Through flashbacks, we see what happened on Gonzales’ S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft carrier homebase during the “Day that S.H.I.E.L.D. Fell.” Quite the ominous title for the events of The Winter Soldier, and one worthy of commemoration in song by Don McLean. We see Bobbi, Mack, Gonzales and the dear-departed Isabelle Hartley on the carrier attempting to enact one of Fury’s final orders: sink the ship.
In the process of fighting their way to the server room though, the core members of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2 make a realization: why blindly follow the orders of a dead man when there are many, many legitimate S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the ship trying to fight for the side of good. What right does Fury have/had to make them give up their lives when his secrets helped create this situation to begin with. Maybe, as Bobbi observed, S.H.I.E.L.D. should be more of a democracy. In this context it sets up an important philosophical distinction between the two S.H.I.E.L.D.s, but if Gonzales et al really wanted to set themselves apart, why would they indulge in the very Fury-like covert op of sneaking their own people on Coulson’s team?
And before we go on, let us pause and the consider the bruising that Nick Fury’s been taking personally and professionally in this season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Sure, Fury wasn’t perfect, but hearing Gonzales talk you might think he’s almost as big a threat as HYDRA itself. I wonder what long-term impact this shading of Fury outside his presence will have when he returns in Avengers: Age of Ultron. What we’ve seen of the role he has in the sequel so far in the latest trailer, it borders on the inspirational.
The other big news involves Skye, who is clearly the secondary concern for the gang from S.H.I.E.L.D. 2. Skye makes a new friend in Gordon, the eyeless, teleporting Inhuman who finds her at Fury’s Banner built (complete with Hulk punch dings in the walls) cabin for super-powers. Jamie Harris played things very chill this time as Gordon, who I don’t think we’ve really seen outside a few brief scenes of Gordon in action or his origin story, which was shown in “Aftermath.”
Talking to Skye he was relaxed, making (bad) jokes and gently nudging her to come with him to learn more about herself and the community she now finds herself a part of. Skye’s loyal to Coulson though, but it slowly dawns on her, reacting to Gordon’s story about being embraced by Skye’s mom after his transformation, that the first act of her S.H.I.E.L.D. friends after finding out she has powers was to lock her up, and that was after she had to lie about it initially. In that context, why not teleport away with a man with no eyes to someplace where you can be you, especially when S.H.I.E.L.D. 2 is coming for you with guns blazing?
The opportunity to learn more about this Inhumans culture is intriguing, but, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, the battle between dueling S.H.I.E.L.D. s is the much more compelling story. Now it’s Coulson and Hunter alone against Gonzales and S.H.I.E.L.D. 2, and the solution to this particular uprising isn’t to kill them all. Can there be a middle ground between the two S.H.I.E.L.D.s? Do some members of Gonzales’ team now sympathize with the Coulson group, and might key members of Coulson’s team be lured to the other side?
To be continued…