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Review of Agents of Shield 2.10 ‘What They Become’ (Spoilers)

TV SHOW: Agents of Shield

SEASON/EPISODE: 2.10 ‘What They Become’

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Jeffery Bell/Michael Zinberg

PLOT:

SHIELD and HYDRA fight for control of the temple, while Skye comes face to face with her Father.

VERDICT:

So after what has been a very strong opening half of it’s second season, Agents of Shield show no signs of slowing down as it reveals that the Inhumans are a part of the MCU (though everyone had pretty much guessed it before this point, that’s the Age of the Internet for you). And ’What We Become’ was an excellent continuation of ’Ye Who Enter Here’ as it answered the questions that had been building up since the start of the season, while also laying down the foundations for it’s second half.

After a season and a half, it is really good to see that Shield now has super-powered team member in their ranks and it makes sense that it is Skye/Daisy Johnson (in the comics she is both a member of Shield and the Avengers at times, so perhaps one day we will see Chloe Bennet fighting alongside Thor and Iron Man), I am looking forward to seeing her use her new-found Seismic Powers.

Now firstly I should talk about the actual meeting of Skye and her Dad (who’s name is revealed to be Cal, as in Calvin Zabo in the comics) that we have been seeing hints at throughout the season (mainly coming from Ward and Raina numerous times) and both Chloe and Kyle MacLachlan are excellent, with the former showing her conflicting emotions as the latter told her about her Mother and how she died at the hands of Whitehall. And even though she rejects her Father through most of the episode, to see her break down before Coulson and confess that she could not kill Cal showed that there was a bond with her Dad, even if it was buried deep within her.

One thing I was not surprised to see was Skye shooting Ward, I just knew that was coming (she had hinted quite a few times that was going to be the outcome between the two, but the loved-up traitor would not…or could not see it coming) and I hope that this will finally make him see sense so that he can become a proper threat to her and Shield (like he was back in the first season). It will be interesting to see where he and Agent 33 will end up, now that they turned their backs on both Shield and Hydra.

As for McLachlan, he showed just how much of a mess Cal was (which you could blame Whitehall for, so it’s not like the Doctor was simply evil) as he went through pretty much every emotion in his scenes. And the actor played all aspects of his character perfectly, switching from violent and raging to heartfelt and sincere. He was just a joy to watch, and I really wanted to see him get to kill the Hydra Leader in the end (but the moment was stolen from him by Coulson, though you could argue that the Director saved his life).

The killing of Whitehall did not come as that much of a surprise to me (as I was hoping that Cal would finally get his revenge) but the fact that Coulson did it was. This gives Skye’s Dad even more reason to hate his adversary as he not only stands as a Father-figure to his Daughter, but has also killed the Man responsible for his Wife’s death (though to the Director, Whitehall was mainly just his Hydra counterpart). So I am looking forward to seeing the tug of war going on between these two men, with Skye in the middle (though I doubt she would ever choose her Father’s side despite the familial bond there is, no matter how small).

It was good to see Fitz and Simmons working together (which came on the heels of what happened in the last episode) with her trying to keep her friend’s mind on the job and not on the fact that Mac may be dead, which might just make the former revert back into himself again (since the Engineer had been a good friend to him and had helped in his recovery).

There were some nice character play between Hunter and Bobbi too, with him showing how much he wanted to trust his Ex-Wife again despite knowing that she was keeping secrets from him (which I too believe have nothing to do with their relationship, rather it is to do with some of the dark things she had to do while under-cover. I certainly do not think that she is going to be working against the team, or so I hope not).

And now onto Trip and even though he is probably the least developed character of the show at this point, he did go out with a bang as he heroically re-entered the City to save Skye and stop the bombs before they exploded. And his destroying of the diviner was also cool to see, even if it did lead to his death (it was a visually excellent scene and you could see the sadness in his face at his failure to save his friend while he turned to stone). But that ultimately does not make up for the lost potential that the character had showed when he first appeared as Ward’s replacement back in the previous season, but I am glad to see that Mac is still going to be around (I did like Coulson’s reaction at having to face his brainwashed colleague again, ‘really….again?’).

Now the cliff-hanger of this episode was just breathtaking, with Skye and Raina starting to break out of their Chrysalises (with the latter looking very interesting with the quick glimpse we had of her post transformation). But it hit an emotional high as Skye’s attention was brought onto the now dead Trip (really wish that his character development before this matched the intensity of this scene), which suddenly made her seismic powers erupt as she started to bring down the City around her as she looked down at him with a saddened and guilty stare. It was a powerful scene and I am really looking forward to seeing what happens next, it’s just a shame we have to wait until March for it (I was really hoping it was going to be back in January, but they have to have it line up with the next Avengers movie I guess).

Review Overview

Overall

The Inhumans are here, this was excellent viewing indeed!

This was a very strong finale to the first half of Shield's second season, keeping with the rejuvenated show's promise of more action and drama as well as propelling the story forward into new terrain for Marvel's Cinematic Universe.

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