Comics/Graphic Novels

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Wait, What Just Happened?

WHOA. Just WHOA.

As we close out the first half of the second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I have all the feels and thoughts and THINGS. Really, you can consider my mind completely and utterly blown.

Now that the episode has aired, let’s take stock of what happened and where that might lead into the second half of the season. And I think it goes without mentioning that there are MAJOR spoilers ahead if you haven’t watched the season finale.

Okay? Okay.

Let’s start with Fitz and his announcement in the second-to-last episode that he’d be leaving because he can’t work with Simmons anymore. Hopefully he’s changed his mind because I LOVE YOU FITZ YOU COMPLETE ME. I’m not going to say I’ll stop watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. if Fitz leaves because we all know that’s a lie but I will watch it ANGRILY. With much hate in my heart.

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Next: Ward. Creepy as ever, charming in the most sociopathic way possible. Will he still be stalker obsessed with Skye or will her shooting him change that? His character can go a lot of different ways this season, but I like him as a weird bad guy.

Also, my reaction to Skye shooting Ward which was basically her best moment of the entire show thus far:

 

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And then there’s Trip. Oh Trip.

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I knew someone was going to die this episode; the cast is just too big for someone not to. But I will say that I hated this choice. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has an amazingly diverse cast of characters, with three major black characters (Trip, Mac, and Rayna), all three of which underwent some sort of evil transformation/death this episode (well, Rayna was already mostly evil). Here’s hoping Mac is okay and returns to some semblance of normality, but there’s no telling what will happen to him.

Killing off Trip, the other major black male lead, just feels cheap. I realize it’s probably going to have drastic repercussions for Skye, who was his bud, but I think it would have been a much more interesting choice to kill off Hunter.

(ducks)

I love the character and would miss the humor, but I think it would have done much more for the plot, especially for Mockingbird, who hasn’t had a ton to do this season so far but is an interesting character.

Speaking of…

WHAT IS MOCKINGBIRD UP TO? What is on that secret flash drive? What is even happening???

The reunion between Skye (Daisy) and the Doctor (Cal) was awkward, to say the least. But it provided interesting fodder in that we finally learned who the two are from the comic books.

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Okay, now we’ll talk about Skye. So, it turns out that the many fan theories were correct, and the Diviner had within it Terrigen Crystals that unleashed the mists and turned Skye and Rayna into Inhumans. Skye is now Quake. And Rayna is . . . some sort of strange Inhuman with yellow eyes who is probably even more batshit crazy than before?

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Cal’s final words to Skye, that those who she considered close to her now would turn on her after she changed, might be prescient; will Skye be able to keep her role as an agent now that she’s an Inhuman? Or will they start to distrust her? Or will she isolate herself? Or will, after seeing Trip dead, will she go her own version of crazy, only with special powers now so she’s crazy dangerous?

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Oh, and don’t think I missed this special nugget during that end montage.

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SO MANY QUESTIONS. But I leave the episode satisfied and looking very forward to what’s coming in the second half of the season. This show has taken me on a pretty amazing emotional journey, given how not invested I was in the characters at this point a year ago. It’s gotten so much better that it’s almost mindboggling and I can happily say it’s become one of my favorite shows on TV right now.

While Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on hiatus, we at Panels will be recapping Agent Carter, so keep an eye out for those posts starting in January!

But until then, what do you think will happen in the second half of the second season? Who/what is Rayna? What will happen with Skye? Will Mac be okay? WILL Fitz STAY WITH THE TEAM???