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Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD Recap – “One Of Us”

By Christina Roberts

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It’s a Cal-centric episode of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD! In fact, almost better than that, it’s a May-centric episode of Agents of SHIELD. And it does not disappoint. Supervillains ahoy!

Not-So-Short Summary: This show doesn’t start on a buildup–we are thrown right into the action as Cal hunts around Coney Island for other “specials” who have been put on the index by SHIELD. He finds Karla Faye Gideon and gives his spiel about wanting to free her from her shackles and how none of them are powerful on their own, but together they are a force.

On the Bus, Skye is still in purgatory, but at least she’s sharing a meal with Coulson (anyone else want to know what his secret ingredient is for his grilled cheese?) and talking about how she’s controlling the tremors, everything is awesome, everything is cool when you’re part of a team. But on the other side of the wall, May and Coulson know she has to have a psych evaluation and a threat assessment before she can rejoin the team…even if they do put her on SHIELD’s Index.

May calls in Andrew, her ex-husband, to do Skye’s psych eval because he used to do them for SHIELD all the time back in the day. I don’t know what I expected from Melinda May’s ex-husband, but everything Blair Underwood does is perfect, fantastic, and to see this softer side of May gives her character so much more depth. But more on that later.

His first attempt to talk with Skye starts off poorly, mostly because she deflects his questions with anger or sarcasm or asks questions about him instead, and he calls her out on it. Only when Andrew gives her a tiny nugget of information about his past with May (they eloped when they got married) does Skye respond in kind. And it’s only in a scene after this between Andrew and May that we see the softer side of the Cavalry and all of the various relationships between our SHIELD compatriots.

While May and Andrew are bonding, tremors begin to shake the Bus. It turns out Skye is making earthquakes while she sleeps because she’s suppressing her powers internally, not stopping them completely, and this shows up later in a much more obvious way.

On the evil-side of things, Cal has taken his band of misfits to an insane asylum where he breaks into the secure bunker in the basement to release two of the deadliest specials SHIELD knows, one of whom is still hanging around when Coulson and Bobbi show up. Bobbi’s showdown with the man (John Bruno, but if I’m wrong, someone please correct me) would have been the “badass moment of the week,” but that finishing move on Karla later on was too good to pass up.

Cal, meanwhile, is drawing Coulson back to his hometown in Wisconsin, and having breakfast at a diner surrounded by all of the specials who look so out of place with their Bane-like masks and razorblades for fingertips. He gives a very rousing speech about how they can’t forget what’s happened to them, they can’t slink away and let SHIELD get away with it. He also explains that he made himself what he is, but he’s always tweaking his formula in hopes that it will even itself out.

When they get to the high school football field, Angar the Screamer gets to work his magic; his voice penetrates every living thing’s central nervous system and renders them catatonic. He makes everyone in their vicinity pass out. Oh, and the birds, too.

Cal draws Coulson out onto the football field alone (though Bobbi is beneath the bleachers and May is on her way, much to Andrew’s dismay), and I wish I had transcribed his entire speech over the loudspeakers because it was sheer hilarious insanity. Have I mentioned how much Kyle MacLachlan is slaying as Cal? He just looks like he’s having so much fun playing someone so unhinged and messed up.

May pops up out of nowhere with a gun pointed at Skye. Cal rightly freaks out, but goes on to tell Skye that he can help (“What’s your thing?” he asks her. “I was hoping it was wings.”) because she was brainwashed by SHIELD and doesn’t know any better. He hands the mic to Angar and that’s when Gordon swoops in and teleports Cal away (or as I texted my friend, “OH SNAP!!”).

In the aftermath of Cal’s disappearance, all hell breaks loose on the football field; Coulson shows off some of his super spy moves while May goes head-to-head with a man who became super powerful due to experimental steroids and Bobbi takes on Karla. Skye sees all of this unfolding and starts a wave of earthquakes, which she stops. The side-effect? 75 hairline fractures from her clavicle to her fingers along with capillary ruptures throughout her arms. What is she supposed to do? (Answer: Gauntlets. But probably not for another episode or so.)

Elsewhere in this episode, Hunter finds himself handcuffed to a bathroom sink, waiting for an extraction crew for him and Mack. At the end of the episode, their ride arrives and Mack reveals that he and Bobbi are working for SHIELD. The real SHIELD.

Post-Credits Stinger: Cal with Gordon in a completely destroyed room. Wants to know why he didn’t take Skye. Gordon brought him here because he’s making too much noise, calls Cal a science experiment, not an Inhuman. And it’s not for Gordon to decide what happens to Cal.

Badass Moment of the Week: Bobbi slamming the table up into Karla’s face to win that hand-to-hand fight. Both the fiancee and I flinched and said “ow” after that one.

Best One-Liner: “Did you guys have actual conversations? Pillow talk? Or was it just pillows and stern looks?” Skye asks Andrew during their first session. I feel like this perfectly encapsulates the May we know.

When Mack revealed his true allegiance and turned to reveal the other SHIELD’s logo, I was ninety percent sure Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) was going to be standing behind him with a smirk on his face and his bow and arrow slung over his shoulder. I’m actually highly disappointed that this did not happen.

Let’s talk Andrew and Melinda. He drops quite a few nuggets of information that I filed away for later use: He still talks to her mother, who we have seen on a few occasions; he also comments on May being back in the field; and he was around when she became known as the Cavalry. His presence gives us a joking and smiling Agent May–real and genuine, nothing like that covert mission with Coulson. The scene of them in the kitchen, discussing Skye and joking about their past, made me feel all warm inside. Back when I did my “What They Become” posts, I did comment on how May has made less strides than everyone else in character development, though she has still made some. This episode nearly makes up for that (though I did guess wrong about the ex-husband angle, but I can live with that).

My next question is: When do we get a May-centric episode that gives us more of her backstory? So many questions are left unanswered.

Simmons felt a little closer to her old self in this episode, probably because Bobbi called her out on giving Fitz the cold shoulder, and then they bond over the absurdity of May being married. We’re one step closer to a new version of FitzSimmons, people! Fitz was also on fire this episode, probably the funniest, most enjoyable he’s been all season. His confusion to finding out May was previously married was perfect. More of this Fitz, please, and don’t make him revert back to whatever he was before when he finds out about Mack’s betrayal.

Several other reviews I read of Agents of SHIELD episodes have commented on how hard Chloe Bennet has been acting since the show picked back up after its break, how it distracts from the character herself. I feel like that disappeared in this episode. She’s playing things a little more inward, a little more subtle, and really showing off the pain Skye feels. She’s bringing more depth to the character than there has been since the Terrigenesis, and it’s more than welcome.

Next week looks like the return of Ward, who, of course, is working for Bizzaro!SHIELD and will probably mess up everyone’s plans and try to make up with Skye or something. Wait, can I use Bizzaro if we’re not DC? Too bad, I already did.

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