Around the Water Cooler: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – “T.R.A.C.K.S.” (spoilers!)

This is the face of someone who is going to eviscerate you via your nostrils. © ABC/Marvel Studios
This is the face of someone who is going to eviscerate you via your nostrils. © ABC/Marvel Studios

It’s less than a week until Christmas, so let’s dive into another episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., fresh off of my Netflix streaming queue:

  • And now, we’re kicking it “mystery on a train”-style. Because it wasn’t enough for Joss Whedon to have one episode of a tight-knit ensemble TV series set on a train, right?
  • I love the way May casually reveals to Ward that she told Coulson about their affair, especially when how she revealed it in the previous episode wasn’t so casual. And from his reaction, it’s almost like he wanted to either be found out a different way or that he was upset that she told Coulson first without consulting him.
  • Gyah, I love Fitz’ fake American accent. Knowing how the entertainment industry works, I’m not surprised that a Scottish actor like Iain De Caestecker would have an American accent in his back pocket. And it makes sense from a character perspective that Skye would not have a similar Scottish accent in her arsenal; here’s hoping the same isn’t for Chloe Bennet.
  • I had to turn the subtitles on for the beginning of the next scene because I wasn’t sure at first what Fitz was upset about. But then I realized that he was upset that he couldn’t “show off” in front of his crush and that Skye’s getting more Operations-savvy rather than Tech-savvy. Her comment about him building things with his hands isn’t the soother that she thinks it is. I gather that his outing with Ward gave him a real confidence boost in his abilities as an Agent, but to be busted back down to being the “gadget guy” in her eyes could be seen as being real condescending.
  • Yeah… love that Stan Lee cameo. But you have to admit that it was very jarring (no pun intended) to have it happen, and then the diversion. It’s almost as if they were diverting us from the diversion.
  • I think I rather like how they played a little bit with time to show how things happened from Coulson’s perspective, then from Ward’s. Also, I wonder if May’s the one who hot-wired the truck, maybe. But I don’t know why she would have left it there.
  • Oh, Ward… this is why Ops and Tech need to be better friends and learn how to do things that the other divisions know how to do.
  • “If it’s really just sex, Ward, you should really get comfortable using the word.” Aw, yeah, Papa Coulson.
  • I’m not sure if I’ve said this before, but I think I love how in their “no benefits” relationship, Ward is really not getting any benefits at all. I believe that Coulson’s comment about combat ops was meant to reassure May that he didn’t mean for them to get involved in this kind of sticky situation, the kind that earned her the nickname “the Cavalry.” It was a great moment between two veterans, and then Ward came into the infirmary and made it seem like less than that. He’s being pouty and sulky, and it makes him just a little more likable.
  • I rewound the fight scene in the baggage car three or four times and I still can’t figure out if the assailant grabbed Simmons or if she grabbed him to try and shield her team from the grenade. If the latter, my respect for her has gone up trillions.
  • My heart was pounding really loudly while Skye was going down the stairs. Great job of establishing that atmosphere. However, she split the party and didn’t wait for backup, so that’s negative points for her.
  • And now I’m wondering if Quinn’s got an eye-cam as well. That would kind of make some sort of sense. But what I don’t understand is why the whole deal went south.
  • Ah, I see the stinger is for hardcore comics fans and people like me who like looking stuff up after the show’s over. Nice.

Unlike last week, I really want to know what happens next, especially given that we know that Coulson was brought back to life by S.H.I.E.L.D.’s technologies.