Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: End of the Beginning (1x16)

A cliffhanger! I'm really curious, now. No, the show hasn't suddenly gotten amazing, but these past few episodes have had enough of the unexpected that I still want to know what's coming next. I'm going to try and recount the plot for y'all, but a lot happened. We'll see how I do.

Agents Garrett and Triplett are back, after they are attacked at a safe house by Mike Peterson (from now on to be referred to as Deathlok). Garrett, Triplett, Sitwell, Hand, and Blake join our team, intent on helping them hunt the Clairvoyant. Skye is made into an official S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, so she may be given access to files to help them hunt down the Clairvoyant. She comes up with the idea of pairing off the agents and giving each person in the pair only part of the information, so that the Clairvoyant's powers won't work, and he won't see them coming.

They split up. May and Blake run into Deathlok. Deathlok injures Blake, but Blake manages to hit him with a tracker bullet, so they can now follow him. They follow Deathlok and find Nash, one of their Clairvoyant suspects. Nash is hooked up to life support, and talks to them through a computer. As he taunts the team about Skye dying, Ward loses it, and shoots him dead.

While all of this is going on, Fitz is trying to set up a private line so that he and Simmons can discuss secret stuff, like the tests they're running on Skye's blood. While he's doing this, he discovers the existence of another encrypted line, going straight to May's line. This happens just as Coulson and Skye realize that the Clairvoyant doesn't have psychic powers at all - he has access to S.H.I.E.L.D. files! The Clairvoyant is an inside man! Fitz tells Skye about the suspicious encrypted line, which causes Coulson to think that May is working for the Clairvoyant.

When confronted, May refuses to tell them who the line connects to, but she swears she doesn't know what they're talking about - she's not connected to the Clairvoyant! At that moment, the Bus is hijacked and starts to take off. Back at the Hub, we see Agent Victoria Hand give orders that everyone on the Bus is to be killed, except for Coulson.

Oooh. What does it all mean?! Let's talk about the elements I don't like, first.

Ward shooting Nash. That was a bit much, I thought. It seemed to come out of nowhere. This is probably tied up in my own negative feelings about the idea of Ward and Skye as a couple. They're the two least interesting characters on the show right now, so I really don't want to develop anything between them. You know what I would totally love? If Skye were to start dating a woman. Just freakin' do something to shake it up, would you?

Also, I thought it was maybe a tad coincidental that Fitz found out about May's secret just when all of this was going down. What outstanding timing.

But... hey. Some good stuff happened, too.

These side characters actually have more complexity and intrigue for me than Ward and Skye. I'm very interested in Agent Hand's sudden betrayal. Is she working for the Clairvoyant? Or is she the Clairvoyant? I think it's pretty clear that May is innocent of that particular crime... but I'm still really interested in what May is up to. All of these questions are very good ones.

The Fitzsimmons stuff in this particular episode was very cute. I like their determination to work together on this project, their enthusiasm for science, and the way that Fitz calls Simmons "Jemma" when she starts talking about Skye's blood in front of May. So much cuteness.

I think the idea of the Clairvoyant being part of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a good one. As of yet, this show hasn't given me faith that they know how to pull it off, but I'll reserve judgment!

8/10