Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D - Recap: Cello, Goodbye

It's a story I've always appreciated, even during weeks where I didn't particularly enjoy the given storyline. However, as we near the end of the season, and the narrative becomes instead about the fracturing of that team, I find a new kind of appreciation for what the first half of the season was trying to do. I almost feel a certain nostalgia for those early episodes, the lighthearted romps that have the team together, bringing down a random Threat of the Week. The fracturing of this S.H.I.E.L.D. team is something strangely affecting, since the show had spent so much time drilling it into our heads that this is a family more than it is simply a team. "The Only Light In The Darkness" is an episode that represents the breaking of a fellowship, as the team is scattered across the globe with different priorities -- and different hardships ahead. It's an installment that continues the show's hot streak as we head into the final episodes of the season.

Credit: ABC

The episode is mostly focused on Ward (Brett Dalton) and Skye (Chloe Bennet), and the gradual unraveling of that relationship. Honestly, given the level of interest for the other big storyline on this week's show, I initially felt it to be a bit of a mistake to lean so heavily on the "Ward the Traitor" plot in the early going. But several key sequences turned me around on this. First, Ward's turn in Agent Fury's lie detector, in which he's questioned by Agent Koenig (Patton Oswalt), is tremendous. Koenig is attempting to ascertain whether or not any members of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team are secret Hydra operatives, and so each person is subjected to a rigorous test -- a test Ward nearly fails when Koenig picks up that Ward is being less than truthful about his reasons for coming back to S.H.I.E.L.D. after The Fridge was overtaken (which is his cover story, although little does anyone know...). Ward does his damndest to work his way through the test, jamming a needle underneath his thumbnail in order to control his responses, before eventually covering up for his lie by saying that he came back for Skye. Which is actually true, in a manner of speaking. He needs her for the passcode to the hard drive, so he's not technically lying when he says she's the reason he's here. However, he allows Koenig to interpret it romantically. Either way, he's passed the test and has gained full access to the resources of Providence. It's a tense sequence that sets the tone for this half of the episode, as every Ward sequence is drenched in ill-portent and dread.

Skye deduces that Ward is with Hydra after a series of close calls on Ward's part: Skye had earlier decided that the best way to discover who was involved in The Fridge takeover would be to hack NSA satellites. However, when Koenig happens to be on-hand when the satellites are finally decrypted, Ward is left with little choice but to murder the agent (awww, I liked him). Skye discovers the murder and realizes Ward is the culprit and has a panic attack that is pretty much Chloe Bennet's best moment in the series so far. (Seriously, that was a shockingly great facsimile of a panic attack.) This might not have affected Skye as deeply as it would have if she hadn't just gotten done having a makeout session with him following a heart-to-heart in which Ward admitted he's not a good man (in addition to revealing his older brother actually made him beat up his younger brother, which I guess is supposed to add more of a question mark to his motives? I mean, I feel like the series wants us to believe he's mostly being real with Skye, but it's hard to know, one way or the other). Skye tries to cover up the fact that she knows about Ward's defection by playing seductress with him, kissing him full-on and trying to distract from the dead body in the closet. But Ward makes up some lie about Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) needing their help on the current mission, necessitating taking off in the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane.

Faced with little choice, Skye goes with him, and she soon realizes that what Ward needs from her is the passcode to the hard drive. It's a realization that washes over her with a certain disappointment and resignation that hasn't been the style for the Skye we've known -- which is what makes it so much more effective. She's been beaten down by Ward's lies, from the big ones (such as claiming to have put two bullets in the back of Garrett's head) to the small ones (such as his entire identity and backstory possibly being a fabrication). It'd be easy for just about anyone to lose faith after being so thoroughly snowed by someone they trusted. And in that sense, I think the story is a success, since it feels relatable, in a way. I also want to give the episode props for not going in the obvious direction of having Ward simply blame Koenig's murder on May (Ming-Na Wen). Sure, the show still might go in that direction, since May is already under constant suspicion, and it's all made worse by her decision to bail on S.H.I.E.L.D. after an argument with Coulson (Clark Gregg) that finally causes her to recognize she's lost him for good. Maybe the show will still take that path, but I'm just glad the trigger wasn't pulled this week, since I think May exonerating herself and taking down Ward could be the building block towards redemption in Coulson's eyes. But then, this is putting the cart before the horse. As it is now, I enjoyed the Skye/Ward plot for how it's taken one of the central relationships of the show, and given it a sinister, heartbreaking undercurrent.

Credit: ABC

Yet this was an episode where the Case of the Week was actually as good as the ostensible A-plot, if not better. One of The Fridge escapees, Marcus Daniels (Patrick Brennan), the man known to Marvel buffs as the villain Blackout, is seeking a woman named Audrey Nathan (Amy Acker). He's completely obsessed with her, which makes him creepy and dangerous enough even without the energy-absorbing powers that cause blackouts wherever he goes. Coulson was responsible for bringing him down, and the resulting rescue bonded him with Audrey. Yes, Audrey is The Cellist we've been hearing about, the great love from whom Coulson has been separated. And apparently, she hasn't forgotten him. If anything, the emotional scar of his "death" is still fresh for her, as she still dreams of him and imagines he's still alive. Of course, it's not as if Coulson can actually reveal himself to her, as she's only now beginning to finally move on with her life. He's not being selfless for dramatic reasons, it's actually what's best for Audrey. As he notes to Fitz, while justifying his decision to remain in the shadows, "It's not like I can stay."

Credit: ABC

And so we get a story in which Coulson must protect Audrey from afar, and it's something that I didn't think would be as poignant as it ultimately became. It certainly helps that they cast someone as immensely likable as Amy Acker as Audrey, while pairing her in a relationship with someone as similarly endearing as Clark Gregg. But beyond those external circumstances, I think there was a lot within the story itself to make it resonate. Coulson's desire not to put Audrey in harm's way, and his inevitable acceptance of the fact that they'll have to use her as bait to draw out Daniels, tells us plenty about how deeply their connection was felt. And Acker delivers a beautiful monologue early in the episode about how she's struggled to move on following Coulson's death. The camera remains relatively tight on her face, but the performance loses nothing for focusing on her eyes and the expressiveness of her face. If anything, it gains considerably from shutting out every other distraction -- well, it would have, if it didn't occasionally cut to reaction shots from the other principals. But it was still a damn good scene. As is the conclusion, as Fitz's plan to flood Daniels with gamma radiation-infused lights fails when Daniels uses his powers to knock the team down. This leaves Coulson to pick up the slack, holding Daniels at bay with one of the lights and giving his team enough time to recover and finish the job, resulting in an amusing explosion, as Daniels explodes in a burst of purply energy. As Audrey lay partially conscious from the blowback, Coulson takes the opportunity to say farewell to her and promise he'll always be watching over her. He then kisses her on the forehead and disappears, leaving her thinking the entire thing was a dream. Was it cloyingly sentimental? Absolutely. But it worked.

Credit: ABC

At least, I thought so. And it might not be the end of their story, as Coulson muses to Fitz that he hopes one day he can come back to Audrey, with the hope that she might forgive him (for getting killed? And then having to keep your resurrection a secret as part of your job? I mean, there are other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who lacked the security clearance to know of Coulson's survival, so I don't know that he should be beating himself up for not letting Audrey know, especially since it was probably better for her physical and emotional well-being that she just not get involved with the S.H.I.E.L.D. craziness). Coulson resolves to make amends with May, arguing that he can't expect Audrey to forgive him if he's not willing to show that same forgiveness, but by the time they return to Providence, the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane is gone, and so is May. The post-credits scene reveals to us that she's called in a favor from her mother, a former agent herself, who drives 500 miles to Ontario to pick her up. Apparently, mother and daughter are going on a road trip to find Maria Hill and rope her back into the aforementioned S.H.I.E.L.D. craziness, which is as good a plan as any, I suppose.

Credit: ABC

"The Only Light In The Darkness" illustrates that Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a real sense of purpose as it heads towards the season finale. The team is fractured and Hydra is out in front on the figurative scoreboard. It's hard to imagine how the team could turn this around, but that's pretty much what good drama is -- putting heroes in impossible situations and challenging them to find a way out. And since these particular heroes don't have access to super powers or vast government resources, it should be more of a challenge than for most on a show like this. But that's what makes victory rewarding, and heroes easier to root for. And after a season of going back and forth on the cast, I'm to the point where I have no trouble declaring that these people are easy for me to root for.