Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Paradise Lost (3x16)

I liked everything about this one, but I didn't think it was a particularly outstanding episode. Let's take a look!

Cons:

I think the reason this episode didn't quite reach perfection for me was that it felt like setup. Next week, we're finally getting the promised Secret Warriors episode, and so there was a bit of a sense of marking time here, for me. This episode had so much information in it, but still somehow had the feeling of nothing happening until the very end, where we got the lead-in to next week. I don't know. Maybe I was just in a weird mood while watching.

The subplot was good for the most part, but it also had a moment of stupid in it. Lincoln and Daisy go to meet a guy who used to live in Afterlife with Lincoln, but never activated his powers. They promise this guy, James, that they will help him activate his powers if he tells them what he once stole from Afterlife's storage. He reveals a mysterious Kree orb of unknown import, that was apparently wielded by Hive at one point. I'm so, so tired of McGuffins. Particularly Kree ones. It's such a tired idea. I guess I'll have to wait and see what they do with it...

I rather enjoyed the backstory that we got for Gideon Malick, and I'll talk about that in a minute... but I will admit the backstory was one of the most predictable things I've ever seen on this show. From pretty much the beginning, it was beyond obvious that Gideon was going to betray his brother Nathaniel.

Pros:

Lincoln and Daisy's subplot wasn't horrible, or anything. I did like the way they both used their powers to subdue James and get him to cooperate, and it was really cold of them to promise James a chance at his powers and then go back on the deal. These two working together made for a nice lead-in to next week's Secret Warriors special. We also learned a bit more about Lincoln's past. Turns out, he once nearly killed his girlfriend in a car crash because he was driving drunk. He kept it a secret from Daisy because he didn't want her to know that side of him. But Daisy still supports him, knowing that he's changed. It's tough to think about a situation like that. It's hard for me not to demonize anybody who would get behind the wheel of a car while drunk, but at the same time I know that alcoholism is an illness. I think they handled Daisy's response really well.

Malick's backstory is basically this: back in the day, Hydra had a ceremony wherein everybody picked a stone out of a bag, and the person who picked the white stone would be sacrificed to Hive on the other side of the portal. Gideon and his brother Nathaniel learn the sad truth that their father, before he passed, used to cheat the system by switching the white stone with one with a small chip in it, so he could feel for it and avoid being chosen for sacrifice. The brothers decide to throw the stone out and approach the ceremony with honor. But unbeknownst to Nathaniel, Gideon kept the trick stone. Unfortunately, Nathaniel is the one left to take the white stone at the end, and he is sacrificed.

In the present day, Malick confides in his daughter Stephanie about his vision of the future, and how he is sure it will be Hive who kills him. Stephanie is a devoted worshipper of this godlike creature, however, and believes her father must be mistaken. In the end, Hive reveals that he retains full memories of each of his hosts. He taunts Gideon with memories of his brother, and shows Stephanie the kind of person her father really is. Then, in a surprising twist, he kills Stephanie, showing Gideon the true meaning of sacrifice.

I mentioned that the backstory was a tad cliché, but I did like how it set up Gideon's character and his motivations. We know now that he, like his father, was less a fanatic worshipper of the Hive, and more a practical man of business. His fanaticism is further curbed by the realities of Hive's appearance, although the others in Hydra seem duly impressed. Also, the twist with killing Stephanie was very nicely done. When they introduced her, I thought she'd be playing a bigger role, and become a creepy love interest for Hive. But no! He just kills her off! Since we know that Malick has seen his own future death, it makes me wonder if he turns against Hive and maybe joins with our protagonists to take him down, and that's what ends up killing him. That would be hard to pull off effectively, but it would be really cool if they could.

Finally, let's get to what the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. is up to. The rest of the team is investigating what Hive and Malick were doing last week with that company that they totally obliterated. They find information that Simmons looks over, and learn that they were researching invasive species such as types of birds and insects. We're still not sure what's going on with that, but it seems that Hive might be afraid of whatever information was coming up through this other company. As Simmons says so wisely to Coulson, "birds can be scary!"

The purpose of this investigation is to find out what the heck is going on with Hive, aka Ward. Coulson is deeply disturbed by Ward's body walking around Earth. He confides in Fitz about his actions in killing Ward: "I knew it would come back to haunt me, I just didn't think it would actually come back to haunt me." Coulson's guilt isn't exactly tied to the act of killing somebody. He's had to do that before. What's going on here is that he killed Ward as an act of vengeance, not as an act of self-defense or the defense of an innocent. That's a hard pill to swallow. I loved this moment with Fitz and Coulson, because it ties everything back very nicely to their shared experience on the desert planet.

The team finds something else while researching Hydra's recent actions: Giyera, the telekinetic man who also serves as Gideon's head of security. He was Fitz and Simmons' torturer earlier in the season, and he can manipulate all physical non-organic objects to do his bidding. In order to capture him, Coulson and the others lure him into a sealed room without any loose objects, forcing him into hand-to-hand combat with May. They bring him aboard the plane and lock him up, but unfortunately he manages to escape. He easily escapes Fitz, Mack, and then Coulson, getting to the control center and using his powers to plunge the plane down into a Hydra base on the Dutch-German border. Dun, dun, dunnn!!!

There were tons of cool things about Giyera in this episode. The choreography of his fight with May was really awesome, although I do wonder - can't Giyera manipulate May's clothing? What would stop him from using his powers to tug on the fabric of her clothing so it cut off her breathing? Oh, whatever. I can live with it. The fight was cool.

So was the creativity of all of Giyera's actions. We got to see him use his telekinesis in a number of interesting ways. I think my favorite part is the fact that Coulson's hand can be controlled by Giyera, since it's non-organic. That was a dicey moment! Good thing Giyera was aiming more at escape and less at murder, or Coulson would have been in serious trouble.

This episode did a good job of reminding me of past plot elements, and it also strengthened some character development as well. Fitz and Simmons were both totally solid and competent in this episode, and they never wavered, yet there were lots of little moments where they made a comment or shared a glance, remembering what happened to them the last time they came face-to-face with Giyera. And Ward haunts all of these characters like a specter. Obviously you've got Coulson's guilt, but there's also just the way the rest of the team responds when they look at the picture of him. May, Daisy, Fitz, and Simmons each have personal reasons to fear and despise Grant Ward. It's also a nice touch to differentiate the reaction of Mack with everybody else. He knows how bad Ward is, and how much they want to make sure the threat of him is truly neutralized. But he doesn't have personal beef with the man the way the others do.

A brief side-note: this episode had a lot of really funny lines. I already mentioned Simmons' adorable little quip about how birds can be scary. I also enjoyed Coulson's remark: "Hydra's in the oil business now? it's like they're not even trying to avoid the bad guy clichés." Sometimes when this show tries to be Whedonesque and go with quippy dialogue, we get some really unfortunate and cheesy lines. Tonight, all the jokes were hitting their marks!

With the rest of the team onboard a plane in Giyera's control, it's up to Daisy and Lincoln to save the day. How? Well, by calling in the Secret Warriors, of course. I'm really excited to see how they pull this off. Hopefully it's as epic as we've all been waiting for. And Daisy's vision of a dead team member aboard a spacecraft might be coming true sooner rather than later... any guesses about who it will be? A part of me is thinking Mack. I'll be pissed.

8/10