“Turn, Turn, Turn” is a very clever title when it comes to the recent revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. has some major HYDRA problems going on, within. Another song that comes to mind, Dylan’s “Times they are a Changin“. We were promised changes, we were promised something shocking enough that we were told to watch the episode live, and we got it alright. When that scene came around, I found out that I was right all along, though I hoped not to be. If you haven’t watched the episode, read no further. Go downloaded it, do what you need to do. I’ll be waiting.
So maybe I was wrong about the Clairvoyant, maybe everyone was making it more complicated than it needed to be. I do think that it is wasted opportunity to introduce a familiar face from the Marvel stable, but so much has happened with the events of Cap 2, that this concept has been kind of swept under the carpet. I’m not totally positive that the identity has been reveal yet, as so much happened on last night’s episode that this plot point has taken a backseat. But I think that there has been too many eggs put into that basket not to have it pay off. I was actually very surprised to see John Garrett become a villain, especially after rocking out to some Blue Oyster Cult at the beginning of the episode. It was kind of funny to hear the whole “red herring” reference when the show has been throwing them at us for weeks! This was the one turn that I didn’t expect and kind of didn’t want to see happen. It has been nice to have Paxton’s character on the show, he will still have major role to play in the final run here, but I hope that he is kept alive and keeps up his appearances, even if they are as a villain.
But even after my speculation that Ward was a HYDRA agent, his turn at the end of the episode is alarming and still almost unexpected, mostly. Ward spends so much of this episode convincing his team, and the audience, that he is not a traitor, even allowing May to take the blame when Coulson starts asking. We learn that May has been in contact with Fury the whole time and has been acting as his eyes and ears on Coulson’s team. To make things worse, Ward, at one point in the episode, is trying to sell himself to Skye about how he killed the fake Clairvoyant to protect her, they even go as far to express their feelings for each other, and they EVEN KISS. What I am getting at here is the fact that the writers did a great job hiding the plot point of this whole HYDRA uprising arc, and Ward’s turn will go down as one of those TV moments I will always remember. It’s crazy to think that Victoria Hand was a character the show was willing to just kill off like that, insane. The only thing I can see happening that would turn this all around is that Ward didn’t really shoot Hand and the other agents with “real bullets”, and that Coulson “knew” about all of this prior to the uprising. Maybe Ward is working as a double agent! I just feel that the show has been building the Ward relationship with all of the characters on the team a little too much to have this be his ultimate fate. I guess we will have to see, the promo for next week’s episode wants us to still believe that he may be a good guy.
My favorite part of this whole Uprising bit? The biggest villain(s) they have linked to the whole storyline have been Zola and Crossbones. I read an article yesterday that talked about why it was a good thing that Robert Redford’s Alexander Pierce did not end up being the Red Skull. How, if this were to have happened, it would have been campy and taken away from the rest of the film. I agree totally with this. When you think about what made Cap 2 so good was how you were trying to guess who the bad guys were, the idea of the paranoid political thriller was captured perfectly. This was translated so well into Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it was great to be SO excited to watch last night’s episode. This is exactly what fans of the show and comics have been waiting for, better cohesiveness between the two, and just the feeling that the show actually exists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Where does this leave our team? Well at least for next week, the fallout of Ward’s betrayal will be the main focus, but by the time the show wraps up season 1, where will it be leading us for season 2? I have been speculating that we will see an underground team take form, like Secret Avengers or Secret Warriors. There is always so much “secrecy” going on with these people! What does Patton Oswalt have to do with all of this?! Find out next week!
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episode 18 “Providence“
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Tuesdays at 8pmEST on ABC!
~CynicNerd
