Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Midseason Finale 2014 - Recap: Legends of the Hidden Temple
Recap and review of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Midseason Finale 2014 - What They Become:
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has really outdone itself with this midseason finale. "What They Become" stacked one monumental moment on top of another, until it all plateaued with one of the best conclusions this show has ever done, not only from a narrative standpoint, but from an aesthetic one as well.
Credit: ABC
MacLachlan is a wonderful performer, and he really illustrates as much here: The Doctor is sick with rage over what Whitehall has stolen from him, and the only emotion to match it is the joy he feels to have Skye back with him again. He calls this the "Best Day Ever," because it's the day he not only gets Skye back, it's the day he'll finally get to exact his revenge on Whitehall. And even though we should want to see Whitehall obliterated from the Earth, MacLachlan delivers this line in such a creepy, unsettling fashion that it's enough to almost make me fear for Whitehall, as if he weren't the loathsome villain he clearly was. The operative word being "was," as Whitehall is dead by the end of the episode, although not in the way The Doctor (whose real name is Cal, which more or less bolsters the theory that he's Mister Hyde/Calvin Zabo) would have wanted. Just as Whitehall is about to shoot him, Coulson (Clark Gregg) saves the day, shooting Whitehall dead and infuriating Cal, who'll now never have his chance at revenge. He begins pounding on Coulson, and likely would haave killed him had Skye not intervened just in time. Although Skye doesn't really want to hear it, Cal insists he'll always love her.
Credit: ABC
While Cal is denied his revenge, this motif of vengeance runs through the episode, as Skye exacts a measure of revenge against Ward by shooting him multiple times in the torso. Granted, it was kind of stupid of Ward to turn his back on Skye in the first place, and she even calls him out on that stupidity. But, as it's implied by Raina (Ruth Negga), Ward is apparently still carrying a torch for Skye. So he cuts her slack, even to his detriment. For her part, Raina is as much a part of all this intrigue as Ward. She absconds with the Diviner, and heads off in search of the temple, intent on fulfilling her destiny. She wants Skye to join her, so they can both see what they'll really become once their destiny is fulfilled, and yeah, it sounds a whole creepier typed out like that. But it results in a pretty thrilling climax, as Skye and Raina end up locked in a chamber in the underground city/temple with Tripp (B.J. Britt), who was attempting to remove the bombs the team had put in place as a last-ditch back-up. Meanwhile, Coulson fights Mack (Henry Simmons), who's not only still alive, but still possessed.
Credit: ABC
In the chamber, the Diviner activates, much to Raina's delight. It levitates to a pedestal at the center of the room, and then blossoms to reveal a crystal figure that resembles Superman's Fortress of Solitude. A blast emanates from the figure, and Raina and Skye suddenly find themselves encased in what looks to be a stone cocoon, in what appears to be some kind of final test of worthiness from the Diviner, if I had to guess. Either that, or it's part of their "destined" transformation. Either way, Tripp winds up trapped in a cocoon as well after a piece of the Diviner gets lodged into his torso. Unfortunately, since Tripp isn't one of the lucky few who can touch the Diviner and live, this is pretty much the end for one of the team's most solid members. But it doesn't come without a fair bit of pomp and circumstance...
Finally tapping into her powers, Skye breaks out of her cocoon just as Raina is managing to bust out of hers. It's a wonderful, eye-popping sequence, as the shot frames Skye as a superheroine finally coming into herself as a supernatural being, looking both confused and empowered. Kudos to the visual effects team for making this all look as good as it did, considering the limits of a network TV budget. And kudos to the writing team for making the death of Tripp as heartbreaking as it ended up being, considering he wasn't exactly the most fleshed-out character on the show. It's a very well-made sequence, as we hope for a moment that maybe Tripp will break out of his cocoon as well, only to see him become a pile of ashes on the ground. Even though the team presumably gets Mack back (as the Diviner's blast seems to break him out of the spell he was under), it still sucks to lose a member of the team. I liked Tripp and thought he didn't get to do nearly enough this season. But even Tripp's death is secondary to the big post-credits stinger, as we cut to an office where we see a man with a glowing obelisk and flesh where his eyes should be. It's a genuinely unsettling way to close out the half-season, and I mean that in the best possible way. I love it when this show gets weird, even if I don't always get where it's going.
"What They Become" is a momentous episode for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and not just because we got revelations and death in equal measure, but rather because this is the closest the show has ever come to feeling like a Marvel movie made for television. And I mean that as the highest possible compliment. This was a total action-adventure romp, whether it was May (Ming-Na Wen) flying invisible quinjets over Puerto Rico or Hunter/Morse going on another reconnaissance mission. This was just a lively episode that was a lot of fun, despite being arguably the most serious hour the show has yet produced. There are a lot of story possibilities for the second half of season two, particularly since there are so many wildcards still in play. Cal is still out there, Raina is apparently alive, and Ward managed to escape with Agent 33. In short, we're not at any lack of threats for the S.H.I.E.L.D. team, and that has me excited to see what the show has in store when it returns.