This
week’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “The Asset,” featured more cool
gadgets, great stunts and fights, teambuilding, and humor, and had mad
scientists as an added bonus. The episode was written by Jed Whedon and
Maurissa Tancharoen and directed by Milan Cheylov.
The
episode opens on a trucker movin’ on down the road and we gradually see that he
may be carrying some illegal cargo. It’s not long before we learn that he’s
actually an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I thought this was an interesting way to draw
us into the action and play with our expectations a bit. No doubt agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
are highly trained not to take appearances for granted and we would do well to
abide by the same philosophy. What makes the ruse most interesting is a theme
that’s picked up in the rest of the episode and can be traced to the Ironman movies and The Avengers – and the comics: who is the good guy? Not everyone thinks of S.H.I.E.L.D. the giant conglomerate as the good guy. Hall (Ian Hart)
points out that S.H.I.E.L.D. is just as guilty of experimentation without
thought of consequences as Quinn (David Conrad) is. Certainly, the
multi-national is what The Rising Tide is fighting against just as the Occupy
movement is fighting against the one percent.
Appearances
are deceiving as far as Dr Hall is concerned too. It seems that he may have
bought into Quinn’s plan. Clark Gregg (Coulson) continues to get all the best
lines – and delivers each one flawlessly. When Hall refuses to be rescued,
Coulson deadpans that that was the one eventuality they hadn’t planned on. Of
course, the episode opens with Coulson holding the tiny version of the device
and declaring, “It’s something big.” Hall’s concern is to make things right and
he tells Coulson that he is “sworn to protect all mankind.” And of course we
hope that includes women-kind too.... Coulson points out that that is all S.H.I.E.L.D.
wants to do as well.
Skye,
(Chloe Bennet) meanwhile, embraces getting out into the field. Ward (Brett
Dalton) and the rest of the team – except Coulson – don’t believe she is ready,
even though she does impress them by hacking an invitation to Quinn’s exclusive
party. Ward doubts her loyalty and tells Coulson that she’s holding back and
isn’t fully committed. Of course, this sets us up as the audience to have the
same doubts. She seems to have the upper hand with Quinn at first. He makes an
offer which she seemingly can’t refuse and when she covertly tells him “S.H.I.E.L.D.
is listening” it seems that she may, in fact, be more interested in remaining
loyal to the Rising Tide than S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinn’s presentation paints S.H.I.E.L.D.
as one of the enemies to free speech, and his description of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s
recruiting profile – someone in trouble with the law, no family, and a special
skill set – seems to be pretty accurate. In the end, Skye proves her loyalty
and ends up defending S.H.I.E.L.D. and fully committing to the team.
Committing
to the team is another theme running throughout the episode. Ward trusts Skye
enough to share his own defining moment and then Skye mirrors this trust in a
later scene. This is certainly some of the best acting we’ve seen from both
Bennet and Dalton to date. We also see the team start to look out for each
other and rely on each other more. Ward is definitely concerned for Skye’s
safety and this is a big step for him as he is such a loner. Coulson, of
course, is brilliant to bring both of these loners together to form a team.
There
is a great dynamic forming between Coulson and May (Ming-Na Wen). May clearly
feels responsible for Coulson. He expertly draws out her commitment by not
asking her to go into the field on the mission. By the end of the episode, May
fully commits. Coulson’s struggles with the gun are curious and may be a clue.
When Coulson insists that he is quite capable of being in the field because he
saw lots of action with the Avengers, May replies, “Yeah. You died.” If there
is something suspicious about Coulson, he does still appear to be human – he
keeps getting beaten up and bleeding, so there’s that! I thought it was
hilarious that Coulson went into the field in his usual suit – maybe that’s his
secret weapon!
The
scene in the lab was fantastic – great special effects. I loved how carefully
Hall poured his drink. The scene between Coulson and Hall is very powerful.
Hall finally tells Coulson, “We have to live with the consequences and sometimes
die with them.” Gregg was particularly good in this scene as he takes a beat
before answering: Coulson is no doubt pondering his own decisions that lead to
his “death” in The Avengers. Coulson
replies, “I understand. You made a hard call – now I have to live with mine.”
Coulson proves himself a very worthy leader throughout the episode. He figures
out the organic matter that he can use to stop the machine (Hall’s body), he
joins the away team, and he manages each member of his team. Coulson buries the
device in every way possible – it’s locked in a bottom vault with no reference
number or record – because it’s what Hall would have wanted.
The
final “after credits” scene with Hall’s (presumably) hand reaching out of the
device was chilling and creepy. Fitz (Ian de Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth
Henstridge) really didn’t have a lot to do in this episode other than provide a
character reference for Dr Hall and provide some tech support. I think they
have the potential to be more than comic relief, however. I’m also wondering if
their particular skill sets will interact more with Skye’s affinity for computers
at some point.
What
did you think of this week’s episode? Do you like how the team dynamic is
developing? Quinn’s escape sets up a return for him. Would you like to see him
develop into a continuing nemesis for the team? Let me know your thoughts in the
comments below.
