Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Ragtag (1x21)

Update: Still good. Yup. The show is still good. I think this episode was probably the most underwhelming of the ones since the HYDRA twist, but even still, it's miles ahead of the episodes before S.H.I.E.L.D. fell. I think the reason I liked it a little less is that it focused on Ward, and even though he's a thousand times more interesting as a villain, he's still probably my least favorite main character to watch. Still, I'm impressed. Let's talk about what happens.

We learn about Ward's past, in a series of flashbacks. Garrett found him in juvenile detention and recruited him to the cause. He left Ward and Buddy, a dog, in the woods for several months, apparently teaching him the need to survive on his own. Ward adapts and survives. When Garrett shows up again, he tells Ward about HYDRA. He then makes Ward kill Buddy to prove that he he can overcome his weaknesses.

In the present day, Coulson and the team discover that Cybertek seems to be the root of all their problems. They are responsible for Project Centipede, HYDRA, the Clairvoyant, Ian Quinn, Deathlok, etc. Skye has included a Trojan Horse on the files she gave to Ward, but in order to access it, she needs to plug something into one of Cybertek's computers.

The team travel to one of the facilities. Coulson and May go in, pretending to be scientists, while Skye attempts to hack into their network. She can't seem to do anything, however. Couslon and May then discover that Cybertek is keeping hard copies of everything, instead of electronic files. They look through the files and discover that Garrett was the very first Deathlok subject.

Garrett is dying, because the technological implants inside of him are failing. Ward tries to take care of him, and we learn that this is why Garrett is so desperate to complete Project Centipede. He wants the serum to save himself. Raina is somewhat disappointed to learn that Garrett's motives are so selfish, instead of motivated by scientific curiosity.

Fitzsimmons goes looking for the Bus, but when they find it, Ward captures them. Fitz is able to use some old Howling Commandos tech to short-circuit Garrett's wiring, nearly killing him. Garrett orders Ward to kill Fitzsimmons. Ward struggles with it, but eventually he disconnects part of the Bus from the rest of it, and sends a crate with the two of them in it down into the ocean. Raina is able to save Garrett using some of the serum.

In a small subplot, we see Ian Quinn offering to sell the US government some super soldiers. He uses Deathlok's recent success in killing a Colombian drug lord as a selling point.

Complaints?

Well, like I said, Ward has never been the most interesting of characters to me. He's not bad by any means, but he's also not great. The flashbacks were trying to paint him in a sympathetic light... but I'm much more interested in Evil Ward than I am in Ward with a difficult childhood.

There's something just a little bit too plot-device-y about Skye's need to plug into one of the enemy's computers. I was rolling my eyes a few times over that.

But honestly, once again we have a pretty darn solid episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.! Let's discuss some of the good stuff.

Fitzsimmons! Sinking to the bottom of the ocean! I'm sure there will be lots of opportunity for angsty admissions of love as they hover on the verge of death... I so look forward to it. Does that make me a little sick?

Their pleading with Ward really tugs at the heartstrings. I did like the complexity of knowing that Ward does care about them, but that he's so incredibly loyal to Garrett that he decides to do away with them anyway. It's interesting that he can't bring himself to actively kill them - shoot through the glass or something like that - he has to maintain some distance, just like he did with Buddy.

One of the most brilliant moments was the cuts between Buddy and Fitz, and the way you can't be quite sure if Ward actually shot Buddy as he ran away, or not. It seems like he did, but we never actually see the dog fall down, dead. That's some good editing.

On the lighter side of things, this episode had a lot of comedic moments.

Coulson and May pretending to be Fitz and Simmons was great. There's the moment when Coulson accidentally imitates Fitz's accent. That was hilarious. So was the part about the "much cooler name." May in those glasses? So fun.

Also, we have Triplett and Coulson geeking out over the Howling Commando stuff. Fantastic. One of my favorite elements of Coulson's character from The Avengers was his true nerdiness. It's not a trait that we get to see explored very much on this show, but when it does come out, it's fantastic. I really enjoy the way the Marvel universe has managed to incorporate its own comic book culture into a universe that actually includes real superheroes.

There was a nice bonding moment with May and Skye, which I really enjoyed. I'm also liking Raina more and more. She's so very independent in all of this. She doesn't ally herself with any larger group for political reasons. It's all about the scientific discovery with her, and she'd switch sides easily if she saw better opportunities elsewhere. 

There you have it! Great stuff, truly.

7.5/10