Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Review: 2×12 “Who You Really Are”

Lady Sif again tracks down trouble on Earth. This time with much more at stake for the entire Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. team. Secrets are revealed as a much larger universe descends upon Skye.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — When a confused Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) with no memory of who she is returns to Earth, Coulson (Clark Gregg) and team task themselves to find out what happened. As they dig into the mystery, it becomes clear that a mysterious foe named Vin-Tak (Eddie McClintock) is responsible for Lady Sif’s memory loss. Upon capture, the team learns Vin-Tak is Kree and after Lady Sif’s memory is returned, he explains his mission was prompted by the activation of a Diviner during a recent Terrigenesis process that changes humans into instruments of destruction. He set out to recover the all the Diviners still on Earth and eliminate any changed humans now considered abominations. When Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) realize that multiple Diviners are missing, the stakes become immediately clear. There could be many more like Raina (Ruth Negga) and Skye (Chloe Bennet) on Earth. Meanwhile, Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki) contemplates bringing Hunter into her secret, but Mack (Henry Simmons) refuses and encourages Bobbi to push Hunter (Nick Blood) away in order to make sure he’s as far away as possible when things happen.

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As the conversation with Vin-Tak becomes more heated and disturbing to Skye, she loses control of her power and the entire facility begins to shake. Realizing that Skye has been transformed, Vin-Tak intends to destroy her while Lady Sif seeks to take Skye to Asgard for everyone’s safety. Coulson, May (Ming-Na Wen) and everyone else however, object and defend Skye. While Bobbi and Fitz defeat Vin-Tak by taking his memory with his own weapon, May takes Skye to the underground cell for protection but despite May’s help Skye cannot calm her emotions or stop the quake. When Lady Sif breaks through the cell containment, a horrified Skye shoots herself with May’s ICER to knock herself unconscious end the destructive quake. Seeing Skye’s willingness to sacrifice for her friends leads Lady Sif to allow Skye to remain, but she gives Coulson a warning that there are forces of the universe no one can control. More Diviners are out there and there could be more changed humans as well. The future is wide open and with so many new revelations, let’s dive into the details of this episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to see what shakes out!

Lady Sif and Vin-Tak give us the scoop on Terrigenesis and Chloe Bennet just keeps getting better.

When Jaimie Alexander appeared as Lady Sif in last season’s “Yes Men” the tie to the MCU was certainly cool and we loved seeing Alexander on the small screen, but the episode didn’t move the season arc as much as we expected. Instead it felt somewhat wedged in. Yes, the episode effectively ended the relationship between May and Ward (Brett Dalton) after a throw down and it revealed that Ward cared for someone else above May. That someone was later revealed to be Skye and we all know that ended in a mess. But despite those moments the first inclusion of Lady Sif felt very much like a grab for attention rather than a means to move the series forward.

This year’s appearance by Lady Sif and her adversary Vin-Tak was much different. Their inclusion did exactly what guest spots should do. They brought us new information about the characters of our show and served to move the show’s main arc forward rather than be a frivolous, though fun, insertion. Jaimie Alexander and Eddie McClintock were enjoyable additions. Both performances were solid, humorous and a little quirky. In essence, they did exactly what we’d expect—they entertained us, added fun and most of all advanced the plot in dramatic fashion.

We’ve known for some time the blue alien source of the GH-325 was Kree, but we’ve had almost no back story to help us understand the connection between the Kree, humanity and Inhumans. Vin-Tak, alerted by the activation of the Diviner that transformed Skye and Raina, came to destroy the abominations that were created. That revelation alone sent shockwaves up our spines and certainly threw Skye into a vulnerable emotional state.

“I knew that I had to find the remainder of the Diviners before another monstrosity occurred, and erase any knowledge of it.” ~ Vin-Tak

“How many Diviners are supposed to be in that crate?” ~ May

“Enough to create an army.” ~ Vin-Tak

“Sir, the crate is empty.” ~ Simmons

“My worst fear has come true.” ~ Vin-Tak

We also learn from the exchange between Vin-Tak and Sif that the changed humans were slave warriors meant to serve the Kree as instruments of destruction. Both Sif and Vin-Tak believe these slaves must be eliminated. That tidbit didn’t do much to help Skye’s emotional state either and when the entire facility began to shake, it’s clear to everyone that Skye is the source. Her secret was out.

“Son of Coul, what is this?” ~ Lady Sif

“Skye — you want to talk to us?” ~ May

“Skye, what’s doing this?” ~ Coulson

“I am.” ~ Skye

Once again, Chloe Bennet absolutely nailed it. She’s coming into her own and growing into a skilled actress right before our eyes. Skye’s emotions have been strained by her transformation and Bennet has been outstanding in the subtle ways she’s let us see what Skye is going through. Bennet’s range as an actress has been challenged by Skye’s expanding story and Bennet hasn’t just delivered, she’s stood out amongst an already talented cast.

It’s that kind of growth and story progression that guest spots should help create. Jaimie Alexander and Eddie McClintock both did just that. We witnessed Skye’s story unfold front and center and learned that her story is part of a much larger one that will likely dominate the show for some time. What repercussions Skye’s secret will have amongst the team is yet to be determined, but one thing is for certain, Chloe Bennet is crushing it this season.

You do anything you can for family when it’s you against the world. Even when it seems like it might be impossible.

Even from the beginning of the episode it seemed May knew something was different about Skye. May seemed to realize that whatever new element Skye faced, it would require emotional control. As the two sparred, May encouraged her student to focus her emotions and May took that same approach later when Skye’s powers seemed out of control. She worked to get Skye to refocus.

Essentially, May reacted exactly the same way she did to Coulson’s writing. She didn’t understand it, but she conveyed to Skye: You are family. I stand with you. You do not have to face this alone. We’ll figure this out together. We loved that about May’s approach and the choice by the writing team to take that line. May was still practical and cautious, but she showed acceptance and that will be invaluable for Skye’s growth. Ming-Na Wen plays May close to the vest, but we could see a chink in her stoic armor as she stood ready to defend Skye at all costs. To May, Skye is now family. And family sticks together no matter what.

“We can do this. You can do this.” ~ May

“I can’t-I can’t make it stop.” ~ Skye

“You will control your emotions, just like we practiced.” ~ May

“I can’t make it stop. Everyone is at risk.” ~ Skye

“Just focus. Skye, look at me. Focus. It’ll stop.” ~ May

Coulson and Fitz both reacted much the same way as May. Fitz, having known about Skye already, didn’t hesitate despite what repercussions it might have for him amongst the team. He’s felt very much on the outside and wouldn’t stand by for Skye to feel the same way.

When Vin-Tak and Lady Sif both moved against Skye, Coulson didn’t hesitate either. Standing in the way of both, he gave Fitz the time needed to retrieve the Destroyer gun eventually used to subdue Vin-Tak. For that loyalty alone, we’d want Coulson on our team if things ever go sideways for us.

When Lady Sif finally did bring down the force field in the holding cell, Coulson and May both stood ready to defend Skye from being taken away. Despite the hard line Lady Sif took upon the discovery of Skye’s change, when Skye shot herself with the ICER to end the threat, Sif had to recognize that loyalty went both ways.

“She harmed herself!” ~ Lady Sif

“Even though she knew it meant giving up her freedom.” ~ Coulson

“All to save the rest of you.” ~ Lady Sif

“Don’t you see? She wants to get better. If you take her away from the people she loves, she’ll only get worse.” ~ Coulson

We give the entire writing team and especially Drew Z. Greenberg a lot of credit for this episode flowing as smoothly as it did with all the earlier plot lines. When all was said and done, we couldn’t help but wonder how far back the Kree, Inhuman and Skye story had been conceived.

May brought up an excellent point. All the things that have happened up to now seem connected. Coulson’s resurrection via the GH-325, their first encounter with Skye, the map to the city encoded in his DNA and Skye’s transformation within the city all felt like a series of events set in motion by a larger plan.

If these things were planned from the beginning, that’s fantastic writing. If these things were connected later, that’s extraordinary imagination to make what you have in front of you work. Kudos to the writing team either way for tying things together so well. Even Agent Lumley, from May and Coulson’s efforts to find out about Skye’s parents, came back into the picture.

“I can’t help but remember what Lumley said. Wherever Skye goes-” ~ May

“-Death follows.” ~ Coulson.

Secrets and mistrust. This group may be family, but it’s becoming a dysfunctional one.

Perhaps more than anything, the two guest stars provided the fuel needed for everyone to show their hand. We’ve wondered if this team would be divided once they found out what Skye had become. It was nice to see that even when they didn’t understand at first, they defended Skye very much like family. Like siblings they might squabble amongst themselves, but when challenged by outsiders, they stuck together.

Granted, Bobbi, Mack and Lance didn’t know about Skye when they confronted Vin-Tak, but they didn’t pause when he labeled her an atrocity either. We don’t know what secret Bobbie and Mack are harboring, but deep down they must still care about their friends and teammates in order to react in such a way. Even though it’s revealed later that they have reservations, in the heat of the moment they defended Skye without thinking.

As Fitz later defends his decision to keep Skye’s secret, we see that everyone had fears they didn’t let show when the threat from Vin-Tak and Lady Sif was still imminent. Fitz was likely right to mistrust everyone and Skye catching them all in a heated argument only served to show her who she could trust—for now. Fitz seemed to be the only one with no reservations from the moment he realized Skye was different. No one has been treated with kid gloves more than Fitz.

“You would have done to her exactly what they wanted to.” ~ Fitz

“You don’t know that!” ~ Simmons

“Yes, I do know that! They would-you would you’d ‘handle her!’ Mack just said it! Like, uh-like Skye’s something to be locked away in a cage somewhere. We should be protecting her.” ~ Fitz

“No, Fitz! We’re the ones that need protection from her.” ~ Mack

The hard stance against Skye and against secrets was crafty writing, given that Mack and Bobbi are clearly hiding something big. Bobbi’s decision to push Hunter away at Mack’s urging was difficult to watch. We’re certain there’s a mess coming from that especially given that Mack shocked us by subduing Hunter in the end.

The secret Bobbi and Mack are keeping is clearly something the two of them feel will divide the team in the moment, but that will ultimately be understood. We don’t know what it is, but after seeing the team’s sharp reaction to Skye now that this episode, and its guest stars, brought everything about Skye into the open, we’re both anxious and scared to see the fallout.

FINAL VERDICT: The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. team has now glimpsed the much larger and older universe than they realize existed. Alien races that have been playing dangerous games with humanity and pending secrets could eventually tear this family apart.

Season Two of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is thus far shaping up to be consistently better than the first season where things dipped for a bit and the finished strong. While this episode didn’t pack the emotional punch of the Winter Premiere, and most episodes won’t, this was still a strong entry into a solid season. The Skye is the limit for where this show goes from here (See what we did there?). We mean that in a very positive way. Her story is the central theme of this entire season and Chloe Bennet hasn’t just done well with it, she’s flourished and bloomed before our very eyes. She’s handled every emotional challenge the writing team has thrown at her and looks poised to be a breakout star as this show continues to get better.

Guest stars don’t make a series, but they can sometimes break them. This episode’s guests brought their “A” game. Alexander’s very formal, yet humorous, portrayal of Lady Sif is a credit to her talent. Alexander is very much the opposite of Lady Sif and her stoic fish-out-of-water portrayal of a Sif with no memory made for genuine smiles as her story unraveled. McClintock, well-known for his role on SyFy’s Warehouse 13, made a solid appearance as well. His exposition taught us a great deal about the Kree and Inhuman back story we needed to know in order to understand Skye and Raina better. His fight sequences with Bobbi Morse also taught us one more thing—when challenged, Bobbi can hold her own with much stronger opponents. In their second fight especially, Bobbi looked very much like a future Avenger to us. Wink, wink Marvel.

This episode, like most this season, was chocked full of fun dialogue and snappy references. Writer Drew Z. Greenberg kept that ball rolling in this episode with great segues and the right shifts from snarky to serious when needed. The cast took that script and made a fun episode from it and much credit for that all coming together goes to Director Roxann Dawson. This show has had a fantastic line of Directors and Writers this season and both Greenberg and Dawson kept that up with this entry.

The fallout from this episode is likely to be more than just a lot of shattered glass. With secrets still lurking and Skye’s now exposed, things are going to get a bit more heated before they cool. Mack escalated things drastically with Hunter and there will be consequences to come from that. In the end, this team has a lot of internal issues to contend with both at face value and at a much deeper level.

The writing team has done an outstanding job of making sure that each character is a key piece in a larger puzzle that may fall apart if pieces go missing. And as if we didn’t have enough to worry about internally, we know there are forces outside of this group that have no intention of letting them take the time for group therapy to reach a kumbaya state. But, the good thing is that all this craziness makes for great television so regardless of what happens, the fans and viewers win. We do know we can’t wait to see what happens next and we’ll be looking forward to the next episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to find out!

Questions, Comments, Concerns and My Reaction on Twitter…

• Anyone else getting a #KyleXY flashback?? @JaimieAlexander
• Water. What! I’m afraid after that moment I’m gonna need some too.
• We know one thing about this mysterious dude. He’s what they refer to as—über-dangerous.
• Thor. Who can explain the mysteries of the Asgardian Brain? I can. We can too May!
• Thor. I do not know this word, but when you say it .. my knees grow weak.
• I learned this as child. You did not? Uh .. must have been absent that day. o.O @JaimieAlexander @clarkgregg
• Willy Wonka blue. Looked a bit more Smurfy to me, but…who’s nitpicking the blues here. lol
• Someone is NOT having a very Smurfy day. #JustSayin
• Fight us? Kill you? Bobbi and Mack—what the hell are you two up to?
• Blue Man Group. Skye is throwing down the pop culture refs tonight.
• Abominations. Dude, you’re not helping at all.
• This is twice now, you and me. Boom. THAT’S what that does Fitz.
• Oh, now you’ve gone and done it Mack. Dammit.
• TY @DrewZachary!! I went Six Degrees of Geek when a #GIJOE just said—More to it than meets the eye on @AgentsofS.H.I.E.L.D.!
• IKR? What happened to the whole secrets aren’t good speech?? RT @ChloeBennet4: MACK WHAT THE HECK?!!