Agents of SHIELD, Season 2, Episode 12: Who You Really Are
A bit of a shorter review because I got a lot of stuff going on. This episode was a bit m'eh, honestly. We've got the big internal reveal to everyone else that Skye has been turned into an Inhuman, and we get the return of Lady Sif, and the arrival of a Kree (which I honestly did not expect), and some development on the front of the whole Mack/Bobbi conspiracy front, but I felt that this episode really felt like a filler from the previous to the next. It's not as bad or messy as the earlier episodes of season two, but I still find it rather... bland.
It's always nice to have characters from the larger MCU make an appearance in Agents of SHIELD, and this time we get Lady Sif's second appearance in this episode. Except not really, because for most of the episode she's lost her memory and is just kind of around to be funny and get the characters to try and figure out what her original goal of coming to Midgard is. And I do admit, 'Son of Coul' and Sif being confused about just what these odd Midgardians learn as a child did get a couple of giggles from me, but I thought the whole amnesia stuff was at large a bit of a distraction. It really felt like a weak excuse to introduce the Kree and possibly a bit of a publicity stunt to get people watching SHIELD after a choppy first half and a big break.
Vin-Tak the Kree was also a bit weird. I do like how unconventional of an antagonist he was, and how happy he was to divulge information to both the cast and the audience about the background of the Kree and the Terrigenesis. Apparently some sects of the Kree did Terrigenesis all over the galaxy, but it was failed or stopped by other Kree because it's deemed to barbaric and the effects of Terrigenesis are basically feared by everyone from Kree and Asgardians as pretty horrifying biological weapons. Vin-Tak's big gimmick is that he has this miniature Ronan hammer that causes amnesia to anyone he clonks with it, and while he does get a great fight scene against Bobbi, I think we really could've gone without the rather distracting gimmick hammer.
I do like revelations and tie-ins to the larger MCU, but the tone this episode took was too happy and campy throughout the first two-thirds, and then delves into introdumps and discussions about metahuman-racism in the final third. Which kind of makes for a choppy episode. At the very least, though, I think it's for the better that they didn't milk Skye's secret for far too long, because at the end of this episode everyone knows. And the little point about Fitz hiding Skye's secret at least manages to function to drive a wedge between him and Simmons.
I also do like how everyone treats Skye like a dangerous weapon, though. While Vin-Tak the Kree completely freaking out and having to be beaten down, the fact that Lady Sif, a nominal ally and friend, is ready to drag Skye back to Asgard if she hadn't shot herself with an Icer, really speaks volumes about the degree of discrimination people have for these Inhumans. I do like how Sif eventually relents and leaves Skye with Coulson's SHIELD.
That conversation where Bobbi and Hunter calls Fitz out on him keeping secrets, as well as Simmons and especially Mack throwing a tantrum over Fitz hiding it because Skye could be dangerous and should be 'handled' properly, is a nice little discussion that feels very familiar in Marvel settings. It's got a bit of a Civil War vibe and an X-Men vibe. I do like Simmons' more gradual development. She is kind of horrified, of course, but she's not quite as extreme as Mack because above all she still considers Skye her friend. I think she and Fitz will be quite frosty for a bit, though.
I do like how Fitz finally manages to bring up the fact that his trust in Simmons is kind of shaken after she abandoned him after his accident, and I am a big fan of this little development. Fitz and Simmons have been kind of poorly written and is happily dancing around discussing this big thing ever since the beginning of this season, and I really want them to do so.
And Skye can't be all that mentally healthy by the end of this episode. Fitz is still fighting for her, even arguing with his supportive friends Mack and Simmons in defense of Skye, and both Coulson and May were ready to fucking throw down with an Asgardian to protect her, but you could see the tension. I'm a big fan of how May was finally pushed to the spotlight once more because holy shit she hasn't really done anything this season. As Skye's quasi-parental-figures, I do like them getting the most screentime in defending Skye, even if they have doubts about their decision after Sif leaves them behind.
Also, Fitz fucking shot the Kree dude in the face with Coulson's giant alien gun from the Avengers. Apparently nicknamed the 'Bambino'. Okay then.
There's a B-plot running with Bobbi, Mack and Hunter. And, well... it's kind of like the whole Barry-Iris plot in the Flash or the Bruce Wayne stuff in Gotham. It's not particularly bad so I don't hate it, but I don't particularly care until the big payoff, so I don't necessarily like it either. Bobbi and Mack has some big conspiracy going on (though they flat-out say they aren't Hydra, like what basically everyone thought) and Mack tries to get Bobbi to push Hunter away to keep him safe or some bullshit like that. Whatever their plan is, Hunter is savvy enough to understand something is going on, but when he confronts Mack he gets knocked out. There's really not much to go on beyond the irony and hypocrisy when Bobbi and Mack were ranting about keeping secrets to Fitz.
Also Coulson points out how over-qualified Mack was for being a grease-monkey, hinting that he might be hiding his true super-spy skills or something. Which he shows when he knocked Hunter out, I guess.
Overall, I really liked the Skye stuff and the Fitz stuff, but this episode is just kind of oddly paced with the whole Lady Sif thing, while being cool, felt kind of oddly written in. Well, let's hope next episode does a bit better.
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