S.H.I.E.L.D. Exposed – “Providence”
Providence. Noun. “Timely preparation for future eventualities.” How clever.
This week’s episode doesn’t pull it’s punches. In the wake of SHIELD’s decimation and Ward’s heel turn, we’re thrown into a mostly villain-focused episode as we see Team HYDRA free Raina (The Girl in the Flower Dress) and eventually free a bunch of prisoners from The Fridge (the super-jail mentioned on a number of occasions) while the Team SHIELD are scrambling for cover with the American government on their collective asses.
This is a damn strong episode for character moments and most of the cast get something to chew on. Raina comes face-to-face with her dear Clairvoyant, Coulson’s resolve is shattered, Fitz and Simmons relationship is straining under the weight of recent events and the SkyeWard shippers desperately try to make excuses for the villain who has been in our midst from the very beginning.
Seriously, I’ve seen people give shit to May about reporting on Coulson and are ready to lynch her while Ward kills about a dozen people in cold blood over the course of two episodes in the name of FUCKING HYDRA and they’re quick to excuse his actions and desperately cling to the idea that he’s just a broken hot guy who can be fixed with love. FUCK OFF! He’s manipulated everyone from the beginning and even mocks the team for trusting him. Doesn’t matter if he has feelings for Skye or not, he’s THE BAD GUY. He’s not coming back from this.
What I do love is Raina’s return. The enigmatic Project Centipede leader returns and meets the Clairvoyant in person. Naturally, meeting Garrett and finding out he has no innate gift visibly shakes her beliefs to their core and I have a sneaking suspicion that we’ll see her face turn by the end of the season. Her interactions with Ward are also notable for the subtle way she gets him to open up about his motivations.
Coulson is broken. It’s as simple as that. After everything that’s transpired over the course of the season and with even his own team questioning his actions, he finally explodes. Ranting about how much he still believes in SHIELD and that despite the agency crumbling around him, that being an Agent of SHIELD still means something. We’ve seen Coulson suffer so much and it’s good to see him finally vent and get it off his chest.
We have three brand new characters introduced in this episode. Adrian Pasdar (of Heroes fame) as Glen Talbot. His comic book counterpart worked with Thunderbolt Ross so we have a Hulk character for a change! Patton Oswalt as the bizarre reclusive agent in charge of Fury’s secret safe house, Providence, (Title drop!) and a quick glimpse of Marcus Daniels as he escapes The Fridge. Looks like we’ll be talking about him next week so I’ll leave it there for now. Pasdar plays douchebag army colonel pretty well and Patton Oswalt is always great so I’m glad to see him appear and add some levity to an otherwise HEAVY episode.
Stinger for this week has Garrett, Raina and Ian Quinn gathered around the Gravitonium that, presumably, still houses the conciousness of Franklin Hall. And with Ward returning to the team at their new secret hideout, things aren’t looking good for our heroes and things look to get worse next week! See you then!