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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Who You Really Are

"Why am I not blue?"

When Lady Sif first appeared on this show I hoped it would be the first of many appearances. Looks like I got my wish. And she brought a Kree Pete Lattimer along for the ride.

The goddess of war shows up in sunny California Portugal with that most common of annoying plot devices – memory loss. This was the least successful part of the episode for me. Really, was there any need for it? The amnesia sure as hell didn't affect the progression of the plot. It was so selective that all Sif was missing was her name, her reason for being on Earth and why she practically giggled like a smitten schoolgirl when Thor's name was mentioned. All the key story information she possessed, like all the stuff she learned about other cultures at Asgard High that enabled them to track down Pete the Kree, was still there.

It was difficult for me to take Eddie seriously as a Kree warrior at first. I think it was the voice, which was very silly in the earlier scenes. As the episode went on he toned it down and became more Pete-ish. Pete the Kree was on Midgard looking for those who had been changed by the mist, but his true mission was to drop a serious amount of Inhuman/Kree backstory on our heroes. And, of course, to let a certain cat out of a certain bag.

Skye's secret is now out in the open and (almost) everyone reacted exactly as Cal predicted. Whether they wanted to or not, most of the team now see her as a potential threat, causing Skye to isolate herself inside the bus. Yet it remains to be seen whether or not this will eventually push her into her father's open arms. Skye still has Fitz looking out for her as well as May. Skye and May's relationship is quickly becoming my favourite on the show. I'm convinced May at least suspected that Skye had gained abilities. She didn't look shocked when she started to quake out. May no doubt recognises the danger that Skye poses, but, as with Coulson, she will do everything within her power to keep her safe because, although she will probably never never admit it, Skye is like a daughter to her. May was fully prepared to fight a god to protect her.

With Skye's powers now growing beyond her control, maybe a trip to Asgard isn't such a bad idea. It's a realm full of super-powered individuals who would be better equipped to help Skye learn to control her powers and deal with the occasions when she struggles. Let's face it, California is not the ideal location to keep someone with earthquake powers. On the other hand, the current king of Asgard is not all he appears to be. Putting Skye in his care would be no better than handing her over to HYDRA.

Good news, Bobbi and Mack aren't HYDRA. Bad news, Mack is comparing what they are doing to HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. and says things like "pull the trigger". Whatever they are up to it is a given that the others will not happy about it. It's something so bad that Mack thinks Hunter, who has closer ties to him and Bobbi than anyone else on the team, will turn on them and side with Coulson and co. Bobbi doesn't seem fully committed to their mission. She's clearly having some doubts about whatever it is they are up to. Mack, on the other hand, appears almost ruthlessly committed. Is his more aggressive attitude a side effect of his experience at the temple or is his legend starting to fade? And what is he going to do with sleeping beauty?


Intel and Assets

--Woman walks out of the sea with a sword and a head injury. Not the ideal time to flirt.

--When Coulson brought out the iPad to show Sif that they were friends I was certain he was going to show her an awkward selfie of the two of them and now I'm massively disappointed that he didn't.

--May obviously still thinks Thor is dreamy.

--The Loki blaster now has a name, Bambino.

--Still no sign of Ward and not-May.

--That pier is so California. Come on, production team, I've been to California, I know you have more Mediterranean looking locations than that. Get your heads in the game.

Sif: "I am no monster. I am sometimes dangerous, but only toward those who are deserving. I do not actually know. Is it only toward those who are..."
Coulson: "No, that was right."
Sif: "Excellent."

Skye: "You want full Mortal Kombat?"

Sif: "I wonder if I serve the king as the great warrior you say I am."
May: "Odin? Oh, we know you do. You've met him."
Sif: "Shut up!"

Sif: "You do not ask the questions, Kree. You do not talk."
Coulson: "Actually, we need him to talk."

Three out of four Kree truncheons.
---
Mark Greig has been writing for Doux Reviews since 2011. More Mark Greig.

6 comments:

  1. That pier is so California. Come on, production team, I've been to California, I know you have more Mediterranean looking locations than that. Get your heads in the game.

    LOL. I was going on and on about how California it looked. I'm pretty sure I've been on that pier, too. :)

    Loved Lady Sif.

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  2. Once again Fitz was my favorite character of the week!

    Mack's behavior was definitely fishy. When Coulson brought up training him as a fighter he was all "violence isn't really my thing" and then later executes a perfect sleeper hold.

    The only thing that really bothered me in this episode was that I don't think the random Portuguese woman who lost her memory ever got it back.

    Are they in California? I must have missed that. I thought the home-base location was still a mystery. Actually I would think California wouldn't be such a bad place for her powers considering structures in California are built to withstand earthquakes.

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  3. For some reason I like Lady Sif more when she is wearing armor. Plain clothes might be smarter... but less cool.

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  4. I liked the episode. But since I'm Portuguese, I couldn't help but to snort every time a "Portuguese" person showed up on screen. "Sorry, my Portuguese is awful." Don't worry, Bobbi, those people's isn't that great, either.

    Also, I'm a straight guy, and even I think Thor is dreamy.

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  5. I enjoyed that this one was lighter and less busy. Memoryless Lady Sif was a hoot, although I agree the lack of memory didn’t do much plot wise. The plot itself was somewhat weak actually, although the episode helped to move some arcs forward.

    Simmons continued to be a drag. This is a bummer, because previously the girl was made of awesome. When she explained that Skye was different because she was her friend, I rolled my eyes. That is a terrible way of thinking, Simmons. “I don’t like inhumans, except for that friend of mine.” Now, replace “inhumans” for “black people”, “LGBT people”, “jewish” or whatever. I’m so glad Fitz wasn’t having any of it.

    Apart from my disappointment with how Simmons is being handled, I admit the moment Simmons realized Fitz knew and he just stared in silence was a very good one. I also loved how Fitz held his own against Simmons, Mack, Bobbi and Hunter when they teamed up against him. It wasn’t clever of Fitz to keep Skye’s secret from Coulson and May, but he was more than right to keep it from the rest of the team.

    Mack became more fleshed out as a character on this one and I can finally decide I don’t like him. He freaking interrupted Fitz and Simmons (man, he likes to butt in) discussion to tell Fitz he shouldn’t keep secrets. Whaaaaaaat? Hypocrisy much, dude?

    I’m glad Hunter realized something else has been happening with Bobbi and Mack. It got to me that Hunter decided to give his relationship with Bobbi another chance only to realize he still can’t reach her.

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  6. About the Portuguese... Bobbi’s pronunciation was indeed terrible. On the opening scene some characters spoke with European Portuguese accent and others spoke with Brazilian accent. That was weird.

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