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EPISODE 6: "A Fractured House"
SYNOPSIS: The world turns against S.H.I.E.L.D. when Hydra impersonates them to attack The United Nations, and an unexpected enemy leads the charge to bring about their downfall.
BREAKDOWN: (The following column contains MAJOR SPOILERS, so I don't recommend reading this if you haven't watched this episode).
With today being the day that Marvel made the epic announcement for their Phase Three, it may be unfair to have larger than life expectations that tonight's episode would be a monumental moment for AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.. Still, with the five episodes to this point building on the mystery of Coulson's affliction and the identity of Skye's father, tonight should have been a big one. Now that the team is back together with Simmons and Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) in the fold, lets see what the Whedons have up their sleeves.
Opening with General Talbot preaching against S.H.I.E.L.D. at the United Nations, we see a band of mercenaries attack, armed with weapons enhanced with the power of the Obelisk. As Talbot tries to get away, the leader of the group says "S.H.I.E.L.D. is done hiding." Obviously we have a case of HYDRA wanting to discredit S.H.I.E.L.D. in the eyes of an untrusting world, right? Coulson and the team kick into gear to try and figure out how to get the situation under control.
Bobbi Morse reveals the assassin leading the attack is Marcus Scarlotti, better known in Marvel Comics as the first villain to use the name Whiplash. Coulson assigns each member their duties for the episode, forcing Morse and Hunter to work together. Their feuding-sexual-charged-exes routine is already old and has only been in effect for less than fifteen minutes of screen time this season. Still, the prospect of romantic entanglement amongst colleagues is par for the course in a Joss Whedon series, so I guess there was no avoiding it. At least Adrianne Palicki is soft on the eyes,
We also meet another antagonist in the form of Senator Christian Ward, Grant Ward's older brother, who hates S.H.I.E.L.D. even more than Talbot does. In fact, we start to see Talbot's animosity crack as he questions whether it was Coulson's organization that attacked the U.N.. But, Senator Ward vows to put S.H.I.E.L.D. down for good, so you know he means business. He even suggests forming a new multi-national police force to eliminate any remnant of the group. Could this be our first hint at CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR?
After a scene of Hunter and Morse being forcefully cordial, we learn that Melinda May was once married. Interesting tidbit that may come into play in a future episode. We also see Simmons work with Fitz to repair the HYDRA hard drive. Even she, his closest friend, seems exasperated by his mental challenges. Skye tries to get intel from Ward about his brother and when the topic switches to her father, Coulson shuts down their chat. All of these events are shown in the span of a few minutes as AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. has become adept at telling multiple storylines simultaneously.
Morse infiltrates an Okinawan weapons manufacturer, Toshiro, using her HYDRA cover which gives Hunter more fuel to be jealous as Morse appears to have had a romantic relationship with the Japanese contact. We learn the weapons are called Splinter Bombs, but HYDRA refers to them as Diviner DIsks, so named because of the formal title of the Obelisk. The team has to head to Belgium as HYDRA plans to take out the U.N. contact there.
Coulson meets with Senator Ward, teasing him about his speech, and tries to explain that HYDRA was responsible for the attack. But, the Senator is yet another single-minded villain who wants to generalize all enemies as a single foe to make it easier for the American people to digest. Coulson counters with the threat of exposing that the Senator's brother is a HYDRA operative. Coulson explains he knows about the well, the story we learned as Grant's major motivating back story last season, but Christian Ward retells the story in a different light.saying that Grant was responsible for the incident. The double-talk between the two Wards in an intriguing contrast. Coulson seems to have a plan based on the conversation.
The interesting nature of Ward and his obsession with Skye comes to a head when he tries to explain how Skye's father killed countless HYDRA agents when her mother was murdered. Ward begs Skye to let him out to take her to him and Skye does her best impression of Black Widow interrogating Loki from THE AVENGERS as she fakes tears only to reveal to Ward that he is being transferred to his brother's custody. Nice play which will guarantee the S.H.I.E..L.D. proposal at the U.N. is stopped, that is unless Scarlotti's team succeeds in killing the Belgian representative, Beckers. But, we also learn that the original bomb designer was named Beckers, too. What the what?
Turns out it was all a HYDRA ploy to make Belgium seem like a safe haven for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Beckers is HYDRA, which means Coulson has made yet another naive decision that would have him stripped of his Director title in an organization with more oversight. Seriously, for a passionate character who is a fan favorite, he makes some dumb choices from time to time. May, Morse, and Hunter arrive and take out the HYDRA crew. May gets a nice fight scene with Scarlotti who brings out some pretty killer whips. Morse gets to live up to her Mockingbird moniker and uses her trademark weapons.
As Coulson parades Ward out of his cell and the Senator gives a rousing speech about the sactity of life and freedom, Fitz, Simmons, Triplett, and Skye say their goodbyes to their former comrade. Meanwhile, Talbot takes Scarlotti and his surviving team into custody and shakes May's hand, a sign of their softening relationship and hopefully a positive one for the reborn S.H.I.E.L.D.. As he is being taken away. Ward dislocates his thumb and overtakes the guards in the transport van.
The stinger sequence shows us a man paying to finish a tattoo which turns out to be his entire torso and arms covered in the same alien symbols that Coulson has been drawing.
MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE REFERENCES:
Scarlotti is mentioned as having once tried to kill Clint Barton.
The Splinter Bombs are said to be based on a design from the 1930s from a scientist working for The Red Skull.
BEST LINE:
"I guess being a douchebag runs in the family" – Skye referring to Ward's older brother.
COOLEST SCENE:
Definitely the confrontation between S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA at the Belgian safe house as it was another well executed action sequence. The use of Scarlotti's whips as a nod to his comic book origin was a nice touch, but definitely seeing Adrianne Palicki go full Mockingbird was worth it alone.
DO WE (REALLY) KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO COULSON YET? OR WHAT SKYE'S ABILITIES ARE?
Nothing new this week, just a rehash of the old Skye origin story.
EPISODE CLEARANCE LEVEL: 7/10
This was a step up from last week as the team is given a meaty assignment that has long term implications for the series. While we didn't get much in the way of development for Coulson or Skye, we got a good wrinkle in Grant Ward's messy psyche as well as the slowly growing friendship between Talbot and Coulson's team. A solid episode in the grand scheme of things, even if it doesn't further the plot threads all that much.
NEXT ON MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.:
Episode 7 "The Writing on the Wall" (Airs November 11th) – The team discovers murder victims with the alien glyphs on them that Coulson’s been etching. All of Coulson's secrets and lies come to a head
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