TV Review: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Season 2 Episode 13 “One of Us”

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EPISODE 13: "One of Us"

SYNOPSIS:  Cal seeks revenge on Coulson by assembling a team of Super Villains to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. Meanwhile, May calls on renowned Dr. Andrew Garner (Blair Underwood), her charismatic ex-husband, with a crisis that threatens to tear the team apart.

BREAKDOWN: (The following column contains MAJOR SPOILERS, so I don't recommend reading this if you haven't watched this episode).

Visiting Karla Faye Gideon (Drea De Matteo), a woman on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s gifted list, Cal convinces her to join his crew to show the world what is wrong with the fledgling organization.  Gideon is freed from her braces which prevented her from feeling anything with her fingers and reveals razor-like nails attached to the tips of each finger.

Back at S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson meets with Skye who has begun to control her powers.  She is confident that despite being put on the Gifted Index, she will be back in the field sooner than later.  Coulson then meets with May and they concur she must undergo a full psychological evaluation and threat assessment. They then decide they need to call in an expert, Dr. Andrew Garner.

Simmons and Bobbi discuss the similarities in Raina and Skye's DNA and that the Terrigen Mists activated something already inherent in their molecules. Simmons then confides in Bobbi that she no longer feels she can trust Fitz after he lied to her about Skye. At the same time, Bobbi gets a call from Mack who tells her about Hunter confronting him and insists he can clean up their mess without anyone finding out.

May tracks down Garner to see if he will help with Skye. Garner is upset that May did not call him back after S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed and demands limited monitoring if he comes aboard. Garner agrees and says he spent time with May's mother.  May says she understands as she never forgave her for divorcing him. At the same time, Cal and his team initiate a breakout of Brynmore Mental Hospital.

Garner and May arrive and get to work.  Couson asks Bobbi if she knows whether Hunter not checking in that morning had to do with him being offered a permanent role on the team, but Bobbi plays dumb.  The team learns of the break-in at Brynmore.  Skye meets with Garner, begrudgingly, due to her history of being in the foster care system. Coulson and Bobbi discover that Skye's dad was behind the breakout of David Angar, a man whose vocal chords can initiate instant catatonia.

As Fitz and Simmons gossip over Garner and May flirting, the entire base begins to shake as Skye's powers kick in while she has a nightmare.   Garner elects to stay with Skye.  Coulson and Bobbi track Cal and his group and try to figure out the motives behind their gathering together.  At a diner, Karla suggests they quit while they are ahead, but Cal says they cannot forget and must get revenge.  Coulson tries to get details regarding Hunter from Bobbi and she reveals she broke off their relationship.  Meanwhile, they get a hit on Cal's license plate and Coulson realizes they are in Manitawoc, Wisconsin.  Coulson says it is his hometown and Cal is trying to lure him there.

Garner presses Skye on what she was dreaming about and she reveals that her dream is about her fears of being put on the Index.  While they talk, the Bus takes off as May heads to back up Coulson.  In Wisconsin, Cal releases Angar who heads to the local football practice and knocks everyone out with his scream, including every bird in the sky.  Mack brings Hunter some pizza but Hunter doesn't fall for the good guy routine and demands to know what he and Bobbi are up to.  At the football field, Coulson and Bobbi wait for May while Cal calls them out over the PA system.

Coulson walks onto the football field and Cal demands that S.H.I.E.L.D. be held accountable for how they have treated exceptional humanity and to stop before they do the same thing to Skye.  May brings Skye out at gunpoint and threatens to kill her if Cal doesn't step down.  Cal says he doesn't believe they will hurt Skye and hands Angar the microphone to send the entire town into a coma.  But, before he can speak, an energy shield forms around Cal and the eyeless man who took Raina apppears and teleports away with him.  Shocked, Coulson quickly knocks out Angar while May sends Garner off with Skye to safety.  May goes one on one with the superstrong Francis whil Bobbi goes after Karla.  Coulson knocks out Wendell, but they all stop when Skye's power erupts.  Before a full earthquake can happen, Skye stops it, sending her body into a fit and knocking her out.

When Skye awakens, she is back on the Bus. Simmons is there and tells her that she wasn't stopping her powers but internalizing them, resulting in hundreds of micro-fractures and bruises inside her body.  Skye wants to know what she can do and no one has an answer.  Simmons suggests to Coulson that they split the term Gifted into two categories: one for man-made powers and one for those with inherent abilities.  Garner preps to leave and tells May he recommends that Skye leave S.H.I.E.L.D. to learn how to cope with her powers.  May asks if Garner would consult and he says no because S.H.I.E.L.D. has not changed but he has.

Mack blindfolds Hunter and takes him down a hallway.  He then reveals that he has been reporting to another group,an outlier of what Fury left behind.  When Hunter asks what group it is, Mack tells him it is S.H.I.E.L.D., but a different one.   The episode closes with Cal in a cell surrounded by broken chairs and confronts the eyeless man for not taking Skye as well.  The eyeless man says Cal has been making too much noise and does not consider him one of them since his powers are man-made.  Cal asks what will happen to him and he says that is not for him to decide.  Cal then leaves quietly.

MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE REFERENCES: A few Marvel Comics references like Angar and Karla Gideon, but nothing major.

REVIEW:  I am liking the fact that this show is no longer doing the Villain of the Week episodes they filled the first season with but rather telling individual stories that build on the story arcs and characters introduced through the entire season.  This week manages to further examine Skye's abilities and give her father something to do while giving us a crew of characters that draws the distinct line between two types of Marvel Cinematic Universe characters: those with man-made abilities and those with inherent gifts.  This distinction was popularized in the comics by heroes versus Mutants and now adds the Inhumans to that mix.  The eyeless man adds a level of mystery to the show that could build up to the big screen INHUMANS movie while still not revealing everything about the show.  I am a bit puzzled by the S.H.I.E.L.D. within S.H.I.E.L.D. subplot.  Could it actually be S.T.R.I.K.E. or S.W.O.R.D.?  HYDRA seems to have been swiftly excised from the plot, but we will likely find out more next week.  Another solid episode.  I beg those who have stopped watching to get back in since Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has never been this consistently good.

NEXT ON MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.:

Episode 13 "Love in the Time of HYDRA" (Airs March 24th) – Coulson and his team are still reeling from a shocking revelation that leaves the team fractured as they must decide what to do with one of their own. Meanwhile, Bobbi and Mack reveal their true allegiance to Hunter, while elsewhere, Ward and Agent 33 embark on a personal mission