Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: “Seeds”

This was a very good episode of Agents of SHIELD. I know I have been saying that a lot but this one was good in a slightly different way. The episode didn’t focus on just one character or a pair of characters. Coulson (Clark Gregg) was still recovering from finding out what SHIELD did to him and we got more back story for FitzSimmons (Iain de Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge) and Skye (Chloe Bennett). Also, a sympathetic possible villain was introduced and Centipede’s reach got even farther without them even being in the episode.

The episode opens with a bunch of college-aged looking kids talking about exams and sneaking into a pool. Based on the previously on, we are supposed to guess that this is “SHIELD Hogwarts”/The Academy. The indoor pool suddenly turns to ice and almost freezes one of the students alive. Que the weekly problem for the gang.

Our old schoolwork is almost killing people

FtizSimmons helped develop the device that was found near the pool, so they are called back to The Academy: Science and Technology Division to investigate. Ward (Brett Dalton) and Skye decide to tag along.

College visit!

May (Ming-Na Wen) tells the children they can go by themselves because she and Coulson have something to do. Everyone is still a little worried about Coulson because he hasn’t left his office since Director Fury gave him the file about his death and resurrection.

Come out or I’ll make you come out

May convinces Coulson that he needs to do something and she tells him about the lead SHIELD has on the agent who dropped off Skye at the orphanage’s partner. The lady, Agent Avery, is dead but her partner is hanging out in Mexico City. They head there after dropping off the kids at college.

Lolz, Leopold

FitzSimmons are legends from their part of The Academy because they were the youngest and smartest ones to ever graduate it seems. They are giving a lecture to all the students, when a kid, who was in the pool scene, starts freezing. FitzSimmons, Skye and Ward are able to save the kid and everyone else congratulates them. They then decide they need to investigate everything further and go to the sweet student lounge/bar thing under the school to question people. Fitz goes alone to try to talk to the kid that was frozen, Donnie.

The dangers of Smirnoff Ice.

Down in Mexico, May and Coulson are tracking the partner guy. Coulson said he is tried of SHIELD and all their secrets. May then blurts out that she is having sex with Ward just as Coulson spots the guy and they run into the episode’s only chase scene. I’m glad the show has been cutting down on the number of those, though it was sweet to watch May beat up a guy and Coulson fly Lola around.

Kidless vacation!

Agent Lumley (Boyd Kestner) agrees to go to Serenity and tell them what happened. He, Agent Avery and a team of SHIELD people were called into a small village because an 0-8-4 had been killing everyone there. All they found was a village full of dead people and Baby Skye. Lumley said someone said she had superpowers, but he never saw anything. He said once they got the baby out safely, the members of the team started being assassinated. Avery left the baby at the orphanage and was killed shortly after. Lumley ran.

So with the information that Skye might be an alien, is being hunted by aliens, possibly killed an entire village and both her parents are dead, we switch to Skye conning the bartender for drinks and passing information on to Ward to find which super smart student is behind the attacks.

No, a killer looks joke here would be too lame

They are able to figure out that Donnie is actually behind the attacks and Fitz was just in his room. Simmons calls him as Donnie starts working on a much larger device than what was used in the other two freezing incidents. Fitz heads back in to stop him but Seth, the kid who was almost frozen the first time and Donnie’s partner is crime, knocks him out. Just as everything is starting to fall apart, Coulson and May return to help out.

Though May tells Coulson to not tell Skye what they found out, he keeps with his being done with secrets thing and almost instantly tells her.

Chloe Bennett has an excellent cry face

Fitz thinks that Donnie and Seth must be being funded by someone because the parts of the device would be too expensive and hard to find for two college kids. Skye is able to track down Ian Quinn (David Conrad), who is a big time evil investor guy. I can’t remember if we have seen him before but Coulson has.

Donnie and Seth are at a parking garage by The Academy and Quinn calls to tell them he wants a demonstration of what the better device can do. Oh, Donnie also staged the first two attacks to draw Fitz to him so he would be able to figure out the last step to power it, which he did. So, Fitz is feeling pretty bad. But, May is able to fly Serenity in to save Donnie, but it is after a super storm is created and the device exploded and killed Seth.

Donnie is being taken to the Sandbox so he can be watched. At the end of the episode, he is able to freeze away the window of the car he is in. So, I don’t think he makes it. Sidenote: I have never read a Marvel comic and so I am not aware of anything outside this show. IMDB has him listed as Donnie/Blizzard so I’m guessing he will be back but I don’t want to know anymore. Oh, and that Quinn guy works for Centipede.

Anyway, May questions Coulson about if he told Skye. He says he did and she wasn’t as broken up about it as May thought she would be. Coulson said she realized she landed with SHIELD because she was trying to find her parents, who are dead, but she found the family that had been protecting her since she was born: SHIELD.

This show really has seemed to have found its footing and I am super happy about it.

 

---