The other S.H.I.E.L.D- what everything has been building towards this half season, is an interesting concept that leaves me with some mixed feelings. It makes sense that an organization as vast a S.H.I.E.L.D would still have dedicated people beyond Coulson and his group and it also makes sense that a splinter group would be formed that opposed Coulson as the rightful leader, especially considering how many shenanigans he’s been involved with. What I’m not necessarily buying is that the fundamental ideological difference between the two S.H.I.E.L.Ds is that they disagree with the way Fury led; “he kept too many secrets” says the mustachioed Ed Olmos on the secret “SHIELD 2” carrier. Well, whether you have a conceptual issue with “secrets” or not, Fury saved the world big time, and Coulson sort of has too. Its a little thin as far as motivations go, if that had been left out and they had just focused on Coulson being unpredictable and so on I think they could have put a finer point on the issue. But it is all very interesting: these aren’t Hydra people for Team Coulson to defeat, this conflict will need to be faced in a way I can’t even predict.
Agent 33 and Ward make their first appearance since the mid-season and most of this episode is focused on their effort to replace her burned up face and reclaim Bakshi in a twisted effort to reclaim her identity and cope with the trauma that Hydra caused her. Ward is still a manipulative psychopath, thankfully, and his intentions with Agent 33 are unclear. While kidnapping Bakshi from Talbot’s facility, Talbot runs around screaming and waving his arms like Yosemite Sam. It was a strange, out of place, almost wacky performance that reminding me I’m watching prime time ABC, something I forget often during this show. I usually don’t mind Talbot but this was something else.
The decision to stash Skye for the time being was a good one, and the difficulty of making that decision was not under represented. The responsibility was and should have been Coulson’s, and it was good to see the two of them connecting in this fucked up time. I don’t assume she’ll be out of the game for very long, if even a full episode, but this was the most logical choice they could make for the time being.
As much as this episode felt like the start of things, it was a satisfying conclusion to the drawn out “Mac and Bobbi have a secret” plot. There are a lot of moving pieces now, and I’m as excited as ever to see how it all comes together.
Positives:
– The “Other” S.H.I.E.L.D finally revealed
– Ward is back
– Skye and Coulson
Negatives:
– “Other” S.H.I.E.L.Ds motive
– WTF Talbot