What a difference a season makes! This time last year, many wondered whether or not Agents of SHIELD would make it through a full season without being cancelled. Now, we can’t wait to see what happens next and Tuesday’s mid-season finale cements its place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Before I get to how SHIELD jump-starts a future cinematic project, let’s recap the episode, What They Became. Warning spoilers ahead…
After last week’s cliffhanger of ordering the Bus to be shot down, May was able to maneuver her way out of trouble with the help of the cloaking device. From this point on, the story refocuses itself as Team SHIELD and Team Hydra with Syke in tow, race to the underground city.
Speaking of Syke, she finally comes face to face with her father. The long awaited confrontation that revealed what so many of us had expected, the introduction of the Inhumans into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We learn that Syke’s real name is Daisy AKA Quake and her dad turns out to be Cal AKA Mr. Hyde. Now, I will admit that my knowledge of the Inhumans is limited but after the build up that Agents of SHIELD has been on, I’m sold on learning more and reading their backstories.
After learning their true identities in the grand scope of Marvel, we follow Team SHIELD as they forge ahead to try and stop Hydra from gaining access to the secret city under San Juan. Mockingbird and Hunter track down Hydra’s hideaway while Fitz, Agent Tripp and Simmons go on a rescue mission of sorts for their teammate, Mack. As for Coulson, he ends up shooting and killing Whitehall before Cal could avenge his wife’s murder. This doesn’t sit well with Cal and the scene itself feels a bit anticlimactic given the rising tension between Cal and Whitehall.
The payoff of the episode comes in the end when Skye chases after Raina to the center of the hidden city. Raina believes that placing the Diviner to its foretold location will unleash the power that she is convinced she and Skye possess. When she does, what we’ve been expecting and what had been hinted at for some time is finally realized, they’re both Inhumans. The tragedy of this revelation comes at the expense of Agent Tripp who in an attempt save Skye, turns to stone and eventually to ash.
In the end, this finale wasn’t the best I’ve seen but sometimes the real payoff comes from the sums of its parts. While I was hoping that the big bad of this first half, Daniel Whitehall would continue, the ending of Syke becoming Quake more than makes up for it. They set into motion a broader story arc that will go beyond the small screen and leap onto the big screen.
As always, we are left with more questions than actual answers. We have Agent Ward with faux-May going rouge. But more importantly, the final image of an eyeless man appears in the final frame. Surely, it will be another Inhuman. How it will fit the current storyline and beyond remains to be seen. I’m looking forward to SHIELD’s return in March.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
