Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Review – “A Hen In The Wolf House”

There is a lot of stuff that happens in this week’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and I’m going to try to summarize and theorize all at once, because I feel like a multitude of theories were just given some substance and a universe of others was just split wide open.

Not-So-Short Summary: We start at Miriah and Pete’s wedding for some reason. Getting married myself in ten months still doesn’t make me care about this wedding (then again, I’m not a girly girl, but that was obvious, wasn’t it?). Not even when the Naval guests down the champagne and have side effects similar to what the obelisk does.

S.H.I.E.L.D. gets wind of it and we see Coulson debriefing the team. Skye catches a glimpse of the alien writing carved into Coulson’s desk and pushes him for answers. Watching them butt heads is both painful and intriguing. You can tell Skye’s frustrated by how Fury-like Coulson has become and you can see Coulson would like to tell her what’s really going on, but knows that’s not the smartest thing in the world.

Side-swipe to Raina barging in on Skye’s dad, telling him she needs the obelisk. Needless to say, he freaks out on her, almost strangles her to death (or at least to the point of passing out), asks if she’s more afraid of Daniel Whitehall than she is of him. She can’t sweet-talk her way out of this one, though she tries. He’s not keeping it together (I assume he has breathtaking anger-management issues). All he wants is to bring his family back together, like Tom Jane on Arrested Development. Skye is not her name, but her father never says what it is (I’m guessing Carol).

Skye confronts Coulson about the alien writing because she was getting nowhere with it, decided to talk to Ward (who is still creepy as hell), and puts two and two together between Garrett’s insanity and the carvings popping up around Coulson. Coulson gives her his theories: he and Garrett reacted negatively to the GH-325 whereas Skye didn’t react at all, as if that chemical was already part of her. Pretty much what the fan theories have all been saying throughout the summer. Inhumans, Terrigen Mist, etc., even though they don’t mention any of it by name because it’s still a mystery.

And Skye’s reaction to it all is, “Hold on, are you saying I’m an alien?!”

Raina interrupts with a phone call and says she wants to meet with Coulson. Meanwhile, we get Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird, putting HYDRA’s lab on lockdown because there’s a mole. Simmons sneaks the damning evidence into her boss’s desk, but that doesn’t clear her name. She gets cornered in the bathroom by Bobbi, who knows it’s her.

The dinner date is intense between Coulson and Raina. It is a lot of fun to see Raina being shaken because Coulson is so cold and distant and not giving her what she wants. She threatens to expose a picture of Simmons to HYDRA and get her killed. All she wants is to take Skye with her to meet her father. Coulson says no deal on giving Skye over to Raina, and the damning picture is sent to every HYDRA email with Raina freaking out more than Coulson. There was a second there where I believed Coulson was just going to let Simmons die at the hands of HYDRA (this is a Whedon show after all). As Simmons runs for it, she runs into Bobbi, who whips out Mockingbird’s battle staves to kick some ass and get them both out of there.

To end the dinner date, Hunter tags Raina so they can find their way to Whitehall and of course, Skye takes off without anyone on her team noticing. Because wouldn’t you be curious about your father, too? She finds the empty warehouse where she stumbles on a picture of her as a baby with her father. Coulson shows up as Skye bares her soul, saying she just wanted a glimpse. “You’re having one hell of a day, huh?” he asks Skye before she loses it.

Outside in the dark alley, her father is watching on an iPad through hidden cameras (and some not-so-hidden camera). May points out the two criminals her father killed and Skye is disgusted. Her father freaks out when she calls him a monster and drives off.

And then, the roller coaster of emotions. Or would blender be more appropriate? Simmons and Bobbi make it back to the headquarters where we get FitzSimmons reuniting. And it is the most painful, awkward, heartbreaking thing in the world. Because Fitz was slowly getting over Simmons and Simmons doesn’t quite know how to deal with Fitz since the accident and his feelings coming to light. Then, we get the hilariousness of Hunter coming face-to-face with Bobbi, his evil ex-wife. Hunter is growing on me, guys, I found him quite entertaining this week.

Skye and Coulson have a heart to heart where he shows off his gigantic wall of alien writing. “So this is what you’ve been doing up here,” she comments. “Well, it’s what I did yesterday,” Coulson replies.

Skye’s Theory: It’s a map.

We end with Whitehall and Bakshi being rudely interrupted by Skye’s father, who kicks some ass and then apologizes and wipes blood off of Whitehall’s desk. He shows off the obelisk, says in its native language it’s known as “The Diviner.” He wants to kill Coulson…and everyone else.

Badass Moment of the Week: Bobbi Morse turning on Hydra, holy crap. I know everyone said that Mockingbird was a “good guy,” but I really didn’t anticipate the reveal so soon in the episode. That’s probably why I was incredibly impressed with her beating everyone up with her battle staves.

Best One-Liner: “I had to maintain my cover!” Hunter exclaims when Skye asks if he’s been drinking.
“Your cover as what, Ron Burgundy?” she quips. I snorted.

Fun Theory I’m Making Up Right Now: It was a comment I saw somewhere on the internet that has no backing to it whatsoever, but I can’t help but hope it somehow happens: Skye is Star Lord’s half-sister. Hey, the higher ups have said that they aren’t going with Peter Quill’s normal father backstory and the movie made comments about him being an ancient race they’ve never seen before. If everything is pointing toward the Inhumans, isn’t it possible Xandar hasn’t dealt with the Inhumans in several hundred years, or ever? Come on, Star Lord appearance on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I know next to nothing about the Inhumans. I’m not even going to pretend (well, I might a little…). But any dolt with half a brain can Google “Marvel comics the diviner” and come up with a link to Jolen from the Inhumans that talks about him being saved by Mala the Diviner and Dewoz, they go off to retrieve the Terrigen crystals. Am I onto something or is Google just playing games with me?

There’s a great article/Tumblr post written by a fan all about the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. heading in the direction of the Inhumans) over here. I’ve only read the first section of it, but I’m sure you guys are interested.

Either way, I am stoked that we are heading in the right direction for answers, that they’re giving us substantial information and at the same time still keeping it in a shroud of mystery, and that this show somehow manages to keep me on the edge of my seat whilst I bawl my eyes out and also applaud the badassery of everyone in the cast.

And what can you say about Kyle MacLachlan’s performance as Skye’s father? It’s the perfect mix of near-over-the-top-ness with a sense of knowing insanity and internal issues. He played it incredibly well, and it was most noticeable in the ending scene with Whitehall and Bakshi when one second he was slitting a guy’s throat in rage and the next second, he’s quietly apologizing and wiping blood away.

Until next week! And get excited because we get the worldwide premiere of the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer. I’ve only been waiting for forever for it!