While everything you need to know from Captain America: The Winter Soldier is covered within the episode (mostly), having seen the movie did add to my enjoyment of the episode. It also adds to my understanding of why the episodes were spread out in the way they were so this episode and the last episodes dovetail with the movie. It really is brilliant cross-platforming. My favorite easter egg from the movie has to be that Fitz (De Caestecker) is the one who invented the “mousehole.” It’s one of the best gags in the movie when the Winter Soldier appears to have Fury trapped only to discover this gaping hole.
The action picks up with some of the best music they’ve used yet on the show – more classic rock please! Garrett (Bill Paxton) is listening to “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult. The opening line is perfect: “All our times have come.” It’s the death of S.H.I.E.L.D. – at least as we’ve known it, and life is about to change for all the characters. It’s also a nice way to underscore that this episode represents a huge payoff for those watching the series – it’s all connected, and the time has come to show how.
We return to the standoff between May (Ming-Na Wen), Coulson (Clark Gregg), and Skye (Chloe Bennet). May continues to declare her innocence, telling them that Fury will tell them, but she can’t. She then casts doubts on Fitz because she may have had a dedicated line, but he was in the satellite wiring too. This assertion actually gives Coulson pause, and he turns his attention to Fitz, demanding to know what he was up to. Suddenly, no one trusts anyone. Fitz points out that he and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) know that Skye and Coulson have been keeping secrets of their own. Fitz confesses pretty quickly that he and Simmons have been trying to figure out what the drug was. He won’t open the door for Coulson, but he does for Skye. One thing that struck me in this scene was that May could have taken them out at any time – she’s the Cavalry after all! – but she doesn’t. This immediately made me trust her.
Garrett is being pursued by S.H.I.E.L.D. jets intent on taking him down so he comes to the Bus for protection. Coulson already has his hands full. This is a brilliant scene. We see Coulson weigh his options, with one look on Gregg’s incredibly expressive face, and then coolly and without warning ice May. I loved the shocked look on Skye and Fitz’s faces too! Coulson then locks an unconscious May up with Ward (Brett Dalton), telling him that she’s “a sleeper... the other kind of sleeper.” It’s one of those wonderfully funny, droll moments that help to give us a reprieve from the tension of the action, and Gregg is the master of delivery.
Once again, I loved seeing Coulson in an unexpected role as he becomes a gunner, saving Garrett with his superior shooting skills, and finishing with an understated, but heartfelt, “Boo-ya.” As soon as Garrett joins them on the bus, Coulson fills him in, telling him of their suspicions that Hand (Saffron Burrows) is the Clairvoyant because the Clairvoyant has to be a high level S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with security clearance – not psychic abilities. I found it interesting that Garrett defends her, but he has to maintain his cover until he’s safe to reveal himself. Skye decrypts the message and it says “Out of the shadows and into the light. HYDRA.” It is time for “death and destruction” to show itself – just as the song in the opening foreshadowed.
I loved the exchange between Garrett and Coulson over whether the hydra could regrow its head or legs – Paxton and Gregg play superbly off one another here. Coulson points out that they have no idea how deep HYDRA has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. or even who is in charge at the Hub. Another good reason for Garrett not to play his hand just yet and to suggest escaping by parachuting out of the plane rather than going to the Hub because they don’t know if it’s in friendly hands or not. Coulson says no, and Fitz insists they must save Simmons. It’s only after they mention Simmons that Garrett suddenly seems to remember that Triplett (BJ Britt) is there too.
I’m betting that Triplett is going to be our new specialist agent. The fact that Garrett didn’t care about him in this scene coupled with how violently he reacts to seeing Garrett after Garrett is exposed are good evidence that he’s not a HYDRA agent. In addition, we have the scenes with Simmons and Hand to help us believe that Triplett is a trustworthy guy like he says. I very much enjoyed the scenes between Britt and Henstridge. I loved when he told her she was a terrible liar. Of course the poignant moment comes right after that when she replies that she’s getting better at it, and it’s clear that this is not a skill that she wanted to acquire. I also liked that Triplett points out that he’s going out on a limb trusting Simmons because she’s the one who works for a “zombie-robot back from the dead”! We also learn through them that Agent Weaver (Christine Adams) and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy have been taken. Having all that technological brain power in HYDRA’s hands is no doubt going to spell big trouble going forward.
It’s Garrett who tells Coulson to let his specialists out of their cage because they’re going to need them to take the Hub. Coulson says it’s time to face the music even if it’s the HYDRA theme song – “Don’t Fear the Reaper” anyone? Coulson has May call through to Fury and they are told that he’s dead. Interestingly, Ward wonders if Fury is really dead, and Garrett is the one who points out that Fury has gotten out of a lot of tight spots.
The scene between May and Ward in lock up is an interesting one and got me thinking about a number of things. Ward wants details on May being an informant and plays the offended, deceived lover – he goes on the offensive to put May on the defensive. He tells May that she’s good – next level good – and brings up the fact that she’s always told him not to let his emotions get in the way. He says it as if she’s schooled him in this art, but the fact is, he’s the one who’s used her emotions to get the best of her. Regardless of what May says, she’s clearly hurt and a little jealous of the real object of his affections – which she believes to be Skye. She tells him that he let his emotions get the best of him and he killed the wrong guy for HER – meaning Skye. However, if you go back to “Yes Men,” no one ever says that the woman Ward really has feelings for is Skye – it’s simply assumed. It could just as easily be someone else – maybe Raina (Ruth Negga)?
As soon as May and Ward are released from lock up, Garrett grabs Ward and tells him that Hand is the Clairvoyant and to chew on that for a while. Garrett maintains eye contact with Ward the whole time. He’s clearly tipping him off that the team is on the wrong track and to keep his mouth shut.
Meanwhile, Coulson very ungently rips the bullet out of May’s arm, hurting her the way her betrayal has hurt him. May admits that she knew about T.A.H.I.T.I. and then drops the bomb that she is actually the one who assembled the team. She did it at Fury’s request and Fury then gave the parameters to Coulson. Coulson wants to know exactly what was needed and she tells him: someone to repair your body and brain and a specialist to put you down if necessary. I had to wonder if those parameters included names – who actually picked Fitz, Simmons, and most importantly, Ward? In the end, why have two specialists? Shouldn’t May have been able to put Coulson down if it came to it? But that’s the point. May tells Coulson that she did it to protect him. She wouldn’t have been able to put him down herself and she wanted to make sure it was a very last resort. The final scene in which Coulson lets May stay on the Bus but tells her that while he believes she is an ally, she’s no longer a friend was heartbreaking. Wen and Gregg have fantastic chemistry and are both powerful actors – both these scenes were outstanding.
In order to protect the information on the Bus before they abandon it, Skye transfers all the classified information to a hard drive, which she then gives to Ward. Crap! When they arrive at the Hub, Hand is still convinced that Coulson is HYDRA. Once again all of the events leading up to this moment are added up against him – it was a nice summary of the season so far, and the excellent weaving of story elements that we’ve been treated to! Hand tells Simmons that you can’t underestimate HYDRA agents – they hide in plain sight and they make us like them. They earn our trust and our sympathy. We go immediately from this scene to Ward and Skye hiding.
Ward does exactly what Hand has just described. He tells Skye that maybe he deserves to die because he just killed an innocent man – he seems tortured by it. He then recalls the moment in Dublin when Skye invited him for a drink. She tells him that she only wanted to talk, not sleep with him and she knows about May. She’s clearly thinking about more than talking now, however, and kisses him before he goes out to almost certain death – and one of the best fight scenes yet on the show.
Meanwhile, Garrett, May, Coulson, and Fitz infiltrate the Hub. Garrett immediately wants to kill Hand and Coulson is shocked that he wants to kill her without questioning her. He points out that last time they killed the wrong man – without him talking which is Garrett’s point here. Garrett knows just how to manipulate Coulson and tells him that it’s a fight for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s very soul. Coulson agrees and begins to point out the wrongness of murder without consideration. This got me thinking about Coulson’s name – Couls – Soul? Too much of a stretch to see Coulson himself as the soul of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Lady Sif refers to him as son of Coul...
Garrett eventually runs his mouth until Coulson catches him knowing that Raina had been in the machine – something Garrett couldn’t have known. Gregg is fantastic here too as we see the moment the penny drops – just in his eyes. He is just such a fantastically subtle actor. Coulson is also tormented by the fact that he lead Garrett right to the cure. This is also the moment the table seemingly turn and the HYDRA agents ruthlessly kill the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. A word about Paxton’s performance. Up until now he’s been the likeable, maybe not so smart, agent, but his turn here to a ruthless bad guy is great.
Fitz asks if Garrett is going to kill them. He points out that he could have done it any time, but he’s got a soft spot for Coulson. Doesn’t everyone? May wants to know how deep HYDRA is in S.H.I.E.L.D. and Garrett confirms it goes all the way to the top. Coulson can’t believe that Garrett believes in HYDRA’s mission of death and destruction. Garrett confesses that he doesn’t really believe in it but that he just joined the winning team. Up until this point, it hadn’t cost him anything because they’d all been S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the surface anyway. Garrett tries to get Coulson to join them, but was anyone surprised when Coulson’s reply was “I would die before serving HYDRA, you sick son of a bitch!” Garrett also confirms May’s allegiance – assuming we needed anymore confirmation – when he is going to kill her because he knows that she will follow Coulson to the grave.
Another brilliant moment between Gregg and Paxton is when Garrett denies having enjoyed having Coulson tortured. Garrett tells Coulson he’s just being honest and Coulson retorts, “No John, this is you being a psychopath!”
Garrett saves his final remarks for Fitz. De Caestecker delivers perhaps his best performance to date in the series, proving once again that while he may be called on to deliver the comic relief, he is equally adept at drama. We’ve been treated to seeing Fitz grow as a field agent over the course of the series. While he can’t stop the tears, Fitz is anything but a coward as he faces off against Garrett.
Garrett promises that Fitz can hold a high rank in HYDRA’s tech division if he volunteers, but if he doesn’t volunteer, he’ll still serve but he’ll have no rank and a lot of pain. Fitz tells Garrett that he’s going to suffer for what he’s done and he plans on being a big part of that. Garrett tells them to kill Coulson and May, but shoot Fitz in the kneecaps. Anybody else excited to see what Fitz does to Garrett?
Before they can shoot, Skye’s explosion goes off, Coulson releases May from her handcuffs and uses them to attack Garrett. May, of course, takes on the other four HYDRA agents while Fitz hides under a table. Fitz still manages to be a hero as he shoots and kills an agent before he can kill May. Another great fight scene!
Hand arrives and Simmons runs immediately into Fitz’s arms. Hand admits she knows everything because she’d been listening in. We learn that most of S.H.I.E.L.D. has fallen but Captain America has prevailed at Triskelion – so the episode ends with the end of the movie. We see Garrett walk by our team. As I mentioned earlier, Triplett loses it – remember that Garrett had his partner killed. Coulson pulls Ward aside to tell him. Ward apparently can’t believe it, but doesn’t have the same emotional reaction as Triplett. The most interesting thing about this scene is the look on Skye’s face as she watches Ward’s reaction. To me, her expression seemed like she didn’t quite believe Ward’s reaction. Is she, in fact, on to him? Remember how long she was a mole herself and her intuition about people. I wonder if she didn’t pick his pocket and take back the hard drive when she kissed him – or at least switch it out with an empty one.
Ward asks to go with Hand to deliver Garrett to the fridge because he wants to see him suffer. Coulson and Hand both agree. As Ward escorts Garrett and Hand, he looks at Coulson and nods. He also looks back at Coulson before getting on the plane. Ward’s face is then in shadow and Coulson really has no expression on his face. It’s been speculated that maybe Ward is now deep undercover as a double agent. It seems odd that Coulson would let him go, leaving his team down a specialist when they are spread incredibly thinly already. However, if he suspected Ward of being HYDRA, sending him almost ensures Hand’s death.
It seems hard to believe that Ward could be a double agent after killing 2 innocent agents and likely Hand. While we see her only take a shot to the body, while she’s down, Ward delivers two more shots – likely head shots. It’s an amazing twist, and I have to say that I’ll be sorry if Ward really does turn out to be a bad guy. Dalton delivers a great performance in this episode as well. He has me still not quite sure. The final scene in which Garrett starts telling his stories again and we see Ward totally unresponsive until he raises his head and they there is a look of pure murder in his eyes makes me wonder more. Is that look for Garrett? Or is that look because Ward is every bit the psychopath Garrett is?
Our final scene with the team has Coulson changing into a new suit and getting the team ready. May asks what he plans to do next, and Coulson answers simply, “Survive.” What did you think of the episode? Do you think Ward is HYDRA? Did you see all the twists and turns coming? Whose performance impressed you the most in this episode? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
