After last week, I was ready to walk away from Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD and not look back. Somehow, it got back on track and actually moved the story forward with a fun, action-packed episode that created some new mysteries, all the while introducing a character from the comic books and a character from the Marvel Studios films to help give this show a MUCH NEEDED boost.
I hope that this is the turning of the corner, and not a sweeps-driven reprieve brought on by the need to tie the show into the box office hopes of Thor: The Dark World. Here’s to hoping that it’s the former.
1. What is it?
Agents of SHIELD Season 1, episode 7, titled ‘The Hub.’
2. Who’s in it?
The series regulars, Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Elizabeth Henstridge, and Iain De Caestecker. Guest starring this week is Saffron Burrows as Victoria Hand; Maximiliano Hernandez as Agent Jasper Sitwell; Steve DeCastro as Agent Shaw; Ilia Volok as Vladimir; Alison White as Marta.
3. Who made it?
‘The Hub’ was written by Rafe Judkins & Lauren LeFranc; the episode was directed by Bobby Roth.
4. What is it about? (**Spoilers Ahead**)
The episode opens with a hooded Coulson (Gregg) being dragged through a Siberian gulag for interrogation. The interrogator (DeCastro) happens to be a SHIELD agent and together, they are able to escape with the “intel,” that happens to be stored in Agent Shaw’s sinuses.
Next, The Bus is called into The Hub for a new mission briefing in regards to the recovered intelligence. The group is excited to be going back to what is essentially the SHIELD home base, and Coulson and May (Wen) have a meeting with Victoria Hand (Burrows) who explains that a separatist group in Eastern Europe has a new weapon called, “The Overkill,” that renders all weapons useless, and the separatists plan to use it t break free from Georgia and Russia. The unlikeliest of duos–Agent Ward (Dalton) and Fitz (de Caestecker)–who is tech savvy enough to identify and disable the weapon–are sent behind enemy lines. The mission’s endgame is that once the weapon is disabled, SHIELD will begin a full assault on the enemy base, eradicating the separatists.
Simmons (Henstridge) is worried about her partner and she teams with Skye (Bennet) to break rank and find out where Ward and Fitz are going. In the most secure place on the planet, these two people are able to find and hack into the system as Skye gets a few minutes with the system, but instead of looking for the intel on the mission, she searches through redacted files about her parents. She is busted by Coulson (again) just as she finds out the mission was designed with no exit strategy.
Ward and Fitz get into trouble in a Seville bar while trying to connect with a now-deceased contact of Ward’s, and eventually, Fitz is able to get both men across the border.
Skye, who did find the file on the mission before she was busted, learned that Ward and Fitz have no backup and no extraction plan, per SHIELD. She uses that in her defense as Coulson reprimands her yet again for, you know, treason. They have a philosophical discussion about protocol and intelligence levels.
Now at the separatist base, Ward and Fitz get the job done and the Overkill is dismantled. As the enemy bears down on the strike team, Ward realizes that they are left on their own.
Coulson confronts Hand on the non-extraction issue and they too have a philosophical discussion. Skye, May and Simmons plan to go get the boys and Coulson breaks rank by agreeing to go as well.
After they are cornered at the base by an army of armed separatists, and as SHIELD begins their assault, Fitz and Ward realize they are done for just as The Bus shows up in the nick of time to extract the heroes.
In the denouement, Fitz gets the much-deserved glory and bragging rights to Simmons. Skye and Coulson have a conversation about her parents and he tells her that he found the redacted file. He tells her that a SHIELD agent dropped Skye off at the orphanage. Skye is grateful.
Coulson and May have a conversation in which we learn that Skye’s parents may actually be dead–with photographic proof–and that both May and Coulson know more than they are letting on, and lastly, Coulson tries to request a file regarding his time in “Tahiti,” only to be denied, even though he is Level 8.
The episode ends with new mysteries, a newfound appreciation for not only Fitz as a character, but of Iain de Caestecker as an actor, and there seems to be a purpose for the show heading forward. Great episode and hopefully they can keep the momentum.
5. Any revelations, tie-ins, easter eggs, etc.?
Victoria Hand is an actual character from the comic books; mentions of Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff as top-tier SHIELD operatives; there is a veiled comment of how Coulson seems “a robot version of himself,” which will fuel the fire from fans that Coulson is actually a LMD (Life Model Decoy), and could possibly be classic Avenger’s character, The Vision, which would be pretty incredible.
6. Will we watch next week?
After what I considered a down week last week, SHIELD storms back with arguably its strongest episode to date. Great performances from the unlikeliest of actors (de Caestecker), and the introduction of Victoria Hand finally gives me something to get excited about. And with next week’s episode tying into Thor: The Dark World, maybe this show can build some momentum before the looming holiday break.
