Gonzales and Coulson must find a way to put their differences aside and work together against Hydra, even if it means teaming up with someone they don't trust.
Back when it first began, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was solely fan service to the massive Marvel movie franchises. It didn't exist as its own show. That lack of an identity kept it from becoming a great and necessary voice in the shared cinematic universe. It was fine just offering shout outs to the big screen characters who would never physically make appearances on the show. The agents and their stories were literally just about the clean up of the destruction caused during the grand set pieces of the movies. The show did connect the films together but not in a way that justified the cost of running a 22 episode per season show on ABC.All of that, of course, changed after Captain America: The Winter Soldier imploded the very agency that the entire show was centered around. The reveal of Hydra agents working amongst S.H.I.E.L.D. truly gave the show a direction that was genuinely exciting. It brought an intensity and an intrigue to the series in the final part of Season 1 and the first half of Season 2. In the 2015 episodes so far, the show has backed away from Hydra a little bit. It was done with the purpose of bringing a bigger spotlight on the Inhumans - who will get their very own Marvel film in a few years. That direction has been a little aimless with the additional civil war story between Phil Coulson and Robert Gonzalez feeling too similar to the Hydra plot a year ago.
And now, the show truly has returned to the stories it was telling in the early going. Existing solely as a prop to build up excitement for the big screen adventures of Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk and more. Everything else on the show is meaningless because the ending of "The Dirty Half Dozen" has to feature Coulson and Maria Hill talking about events that will lead into the plot of The Avengers: Age of Ultron. It's a disservice to this show which can be very entertaining when it wants to be but comes to a grinding halt whenever it has to serve the greater Marvel agenda.
"The Dirty Half Dozen" features the reunion of the initial team - Coulson, May, Ward, Skye, Fitz and Simmons - as they head into a covert operation to rescue Deathlok and Lincoln from Hydra experimentation. That is the big centerpiece. It showcases just how drastically different all of these people have become. May no longer trusts Coulson. Ward has turned against them all and now is just operating as a free agent. Skye has new powers which she can only somewhat control. Simmons has taken a very dark turn. And yet, all of it just feels like plot complication for the sake of keeping things complicated. Coulson is able to win over Gonzalez's trust in regards to this one mission by promising to open Fury's toolbox for him. Skye is able to leave Afterlife in order to save Lincoln without too much concern. Simmons actually plots to kill Ward but accidentally kills Bakshi instead. Too much is happening and not enough feels emotionally earned in a way that is true and simple to the characters.
It's easy to understand why no one on the team wants to trust Ward again. The bigger question is: why did they let him erupt into a monologue about missing being on this team while still not being remorseful for killing their fellow agents? He got that full speech out before anyone decided to speak up and refocus the team's energies back on the mission at hand. It just doesn't make any sense except for the brief thought of once again alluding to Ward maybe being redeeming in these characters' eyes. And yet, that is not going to happen. He's simply past that point and needs to operate as a rogue agent who Coulson, Skye and company have to rely on every once in awhile. That's what gives the character purpose now. Not all this false teasing about him being redeemable. That's just so mistrusting of the audience's intelligence.
Similarly, so much has been built up in the last few episodes about the fragile ecosystem of order in Afterlife - only for the secret about Skye and Cal's relationship to Jiaying be revealed and there being no repercussions whatsoever. What was the point then? To give Jiaying something to worry about especially when Raina may be gaining more popularity than her? That doesn't exactly track with the last few episodes. And yet, all of that is rendered meaningless because Skye asks to be reunited with the S.H.I.E.L.D. team in order to save Lincoln. Raina has a vision and suddenly it happens. The episode wanted the original team back together and worked extra hard to make it so. Granted it was all worth it to see the multiple action sequences - Coulson sacrificing the Bus in order to stage a stealth attack on the Hydra facility, Skye's one-shot battle where she relies on her combat skills and not her powers, etc. And yet, those few moments of action and excitement weren't enough to distract what the episode was really doing. It's great that another Marvel movie is debuting this weekend. And yet, that's the one thing holding Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. from truly embracing some kind of real and unique identity.
Some more thoughts:
- "The Dirty Half Dozen" was written by Brent Fletcher & Drew Z. Greenberg and directed by Kevin Tancharoen.
- The Real SHIELD stuff really hasn't worked all that well because it is deeply rooted in the idea that a spy agency shouldn't operate with the leader keeping secrets. Coulson was much more forthcoming than Fury ever once. And yet, Gonzalez still wants to do everything by vote which is silly and easy for Coulson and Maria to mock in the end before the big tease of the upcoming Avengers movie!!!!
- When was the last time Fitz struggled formulating his thoughts into words? Or was he too busy running covert operations with Coulson and Hunter to remember that speech impediment?
- Will Simmons have any kind of residual emotional issues for killing Bakski? She vowed to kill Ward and wanted to make good on the promise. But how does killing someone else effect her?
- Cal and Jiaying really are a mess right now, aren't they? Also wasn't one of the Inhumans missing a week ago? Whatever happened to that?
- Raina prophesying that the upcoming attack from Ultron will change the world was a little too much. It didn't have to happen in order to establish the power of her visions.
