Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1.18 "Providence" Review: It Has to Mean Something

    Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “Providence,” was written by Brent Fletcher and directed by Milan Cheylov. Fletcher’s last solo effort was “Girl in the Flower Dress,” and his last episode was “The Magical Place” co-written with Paul Zbyszewski. I like the careful attention to assigning writers to particular storylines or letting them carry a story arc over multiple episodes, depending on how the writers’ room actually works. Regardless, what it provides is that we have Fletcher writing the preponderance of episodes that feature Raina (Ruth Negga), giving us a real consistency of characterization. This is Cheylov’s second time behind the camera for the show; his first episode was “The Asset.”

    While it’s still a remote possibility that he is in very deep cover, it seems more likely that we will have to accept that Ward (Brett Dalton) is in fact a HYDRA agent. As the episode opens, we see him rescuing Raina and bringing her a new flowered dress. She initially backs away from him, not trusting him, but other members of the HYDRA network, such as the barber in Cuba, clearly recognize him as a longstanding member of the HYDRA team.

    I thought it was really funny how angry both Raina and Quinn (David Conrad) are that Garrett (Bill Paxton) turns out to be a fake – not a clairvoyant at all! Garrett tells Raina tht he’s an artist – a con-artist! However, in both their cases he tells them that while he may not have a gift, he has gifts for them. He puts Raina back in charge of Centipede and gives her all the blood that was recovered from the Guest House. He reunites Quinn with the gravitonium. In both cases, he keeps his team members happy and on board.

    Meanwhile, things at S.H.I.E.L.D. are bad and the team continues to splinter. There are only 3 secure S.H.I.E.L.D. bases, including the Hub. The episode features quite a lot of lovely footage from Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the attack on Triskelion. At one point in the episode, Garrett compliments Ward on his “straight-persona,” saying Romanoff – Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) couldn’t pull it off. While S.H.I.E.L.D. manages to regain the Cube during the episode, Ward and Garrett successfully raid the Fridge (pun intended!). Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team are forced on the run to avoid starting a war with the US government when Colonel Glenn Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) informs them that he’s sending a peace-keeping mission to the Hub. Talbot is most famous in the Marvel universe for trying to hunt down the Hulk.

    Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), in particular, is having trouble with the new regime. Where once she would never have questioned an order, now she speculates that they aren’t even proper orders because Coulson doesn’t have any authority. She’s concerned that S.H.I.E.L.D. no longer has any jurisdiction to operate as its been labeled a terrorist operation. She’s not wrong but somebody has to stand against HYDRA. She also challenges Coulson directly when she insists that Triplett (B.J. Britt) be allowed to join them. Coulson tells her that it’s not a democracy, and she snaps right back with, “Isn’t it? I think we should all have a say.” This is never a good idea in any operation that has a military component. Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) is not happy about Triplett joining the team.

    Later in the episode, Fritz, Simmons and Triplett argue over whether or not to follow Coulson to the secret coordinates. Triplett points out that it’s not the time to blindly follow anyone. Simmons agrees that Coulson could be leading them into a trap without knowing it. Fitz, however, remains unfailingly loyal and states, “times like these, you stick with the guy you believe in.” And that is a theme that’s seen throughout the episode. We see that bond and trust between Coulson and Fury (Samuel L Jackson), between Skye (Chloe Bennet) and Coulson, and between Ward and Garrett – though this is challenged a bit by Coulson’s role in Ward’s life.

    Ward and Raina have a particularly interesting conversation about this topic. Ward begins by stating that she was disappointed Garrett wasn’t a clairvoyant. She concedes she was because there was a question she wanted to ask – and now I’m dying to know what that question was! She then asks if Ward has known Garrett long. Ward tells her that he’s known Garrett since he was a teenager and that Garrett saved him from hell.

    Raina then asks about how he infiltrated the team so effectively. He tells her the secret to deep cover: perform selfless acts of bravery – and tells her about saving Simmons by jumping out of the plane. He also confirms my speculations from last week. He got close to May to distract her as she was the primary threat. Skye was an unknown quantity, but as her SO, she talked to him. Ward tells Raina that he got Coulson to pursue him by resisting being recruited. Interestingly, Raina comes to Coulson’s defense, saying she’d gotten to know him and he’s a good man. She then asks Ward whether he doesn’t owe a man like that something. Ward concedes that he might owe Coulson something but that he owes Garrett everything.

    Coulson tasks Skye with erasing all of their identities. Skye remarks that they’ll become ghosts and that once she erases the information it will be gone forever. They’ll be Agents of Nothing. Coulson also tells Skye to collect everyone’s badge. She brings them to him and tells him that Simmons got choked up when she gave her hers. For her own part, Skye remarks that getting her badge was big. But then she realizes that it’s even more significant for Coulson. She says “you literally gave your life for them.” Coulson tells her that Fury himself gave him his badge and recruited Coulson when he was younger than Skye. As he puts the badges in the safe, Coulson’s lights up with co-ordinates. Coulson immediately deduces it’s a message from Fury because it’s totally his style.

    The coordinates are in the middle of wilderness in Canada. The team debates the wisdom in trusting the source of the coordinates. Coulson insists that Fury sent them. Simmons is skeptical, asking if Fury had ever communicated that way before. Triplett is also wary that it could be a trap. This leads to the first of Coulson’s impassioned speeches in this episode – something Gregg does so very well. He tells them that Nick Fury gave him his badge and he swore an oath as they all did “to serve when everything else fails. To be humanity’s last line of defense. To be a shield. These words mean something.”

    Once they arrive at the coordinates, Coulson gives them the choice to go or not. Skye, May (Ming-Na Wen) and Fitz don’t hesitate. Coulson has his old compass out – one of his artifacts. It drives home just why Fury gave him coordinates – Fury knows Coulson.

    Before they arrive at the coordinates May visits Coulson in his cabin. He refuses to let her pretend concern for him. It’s clear, however, that she does still care about him, but she also has her orders. As usual the two are fantastic in this scene. She wants his gun, and there’s no way he’s giving it to her. She’s concerned that he might have been programmed by HYDRA and might not be acting of his own volition. She reveals that while Fury might have ordered T.A.H.I.T.I., he wasn’t actually in charge of the project, so he didn’t know everything about the process.

    Along the way, Simmons and Fitz share a quiet moment. She asks if he meant what he said about believing in Coulson. Fitz admits he has some doubts but wants to believe. She tells him well at least they have each other. De Caestecker is excellent in this scene as he hopefully says the last thing he wants is for things to change. Simmons replies that it’s too late for that. It was ambiguous what she meant, but Fitz looks deflated. Did she mean it was too late for things to go back to normal as S.H.I.E.L.D. or that it was too late for their relationship not to change?

    May also confides her concerns about Coulson to Skye. Skye thinks his reactions are completely normal under the situation. Coulson has lost his whole world. Wen is also terrific in this scene as she looks at Skye and states that Coulson isn’t the only one. Her entire world is S.H.I.E.L.D. as well, and the only person who can back up and justify what she did is likely dead. She, like Fitz, may have lost her best friend along with the organization that gave meaning and structure to her existence.

    When they get to the coordinates, Gregg has another fantastic scene. It appears that there is nothing at the coordinates, and that’s the final straw for him. He loses it. He insists that is has to mean something. HYDRA is out there and the world needs them to protect it. He refuses to believe they are Agents of Nothing – they are Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and that carries weight! He refuses to believe that he’s gone through everything he has and it has no meaning. In defeat he apologizes and throws his badge which activates the guns.

    In a show of complete faith, Coulson steps into the open and introduces himself as an Agent of SHIELD. And like the magic password it is, the door opens to introduce us to Agent Eric Koenig, played by the wonderful Patton Oswalt. This show does manage to get great guest stars! Though I’m hoping Oswalt is going to be around quite a bit. He and Gregg have fantastic chemistry. I loved him telling the team that Fury is dead, and then telling Coulson that he lied!

    Koenig tells Coulson that it’s a full eclipse – he’s not allowed to tell anyone that Fury is alive. Only Cap (Captain America), Maria Hill, and a few others know. Coulson is uncomfortable lying to his team, but Koenig tells him that if he tells them, they’ll have a problem. Coulson asks if Koenig is threatening him and Koenig replies, “100% yes. Fury’s orders.” Oswalt is wonderful as he goes from officious, lanyard touting level six agent, to sincerely dangerous in the blink of an eye.

    Oswalt tells them he’s been in the bunker since the Avengers fought in New York. He also tells them that the Fridge has fallen. This leads Coulson to tell Skye to call Ward for the second time in the episode. The first time she called, Ward had to keep up the deception until they could take the Fridge. We do learn that Ward is not at all happy that Garrett had Skye shot – Ward does seem to have some feelings for her.

    The second time Skye calls, they’ve discovered that only Skye can access the hard drive, so Ward has Garrett beat him to look like he survived the attack on the Fridge and he returns to the team. Garrett gives him 24 hours to get the information. If he doesn’t get it within that time, Ward is to kill everyone and bring Skye back to their base. We also see that Garrett has some kind of machinery attached to himself – almost like what Deathlok has on himself. Paxton is terrific as creepy Garrett. He really is a great con artist.

    This episode brought together more of the elements we’ve had teased out over the course of the series. We revisited a lot of the episodes in the Fridge. Garrett released the prisoners to distract Coulson and the team – he knows that they will first and foremost want to act as a S.H.I.E.L.D. to the general population for the dangerous people he’s released before coming after him and HYDRA. In addition to this payoff, there were a number of great performances, particularly Dalton and Gregg. I hate to see the end of Ward as we knew him, but Dalton plays evil delightfully well!

    What did you think of the episode? Is Ward evil? Do you think Coulson will keep the secret of Fury’s being alive from the team? Will Ward’s soft spot for Skye be his undoing? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!