is the genesis for all of that. It’s also a nice tie in with Lady Sif and the Asgardians, as well as a true reveal that it is indeed the Kree which are the initial cause behind the Inhumans which were initially going to be used as living weapons in a galactic war. And even though the Kree temple has been destroyed, there are several other obelisks that are missing which have the ability to create many many more Inhumans. There’s also the question of what role the Kree will play in the future, while there is a very combatative relationship between this specific Kree and Sif as well as the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. team, he implies that the current ruling class of Kree might actually be more benevolent, and just a bit weak on their people skills.

But beyond all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe seeds being planted on television, what I really enjoy about this show are the characters. And while I wasn’t initially on board with the changes that Fitz has gone through, he really has become much more of a complete character and one separate from Simmons (even though I have seen people on Twitter confusing the two still). Even though Simmons has become much more militant on the Inhuman front, she still hasn’t lost sight of what’s important and when it is revealed that Skye has been changed by her trip to the alien temple, she doesn’t immediately turn on her. There’s also something very curious going on between Mockingbird and Mack. There has been something suspicious going on between the two of them for a couple episodes, and the threat of Hydra has been lurking. But here, they do clearly reveal that they are working for some other group that isn’t fully in line with S.H.I.E.L.D, but they are clearly not working for Hydra either. So there is yet another mystery laid into the show that will likely have consequences that stretch outside of just this show, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it was tied into either Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, or both. It’s also being accelerated at least a bit, as Mack reveals his true willingness to get a little violent when Hunter starts asking too many of the wrong questions, and I wouldn’t be surprised if more is revealed about who Mockingbird and Mack are working with next week.

The real question is what’s going to happen with Skye. She has been more or less the focus of this show from day one, and it’s definitely building to something. As of now, she does have full support from a segment of the team, especially Coulson, May, and Fitz. I don’t forsee Skye being cured of her powers over the course of the show, but instead it will explore her powers and her ability to control them as well as what that means for the future of the new S.H.I.E.L.D. and I, for one, am completely on board with this. I think this was one of the best episodes of an already great season and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.