Agents of SHIELD -Season 2, Episode 7 – The Writing on the Wall – Recap

We open on scenic Rhinebeck, NY. A brownstone. Nay, a scenic brownstone. A giddy couple walks in. Hey, the guy is the tattooed dude from the end of last week’s episode…and his girllfriend? Nope, just some girl he picked up at the bar. Go on, player. It’s her place. She pours some wine. She knows him from somewhere but can’t figure out how. “I do some carving every now and then.” What kind of answer is that? She seems ready to marry this dude after just meeting him. Watch that aggression girl; you’re just going to drive him off. He shows her his tattoo. Then he pulls out a knife. Lesson learned: don’t bring strange men home from bars. When he shows her his tattoos,  she recognizes the shapes. Huh. Interesting.

 Back at his secret SHIELD base, Coulson is listening to hot jazz and carving in the wall. Actually, I’m not sure if the jazz is hot. It definitely is uptempo. What makes jazz hot? Skye’s not a jazz fan, hot or otherwise. Skye and May are tagteaming watching Coulson as he carves. It’s Skye’s turn. I know Skye said the carvings form a map, but it looks like a decision tree to me. Coulson is carving more and more. He’s not in control of it. He can’t sleep. It’s just carve, carve, carve. It’s definitely taking a toll on him.
May is hunting Ward. She’s airborne. Ward is in Philly. Trip spotted him. They’re in the bus terminal. Ward takes a bag full of passports, phone and cash from a locker. If Hollywood would have you believe anything, it’s that almost every bus station locker is a vault of hidden treasure and homeless mens’ underwear. Coulson orders Trip to bring Ward in by any means necessary. One problem: Ward’s already made Trip and flashes the C4 strapped to his waist. They’re going to keep their distance and follow the bus.
One of Skye’s hacker pals found something. It’s the dead body of Tattooed Guy’s girl. He carved into her body. She’s a SHIELD agent. Well, she was a SHIELD agent. Huh. Janice Robbins. Art teacher by day, SHIELD agent by night. Well, dead SHIED agent by night.
Coulson and Skye sneak into Jancie’s apartment like they’re on Dr. House’s team looking for clues. Skye doesn’t buy that this lady was an agent. She says this lady and Coulson have nothing in common, until they go into her studio. It’s filled with paintings of the carvings. Dun dun dun!
agents of shield the writing on the wall symbol paintings
Coulson lays out all the paintings. There is a lot of overlap with what he was carving. She was Agent Rebecca Stevens, Level 6 SHIELD agent at the Trisklellion…except she died 5 years ago of cancer. Dun dun dun!
Mac and Fitz retrieve Stevens’s body by walking into the morgue and grabbing it. They basically used the “walk in and act like you own the place approach.” Apparently it works in morgues just as well as it does weddings and private dinner parties. Good to know…I guess. Simmons does the autopsy. Side note: I’m so happy Simmons is back.
agents of shield the writing on the wall ward on a bus
Bobbie is at the next buys stop, which is Atlanta. Ward offers to help a mom and her kid with their bags. They’re both on his bus to Dallas. Ward doesn’t sit with them, but does sit with Bobbie in the back of the bus. She gets flirty with him. Ward makes her immediately. She plays the denial game well until he pulls out his deadman switch and threaten to blow the bus if she tries anything. Ward jumps on the bus to Boston. He doesn’t spot Hunter in Garth Brooks hat. Ha, take that Ward.
Simmons talks about the murder. It’s grisly. There was GH325 in Stevens’s blood, and it was in the killer’s as well. Coulson denies suffering from hypographia, which is the need to write incessantly. Coulson opens up a secret chamber. He wants Skye and Simmons to torture the secrets of the serum out of him…huh…wha? Simmons straps an iPhone to Coulson’s chest and plugs him into the memory machine from last season. For those of you who missed the tail end of last season, the machine helps Coulson retrieve his memories. Mac is there to hold Coulson down while he’s using the machine. It’s not a pleasant experience, this memory machine.
CHLOE BENNET, CLARK GREGG
Coulson remembers….he’s at the guest house, in the interview room. He’s alone. In front of him is Stevens’s file folder. She appears before him. This is some Twin Peaks type shit. She’s post-TAHITI. She feels great. Whoa, there were others, including the Tattooed Guy. They all say they fell great. There are six TAHITI test subjects altogether.  He recommends the immediate release of all 6 patients. And then Stevens starts maniacally carving. They’re all going crazy in front of him….except the Tattooed Guy. He’s normal. If I know anything, the most normal looking guy is always the craziest…oh right, we already saw him carve up a woman earlier this episode. Coulson wants to shut down the program and destroy the dead alien. The dead alien is thousands of years old. The doctor in charge doesn’t want to stop. She thinks the alien host is inserting memories in them. She suggests wiping all their memories, saying that the subjects will be able to live normal lives. Tattooed Guy gets the Coulson brain surgery.
Up in Boston, and back in the present, Ward stop by pub. The bartender offers him a columbian necktie or a bullet in the head. Ward chooses a bullet in the head on the rocks. It surprisingly does not involve Bulliet Bourbon. Bakshi and some Hydra agents show up. They’re there for Ward. So this is a Hydra bar? Ward says, “Since Strucker is overseas, I assume you report to someone else.” For those of you who don’t know, Baron Von Strucker is a classic Nick Fury and SHIELD villain. He’s one of bad guys in the comics most associated with Hydra. AND, he’s the guy who had Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver held captive at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Ward tells Bakshi that he will kill Coulson if Bakshi introduce him to Whitehall.
Two of the six TAHITI patients are still alive.
In Coulson’s mind, we find out that Tattooed Guy was carving into himself when he was locked up. Coulson imagines Tattooed Guy becoming Coulson. Coulson is losing it. They finally pull Coulson out. He’s screaming “I need to know.” Me too, Phil. Me too.
May is pissed that Coulson went int he machine. Coulson is a maniac. Skye pulls a gun on him after he shoves Simmons. May wants Coulson locked up. Coulson agreees. Skye takes Coulson down to Ward’s old cell, but Coulson gets the drop on her, throws her in the cell and runs out. Oh Skye…
The other alive TAHITI guy is living in the burbs. He has made a very elaborate train set for his son in his basement. It is awesome, and I’m guessing looks like the symbols when seen from above. His wife says he has a visitor. Uh oh.
Mac and Fitz are plaing some first person shooters. Mac wants Fitz to play to help Fitz’s hand-eye coordination. Fitz says brains don’t delete files, just connections. This means that good ol’ Fitz is somewhere in there! Hook him up to Coulson’s memory machine! Wait, don’t do that.
Apparently the guys didn’t notice that Skye is on the video monitor waving to them from the jail.
Back in the burbs, the guy at the door is Coulson. Coulson pulls a gun on the dude. Oh, Coulson, that’s not how you make a first impression. When asked, the guy says he’s never seen the symbols. He says’ I told you both, you’ve go the wrong guy. Wait, what other guy? Then Tattooed Guy smacks Coulson the head.
May, Bobbie, Hunter and Trip are gearing up in the back of a van. They storm the bar. Everyone in the bar is dead. Ward isn’t there, neither is Bakshi. Someone is strapped to a chair int he back room, covered in  a head towel. May pulls the hood off. It’s Bakshi, in Ward’s clothes. Wait, then what is Ward wearing? It would be funny if Ward chose this moment to become a streaker. Bakshi’s mouth is taped closed. On the tape is written “For Coulson.” This is why you make a Christmas list, people! Who wants a Bakshi as a gift?
agents of shield the writing on the wall bakshi for coulson
Tattoed Guy has everyone bound. He’s ready to carve into Coulson. He’s pissed at Coulson for erasing his memories. Keep talking and Coulson can work his way free. Then TG tells Coulson that pain helped him remember. He slices both of Coulson’s arms. He says he came for Coulson first, but Coulson was already dead. TG works out that Coulson is resurrected the same way he was…the TAHITI method. Tattooed Guy shows off his tattoo. “What does it mean?” he asks Coulson, but Coulson says he doesn’t know, and that’ he’s trying to find out too. Coulson looks at the train set and realizes the symbols aren’t a 2D drawing. Now if only he could untie himself and do something with that information.
JOEL GRETSCH, BRIAN VAN HOLT
Oh wait, it’s the other guy, not Coulson, who has been working his way free. TG slices Coulson’s chest as the other guy frees his family. TG throws the knife at that dude’s head. He catches it. Maybe you can’t fully erase memories. He throws the knife at Coulson’s rope, freeing him.
Skye explains Tahitti to Mac, and anyone who missed the end of last season, as they drive to Coulson. The other TAHITI survivor flags them down. He says two guys are trying to kill each other at his place. TG chases Coulson up a flight of stairs. He’s totally looney toons. Coulson tries strangling him. He forces TG to look at the train set. Mac is going to shoot Coulson if she doesn’t let TG go. Coulson needs him to look. As Mac counts three, Coulson lets go, and TG opens his eyes. He’s relieved. They all are. From above, the train set is a huge blueprint of a city. Attilan?
For those of you who didn’t grow up reading Marvel comics, Attilan is the home of the Inhumans, a superpowered offshoot of humanity created by the alien Kree. The Kree are blue skinned, just like the dead TAHITI alien.
Coulson gives Hank Thompson/Cameron Klein (the other TAHITI survivor) his file and offers him a spot in SHIELD. Thompson declines. He likes his family too much to give them up.
Tattooed Guy, aka Sebastian Derrick, is turned over to the authorities. Oh right, he’s a murderer.
Coulson says he has no compulsion to carve anymore. Now he needs to figure out where this city is. Oo, oo, check the Himalyas!
On the plus side, Coulson and company have Batshi in their cell and access to Bakshi’s cell phone.
Coulson briefs the team about the carvings and his freak outs. Coulson has a 3D map of the symbols. He tells them, “Our job, find it before anyone else.”
Ward puts on a  record and checks himself out in the mirror. He shaves the evilness off his face. His beard that is. And gives himself a haircut. Bill Withers Who is He? (And what is He to You)” plays on the radio. Skye is listening to the same record. Side note: you should all listen to Bill Withers. The man is amazing. Bakshi’s phone gets a call. Skye answers “Hail Hydra.” It’s Ward. He wanted to make sure Coulson got his gift. Ward is in a suit. He cleans up nice. He’s in DC. Washington, that is, not Marvel’s competition and home to Batman and Superman. Ward off to visit his brother Christian.
agents of shield the writing on the wall shaved ward
THE END

Agents of SHIELD – S1E20 – Nothing Personal – Recap

I have to say, I really like the synergy that Agents of SHIELD and Captain America: The Winter Soldier have together. Having the story from Captain America: The Winter Soldier tie in so much with the last quarter season of Agents of SHIELD has been wonderful.

nothing personal art of level 7

Nothing Personal by Stephanie Hans (Art of Level 7)

Colbie Smulders guest stars in this episode, reprising her role as Fury’s second-in-command Maria Hill, who when we saw her last at the end of Winter Soldier was taking a job with Tony Stark. Hill is still at Stark. When we catch up to her this episode, she’s heading to her car, and making every agent trailing her along the way. She soon realizes that those agents she made have all been waylaid. For a moment, I thought Blackout had returned from last episode, but it’s quickly revealed to May whose behind the agents being taken out. May quickly explains what’s going on with Coulson and company.

maria hill s1e20

Speaking of Coulson, FitSimmons and Triplett, they’re very surprised when they return to Fury’s secret base only to find everyone gone. They review the tapes and see that May left first heading one way and then Skye and Ward left with the Bus heading the other way. But where is Koenig? FitzSimmons discover the answer to that question, as Fitz finds the “WARD IS HYDRA” scrawled on one of Koenig’s exterior mood photos just as Simmons finds Koenig’s body.

Fitz cannot bring himself to believe that Ward is Hyrdra. He bonded with Ward a lot when they went in the field together. He wants to believe Ward is still a good guy, to the point of questioning what they know about Triplett when Triplett tries calming Fitz down. Fitz makes his way through all five stages of grief fairly quickly, and focuses his anger at Ward in a positive direction, namely getting Skye back.

Speaking of Skye, she and Ward head to the diner where she first met Mike Peterson in the pilot episode. Skye claims that’s where the geolock on the drive can be opened. It’s interesting watching their conversations. On the one hand, it feels like it should be painfully obvious to Ward that Skye is onto her and to Skye that Ward knows she’s onto him, so the diner scene comes off like neither of them wanting to acknowledge it, though Skye sure does get close.

Up north at Fury’s base, Nathan from Heroes , Talbot arrives to arrest Coulson and company just as they’re about to take off to rescue Skye. Coulson gets the best line when he asks Talbot if his men are going to shoot him, because if they are, he’s not going to come out. How’d Talbot and the army find Coulson? Maria Hill led them there as part of her deal. Nice job, Hill. To Hill’s credit, once it’s revealed that Talbot is not going to go lightly on Coulson and his agents, Hill helps them escape. Man, Colbie Smulders is really good at fight scenes. Now that How I Met Your Mother has ended, I hope she becomes a regular fixture on this show.

In LA, Skye makes her move. The diner is filling up with cops, fast. Ward notices. Skye plays dumb, but then reveals that she alerted them to Ward’s presence and fugitive status on her laptop. Skye’s been playing Ward the whole time, as the geolock for the drive wasn’t this diner. I really liked when Skye called Ward a Nazi, and then backed it up by pointing out that Hydra was founded by the Red Skull, a Nazi. In the ensuing melee with the police, Skye bolts. Now hold on a second. Aren’t the LAPD a little more trigger happy than the cops shown here? Ward is taking out a room full of cops and none of them shoot him in even the leg? Come on…

Skye steals a police car. Just when she thinks she’s free, Deathlok literally drops in her. Ward and Deathlok return Skye to the Bus. Skye is ready to not tell them anything, until Deathlok induces a heart attack in Ward. Seeing Ward dying gets Skye to talk. Skye tells them that geolock has nothing to do with latitude or longitude, it’s all about altitude. I feel a Jimmy Buffet song coming on…

Actually, can we talk about Deathlok for a minute? I can’t figure this guy out. I get that Garrett is giving him commands in his eyeball all day, but he talks like he’s really into what he’s doing. I just don’t get Mike Peterson these days. There doesn’t seem to be any hesitation in him going along with the villains. I get that he wants to keep his son safe from harm, but you’d like there would be more internal dilemma here. Sure, Garrett is giving Mike commands, and sees through Mike’s eyes, but he can’t see if Mike were to gesture frantically at people or mouth something to them. I’d really love to get an episode told solely from Deathlok’s POV one day, or half told from the Agents’ POV and the other half showing the same events from Deathlok’s POV.

J. AUGUST RICHARDS, CHLOE BENNET

Hill, Coulson and company block their take-off, sort of. The bus can take off vertically, but Hill does threaten to blow them out of the sky if they take off. It’s a Mexican standoff, but Ward gets Hill to blink first, or so Ward thinks. Hill lets him take off, but this was all a distraction so that Coulson could sneak onto the Bus through the landing gear.

Once on the Bus, Coulson finds Skye, who ask him what his plan is for dealing with Deathlok. Coulson’s reaction? “Deathlok’s here?” Deathlok’s here. Coulson and Skye flee to the hanger and jump in Lola. Ward and Deathlok catch up to them and start firing. Ward is definitely trying to take off Coulson’s head. Coulson manages to open the cargo bay door and drop Lola from the Bus. Unfortunately, Lola’s thrusters are all out of whack from being shot at by Coulson and Deathlok. Skye almost goes flying out. Coulson: “I told you to buckle up!” Coulson is the best. Coulson manages to right Lola enough to drop it perfectly in a tight parallel parking spot near the valet outside the Ritz Carlton. Skye’s hair is hilarious, as is the valet nonchalantly asking them for $20. I really wish Rob Huebel played the valet in this scene, even if it was just for one line. Yes, yes, I know we already saw Huebel in the series in a previous episode. I just like the guy so much.

Skye’s free. Coulson has the team back together…yeah, minus Ward, but what can you do? Unfortunately, Maria Hill goes back to Stark. Coulson tells her to say hi for him, but then remembers that Stark still thinks Coulson is dead.

At the end of the episode, May lets a bombshell drop. She shows Coulson the video of who was in charge of TAHITI. It was Coulson! Coulson obviously has no recollection of this, but in the video, he advises Fury to shut down TAHITI. The program was initially devised for bringing back any of the Avengers if they should fall, but Coulson warned that the test subjects are too unstable. Huh, Coulson was in charge of TAHITI, and Fury used it to bring back Coulson even though Coulson warned him against using it. I feel like Coulson can still be mad at Fury if he wants to be.

Comic Book Connection:

Early in the episode, Maria Hill says, “I don’t know even know what a Man-Thing is.” Lucky for you, I do! Man-Thing is a Marvel comic book character created int he 1970s. It lives in the swamps of the Florida Everglades. Think Swamp Thing, but creepier looking…and less interesting. Unlike Swamp Thing, Man-Thing never speaks, making his stories a bit on the dull side in my opinion. Also unlike Swamp Thing, anything that knows fear burns at Man-Thing’s touch, like literally bursts into flames. There aren’t many things that don’t freak out when a giant swamp creature ambles in their direction.

man thing 1 cover

 

Agents of SHIELD – S1E14 – Tahiti – Recap

It’s been almost a month since we had a new episode, but Agents of SHIELD is finally back! The last episode ended with the team in disarray. Skye’s been shot and is comatose in critical condition. And after finding out the truth about his resurrection, Coulson doesn’t know who he can trust.

At the start of Tahiti, Coulson’s crew is airborne, desperately trying to find somewhere they can bring Skye. Coulson instructs the team to bring him to the SHIELD facility that treated him after the battle of New York. One problem: that SHIELD facility doesn’t exist and the main doctor who operated on Coulson seems to have disappeared. Coulson tries getting Fury on the line, which sadly does not lead to Samuel L. Jackson making a cameo.

Fitz, being awesome, figures out what the secret facility actually is, and in an audience-disbelief defying maneuver, manages to figure out that the 3D file he’s looking at isn’t actually encrypted, but rather an inside-out topographical map. In Fitz’s defense, this scene looked awesome, especially when the 3D map dissolved into the real mountain on screen.

A hamper in Coulson’s plan to save Skye occurs when the bus is boarded by Ward’s old SO, Agent John Garrett (Bill Paxton!!), and Garrett’s new Ward, whose name I forget, so I’m calling him Ward 2.0. Ward 2.0 has a thing for Simmons. Can’t blame him. Garrett and Ward 2.0 want Ian Quinn. Quinn was responsible for some of Garrett’s team dying and Garrett wants him for questioning. I was super-convinced during this episode that Garrett and Ward 2.0 were going to be double agents working to free Quinn. I kept waiting for them to turn on Coulson’s team. And it never happened. Sorry for not trusting you more, Mr. Paxton.

agents of shield bill paxton

We’re given a question along with some answers in regards to Coulson’s resurrection. It’s not Tahiti. It’s T.A.H.I.T.I. What’s T.A.H.I.T.I. stand for? No clue. But we do find out what’s in this week’s McGuffin, the mysterious drug that was used during Coulson’s operation that could also save Skye. It’s alien blood. As least I hope it’s alien blood. The alien on ice that it’s coming from in T.A.H.I.T.I. is bisected at the waist. I hope that tube isn’t coming from its small intestine. “Here, Skye, take this alien juice. What is it? It’s not alien diarrhea. We promise you that. Definitely not alien diarrhea! Okay, we’ll be going now.” Coulson possibly had the same thought, because a very shaken Coulson is screaming for the team not to inject Skye…only it was too late. Skye’s got alien juice in her…and she’s saved! For now. I’m not saying she’s going to go all Jeff Goldblum in The Fly after that injection, but there’s got to be at least one unintended consequence that comes from it, right?

The final scene leads directly into next week’s episode. A red-headed Asgardian arrives by way of the bi-frost in Death Valley. She quickly hypnotizes a newlywed dude to ditch his wife and drive her away. I immediately thought we were seeing the Marvel Cinematic Universe debut of the Enchantress! But then she says her name…Lorelei, aka the Enchantress’s lesser known sister. We’ll get more Asgardian fun next week, as Sif arrives on the scene to take down Lorelei.

Comic Book Tie-Ins

John Garrett is an Agent of SHIELD that made his first appearance in the hit 1980s miniseries, Elektra: Assassin. I wish they let him keep his bitchin’ mustache on the show.

john garrett

 

Lorelei can be easily confused with her more popular sister, Amora The Enchantress. Both are Norse gods with the power to bend men’s will to their whims. Lorelei first appeared during Walt Simonson’s run of Thor, in Thor #382. As a side note, Walt Simonson’s Thor run also saw the debut of Malekith, the main bad guy in Thor: The Dark World.

lorelei