Back when Coulson was mortally wounded in Avengers, he famously told Loki that the Asgardian trickster would lose because he lacked conviction. It may have just been a distracting taunt, but it was most likely true. Since his television rise from the grave via Tahiti, we’ve repeatedly seen Coulson as a devout believer. Be in the values of S.H.I.E.L.D. or the significance of the alien maps in his brain, Coulson knows the power of conviction, and he’d easily have seen through Loki’s falsehoods. So when the mk3 “George Lucas special” Coulson is finally reunited with his turncoat former team member Grant Ward, he may genuinely be afraid of what he finds. That’s because, as this episode shows, though Ward may be lacking a few colours in his emotional spectrum, conviction is most certainly not one them.
Purpose in the Machine – Coulson, Fitz and the team seek some other worldly advice on The Obelisk’s portal powers from one of their Asgardian acquaintances. Hunter stops by the AWOL Agent May as he embarks on his vengeance quest for Ward. A quest that might not be as easy since Ward’s “New Hydra” is growing in surprising strength.
No, neither Thor, Lady Sith nor anyone from the Asgard based films appears in this episode but you’ll likely be ok with that. The returning Asgardian is none other than Elliot Randolph from the previous saesons, played by the always awesome Peter MacNicol (Ghostbusters II, Ally MacBeal). He’s very quickly wonderful fun on screen as he tells stories of past portal hunting encounters or simply gets a little over excited about the investigation, “To the plane.... am I allowed to say that?”. Hopefully we’ll see more of him this season and his implied longstanding knowledge of Inhumans suggests he might have more to consult on. The story itself is a little weak in the way it leaps before it looks. The transition between Fitz having a life threatening breakdown by The Obelisk and all the team being on board with his mad theory is way too short. We understand his belief but it contradicts the characters of the others that they don’t take a bit more convincing. That said, once that hurdle is passed, it plays out in a good entertaining fashion. You can never go wrong with a nice old creepy castle setting and the old style contraption that brings along some cool steampunk vibes. Its biggest success is actually the most understated: how it utilises Daisy/Skye. Now, her powers are well-established, this is first time we’ve seen their use worked creatively into an episode. Instead of “Look at me, I can blast people”, this is the writers using her abilities as an innovative tool for her group contribution (just like how last season’s Flash was about Barry finding ever elaborate ways to use his speed rather than just running). The clear episode MVP is Fitz. Once more, his feelings for Simmons become his drive and this episode builds on the reckless behaviour shown last week into full blown acts of heroic stupidly. Iain De Caestecker plays it just right to make his stubbornness test his friends but not enough to drive them away. His final developments are also something many fans spent most of last season waiting for and looks set to bring great things going forward.
Our catch up with Grant Ward is a lot more rewarding than expected as we witness his progress rebuilding the fractured H.Y.D.R.A. into something formidable once more. This immediately draws great parallels to last season’s “Real Shield” faction storyline. Just as Robert Gonzales was trying to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. in remedy of what he believed was its biggest problem (heavy secrecy/compartmentalisation), so is Ward basing his organisation on a value he feels Hydra has lost? He’s not recruiting followers or hiring mercenaries, he’s creating believers. It really takes us back to classic WW2 image of H.Y.D.R.A. from Cap’s first time on the big screen. This is fantastically demonstrated in the opening car park scene as they all stand motionless and unflinching by the pillars as Ward carers round them like he’s auditioning for Furious 8. The moment they move all in together as one immediately conveys the strength and power of their unity and makes the likes of Jasper Sitwell look like a kitten with a Hydra flag stuck to its paw. The main target of his operations this episode delivers a great unseen twist as it shoots out another MCU connection thread. Ward himself has lost none of his on screen presence and really looks like he’ll flourish heading up this plotline. His fight on the boat gives us a nice snapshot of his mental state as he punches and kicks his way through half a dozen goons before pulling out his gun and shooting one just because they annoyed him.
The same can’t be said for our reunion with Agent May. Her catch up story of hanging out with her Dad is a letdown. We do find out some mildly interesting back story info on her like a childhood ice skating phase (pre-martial arts) but overall, her scenes with her father just aren’t that engaging. In many ways, it’s a relief when Hunter shows up as he literally risks his neck to rescue things. His comedy brings a much more balanced dynamic to their scenes and idea of them forming a double works well. You can just picture May swatting away all of Hunter’s quips with an unimpressed frown.
After the season premier’s big introduction and hints towards the biggest themes of the year, this follow up successfully launches several smaller plots and character arcs into motion while still delivering an entertaining episode. Although it sees one door closing, we can be fairly sure others will be opened now that the show has established such “long distance” travel is possible, and the potential implications of that are limitlessly awesome (Shield SG1 anyone?). Although the Secret Warriors gets a Peter Griffin “They said the name of the thing!” name check, it looks like it will be a while (hopefully not too drawn out) before we see a full team in the field. Overall, Agents continues its strong start to what’s already looking like its best season yet.