OK, I know that in the beginning I wasn’t a huge fan – I mean lets be honest, it didn’t really seem to be going anywhere did it? – and there were parts in the middle where it seemed to lag also and was full of filler and fluff, but after the big Hydra reveal, I’ve been forced to take back everything bad I’ve ever thought, mentioned or stated about Agents of Shield.
I admit it, I was wrong – this series is awesome and I can only hope that they not only end Season 1 appropriately (I have faith Joss) but that they are able to keep up the momentum in Season 2 (I’m assuming that there is a Season 2 here) and not have a repeat of the debacle that Heroes was!
While Ward’s grand reveal as a HYDRA agent was several weeks ago now, this episode really focused in on him and more specifically on the relationship between him and Garrett. Stuffed full of flashbacks, this episode still had enough twists and turns to definitely satisfy but still left you wanting more.
Astonishing Tales #25 (Aug. 1974). Cover art by Rich Buckler and Klaus Janson. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Before we get into the recap of the episode, lets talk really quickly about all of the super cool gadgets and toys … I know that they showed the Corvette flying in the first episode (still the coolest part of that episode) and last week they utilized it further in effecting Skye’s escape from the clutches of Deathlok & Ward, however, this week it was all about the Howling Commando’s and their bag of tricks. You had the laser cigarette (a really funny scene with May and Fitz), the joy buzzer EMP and a whole suitcase full of gadgets that still need to get used – I can’t wait!
Recap
Starting with our first flashback of the episode, Garrett approaches a young Ward currently incarcerated in a juvenile facility. If you recall from last weeks episode, Ward told Skye how his brother had tortured him over the years, well it looks like the young Ward had decided to get revenge as he’d escaped from military school, stolen a car and then set fire to his own home with this brother inside it! Ward is now about to be charged as an adult for the attempted murder of his brother (by the way, I wonder if his brother is going to appear in any future issues?) but Garrett see’s something in his young apprentice and offers him a way out if he’ll join up. When Ward says yes, Garrett breaks him out of jail and starts his training with actions more reminiscent of the Spartans than what one would expect from a spy agency.
Coulson and the Scooby gang meanwhile are still holed up in their motel trying to understand why Deathlok has killed a HYDRA affiliated drug lord, and, in fact, killed him in such a spectacular fashion! Realizing that the only way they can get Skye’s magic USB stick loaded onto the HYDRA network is by finding a HYDRA computer, they decide to infiltrate Cybertek – the evil corporation with links to the Deathlok project. Coulson and May poses as a scientists with the assistance of Fitz and Simmons via walkie-talkie (leading to some really funny moments) while Skye and the rest of the team try to determine where the computers are stored in Cybertek. Surprise, surprise … there are no computers and Cybertek stores everything the old fashioned way (not sure if this makes too much sense unless this building is just a front for another location) on good old paper. Breaking into the filing room, Coulson and May discover that the Deathlok program goes all the way back to 1990 and Garrett was the first Deathlok – which explains the metal plate shown on his stomach a few episodes ago!
Flipping back to the baddies, Garrett has had Raina continue the research on the GH325 serum as he confesses to Ward that he’s actually dying. While the Deathlok components are functional his body is failing and right now the only thing keeping him alive is the Centipede serum. Coulson and team realize the same facts pretty quickly by reviewing the Cybertek files and pursue Garrett and Ward to Cuba where they suspect Garrett is holed up. While Fitz and Simmons are left at the airport, Coulson and the rest of the gang head out to where they think Garrett is, but, unfortunately, he’s already left and is in fact at the airport too. Fitz and Simmons are quickly captured by Ward, but Fitz manages to set off the hand held EMP device from Triplett’s grandfather’s Howling Commando bag of goodies, short-circuiting Garrett’s Deathlok components.
Garrett almost dead now orders Ward to kill Fitz and Simmons and while he’s gone to do that, has himself injected with the repurposed serum that Raina had managed to compile. Ward while obviously torn (flashback to his having to kill his own dog, but him not being able to do it) about the order, does comply and ejects Fitz and Simmons from the plane and into the ocean. Once Garrett has been injected with the serum he has a violent reaction but seems to recover and when Ward asks him what he’s feeling he responds – “The Universe”.
Ian Quinn now rehabilitated with Shield’s downfall is meeting with some generals in the USA and is offering them the chance to own their own “Super Soldiers” … Quinn’s playing up of Deathlok’s splashy drug lord murder, the existence of HYDRA and the downfall of Shield makes them seriously consider it.
While all of this is going on, Coulson and the rest of the gang not aware of what has happened to Fitz and Simmons have finally located a HYDRA computer … unfortunately just as Skye is about to plug in her USB key, they are confronted with a host of Caterpillar enhanced super soldiers as well as someone holding one of the Asgardian battle sticks …
I really can’t wait for the next episode!
