Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Recap: Like Mike
Credit: ABC/Justin Lubin
Recap and review of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Episode 10 - The Bridge:
When Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. first premiered, one of the big takeaways from the pilot, other than that the show had loads of potential despite not being exactly the show most people wanted it to be, was the general consensus that J. August Richards should return in the future. The Extremis-infused everyman was one of the most compelling one-off characters we met over the course of the first few episodes, so I was happy when previews for "The Bridge" revealed that Mike Peterson wouldn't be a one-off character after all. His inclusion gives the episode an additional sense of purpose beyond the central mission to bring down Centipede: and his personal connection to the organization creates a potent dynamic in the ongoing Coulson (Clark Gregg) storyline, as the mystery of Coulson's "death" only deepens. All in all, this was a pretty strong midseason finale for what's largely been a good first half of season one.
The episode's central story involves the recruitment of Mike Peterson, reconditioned and turned from a destructive force into a valuable S.H.I.E.L.D. asset at their training facility, to help bring down Centipede, which grows in strength by the day. In particular, the faction has busted one of their higher-ranking superiors out of prison: Edison Po (Cullen Douglas), last seen behind bars in "Girl in the Flower Dress", is back here, rescued by a team of his own superpowered men and reunited with Raina (Ruth Negga), his primary agent in the field (and the titular "Girl in the Flower Dress" -- a total manipulator through and through). Together, Centipede has two missions: for one, they must refine the Extremis serum to allow subjects to enter stage 3, a phase in which their powers are stabilized and they're no longer at risk of spontaneously combusting. The other big matter concerns a mysterious person known only as "The Clairvoyant,” and it's this secret that will compel much of the story as we move into the second half of the show's first season.
Credit: ABC
"The Bridge" keeps things moving on a plot level, but we also get some interesting character detours. Coulson remains cryptic when discussing his "death" with Ward (Brett Dalton), but takes the time to reminisce about a long-lost love of his, a beautiful, cello-playing woman. It's not much, but it's a humanizing touch for a character who's already a warm, paternal presence among the team, but who has suffered from a certain supernatural remove, so that he's not nearly as relatable as he might otherwise have been if there weren't this big "death" mystery surrounding him. It's a nice touch, and it fits well with his sympathy for Skye (Chloe Bennet), who continues the exhaustive search for her parents. She theorizes, from records and assorted data, that one of the agents Coulson once worked with in the 90s is actually her mother, and Coulson neither confirms nor denies the theory. But he does remind her that she needs to remain focused, a sentiment echoed later in the episode by May (Ming-Na Wen), who brings Skye to tears when she straight-up tells her that they aren't here to help her find her parents.
Credit: ABC/Justin Lubin
Even though we have a better idea of just what May's damage is, as a result of our last episode, it's still hard to tell just why she's so abrasive. Skye, for her part, is utterly devastated by the stern lecture, and takes to tearing up the records concerning her possible mother. What I like about May's abrasive characterization is that Ming-Na Wen is talented enough to keep that harshness from alienating May from the audience entirely (it certainly helps that she's grounded by her connections to Coulson and Ward), and the portrayal also helps to enhance sympathy with Skye, if not compel audiences to further identify with her. All in all, it's a smart approach to the characterizations here.
Credit: ABC
But the real star of the episode is Richards, who portrays Mike as a man attempting to make amends. When Coulson observes that Mike hasn't seen his son, Ace (Ajani Wrighster), since the events of the pilot, Mike explains that he's been avoiding Ace until he's atoned for the mistakes he's made. As he states, "The last time Ace saw me, I was a monster." Within this context, his abrupt change towards heroism makes perfect sense, because it was never really all that abrupt a change: Mike was never a bad guy, he was simply flawed in a more complex way than most people we've encountered on this show so far. In that regard, he makes for a welcome addition to the ensemble, playing the model S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that Coulson only wishes Skye could become. He even gets along swimmingly with the team, including Fitz (Iain de Caestecker) and the starry-eyed Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), who clearly has a crush on Mike. The addition of a superpowered teammate has the team both excited and cautious at the same time, and it makes for a potent dynamic to rattle the chemistry of a group that's just beginning to gel.
Credit: ABC/Justin Lubin
But Mike's connection to FitzSimmons goes a lot deeper than any potential romantic chemistry: he reveals that their gun, which was used to shoot him with in the pilot, essentially froze him at a certain stage in his Extremis development. In short, FitzSimmons did what Caterpillar never could, they stabilized him -- saving his life and allowing him to have control over his abilities in the process. Of course, this information inevitably makes him a high-value target for Centipede, as he's the key to taking Extremis to stage three. And so it isn't long before Mike's long-awaited reunion phone call with Ace is interrupted by Raina, who abducts the boy and threatens to have him killed unless Mike turns himself in to them, and while Mike is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, he's a father first and foremost. So he agrees to the hand-off and asks for Coulson to accompany him. This becomes important when we discover that the hand-off is actually a double-cross.
Credit: ABC/Justin Lubin
Turns out Centipede doesn't want Mike, they want Coulson, and they used Ace to compel Mike to bring him right to them. Raina and Po -- and the sinister, unseen "Clairvoyant" -- want to know what happened to Coulson the day after he died, as they're as curious as we all are about just how he's still here. Coulson, ever the noble soldier, understands Mike's position and offers to go with Centipede freely once they release Ace. And so the bad guys let the boy go, and no sooner is Ace back in his father's arms than Mike is handing him off to Skye for safe-keeping while he attempts to make things right by going after Centipede. But things don't exactly go well, as Mike is engulfed in a gas tank explosion while Coulson is spirited away on a helicopter. Is Mike really dead? There's no way to know for sure, at this point, but what we do know is that this marks the first significant loss for the team so far, as not only is Mike presumed dead, but Ward is shot and the rest of the team is powerless to prevent Coulson from being taken away. However, as we get closer to the solution to the Coulson mystery, I worry if it really will be the game-changer it's been hyped up to be. I suppose we'll see, come January 7th.
Credit: ABC
“The Bridge” is a pretty apt title for this midseason finale for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as it exists to carry across into the next half of the season, where questions start getting answered and we leave the vagueries of the first ten episodes behind (hopefully). In that sense, "The Bridge" is as good a way to close out the midseason as any, as the show focuses less on one-off storylines and goes all-in on long-form serialization. That change in approach could give the show the momentum it needs to finally become more than just a really fun action-adventure serial, and instead grow into a more mature, engrossing genre drama.