Agents of SHIELD episode 12 RETRO REVIEW

 By Mark Rodriguez

Originally written on Tuesday, January 14, 2014. 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.

Last episode was a huge reveal for Coulson on how he was brought back to life.... and it's a lot for him to deal with. Now this episode reveals the past behind Skye. Oh, and we get a random low-key Marvel super villain thrown in there too.

The episode starts off with some college kids sneaking a dip in the pool after hours. There's a reclusive kid there studying some note, just watching the scene. The guy and girl get in the pool and as they try to encourage their friend to join them, she notices that the water starts freezing by itself. The couple manage to get out of the pool almost in time, as the guy's leg is trapped in the frozen pool. The recluse jumps in to help save the guy, by using a pole to break the ice around his leg.

Over at SHIELD, Coulson is watching over pictures of himself when he was declared dead and sulking. The others found out about the frozen pool incident and discuss the device that caused it, and the fact that it seemed to have been planted there days before. This took place at the SHIELD Academy of Science that Fitz and Simmons attended, and we find out that Grant was at the Academy of Operations, which was more militarized.

Grant, Skye, Fitz and Simmons arrive at the Academy and two smarter members are welcomed with open arms and are taken in to get settled. Grant shows Skye the wall of valor, which shows all the agents that sacrificed themselves on their missions. Skye feels she really isn't a part of SHIELD since she never went to an Academy or anything, she felt she cheated and hacked her way in.

May talks to Coulson about his files, and why it bothers him. May says the files are true based on what Director Fury says. She also mentions she found a lead on the agent that left Skye behind as a baby. Agent Avery was killed, but the one that was with her is back. He appeared in a random pic online in Mexico City in a grocery store. They decide to investigate now while the lead is hot.

Fitz and Simmons make a speech at the academy about the different uses their kind of technology have in the world, both for good and evil. They mention that organizations like HYDRA, AIM and Centipede all started out developing new science and technology. Meanwhile Grant is asking the kid that had his leg frozen in the pool, Seth, about what happened. He doesn't know anyone that would have any reason to want to hurt him. At the meeting, the withdrawn kid, Donnie, is watching very intently.

Donnie suddenly starts freezing up. He can't move and is frozen solid in ice. Simmons and Fitz run in to chip and break the ice around him. Grant shows up and finds the device that caused it. Meanwhile, Quinn, an evil business man gets a phone call and is disappointed his plan isn't working.

Donnie says he has no idea who would want to hurt him. Grant is curious if Grant and Seth had anything in common. The teacher there mentions that Donnie is reclusive but doesn't have any enemies. As the teacher asks the other kids in the top 10 of science majors, Grant wants to lead his own investigation and wants Fitz to hang out with Donnie.

Simmons shows Grant and Skye the place they would go to to escape from the pressure and spy cameras of SHIELD and the academy, the boiler room. When they go see it, it's actually a rave-style party place for the students to relax and hang out. Fitz talks with Donnie and he admires the tech he's been coming up with. Fitz admits he was also a bit of a recluse when he was in the academy at first. He also drops a few pointers here and there on his inventions.

May and Coulson are in Mexico City, in the Lola car on stakeout. May continues to ask Coulson about how he's dealing with what he found out about himself. Coulson's worried if they changed his memories, what else could that have changed. May reminds him him she knew him from before he was killed. Coulson is tired of all the secrets, he wants everything out in the open. May then suddenly admits she's been sleeping with Grant.

Before Coulson could react, he sees their guy stepping out of a clothing store. The guy spots them and starts running down the alley with May in hot pursuit. May loses sight of him in the alley, when suddenly he ambushes her. They fight it out and it looks like he was going to swallow a suicide pill that May knocks out of his hand. He actually manages to take May down and makes a run for it, but Coulson blocks his escape with his car. He climbs up the side of a building, but Coulson's car can fly. Once the guy knows they're from SHIELD, he's actually relieved and asks if 'this is about that baby girl'.

Later on, Coulson and May talk with the guy. He explains they had a mission in China years ago, trying to find an O84, which is an unknown object. The people after this were willing to destroy the entire village to get it. Agent Avery died with the O84 in her arms... which turned out to be the baby. They sent the baby from foster home to foster home, always changing to keep her under SHIELD protection. Whoever the people are that were after her, not only killed agent Avery but they kill several other agents and the baby's family. May is about to mention Skye, but the man stops her, saying he doesn't want to know anything about her and he's just happy to know that she's safe. As Coulson and May leave, the man warns them to stay away from the girl, since wherever she goes, death follows. May tells Coulson that Skye must never know of this.

At the boiler room, Skye points out Kelly, the girl from the pool incident that didn't go into the pool with the others. After talking with her, Grant finds out that Seth has been talking to Donnie.. and that they were both anxious to meet Fitz for weeks. They staged the ice attacks on themselves hoping to bring SHIELD over to them.

Fitz also realizes this and goes back to check on Donnie, convinced he's a good kid. He discovers Donnie has been working on trying to power a bigger version of the ice machine, thanks to the pointers he got from Fitz earlier. Before Fitz can react, Seth arrives and knocks him out.

The gang meets and regroup, and Fitz explains to everyone what happened. Outside, Seth and Donnie have their device ready to sell, but at this point Quinn has changed his mind. He wants them to activate the machine and give him a demonstration. Seth is more eager to activate the machine than Donnie is, having second thoughts of the dangers involved. They both agree they've come too far to stop now and decide to activate it. What they don't know is Seth already considered the deal a bust and ordered his jet to turn around and head back. It also seems the machine isn't working.

Coulson meets up with Skye and tells her everything in great detail, which makes her break down. Meanwhile, Fitz and Simmons notice storm activity on their scanners. The device worked and has created a violent storm above the academy. Seth and Donnie get in their car to shield themselves from the hail storm that starts off as regular hail to big pieces of ice. Soon we see that there are over turned cars. Donnie wants to turn off the device, or reverse the effects, but Seth is more concerned with the demonstration they promised Quinn. Donnie convinces him that their sale won't matter if they're dead. Seth helps dismantle the device but a surge of electricity send him flying back, knocking him out cold. The SHIELD jet arrives, flying in through the eye of the storm, and Donnie tells them to help Seth.

Seth has gone into cardiac arrest, and despite all efforts, they couldn't save him. Fitz says he feels sorry for what happened, but Donnie snaps at him, saying he lost the only friend he ever had. Donnie will be moved to the Sandbox where SHIELD will keep an eye on him.

May later asks Coulson if he heard what she said about having sex with Grant earlier. Coulson says he's sure if it becomes a problem she will end it. May knows Coulson told Skye everything about her past. Coulson said it did destroy her, but she says it also gave her a new beginning. All this time Skye felt she never belonged anywhere, especially with the foster homes shipping her off from place to place. Now she feels she was protected by SHIELD all along and feels she belongs now. We see Skye look at the Wall of Valor again, admiring Agent Avery's name. Meanwhile, as Donnie is driven off, we see that he has developed ice powers of his own, as his fingers leave frost marks on the car window.

Quinn is admiring the effects of the storm the ice machine caused, and he gets a call from Coulson. Coulson warns him that they're on to him, and the moment he flies over SHIELD-protected land, they'll blow him out of the sky. Quinn smirks and tells Coulson that he has a message of his own.. the Clairvoyant says 'hello'.

My Opinions: 

Another good episode. While we see some backstory with Fitz and Simmons as they relive memories of the Academy they mentioned so many times... the part that got me interested was the deal with Skye. It was a cool scene with May chasing the agent down the alley and he actually managed to take her down in a fight. Now we have to wonder what's the deal with Skye being an O84. What powers or abilities will she have? And what is this yet OTHER evil organization going through such lengths to get her. I assume they think the baby died, but sooner or later they'll find out.. but who are they? Centipede? HYDRA? AIM? The Rising Tide? We'll have to see. The guy was doing whatever it takes to avoid being captured, and was relieved to find out it was just SHIELD.... so just HOW bad are these guys he thought were after him at first?

It was also funny May confess she's been having sleeping with Grant (more than one time???) just as the chase for the agent started. Awkward timing. I still wonder how Skye will react when she finds out, since she seems to have a soft spot for Grant. As for the main story, it was interesting, and we get to see Fitz spend time with Donnie and notice that deep down he's not bad, just misguided. Seth wasn't that evil either, I think, but he was a lot more driven. It's a shame since that determination cost him his life. And while we're talking about Donnie and his sudden birth of ice powers....

Yep, there's a character in the Marvel universe named Blizzard and his real name is Donnie Gill. I don't know much about him, but he seems to side with the Avengers as many times as he seems to fight against them as a super villain. As a bad guy, he seems to work for Hammer a lot, which you might remember is the evil business man from Iron Man 2, and works alongside The Beetle and other lesser villains. He also seems to encounter Iron Man alot, either fighting with him or against him. I do wonder when characters like him and Graviton will come back... and how will they be able to stop them when they do? The only superhero they had on their side was Mike Peterson, and he's kinda screwed at the moment.... and even if he wasn't, you need more than just super strength to go against ice powers or gravity-controlling powers. Kinda makes me wish this wasn't a show with a TV budget since we can't have Captain America or Iron Man as cameos to jump in to help out whenever.

Anyways, it was a cool episode and it seems we will be taking another break since the next episode won't air til February.... and hey, it's gonna be the episode with Stan Lee in it! And from the looks of it, things will change big time during the final act. What will happen???