The Sharp … Talons(?) are teaming up to take revenge upon Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D. but how do they fare against a team of trained agents?
This is my review of episode 2×13 One of Us
(WARNING! There will be spoilers for the episode, and probably for Secret Warriors as well as I have theories I’d like to share)
I’m gonna be covering 4 areas: Cal’s villains team; Skye, May and Andrew Gardner; Bobbi and Mack conspiracy and The Inhumans
It was interesting seeing folks assume that the teams of powered up villains Cal put together was another batch of Inhumans, because they weren’t. As Simmons puts it later in the episode there are 2 types of gifted people, those who have been enhanced and experimented on (like those 4 rogues, Creel, even Cal himself) and those whose gifts are in their DNA like Raina or Skye.
I have to admit, the super team was a little disappointing, Levi seems like he could have been a good tech villain but didn’t have much to show for himself, Noche was just a stocky little bully that can bend metal bars, Gideon managed to hold herself reasonably well against Bobbi but she didn’t give out much of the villain vibe, as for Angar, yes he took out the whole stadium, and that freaky jaw was impressive but really it seems like he was really just there for show, which is a shame given the trouble they go through to free him up.
But at least Cal started to delve into the Mr Hyde formula. We still don’t know if he transforms as such or if he just gets crazy angry and get a bit stronger in the process but maybe we’ll find out later. Though I’m not quite sure how much more angry he’s likely to get at this stage. Come on dude, Hulk out already!
As a side note, I’m not sure if the location in Wisconsin being the place Coulson grew up in is significant but it feels like it should be, and yet I’m not seeing the relevance.
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We saw a softer side of May as she goes to ask her ex-husband, psychiatrist Andrew Gardner to help S.H.I.E.L.D with a psych evaluation. The little hints at intimacy were interesting, note that we never saw who was on that frame in his desk and I’m willing to bet it’s not a girlfriend but either a picture of May or their wedding picture.
I loved that Andrew managed to get Skye to open up by offering up tidbits of information regarding his marriage to May. He wasn’t just teasing Skye, but us at the same time.
I find it hard to believe that no one seems willing to explore the possibility that she should be trained to control and use her abilities. Instead we get yet more secret agendas where Coulson asks Simmons to find a way to neutralise her abilities. Simmons can be as mad at she likes with Fitz about hiding the truth from her, she’s still mad keen to crush the alien menace and I think that will play out against her further down the line. It will be interesting if they create a plot line where her rational thinking is somehow affected by the Chitauri virus she got last year. Speaking of Simmons and Fitz, interesting moment by the microwave like they fall back into old Fitzsimmons patterns but so full of innuendos you can’t help but thinking how ominous the dialogue is.
It is frustrating to see Skye / Daisy (whose last name no one seem to know is “Johnson” yet, so I wonder how she’ll acquire that) struggle with her powers when in the comics she can direct a micro-earthquake inside someone’s heart if she wants to but I’m sure we’ll get there eventually. I’m just not sure how much quaking the Playground can take before the whole place starts to tremble, or worse, be detected by seismographs.
Now that she’s been recommended to leave S.H.I.E.L.D. entirely there are questions on what happens next. She can’t possibly contemplate going to Cal for help, in my opinion there’s only one person who can help her and she’s been doing that since episode 1, and that’s Melinda May. Speaking of which, the Cavalry has been mentioned again and it occurred to me that “Cavalry” is an anagram from “Calvary”, perhaps it’s a coincidence but I have a feeling it’s not and the full story will be revealed in future episodes (and heck we might even see her mum again and find out which agency she’s working for)
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Let’s talk about “The Real S.H.I.E.L.D.” for a second. There’s one or two things that have been bothering me with regards to this conspiracy. Coulson notices that Hunter went AWOL and when he confronts Bobbi about it he seems to buy the poor excuse she’s giving him. Part of me wants to believe that Coulson knows better than that and has unspoken suspicions. After the Hydra incident, he’d be mad to blindly trust any agent that comes to work for him, no matter how good they are, especially when you remember how adamant he was that May was working against them last season. But maybe the whole issue with Skye is clouding too much of his judgement and he can’t seem to compartmentalise anymore. At any rate he hasn’t said anything about Mack being absent too, but then we know that this “real S.H.I.E.L.D.” is going to make their play next week anyway.
So what is this “real S.H.I.E.L.D.” anyway? It could be several things and here are just a few of my theories:
– The one I favour the most just now is a sub-section of loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents somehow fell under the influence of a Dr Faustus type of person where they were made to believe that the S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson is rebuilding is either not fit for purpose or somehow not following some core principles that they think should define the agency. They need Fury’s toolbox to have access to all the intelligence and secret bases that Coulson has access to. Of course this begs the question of who and why is behind all this. Who is likely to be Robert Gonzales and why … well there are a lot of dirty secrets in that toolbox I bet.
– I have another theory, which is a little harder to grasp but would be really cool if this turned out to be true. WARNING: Don’t read further if you don’t want any Secret Warriors spoilers.
What if there is another Nick Fury in the MCU? What if it’s the Original Nick Fury, the Howling Commando, the “white Nick Fury” if you like. What if he’s the one pulling the strings, including the Sam Jackson Fury’s, and have multiple versions of S.H.I.E.L.D. across the world, all independent of each other and each with a particular mission. This would tie in with part of the Secret Warriors storyline though the main difference is the secret teams in that story never went against one another.
We should get more answers next week as we meet more agents which have sided with this “real S.H.I.E.L.D” including Agent Weaver (The lady from the academy), Robert Gonzales, Agent Oliver and Agent Calderon (played by Kirk Acevedo, Fringe’s Charlie Francis).
Right now all bets are off, a S.H.I.E.L.D logo on a shield base is unusual, they’re usually on a round base. The only major design this reminds me of is Captain America’s old shield, which incidentally also bears 3 stars so it’s possible there’s a connection here. Perhaps we’re seeing an underground movement lead by Cap himself and a storyline which will lead directly to Civil War…
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Finally a quick word on the Inhumans. First of all I thought it was a bit convenient that Gordon shows up right in the middle of the showdown on the stadium to take Cal away but that aside he was taken for a reason and I can’t help but wonder if Jiaying is actually still alive. The MCU may not have Deadpool or wolverine but that’s not to say they can’t have a character who can regenerate her organs and her blood to come back to live just like those two can. If not, well perhaps we can hope to see someone from the Royal Family already like Karnak maybe?
Overall, not necessarily my favourite episode this side of season 2 but a lot of interesting plot points. this definitely felt like a transition episode before more shocking events next week and the week after.
What did you guys think of the episode?
ETA: sorry I have another theory and I gotta write it down before I forget. what is the answer is a simpler “we think Coulson is an opportunist” because they don’t realise that Fury is still alive?
I was thinking about my theory that Cap is the head of that “real S.H.I.E.L.D” but perhaps that’s involuntary. In Winter soldier when Cap and Hill infiltrate the Triskelion, people just assume Fury is dead and when Cap takes it upon himself to rally those loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. exposing Hydra in the process could it be that this is when their “real S.H.I.E.L.D. was born”?
Maybe they just think Coulson stole Fury’s toolbox. After all, he wasn’t acting very rationally at times early on in the season and only a handful know for sure that Fury isn’t dead (by my reckoning, Cap, Hill, the doctors that stiched him up, Koenig, Coulson, May, Simmons, Skye, Tripp and maybe Fitz). That’s not such a far fetched idea and would be a good set up for Fury to come back again.
