Being the final episode to air before the North American release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I guess this would warrant a review. Truthfully, I've grown somewhat indifferent to what's happening on this series. There is the promise of a more tangible connection between the upcoming film and the series, but I have yet to really see it. There have been attempts to connect Thor's universe with things down here on Midguard (Earth), which have been largely passable. It's a tough job to integrate a television universe with a movie universe. But more than that, the show is admittedly coming together slowly.




This episode isn't as weak as those earlier in the season, primarily because there are larger things at work. These events should connect and/or enhance the tonal implication of the film that S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't have any idea what is happening. They have an infiltrator in its highest levels with the Clairvoyant revealed as Agent Hand. As far as reveals go, it isn't a bad one. Internet speculation recently gave momentum towards the Clairvoyant being a high level S.H.I.E.L.D. agent so it's not a huge surprise. (I should perhaps stop reading such speculation, though that can't really be helped.)




The episode goes through two of these reveals, with the initial one being something of a letdown. If that had truly been the Clairvoyant, it seemed too much of a narrative convenience. The computer screens and the creepy vocal responses from the immobilized Stephen Hawking-like figure was an effective visual that can't be explored further since Ward shot him dead to protect Skye.





Now of course, we come to my chief continuing issue with the series. It's the central focus on Skye, who still isn't developed as a compelling character. She's a mystery to the audience and to many of the characters, but that is all she is. Everything has come too easily for her. Coulson is attached to her. Ward is in love with her. Now, she becomes an agent. There aren't any real complications here. Skye's presence hamstrings the series, in my opinion, and that isn't likely to change unless they truly kill her off (and we know now how the Marvel Universe regards the concept of death).




The better parts of the episode come in the form of periphery characters like May and Deathlok. One is not a surprise, while the other is a delightfully unexpected treat. Since it was revealed that May was working with  some mysterious entity (which may or may not be the Clairvoyant), it was only a question of when the rest of the team was going to find out. They do so in a natural way, which is welcome. Fitz tries to fix the Bus' communication system and stumbles upon the encrypted line by accident. Coulson finds out almost simultaneously when he and Ward go through the logical steps in identifying the Clairvoyant. So it comes down to a scene where May has to own up to her secrecy. It plays out unexpectedly, with a dollop of sympathy going May's way. She is genuinely torn between her loyalty to the team and having to obey her boss' orders. Again, there are larger pieces moving that the team has to deal with before they can get back to May's betrayal.





Deathlok's struggles with his identity crisis was strangely compelling, though. The machinery grafted onto his body is slowly stripping Mike of his personality. It ties into the Extremis program that was introduced in Iron Man 3, stripping victims of whatever soul they had left and turning them into killers. I assume the Deathlok in the comics is mostly a machine with little of the organic structure remaining. That seems to be the course of the character here. He is stunned when a bullet to the head doesn't kill him. It's a reminder that the inorganic parts of him are winning the war for his humanity. The team does what they can to try and save him, but it's a largely futile enterprise. Only Mike himself can overcome this. If this episode and the new film is any indication, he shouldn't go to S.H.I.E.L.D. for help. They have their own issues to deal with in the interim.