Agents of SHIELD Episode 19

By Mark Rodriguez

With everything being busy as we were the finishing touches on our Cosplay costumes and related props for Zenkaikon, as well as packing up for our road trip to Lancaster... I didn't have time to blog about this episode the Tuesday it aired, like I usually do, nor did I have time to do it during the week. Now tomorrow promises yet another new episode as this season comes to a close... so it's now or never so I don't fall behind like I usually do... That said, this article will be shorter, a bit rushed, but still to the point... but it won't be the overly detailed play-by-play like the past articles.

I really hoped you watched Winter Soldier already because if not, the major plot twist in the movie has been seriously affecting these episodes and it'll be hard for any fan to continue watching the series without knowing it by now. SHIELD was revealed to have been corrupted by HYDRA all along. Even though Captain America took down their major plan, SHIELD as a whole has been shattered and divided and HYDRA is out to wipe out the remaining faithful agents. It was a surprise reveal to see that Garrett was HYDRA, but then we find out that so is Grant Ward... and to prove this wasn't a fake out, he shoots and kills Victoria Hand in cold blood. They soon also enlist Quinn and Raina into their plans. Grant managed to get a flash drive with all of the information they obtained during their adventures from the start of the series, but Raina finds out that Skye rigged it so only she can access it. The others finally found a secret SHIELD base safe from the clutches of HYDRA, but an innocent Skye shows Grant the front door and welcomes him inside...

The episode starts off introducing one of the escaped villains from the big break out at the Fridge from the previous episode. Daniels, known in the comics as Blackout can suck the power out of anything and stops them cold, even people. The Agents find out about this and Coulson makes it his duty to find and stop him.

Grant is back with the group, trying to hide his HYRDA-ness and act like he's willing to give a relationship with Skye a chance. Koenig shows everyone a super-duper lie detector that 'not even Romanov could crack' and has everyone take it before they're trusted on any missions. We find out things Like Skye's past name in the orphanage being Mary Sue Poots and that May was actually married. And hey, Triplet's grandfather was one of the Howling Commandos. They're also questioned if they knew or were involved in Project Insight, which was the major plan HYDRA had in The Winter Soldier. Though it seems Grant raised some doubts, he still passed the lie detector. They all earn badges that are secretly also homing devices so Koenig can keep tabs on them on any time.

Coulson leads the others against Blackout and find out he's after a lady named Audrey. They managed to rescue the lady but Daniels escapes before he could be captured. Coulson later explains that he once helped defeat Blackout and rescued that same lady from him. He was crazy and obsessed over her, considering this woman to be 'the light to his dark', and we soon find out that this woman was the cellist that he once mentioned he fell in love with. Unfortunately it has to end when Coulson 'died' and he feels he has no place in her life anymore. Fitz has an idea but they will need the cellist as bait to lure Daniels out. Coulson is reluctant because he doesn't want to place her life in danger again.

Meanwhile, at the SHIELD base, Skye comes up with the idea to hack into NASA computers to find out what happened at the Fridge. Grant is concerned since it will show footage of himself robbing it. Koenig decides to go for it. It seems Grant also has plans for May, but before he could do anything, we see that she is quitting and leaving on her own accord. She came in to help Coulson, but he doesn't want her around anymore... so she quits and leaves the team. As Skye hacks into the NASA computers and Koenig is moments away of seeing the Fridge footage... Grant comes in and takes care of him.

Audrey starts to perform at her concert, while the others stand by hidden behind the scenes. She tells Simmons the touching story of how she met and fell for Coulson. Fitz asks him why he doesn't let her know he's still alive. He tells him that she has already moved on with her life, and even if he did tell her, he couldn't stay with her. Daniels comes in and wants to talk to the woman.

Fitz, Simmons and Triplett attack Daniels with modified versions of floodlights, using gamma radiation and using tech created by Bruce Banner. Coulson told them the last time he defeated him, they blasted him with more energy than he could absorb, and they were hoping they could do it again. Daniels tells them they experimented on him while he was locked away in the Fridge and was now more powerful than before. He manages to escape and tries to attack the cellist. After he touches her, she falls to the floor and Coulson comes out of hiding and starts to act.

Meanwhile Skye uses the homing devices on their badges to find out that Koenig is dead and comes to the startling revelation that Grant killed him and is a traitor. Grant is now on the lookout for her and Skye tries her best to act as if nothing is going on. Grant lies saying that they've been given a special mission and have to take the plane out ASAP. Skye continues to play along, realizing the villains being released from the Fridge was only a distraction.

Coulson attacks Daniels with his floodlight blaster, and the others soon come in to help. Daniels is defeated and Coulson rushes to help Audrey. He kisses her forehead and leaves before she can wake up, seeing Simmons in his place. She says he always dreamed that Coulson was still there, watching over her, but this time 'it felt so real'. Simmons and the rest respect Coulson's wishes and don't tell her anything.

The crew return to the SHIELD base finding that Koenig, May, Skye and Grant are gone, along with their jet. On the jet, Skye finds out that Grant wants her because she's the only one that can unlock the information on the flash drive, and continues to act naive towards the situation. Meanwhile we see that May has met up with her mother, who was part of another secret organization. They heads out to find someone that can help them... Maria Hill.

My Opinions:

I hope you guys don't mind this shortened version of the episode review, but I feel I did mention most of the important points here. Things are still busy as we're trying to work on and edit our con videos, so the next 2 episodes might be done like this. Also maybe I can grab Chuck to do an end-of-season one video.

As for this episode, everything Grant does makes me hate him more and more. Garrett told him to 'grabs Skye and cross off the team', so we have a scene where he tells Fitz to go ahead and tell Simmons how he feels about her before it's too late..... hinting to us that he is going to have to kill them soon. May basically save her life by quitting when she did since Grant wouldn't have waited that much longer to wipe out his biggest obstacle. Skye is finally on to him, but Grant also knows she's no dummy... so we'll have to see how this plays out in the next episode. How long can she fool him into thinking she doesn't suspect anything?

Then we have Koenig, barely introduced, and already dead. Paige wasn't too happy to see him go, but I figured if they were going to have Grant kill someone, it would be someone new and not one of the long-lasting cast members. Koenig was corny and cheesey, and Paige said he reminded her of Happy from Iron Man 3, and it was a shame to see him go. If anything, he brought in some humor to the super seriousness of the situation.

One thing I hate about Grant though is... I know this show loves to bring in movie references to tie this to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the comics, but STOP COMPARING HIM TO BLACK WIDOW. In the last episode, Garrett commended him being able to gain the trust of the team with even 'better acting than Romanov'. Now we have this lie detector that 'not even Romanov could crack' and here we see Grant do just that. Sure, Koenig happened to ask just the right question ear the end... but still. If those two ever faced off, I'm sure they'll at least make Grant put up a halfway decent fight... until Widow gets tired of his crap and says 'bitch please' and just completely curb-stomps his ass.

As for Coulson and Audrey, we already heard Coulson mention he fell for a cellist back in the day but had to let her go after his death and revival. Now we finally met her, and even though she only had one episode, both of them did a good job showing how they met and fell for each other. It's a tragic love as we see that she has never forgotten or fully moved on from Coulson's demise... and he can't bring himself back into her life knowing that as a SHIELD agent, especially now, he might just end up getting killed again.

Blackout was an interesting villain, and I heard his powers work the same way as she they do in the comics, and he is just as mentally unstable. We haven't seen a super powered bad guy in a while, so this was interesting. It's interesting to see that Coulson has encountered super powered people before he ever met Iron Man and discovered Thor's hammer.

We have only two more episodes left to go, and we already heard confirmation that Maria Hill and Nick Fury will be cameoing once again (Hill in the next, Fury in the last). Let's see how they wrap this up... and exactly where the show can go from here, and how can it possibly go forth towards a second season?

Agents of SHIELD Episode 18

By Mark Rodriguez

If you haven't seen Captain America The Winter Soldier by now, you might want to turn back. Heavy spoilers from the movie's major plot twist greatly affect the events of this episode and it's literally impossible to review this without mentioning it. If you wanna read anyway... you have been warned.

If you haven't seen it... what are you waiting for?????

Anyways, to recap, it was revealed that HYDRA was still operating in current day, but hidden within SHIELD. Once the truth was revealed in the Captain America sequel, the events also affected the series as SHIELD fell apart and Coulson and his group has to do whatever it takes to survive. We find out that Garret was with Hydra and was also the Clairvoyant the whole time. He gets captured and is sent to be locked up with Victoria Hand and Grant holding him. But the shock ending has Grant shoot and kill Victoria and set Garret free. Grant Ward is a member of Hydra all along!! To drive the point home, they re-runned last week's episode for those that missed it the first time, and it looks like it's gonna be all new episodes from here til the end of the season.

Just when you thought you could trust the guy....

The episode opens with Raina, the woman in the flower dress, in prison until she heard noises of people being attacked. She is surprised to see Grant be the one to break her out. He gives her a gift from the Clairvoyant, which is her flower dress.

Back at a SHIELD base, Skye tells the others there are only 3 known safe SHIELD bases. TV screens also show the destruction caused when the helicarriers that SHIELD made but HYDRA were trying to use to attack everyone collapsed and crashed into buildings, as well as all the SHIELD info that was leaked publicly thanks to Black Widow.

Meanwhile in a barber shop in Habana Cuba, Grant introduces Raina to Garret explaining that he is the Clairvoyant, She's deeply honored, but is disappointed to find out that he really didn't have any special powers, just a lot of SHIELD information. He reminds her that she started the Centipede project to change the world. He sits her down in the barber's chair and it starts to sink down to a secret underground hideout and tells her 'welcome to HYDRA'.

As Fitz and Simmons fix the plane, Skye tells Coulson that they now have 4 safe SHIELD bases. They get a message from the US government that wants them pulled in for questioning. Due to all the damage cause when all of SHIELD's files were released to the world.. the government now considers them a terrorist organization.Coulson doesn't like the sound of this and tells everyone they have to go. Triplet wants to join them, but Coulson doesn't trust him since he was always with Garret. Simmons vouches for him, and Coulson says she'll be responsible for him. Fitz doesn't like that.

Coulson tells Skye to find any information she can on the team, and erase it. They will now cease to exist. She asks Coulson about Grant, who should have been back after locking up Garret by now. Coulson tells her that they're also going to have to turn in their badges.

Skye calls Grant and she tells him how they're going to get their identities erased. He asks where they're headed, but she's not sure. After they talk a little, Garret teases him about her. Grant is upset about their plan involving Skye getting shot. After Garret reminds Grant about the importance of their plan, he tells Reina that she's back in charge of phase 3 for Centipede. She says she thought phase 3 was over after she was captured when they couldn't discover how Coulson was brought back. Garret shows her the alien drugs he managed to steal from the base he and Coulson discovered before when they were trying to save Skye. Plus, they have all the info on the flash drive that Skye gave to Grant. Garret and Grant get ready to attack The Fridge.

At the SHIELD plane, Skye hands in everyone's badges to Coulson. He put them all away in a safe when he notices something on his own badge, some flashing number. They're coordinates leading somewhere. They lead to someplace in the Canadian wilderness and he's sure that Fury must have set this up. After he tells the others, Triplet is suspicious that it could be trap from HYDRA.

Garret and Grant prepare to 'raid the Fridge' and Raina talks to Grant, asking him how he could betray the others. Grant says it didn't take much to convince them. He explained how he jumped out of a plane to rescue Simmons, and selfless acts of bravery like that always work. He says the only threat was May, and he managed to sleep with her. He also managed to gain Skye's trust and become her Superior Officer. He says he's not a team player and prefers to his missions alone. He acted like the kind of person that Coulson could help. Raina says Coulson would give his life for him, he should owe him something. Grant admits that's true, but he owes Garret everything.

Melinda talks to Coulson, worried about where he's taking them since it might be a trap. She says Fury was not in charge of the Tahiti project to bring him back. Coulson demands to know who, but she doesn't know but there's always a chance that person could have been working with HYDRA. Coulson angrily tells her to leave his office.

Grant and Garret arrive at the Fridge, with Grant pretending to be turning Garret in as his prisoner. The guards won't let them in since they need to see Victoria Hand with them for authorization. A helicopter shows up, shooting at them, and Grant convinces the guards to skip protocol and let them in. Once inside, Grant shoot the guards and they make their way inside, the helicopter guys working with them all along. Once inside they find all the goodies SHIELD has been stowing away for years, even stuff they were supposed to have gotten rid of. Grant was surprised but Garret reminds him that Fury was working on weapons using Tesseract technology before. They find the plasma particle beam device they recovered from an earlier adventure in Peru (from episode 2).

The SHIELD gang arrive in Canada and start to head out. As they start their long snowy hike, Garret and Grant continue to loot the Fridge. Grant even finds the Asgardian staff that made him go crazy in an earlier ep. He then remembers a certain spot in the base and uses the plasma beam to blast a hole in the ground. Grant and Garret marvel at what they found hidden underground.

After a long hike in the Canadian cold, they finally find the spot the coordinates led them to, and find nothing. Everyone starts arguing with him, pointing out that they used the last of the plane's fuel just to get there. Coulson suffers a breakdown and argues that after all they went through, they're still Agents of SHIELD and it HAS to mean something. He angrily tosses his badge and it gets blasted by hidden guns. They're motion sensory weapons and the team hide to avoid getting shot at. Coulson steps out and identifies himself ast Phil Coulson, Agent of SHIELD. The secret base reveals itself and they are welcome to enter.

Grant and Garret return and Raina tells them there's a problem with the flash drive. Skye designed it so it would erase everything on it if anyone except her tried to access it.

At the SHIELD base, Agent Koenig shows up and welcomes everyone. He tells them that Fury is dead and the Fridge has been taken down. Skye worries about Grant and quickly calls him to make sure he's alright. Once alone with Coulson, Koenig says Fury is actually alive, but disappeared, the only ones knowing where he is being Maria Hill and Captain America. He doesn't want the other know, those were Fury's strict orders.

Garret says Grant has 24 hours to charm the info out of Grant, or they'll drag her out and get the info their way. Garrett then beats the crap out of Grant to make their story more believable. Now, looking bloody and beaten, Grant arrives at the Canadian base and Skye welcomes him inside.

Elsewhere, Garret released Quinn, who is angry at how he was treated and how he was even sent to the lock-up by Garret himself. Like Raina, he was also pissed to find out that the Clairvoyant didn't really have any powers. Either way, Quinn doesn't want anything to do with them anymore. Garret then shows Quinn something he'd like. The Gravitonian device. Quinn is quite pleased....

My Opinions:

Wow, things are heating up with this show. I do have to say, it's episodes like these that make everything come together. This one was packed with references to past episodes. Even the plasma device from the Peru episode that many felt was a waste of time. Now that we saw Raina and Quinn coming back, it really feels that 'it's all coming together' as all the show's villains are gathering together.

Not sure what to think of Grant. Is he really a traitor? Is he under deep deep mega-deep undercover to find out what the Clairvoyant was up to? If so, I really don't see how they could have faked Victoria's death. I can't believe he shacked it up with May just to gain her trust, and is basically smooth-talking Skye for the same thing.

Coulson had his intense breakdown moment as everything around was destroyed. At this point in his life, being an agent of SHIELD is basically his very being, so it really does suck for him. That whole speech about being an agent of SHIELD should hold weight, even when the others have lost their faith in him, that was a powerful and well acted scene.

The killer for this episode is, despite the trailers asking 'How will Skye act when the guy she has a crush on is revealed to be a traitor?', we have to wait until the NEXT episode to see this. All the scenes they showed of Skye crying or breaking down upon learning the truth....were shown again as the previews for the NEXT episode instead of this one. Way to tease us you jerks.

I was really hoping Fury would have been at the base.... but I know if they did that, the advertising would have been all over the place with some sort of  'GUESS WHAT WINTER SOLDIER CHARACTER CAMEOS IN TONIGHT'S EPISODE' kind of thing. I know it's to draw people in... but I think sometimes these cameos would be sweet surprises if they were kept surprises. The episode ending with Fury stepping in would have been an 'OH CRAP!!' moment without any advertising spoilers.

And as for 'OH CRAP' moments... they finally find a secret base they would be safe from HYDRA... and Skye goes and tells Grant where they are and shows him the front door. Of course she didn't know... but oooh crap. It's gonna hit the fan next time.

Agents of SHIELD Episode 17

By Mark Rodriguez

This is possibly the biggest episode yet, bringing everything to a head, and throwing twist after twist after twist at you. It also ties in heavily with the major plot twist seen in Captain America The Winter Soldier. If you don't want it spoiled because you haven't seen the movie, don't read this review or watch our review until after you seen it. But anyone that seen the movie opening weekend would know that the plot twist rocked the very foundation of SHIELD as a whole, so naturally this show had to be effected in a big way. Unlike the Thor 2 tie-in where we just saw the crew clean up after the movie fight and then the rest of the episode, while featuring Asgardian references, had nothing to do with the movie... this episode is directly affected by Cap 2. Let's check it out.

The episode opens with Garrett flying a plane and suddenly being chased by planes that are shooting at him. He's surprised to see that they're SHIELD planes.

Back on Coulson's plane, Coulson and Skye still have their guns on May and demand to know what's going on. Fitz also asks why she had to shoot him. They also ask her where the plane is headed and she says she has no idea. May tells them she had a direct channel to Fury but she has orders not to tell. She then asks what Fitz was doing checking for encrypted lines to begin with. The focus switches to him and he says he was communicating with Simmons at the Hub. Coulson says depending on who Simmons is talking to, she might be in trouble.

For those that missed the last episode, it seems the heroes finally found the Clairvoyant, and it turned out to be a paraplegic with tubes and computers hooked up to him. Grant loses his cool when he threatens Skye and shoots him down. Coulson starts to get suspicious that this was all too easy and the Clairvoyant easily could have been a decoy. Fitz caught May reporting to someone with an encrypted line, and she tries to shoot him. Coulson and Skye arrive and pull guns on May, demanding to know who she's talking to. Just then the plane shifts course by itself, and we see that Victoria was waiting at the Hub for them, giving her men orders to take them down.

At the Hub, Triplet runs into Simmons and asks what she's working on. She's a bad liar and then has to explain on how they're studying Skye's blood.

Skye says she's detecting noise from the SHIELD communications. She then picks up Garrett's distress call and he tells them that two SHIELD drones are after him. Fitz helps regain control of the jet. Coulson shoots May down with an Icer and has her carried out. Garrett is nearby so Coulson's jet helps and shoot them both drones down. Victoria is notified of this, and she insists they blow them out of the sky.

With Garrett on the ship with them now, everyone is confused as to why SHIELD is attacking them. They now know that Victoria took control of the ship and it taking them to the Hub. Coulson says the Calirvoyant that Grant shot was a decoy. Coulson suspects that Victoria Hand might be the Clairvoyant. Just then Skye encrypts a message that declares that Hydra is back and has been running SHIELD right from under their noses all along. This is, of course, the major plot twist revealed in Captain America The Winter Soldier. The agents realize that Simmons and Triplet are still at the Hub and they have to save them.

Meanwhile, Simmons and Triplet working on her research when she gets a message from Agent Weaver at the Acamedy that warns her of the Hydra take-over. Triplet locks the door and starts acting creepy with a knife, but it was mostly to test of Simmons wasn't also with Hydra.

May wakes up in the padded room and has her hands cuffed. Grant is with him and accuses her of playing everybody. May is upset that Grant shot down an innocent man. Coulson comes in and says he needs their help since they can't make the current situation any worse and they need any help they can get. Coulson forces May to call Fury. Some random person answers the phone and she's confused. The man informs her that Director Fury is dead (another plot point from the Winter Soldier movie). Just then soldiers come in and start shooting.

After the agents escape the other soldiers, Coulson is pulling bullets out of May's shoulder. He asks what this was all about and finally wants some answers. May says Fury wanted her to join to keep an eye on Coulson and keep him updated on his condition. She also knew about 'Tahiti' and was actually the one that picked the team members and organize the team. Grant tells them the soldiers stopped shooting but May says more are soon to come.

Grant remembers all the technology and info they have in their computers from their past adventures, including the alien drug used to revive Skye and the Graviton technology. They have to make sure all the information is wiped from the computers before Hydra gets their hands on it. Skye downloads it all onto her mini hard drive. The teams split up and Coulson tells them to just use icers. May wants to help but Coulson says the cuffs stay on.

Meanwhile the SHIELD soldiers bust in on Simmons and Triplet. As for the Coulson jet, it landed in the Hub and the soldiers blow up the entrance and get inside.

Victoria has Simmons and Triplet captured and informs them that Hydra took over and the higher ups, including Nick Fury were killed. They can either join Hydra or die. Simmons refuses and Triplet attacks the guards and tells her that if they're going down they'll take some of her men with them. Victoria says she was just testing them and now she knows she can trust them. Simmons is relieved, but Victoria tells her that Coulson must be working with Hydra.

Victoria's men see that May has captured Coulson, but once inside they start fighting their way in. Victoria is watching and tells Simmons that Agent Blake was very suspicious of Coulson and mentions past events, like letting Almador go, his involvement with Mike Peterson and how they found the Claivoyant and Grant shot him before he could be questioned.

Meanwhile, Grant is with Skye and tries to set up some bombs, but he has to get rid of all the enemy soldiers first. They have a little talk about possibly having a drink and talking together if they survive all this. Skye even gives him a kiss, in case he dies. He fights his way through the soldiers, and even though it seems he is overpowered, he does come back to Skye.

Coulson and the rest are thinking what to do and talk about Victoria being the Clairvoyant. Garrett says they can't go easy on her since she's with Hydra and must be taken down. He reminds them of all the stuff they went through, including Quinn shooting Skye and how Raina was inside the memory machine. Coulson tells him that he never told anyone about the memory machine, and that Garrett didn't show up until after that ordeal. Coulson also realizes that Quinn shot Skye so they can find the alien drug that also brought Coulson back... and that's exactly what they did. Garrett sees that his cover is blown and admits he's with Hydra as Hydra soldiers arrive and shoot down the SHIELD soldiers.

Everyone is surprised, mostly Coulson since they both trained under Fury back in the day. Garrett is ready to have Coulson, May and Fitz shot, when suddenly the bombs that Grant set up make the rooms go dark. Coulson fights it out with Garrett while May attacks the other soldiers. Fitz hides under a table but he does manages to find a gun and shoot down a guy that was attacking May. May is a bit surprised he helped save her.

Garrett pins Coulson down with a knife to his head. Fitz tosses some sort of energy wave bomb that knocks Garrett off him. Victoria and her men bust in. Coulson says he's not with Hydra, and Victoria tells him she knows since they heard the whole conversation. All the Hydra agents are arrested, including Garrett.

Later on Victoria confirms that Captain America has taken down the Helicarriers that were controlled by Hydra (watch the movie of course). Coulson and Grant both feel horribly betrayed by Garrett. Grant wants the pleasure of locking him up himself. Coulson gets the jet ready to take flight again and he tells the others now they have to do what they have to do to survive.

On Victoria's plane, she watches over Garrett with Grant and says maybe he can shoot the real Clairvoyant this time. Grant grabs a gun and acts like he's going to kill Garrett. Surprisingly he shoots both soldiers that were guarding Garrett, and then kills Victoria. Garrett gives Grant a look and it's clear to see that he's also a member of Hydra.....

Holy crap. The fans weren't kidding when they said they might rename the show Agents of Hydra.

My Opinions:

Holy crap! This episode kept jumping back and forth from who you could and couldn't trust. We had May's apparent betrayal. Then Victoria. Then Garrett. And then the final bombshell with Grant being a traitor too! I was confused as to Victoria's attitude, but when she thought Coulson was Hydra, I figured she was innocent as well and assuming the worst from Coulson and his gang. Though I guess that means she recieved that encrypted message before the other did. Garrett was a surprise but I suppose if one of the cast had to heel turn, he did kinda look suspicious. But Grant? OMG... Grant?

I mean we only met Garrett a few eps back, but Grant was there since episode one. I just can't believe it, especially when he killed Victoria in cold blood. And all those developing feelings he had for Skye too. They even a little talk during the episode about trying to hang out later. What's going to happen when he reveals himself to the others? Will he try to get Skye over to his side? Will he try to kill her when she says no? I can't wait for the next episode!

But finally I really wanna say... wow... just wow Marvel. Captain America Winter Soldier broke all sorts of records and tons of people saw it opening weekend... but if you're a fan of the show and you happened to miss it due to work or whatever.... this episode spoiled a lot. Hydra taking over SHIELD, and the death of Fury were spoiled here. Sure Fury survived (major spoiler maybe, but c'mon, it's Fury), but as far as the rest of the world knows, he's still dead, so it makes sense for Coulson and the gang to be out of the loop.

With Fury, Captain America and the Black Widow disbanding SHIELD, we really have to see what happens now with the remaining splinters of SHIELD. Coulson says they have to do whatever it takes to survive, and even though the Captain took down the big guns, it seems the rest of Hydra will still be seeking out the remaining SHIELD members. And to drive the point home, the episode ends on the Hydra symbole instead of the SHIELD symbol like every other episode. Damn, that was creepy.

Paige's Opinions:

Over the past weekend I got the chance to watch Captain America The Winter Soldier, and I knew this episode was going to be a tie-in to the movie. To be honest I haven't watched the show for weeks because of Pretty Little Liars, so I had no idea what's been going on, and certain things were confusing to me. Even with that fact, I was very curious how they were going to tie the movie in with the episode, especially with how SHIELD is now gone, and I was curious what Coulson's reaction would be to the death of his friend. It was an intense episode that kept me at the edge of my seat, I wanted to know what would happen next. The final twist was very interesting and I wonder how the series is going to continue after Hydra have shown its fishy face.


Chuck's Opinions: (He reviewed the movie with us, so he might as well review this episode too)

I never would have thought Ward would go Hydra. Such an integral character to the shield crew...just wow... And I love the masterful weaving of the past few episodes with the last 2 marvel movies. I honestly thought my sweet angel Simmons was going Hydra. Chuck would have had to go Hydra. And I never once doubted Coulson...last episode made me think it was Fitz....when you can keep a Rodriguez guessing, you're doing something right.


Even though Johnny doesn't watch Agents of SHIELD, here are his thoughts on Captain America The Winter Soldier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JEybdayz8Q

Agents of SHIELD Episode 16

By Mark Rodriguez

Man, I CANNOT believe that I missed this week's episode. Apparently it has something to do with Captain America Winter Soldier, and it also brought back Mike Peterson as Deathlok. Thanks to my friends from work and Lisardo, I was able to catch it on Hulu. And in good time too since I plan to watch the new Captain America movie this weekend. Let's check it out.

 The episode opens with Agents Garrett and Triplet checking into a safe house. Garrett wants to talk to Coulson over to phone to discuss potential suspects for the Clairvoyant. Just then Mike Peterson busts in. Garrett and Triplet hit them with their fancy firepower. Peterson seems to be down, but he gets back up, yanks the ammunition out of himself and jumps straight up, leaving a hole in the ceiling as she gets away.

Later on, Coulson has a meeting with the several agents we have seen in the episodes, including Garrett, Triplet and Victoria Hand. As the SHIELD plane takes to the sky, Coulson tells them that they should be out of range of the Clairvoyant's reach. Coulson and Garrett have narrowed down a list of 13 candidates that could be the Clairvoyant based on rejected cases of past files on people with psychic abilities. Garrett believes they sent Peterson after them since the Clairvoyant knew they were getting close. Coulson says they have someone that can prioritize the candidates and the agents will split up in teams to find them.

Meanwhile, Fitz and Simmons are drawing more blood from Skye hoping to send a sample of the miracle drug that saved her life to get it examined. Skye says they should trust Coulson and keep it between them. Fitz and Simmons ask Skye since when did she start to follow the rules. Grant arrives and tells Skye to join the meeting.

As Skye joins the others, she suggests the teams that split should only know part of the mission. She asks how can she check on the candidates without clearance for SHIELD's files. Coulson announces that she is now an official member of SHIELD and hand her her badge. Everyone congratulates her and go back to work.

Meanwhile, Peterson is alone in some crappy run down hotel and looks himself in the mirror and notices the mark left on his forehead after the gunfight. He sees words in his eye saying 'don't say I never gave you anything'. He receives a package, and it's a gauntlet. Once he puts it on, it grafts itself to his arm and seems to be some kind of weapon. The Clairvoyant tells him that they're getting to close to him and it's time that they meet.

Skye gives Garrett a phone and tells him it will give him the location of one of the 3 candidates she chose. When he gets within a mile of the area, his partner's phone will then tell him about the identity of the person. Garrett tells Skye he trained Grant, much like he trained her, and notices he's different since he now has someone to fight for.

Fitz talks to Melinda about more weapons, when Simmons walks in talking about Skye's blood. Caught red-handed, Fitz and Simmons tell her they're only studying the samples in case Skye or Coulson have any side effects. Melinda says if either of them do, to be sure to let her know first. She then walks off smiling and Fitz and Simmons feel weird.

Grant and Triplet are paired off and are after someone locked in prison. Melinda and Blake are paired off as they try looking at an old folks home. Coulson and Garrett are paired off as well as they drive down the city. As they do, a garbage truck conveniently blocks their path. The agents know something is up and get ready for a trap.

While Melinda goes to find their target, Peterson shows up and starts attacking Blake, throwing him into a wall. Blake shoots him to no avail, and Peterson grabs him by the throat. Blake reminds him that he has a kid and they can still help him. Peterson says 'Mike Peterson is dead' and kills him. Melinda arrives and alerts everyone that Deathlok just took down one of their agents. Deathlok aims his new arm guns at Melinda and blows up the wall behind her, knocking her out. He then walks off.

Later the agents discuss that Blake is now in critical condition. Victoria and Garrett argue over wether or not the plan was sound. Victoria wants her agents completely informed about what Deathlok is. Since the attack took place where May and Blake were investigating a man named Nash, he now became the prime suspect. Simmons is being sent to The Hub to do just that, and she sees it as a chance to get a molecular breakdown of Skye's blood samples. Triplet comes in and will be escorting her, and Fitz notices a slight chemistry between the two.

The agents discuss Nash and Skye mentions it was said he can predict human behavior. Coulson asks Melinda how many rounds Blake fired at Deathlok, and she says she heard 6. Coulson says only 5 are missing from the magazine and they can track the missing one.

The agents track the signal to a warehouse in Pensacola, Florida and storm inside. Coulson and Grant make Skye stay behind, but she can monitor the situation and help them find Deathlok. Fitz releasing flying orbs to also help and track him down. Deathlok finds Grant's team and shoots down two of his men. Melinda chases after him but he gets way, leaving Coulson and Garrett in hot pursuit. Deathlok escapes in the sewers and the little flying orbs goes off in another direction, signaling that someone else is in the sewers too.

Garrett and Coulson keep going and find a paralyzed man, able to communicate with computers speaking for him. This guy turned out to be the Clairvoyant, he said he says he realized why he couldn't see how Coulson came back to life, because he himself didn't see. They want to put him away but he says they can't do anything worse to him that his current state. He also says he knows what Skye has, something Coulson wants, and she will die to give it to them. Grant gets fed up with the mind games and creepy threats and shoots him, surprising everybody. Garret says it's over, and Coulson is shocked.

Later on, Garrett tells Coulson to take it easy on Grant. He then heads off to continue the hunt for Deathlok. Melinda tells Coulson that Fury is back and wants to talk to him. Skye talks to Grant and asks why he killed him. He says he 'lost it' but doesn't regret what happens to him as long as Skye is safe. Fitz talks to Simmons, and there seems to be a lot of commotion where she's at, but the signal is so sketchy he can't make it out. He does find that their communication systems have been bugged.

Skye talks to Coulson, and he's worried Grant killed the wrong guy. The way this all ended just felt too rushed and convenient. Nash could have just been a prop, the computers did all the talking. Skye then says she realized all the psychological profiles she studied were extremely in-depth, and they realize the reason the Clairvoyant couldn't see how Coulson was revived was because those files were super top secret and he wouldn't have access to them. Coulson and Skye figure the Clairvoyant doesn't have powers, he's another agent of SHIELD with access to their files.

Fitz follows the encrypted line to May's cockpit. She soon finds him and he nervously excuses himself. Fitz tells Skye about what he found and she tells him to cut the line. Melinda is about to call out, but notices the line is cut and grabs her gun. Coulson yells at Grant and demands to know if someone ordered him to kill the Clairvoyant. He swears he did on his own. Skye barges in and tells them about Melinda.

Melinda is trying to shoot Fitz but Coulson and Skye arrive and aim their guns at her. Coulson demands to know who she's talking to. He also says its such a coincidence that Deathlok put Blake in critical condition, but she's just fine, and also how Deathlok wasn't around to protect the Clairvoyant, cause that wasn't the real one. Melinda says she can't explain right now, nor can she say who she was talking to. The plane suddenly shifts course and flies off. Coulson wants to know what she did, but Melinda doesn't know where they're going either. Elsewhere, Victoria is waiting for the SHIELD plane to arrive and tell her men to take out the agents the moment to land, except for Coulson. She'll deal with him herself.

My Opinions: 

Wow, there is a LOT to say about this episode, as it takes place a little before Captain America 2 The Winter Soldier... and the ones coming up after this will take place after that. First let me go a little over the actual episode. It was great seeing all these agents from past episodes team up, because it seemed they were finally going to find and stop the Clairvoyant. We also got to see Peterson finally enter full Deathlok mode. It seems he has now become a complete killing machine and lost whatever humanity he has left. I love this clever scene where Skye did a scan on him and the x-ray made him look a lot like the comic counterpart.

Everything just goes to hell in the last minutes of the show. Just as we thought Grant took the Clairvoyant down.... Coulson has doubts that it really did end as easy as that. Then we find out that this Clairvoyant could have been an agent of SHIELD with access to SHIELD files all along???? And then... who is Melinda talking to? Who is she working for? And geez, she was willing to kill Fitz to keep him quiet. What the hell, bitch! Even if this all boils over somehow and Melinda returns as one of the good guys, Fitz can never look at her the same way again. And why the hell did Victoria suddenly do a heel turn and order the team to be killed??? What the hell is going on????

Now as for the Winter Soldier movie... Paige and I just saw it today and that just leaves for even more questions for what awaits the next episode. I don't want to spoil anything in case you guys haven't seen it opening weekend, but a lot that happens to SHIELD in the movie is bound to have drastic changes to this show, starting with the next episode.... especially if it wants to keep in tune with the Marvel movies. Though what we find out in the movie might explain why Victoria suddenly changed her attitude and wants to kill everybody. Maybe even whatever May was up to.

I can at least mention this little tidbit without being too spoilery since it's just at the beginning of the movie. In this episode, after all the agents got ready for their missions and such, Agent Sitwell had to bow out since he was sent for another mission and he 'had a boat to catch'. Sitewell was in a few episodes of the series... most notably the poor sap that got tased by Simmons in that episode that introduced Victoria and The Hub.

And well... how does Captain America Winter Soldier start...? With Agent Sitwell, as well a bunch of other SHIELD agents being held hostage on a ship. Lucky for him, Captain America and the Black Widow arrive to kick some ass and save the day... but I bet he wishes he never 'caught that boat'. That was a clever throwaway line for the show though. I didn't even think much about it til way later. Though after seeing what of all else happens to Mr. Sitwell in the Winter Soldier movie... I kinda doubt we'll be seeing him again in future episodes.

I don't want to spoil too much, and I might edit this article to add an upcoming review to Winter Soldier... but let me warn you, it will contain heavy spoilers, so only watch it if you dare.