Agents of SHIELD Episode Five Retro Review

 By Mark Rodriguez 

Originally written on October 22, 2013. Keep in mind these reviews were done way back when the show first aired, so we had no idea what future events or movies would bring. Also, before it was retconned away, at least at the moment, the Agents of SHIELD show was in canon with the movies.

As the world learns of the existence of super heroes or super-dangerous artifacts, SHIELD keeps an eye on any potential threats, as well as a new group trying to hack them named Rising Tide, and a terrorist organization named Centipede. If episode three tested Skye's loyalties, this one really cranks it up as she nearly loses the trust of everyone on the team. Oh, and we see another super powered character too. Let's check it out.

This episode begins in Hong Kong, China as a street peddler tries to impress people with his magic tricks. Seeing that noone is impressed and leaving tips, he sets his hand on fire and tosses a small fireball that impresses everybody, in particular a woman in a flowered dress. Back in his apartment, the woman gets him to show off his fire ability, but it isn't a magic trick. Apparently when he was younger, it just started, but he always hid it from the word. The woman, named Reyna, says that she will help him show his gift to the world so he can be remembered. Just then, men dressed in fire-retardant suits capture him.

On the SHIELD plane, Grant and Skye are playing Battleship. Coulson and Melinda watch them and note how they're getting along. Just then they're called in to investigate the disappearance of Chang Ho Yen. There was a SHIELD agent watching over him, and they reveal that they have been keeping tabs on several super powered people around the world. The agent revealed evidence that the people that kidnapped him were wearing fire-retardant suits, so they already knew about his powers. They find out that kidnappers got their information from leaks throughout SHIELD's network caused by the Rising Tide. The blame automatically goes to Skye, but she admits she has nothing to do with it. She says she can find who hacked the information.

Chan wakes up in a different hotel in front of Reyna. He thinks she is part of SHIELD after him for showing off his fireballs in the street. Reyna says she's going to help him increase his power, so he can be everything he can be. She suggests he named himself Scorch, since people remember the flashy names.

SHIELD is on the lookout for the hacker. Grant picks him out from a crowd and chases him down, but the man gets in his car and drives off. Coulson chases him down in his own car. The hacker uses a device in his car to mess with the street lights to make it easier for him to get away. When he gets to his place, Skye is already waiting, and already knows him. His name is Miles and he taught Skye everything she knows about hacking. Apparently they used to go out since they proceed to have sex. Sometime afterwards, they talk and Skye mentions how she was able to get into SHIELD. She then gets dressed and is ready to leave, but Melinda already caught her in the act.

Back  at the HQ, Coulson is very upset and demands to know what information she got from them. She swears Miles is just a friend and she didn't steal anything from him. She only contacted him once to let him know she was ok (end of episode 2) and now to find him. Fitz and Summer both feel disappointed since they trusted and liked Skye. Melinda questions Miles but can't get any useful information out of him. Phil calls for both of them to be cuffed and taken away.

Meanwhile, Chan gets injected by a chemical from the scientists working with Reyna. This increases his power and makes him able to create larger flames and toss bigger fireballs. He starts to like the name Scorch.

In a padded room together, Miles and Skye argue, as he believes in conspiracy theories and she tells him that SHIELD isn't as bad she thought they were. Grant brings in some files that revealed that Miles sold the information that led to Chan being kidnapped for a million dollars. This pisses Skye off since they were supposed to stand for freedom of information, and not doing this for the money. Miles says he was contacted by a woman in a flowered dress that told he should show his gifts to the world. He doesn't know where she's from, but thinks it's from some sort eco-company that studies insects... like centipedes. SHIELD now knows that Centipede is involved.

Meanwhile, Centipede studies Chang's results, and once they had enough, they use knock out gas to put him down. When he wakes up, he's strapped down and the scientists there are extracting his blood. He tries to break free by creating fire, but this time the fire actually burns his hand. He asks what they did to him. They're going to using his blood to help them perfect their Extremis formula and prevent their soldiers from blowing up.

SHIELD, working with a squad from Honk Kong locates the building they will need Skye's help to get inside. Coulson and Melinda fight their way in and Skye uses her skills to unlock any doors for Grant. The place is soon under lockdown, so SHIELD has to trust Miles to undo it. Coulson finds Chan, but he injects himself with more of the Extremis formula to get more powerful. He kills one of the men there and tells Coulson that he's tired of hiding his powers from the world and wants to show what he can do. Coulson and Melinda can't do much against his powers. Melinda talks to him in Japanese and determines at this point that he has gone insane and has to be taken down. Coulson tries to shoot him with the same gun that depowered Mike Peterson in episode 1, but he creates a huge flame barrier across his back that melts any bullet before it could get to him.

As Miles works on getting rid of the system lockdown, we see that Scorch has now escaped from Coulson and Melinda. Reyna is also escaping with some of her associates, but as Scorch finds them, she takes the elevator alone and leaves the female doctor behind. Scorch angrily burns her to ashes. Coulson arrives and tells him there's still time to stop before things get even worse for him. He refuses and Melinda surprise-attacks him from behind, injecting him with more of the Extremis. Everyone runs as Chan is overheated and explodes.

Back to the SHIELD plane, Coulson lets Miles go, but with a bracelet device that will keep tabs on him and not allow him to use electronic devices for a while. They're still in Honk Kong, and they don't really care how Miles will get back to the states. Coulson also mentions that the million dollars he got was donated to Agent Chang. Coulson then wants to talk to Skye alone.

As they talk, he knows she's hiding something and this is her last chance to come out with it or they're done with her. She shows him a hidden flash drive that has information on her. She's looking for her parents that she never knew and she has no idea what happened to them. All she managed to find was a document redacted by SHIELD, which is why she used the Rising Tide to help get closer to SHIELD. Coulson will offer to help but he says she might not like what she will find.

Elsewhere, Reyna talks to a man in jail. She mentions that SHIELD is now getting involved and got in the way of their plans for Mike Peterson, but now thanks to Chan, they were able to find a way to stabilize the Extremis so their soldiers won't explode. They might need help from someone called the clairvoyant one who will help them get their plan to Phase Three.

Our Thoughts-

This was an exciting episode as we got to see a lot more about Skye and her past. We got to see the guy that taught her how to hack into systems to begin with, and we actually saw her main motivations. We see she's not as bad as she might have seemed, since she first thought SHIELD was a sinister organization that needed to be exposed, and now sees that they're actually out to protect the world. Her arguments with Miles show she's not as fanatical as he is, and firmly believes in her thoughts of freedom without selling out. As they parted, Miles told her she's not who she used to be, and she in turn said he's not who she thought he was. If anything, all of this made Skye learn more about herself and the kind of person she wants to be. Of course this opens up an interesting new plot thread. What happened to her parents and what does SHIELD have to do with it? Oh and we got to see Chloe Bennet in her underwear.

The rest of agents were alright, but kinda downplayed aside from the action scenes and chase scenes. While Melinda did succeed with a sneak attack to take Chan down, the way they hide behind things and can only use their guns against a guy that can create fire only makes me wonder what they're supposed to do if they do eventually face Graviton later down the line. Fitz and Summers barely had a role in this episode but it interesting to see how sad they were when Skye was in cuffs. They actually see her as a friend and wondered how she could have betrayed them. Coulson also asked himself why he trusted Skye when Melinda and Grant advised against her, and continues to worry how he's changed after being nearly killed by Loki. He admits before that happened he wouldn't have been so quick to trust her either.

Chan was a tragic character or sorts, born with this power but not knowing why or how to use it. Sadly, he never lived to see it used for good since all of the business with SHIELD and Centipede screwed him up. I am surprised they went as far as to kill Chan though. There must have some way to contain the guy or something.

There's not much to say about Miles other than he's a jerk and only uses his fanatical freedom of speech beliefs when it suits him. He didn't even care that the information he sold led to the capture and possible death of an innocent man. I'm sure the Chuck Rodriguezes out these are upset that he got to nail Skye in this episode. At least she wised up and possibly left the Rising Tide's ideologies.

Finally we got to wonder what Centipede is up to. I do wonder where they got the Extremis forumla to begin with? Did they buy the research from Killian sometime during or before Iron Man 3? And who is this dude in jail? And the clairvoyant one? And what is Phase 3? We're going to have to keep watching to find out. A great episode all around. This show continues to surprise and entice at every turn.