Agents of SHIELD - S1E4 - Eye-Spy
Previously on Agents of SHIELD, The Asset
I spy, with my little eye, a show that’s pretty damn good.
In the latest episode of SHIELD (that’s what us cool kids call it), Coulson and crew track down a thief who has stolen millions of dollars worth of diamonds. The case turns personal when Coulson realizes the person they’re looking for is an ex-agent he trained, Akela Amador, who was presumed dead. Coulson convinces the team to try and and find her without letting SHIELD know because he still cares what happens to her.
Despite a few hiccups like Akela pushing a van off the road - a van that happened to hold Fitz, Simmons, and Skye - and May going rogue to try and bring Akela to justice alone, Coulson finds her and gets the real scoop. Akela didn’t die in the mission (obviously), but she was caught, imprisoned, and lost an eye. Someone behind the scenes had her released with a brand new eye which just happened to serve as a communication device between Akela and her mysterious benefactor. That person instructs her through the heists using the eye’s ability to see through things. If she disobeys, she’s given an “electric migraine.” If she refuses, she’ll be killed.
The team manages to intercept the transmissions long enough to duplicate the technology into a pair of glasses that Ward uses to carry out Akela’s next mission. Meanwhile, Fitz and Simmons work on removing the eye and disconnecting the kill switch. Unfortunately, Akela’s handler is killed via the same technology once he’s busted and it’s discovered that he was being controlled as well. He was just the middle man and the true power is still out there.
This was probably my favorite episode so far. I didn’t even mind Ward so much and there was plenty of slick dialogue and subtle jokes famously found in the Whedonverse. We also got another hint that Coulson has “come back wrong” from his “brush with death” in the Avengers movie. Akela is shocked at how compassionate he is and when she mentions how different he is to May, she doesn’t understand May’s confusion.
Highlights of the episode include Coulson insisting that next time he gets to choose the code name when it’s revealed Ward chose “Short Bus” for the van and the fight between Akela and May.
What’s up with that weird equation Ward captured with the Eye Spy Glasses? Is it alien? Who was pulling the strings? Each episode seems to be building to something bigger and I’m enjoying the ride.
