Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Hub (1x07)

I have officially identified my favorite part of this show: Fitzsimmons. So, after last week's episode, which focused specifically on those characters, I'm really glad we kept it up this week by taking a closer look especially at Fitz. It was a smart move to separate the duo in this one, so that we could get to know them even more as individuals. The plot:

Coulson and the team arrive at the Hub, which is basically the central base of S.H.I.E.L.D. There's a case involving disabling a dangerous weapon, and S.H.I.E.L.D. needs Ward and Fitz to go in there to dismantle it. They go off on this case, but are told only the pertinent information. The others on the team, except for Coulson, who is at clearance level 8, are left entirely in the dark. Skye and Simmons want to know what's going on, so Simmons tranquilizes Agent Sitwell and Skye hacks into the file. She discovers that there's no extraction plan for Ward and Fitz, and that they are going to be left for dead. Skye angrily confronts Coulson, who is mad at her for hacking into the file. At the same time, however, he is also furious that his team has been sent on a suicide mission without his knowledge. Together, the team goes in and saves Fitz and Ward after they disable the weapon.

Throughout the case, we see Coulson starting to question the truth about his recovery, but when he tries to get the files on it, he's told he doesn't have access. He does, however, manage to get some information about Skye. Apparently the woman who dropped Skye off at the orphanage was a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. Coulson tells this to Skye, but hides more of the truth - this agent is now dead. Coulson asks May to continue looking in to it.

Alright, so I think this episode was ultimately very strong. The main weakness, in my opinion, was that some things were a bit too on the nose. For example, why is it that Coulson's team gets to be full of super special butterflies and they don't have to follow protocol? Why exactly do they even allow him to have Skye on the team in the first place? The team is special and different from the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D., and we've now been told that numerous times. I don't like special little snowflake plots. They are a serious pet peeve of mine. Also, Fitz' feelings of inadequacy are being handled a bit too head-on. I get that he feels inferior next to Ward, but they made that more clear, insistently, than they needed to.

As always, I'm not really interested in Skye's character. I want to be. It's not the actor's fault. I think there's a good father/daughter thing going on between Skye and Coulson, and with further development I still think Skye's character has a chance. But at the moment, I'm not invested. I don't really care about her S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent mother or the mysteries surrounding all that. I could be convinced if they come up with some sort of good twist, but at the moment I just don't care very much.

However, let's now turn to what I did like, because as I said before I do think it's a strong episode overall. I adore the relationship between Fitz and Simmons. I've been tentatively shipping them since the pilot, but now I want it for sure. Jemma's concern for Fitz was precious. I love that she made him a special sandwich, and I loved how far she was willing to go to look after him, even though it meant seriously breaking the rules.

Ward and Fitz were also great together. As I mentioned before, there were some things that were a little bit in-your-face, but I appreciated the fact that Fitz ended up being able to handle himself just fine, and that he actually had to save Ward a couple of times. What's even better is that he grew to have more respect for himself and his abilities. Ward started off being protective over Fitz and treating him like he was incompetent, but by the end he acknowledged his skills.

I also love that they are continuing Coulson's story line. I cannot wait for the big reveal about what really happened when he died. I'm so happy that they didn't just bring him back and leave it at that. I remember Season Six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and all the messed up consequences that came from Buffy returning from the dead. I'm sure Joss can come up with something brilliant once more.

So, I mentioned some good, I mentioned some bad. And yeah, it was a mixed sort of episode. Still, I loved the focus on Fitz, and I think if we were to just find a way to make Skye a bit more interesting and developed, we're on our way to having a great cast of characters.

7/10