Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Recap: World of Wardcraft

But more than any of the individual reveals, "Nothing Personal" succeeds by focusing on the collapse of the personal relationships at the center of the series, and the continuation of the show's mission to subvert its entire premise by taking S.H.I.E.L.D. and revealing them to have been villains virtually the entire time (not only by exposing that they've been infiltrated at virtually every level by Hydra, but by also showing that Nick Fury and the supposed "good guys" of the organization have been up to experiments of an ethically dubious nature). As the show takes on the trappings of hard serialization, the characters have grown as individuals, outside the context of the team to which they've belonged for the past 19 episodes. It makes for a stirring companion to last week's solid outing.

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Case in point, Skye (Chloe Bennet) is slowly coming unglued after realizing last week that Ward is with Hydra. Yet Skye isn't alone in reaching that conclusion, as Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) discovers Agent Koenig's final scribblings on the wall ("Ward Is Hydra") just as Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) discovers Koenig's body. An autopsy proves that Koenig was killed by someone at least 6'2". The conclusion: Ward did this. Fitz has trouble accepting the betrayal, and rages against it, while Simmons deals with it by trying to maintain a brave face, only for tears to fall anyhow. Both Henstridge and De Caestecker are as effective as they've ever been in this scene, and it extends to their relationship throughout the episode, as Simmons theorizes that some people are just born evil, while Fitz insists that this just can't be the case, not for the Ward they've known. But whether it's true or not, they still have to deal with Ward's defection, particularly once Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Triplett (B.J. Britt) figure out that Ward needs Skye to decrypt the hard drive. Thus, the mission is obvious -- track down Skye/Ward before the hard drive is decrypted. However, it doesn't take long for things to get out of hand...

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In looking for a solution to S.H.I.E.L.D's problems, May (Ming-Na Wen) tracks down Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), who now works in the private sector for Tony Stark. In trying to get Coulson to stand down, Hill ends up revealing the location of Providence to U.S. Special Forces, led by Talbot (Adrian Pasdar), who storms the base with his men. But Hill's loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D., even a skeletal form of it, leads her to turn on Talbot and his men once it's explained to her that Ward, whom she vetted herself, has been Hydra the entire time. Granted, for all anyone knows, it might not have been loyalty that compelled Hill to help, but her guilt over having cleared Ward and put him in a position to betray S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place. Either way, this skeleton crew now has another teammate to help on their mission, which gets more complicated once Skye can no longer hide her contempt for her captor. Returning to the diner from the pilot at which she first encountered Mike Peterson (thus setting her entire S.H.I.E.L.D. path in motion), Skye stalls for time while pretending to decode the hard drive. Long story short, Skye eventually gets sick of Ward's facade and reveals that she knows he's Hydra. She turns him in to the police, but Ward resists arrest, leaving Skye with little choice but to make a run for it. Enter Deathlok (J. August Richards), who intercepts her and brings her into Hydra custody.

Credit: ABC

And here's where the episode starts to pick up. Ward never fully explains why he's doing what he's doing, he only explains (to a disgusted Skye) two things: 1) His feelings for her have always been real, and 2) none of this was personal. But Skye doesn't exactly want to hear any of this, and it says a lot about how far her character has come that she isn't so easily snowed. I mean, yes, Ward seems sincere with everything he says, but it speaks to a certain hypocrisy on his part that he doesn't understand why Skye would be upset with him, or why she would think he had a role in Quinn shooting her. He seems to have blinders on, where his betrayal is concerned, to the extent that he doesn't see how his actions have painted him in an irredeemable light. As Skye declares, Ward was right: she wouldn't like the real him, because he's a serial killer. It's a crushing scene that's made all the more effective by the reality that Dalton is far better at playing Ward as a villain than as a hero, but that's mostly because Ward is more vital and alive as a villain than he was as a hero. There's more substance to the character now, more depth and complexity, and Dalton illustrates that he has what it takes to sell the change in personality. Maybe this is "true" Ward, maybe it's not; but it's an infinitely more compelling Ward, to the point where I was actually relieved that Skye chose to spare Ward (not that she wasn't going to). As it turns out, Skye has the rare option of allowing the traitor to die when Deathlok stops his heart and refuses to restart it until Skye tells him how to decrypt the hard drive. Deathlok does all this on the orders of Garrett, who sees Skye and Ward's connection as something he can turn from a liability into an advantage. And it works, as Skye spills the beans.

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All of this builds to a pretty exciting conclusion, as Coulson infiltrates the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane to rescue Skye, leading to a ridiculous action setpiece in which Skye and Coulson hop into the red convertible and tumble out of the docking bay, the car plummeting from over 30,000 feet to the ground below. There's some pretty unfortunate green-screening here that doesn't sell what's happening at all, but that's not really the show's fault, given the budgetary limitations of network TV (although I guess you can blame the show for planning out a setpiece they wouldn't be able to pull off convincingly in the first place). Using the thrusters on the car, Coulson and Skye are able to (somewhat) safely land, before regrouping with the rest of their team at a motel. They're at a loss as to what comes now, as Hill tries her damndest to make Coulson understand that there is no backup, there is no underground S.H.I.E.L.D., and there are no protocols in place. S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone. All that remains is right here in this motel, and that's it. It's a bitter pill for Coulson to swallow, and it's not the only harsh reality he'll have to face. May shows him a classified computer message concerning Project T.A.H.I.T.I. that finally gives Coulson the answers he's been looking for: on-screen is Coulson himself, recording his video letter-of-resignation to Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. over the ethical implications of Project T.A.H.I.T.I., which has apparently been created in order to revive a mortally-wounded Avenger. The on-screen Coulson explains that the project is just too dangerous, that the test subjects have not only deteriorated physically, but mentally as well. The only method that's been able to slow the side effects has been erasing the subject's memories altogether. Thus, he can't, in good conscience, allow this to continue. And just like that, the message ends, leaving a stunned Coulson to fully grasp that even his "good" version of S.H.I.E.L.D. had dark secrets beyond all fathoming.

Credit: ABC

"Nothing Personal" offsets some hit-or-miss action with more solid character work, and ending in a reveal that doesn't feel like a cliffhanger so much as the culmination of a season packed with mysteries. It's the continuation of a compelling run that started with the huge events of "Turn, Turn, Turn," and will likely reach its apex with the finale in two weeks. Coulson has learned the truth behind his resurrection, and it's made the moral righteousness of S.H.I.E.L.D. all the murkier, which makes Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. all the more interesting. I find myself more excited for the finale with each passing week. If next week's penultimate episode does its job right, I should be in a fever pitch when it's done.