TV Review: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “Providence”
By: Brandon Wolfe
It was generally agreed upon that ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ improved a bit with last week’s episode, if just by its usual dire standards. The show’s problems, primarily its soul-deadening mediocrity on the plotting, character and dialogue fronts, remained in play, but with the events of ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ acting as a catalyst, and with a final twist that seemed surprisingly gutsy for a show that has been anything but, ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ managed to rise to a rare level of basic watchability. You take your victories wherever you can.
‘Providence’ does not present us with a series now crystallized into focus, but ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ is still getting along as far as it can by swimming in ‘The Winter Soldier’s’ wake. S.H.I.E.L.D. has officially fallen as an organization and the fallout has left it exposed and with only three bases confirmed as secure. Coulson’s team are now men, and women, without a country, but because they’re still on a show that needs to keep existing, apparently, they have opted to dedicate themselves as free agents in the hunt for remaining elements of HYDRA. A high-ranking official, Col. Talbot (played by Adrian Pasdar and a ridiculous fake mustache), informs Coulson that he is sending in a “peacekeeping” team to intercept the group, but Coulson realizes that such a team will not be peaceful in their reception and orders Fitz to fix the Bus and get it back in the air before the team arrives. Which Fitz does, of course, because that plane is where about 90% of this show is set. In the air, Coulson orders Skye to wipe all evidence of their team’s existence, to better stay off the grid. Skye, inadvertently summing up the entire show perfectly, announces that they’re “not agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., just agents of nothing.”
Meanwhile, Agent Ward has freed Raina, the origami enthusiast affiliated with the Centipede group, and brings her to Garrett to consult on how to harness the resurrection serum that brought Coulson and Skye back to life. Garrett, who informs Raina that “The Clairvoyant” was just a name and that he does not have any actual psychic abilities (for that might have been interesting, and this show rebels against interesting things like a petulant teenager), makes his next course of action to stage a raid on the S.H.I.E.L.D. base known as The Fridge, a “secret” location that is housed in a 100-story building, for extra inconspicuousness. After getting inside via staging an attack by an enemy helicopter, Garrett and Ward enjoy unrestricted access to the facility, made easier by the fact that it appears to be secured by only two guards. Garrett makes off with many advanced weapons while freeing all the prisoners housed on-site.
Coulson finds a badge stashed in a safe aboard the Bus with a set of coordinates loaded into it. Coulson, for reasons that don’t even seem clear to him, is convinced that this is a clue left for him by Director Fury. May is concerned that Coulson may have been compromised by HYDRA during his memory uploads concurrent to his resurrection, but trusts in him enough to let him follow his gut, as does the rest of the team. The coordinates lead to a desolate, snow-covered chunk of nowhere, but Coulson is determined to trek on through the rough terrain to see where it leads. It turns out that his hunch was correct, and they arrive at a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base known as Providence, headed up exclusively by a man named Eric Koenig, who is played by Patton Oswalt, always a breath of fresh air even in bad things. Koenig informs Coulson that Fury is still alive, but Skye informs Ward about Providence, where he is dispatched by Garrett to tend to his former teammates while they remain unaware of his HYDRA affiliation.
The best thing that can be said for “Providence” is that it does not walk back the revelation that Agent Ward is a bad guy. While he does voice some anger to Garrett for Skye’s shooting, there is no indication that he retains any loyalty toward Coulson’s team. One could have been forgiven for assuming that a show this bland and afraid of taking risks would immediately set about reassuring us that good ol’ boring Ward was still on the side of the angels, perhaps a victim of brainwashing or acting as some kind of triple agent, but the show seems to be, for now, committed to riding this development out. Ward isn’t any more interesting a character when he’s evil than he was when he was good, but the show does earn some commendation for sticking to its guns.
But that’s about all that “Providence” does well. It does not point to any structure for the season’s final arc. It seems as though Coulson’s team will keep on acting in essentially the same capacity they always have, even without official S.H.I.E.L.D. credentials. Garrett’s plans are not taking any shape beyond “do evil things.” And the episode’s idea of a riveting cliffhanger is to offer the return of Ian Quinn, a villain you’ve likely already forgotten about. And the sad thing is that this what ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ looks like when operating at its peak.
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