S.H.I.E.L.D. Exposed – “One Door Closes”
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!
One Door Closes has very strong sense of déjà vu, between the flashbacks to the day SHIELD fell and the events of the present as the ‘Real’ SHIELD makes its move against Coulson’s team.
The flashbacks mainly revolve around Bobbi, Mack, Gonzales and Hartley (Lucy Lawless reprising her role) on the day SHIELD fell and how they banded together to take back the ship that ‘Real’ SHIELD uses in the present. It goes a long way to make the characters who are positioned as the antagonists more sympathetic. Granted, they’re still shitbags who are hassling our team so it’s not THAT effective but it’s nice to see how they met. I wonder what is on the ship that was deemed dangerous enough for Fury to order Bobbi to sink it and if it will be used in the near future.
Back at The Homestead, tensions are high between Fitz and Simmons and I’m still backing Fitz all the way. Simmons has been out of bloody order ever since she got back from HYDRA, though she‘s clearly grown as an agent when she effortlessly outsmarts Bobbi and incapacitates her. Coulson confronts Mack as Bobbi returns and the shit hits the fan and ‘Real’ SHIELD storms the base, capturing everyone except May. Ming-Na Wen is on top form this episode, wearing both her badass cap as she fights Bobbi and her Mom hat as she warns Skye and stays behind and gets captured so she can look after FitzSimmons. She helps Coulson escape via a secret elevator even he didn’t seem to know about too!
Meanwhile, in the house that Banner built, Skye is struggling with her isolation but soon gets an unexpected visitor in the shape of Gordon. This is the first real, prolonged, interaction we’ve seen from him and he’s quite the emissary of his people. He breaks the ice with humour, stresses the gravity of the situation that Skye finds herself in but doesn’t force the issue, only offers a hand if she requires it. Once the ‘Real’ SHIELD head to The Retreat and in spite of Bobbi’s orders to only use Icers, Agent Tomas “Dickbag” Calderon packs a real piece.
This dickish plan goes awry as he fires on Skye and she focuses her powers into a shockwave that destroys the forest around them and knocks back Bobbi and Calderon, the latter getting skewered with a shard of tree for his troubles. Gordon pops in when Skye calls to him and takes her, presumably, to the Inhumans haven.
Stinger shows Coulson holed up in some seaside bar (is he literally in Tahiti!?) when Hunter rolls up and signs a napkin, finally accepting Coulson’s job offer.
One Door Closes should feel like the darkest chapter for the team since HYDRA but it doesn’t and that feels weird. Maybe ‘Real’ Shield isn’t REALLY a threat or maybe because we have other threats that are far cooler to contend with coming. Either way, it’s a pretty good episode and we’ll see where Skye went and what the fate of the team is in Afterlife.