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Our favorite agents went undercover last night as their quest to stop Ian Quinn once and for all continued. Things went a bit haywire as a device using stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. technology gave us an episode with several perspectives from a fixed point in time as we watched the agents try to thwart Cybertech's plans. Also, Stan Lee was there and that's always fun to see but the main event of "T.R.A.C.K.S." was tragedy striking down one of the agents.
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Probably the best thing that the night-night grenade story framing device did was give us a chance to see the way each part of the team handles their mission when things don't just go according to plan. Having it be undercover was a smart choice in the name of further character development and it provided for a chance to see unexpected characters shine while the so-called heavyweights were waylaid. Coulson paired up with the overeager Simmons, the not-so-secretive lovers May and Ward had their part to play, and the surprise of the night might have been the tenacity of team Skye & Fitz. This approach actually made "T.R.A.C.K.S." one of the most fun episodes of
AOS yet with several great moments of levity throughout. I can't decide what was better: Simmons and her need to show off everything she studied about her cover story, or later on when Coulson and Ward were hopelessly out of their depth when faced with the prospect of operating the holotable without FitzSimmons around. I hope that as the show goes on they continue to find ways to continue to mix it up like this as seeing all the agents play their part followed by being placed in situations outside of their area of expertise truly showed what these people are really made of when tested. Agent Melinda May for example is, as we well know, a total badass but that doesn't mean she can't get caught and tortured like anyone else.
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At the end of the day even though all the lead characters have their charm, I think that Melinda May is the standout of
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's not just because she can snap a man's neck with her bare hands although that is a perk of watching her unleashed on screen. If you saw the promo following the episode then there's definitely a level of anticipation in getting to see May in a room alone with Quinn following his actions against Skye. There's something about the guarded (and I mean to the point of building a fortress around herself) yet still vulnerable way Ming-Na Wen plays May that makes her full of intrigue--a deadly soldier that is clearly so much more underneath. She has a spark about her and I hope that we continue to peel back her layers as the series goes on. Just look at the quirk of a smile she gave when she realized Ward and Coulson were only knocked out when she discovered their bodies by the tracks. That's the key to caring about these characters is the chance to truly know them and I think the moment the creators of
S.H.I.E.L.D. came up with the idea to have Skye be an 0-8-4 was one of their finest plays to date.
Last night, Skye was more motivated and committed to her work than ever before and she and Fitz made for
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the most surprisingly effective duo of the night. They even managed to pin down Quinn before the other agents even arrived but things didn't go quite so well for Skye as she wound up with not one, but two bullets in the stomach for her attempt. Ian Quinn pulled a Warren Meers on her and it felt just as despicable as that infamous shot heard round the fandom did over on
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I loved the misdirect of it though as Skye watched the finishing touch put on Mike Peterson's new Deathlok persona you had to figure he'd turn around and be the one to attack his former ally. Nope, it was the ordinary man in the room with a gun that did the most damage. But this is clearly going to be a major impetus of change for Skye so even though Chloe Bennet really tugged the heartstrings with her 'dying' gasps, I have a feeling this is going to be the start of something brand new for her character.
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Themes of death, change, and rebirth are constants in the Whedonverse. There is an epic list of characters who came back from the clutches of the void different people going all the way back to the very beginning of the verse with the simple act of a person turned vampire--itself the ultimate personality shift. So when Skye got shot and placed into the hyperbaric chamber it was clear that this is going to mean an evolution for her character. Perhaps her 0-8-4 status will finally show itself after this harrowing ordeal. It's no coincidence that she was talking about this very subject with Fitz before their mini op went wrong. What better way to give our agents a taste of what's truly out there than to have someone with powers on their own team? It's also going to galvanize their efforts like never before so I pity the villain that goes up against them when
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns in a month. And even if Skye does actually die from her wounds that's so rarely the end for someone in the Whedonverse. Hey, Buffy died twice remember?
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