MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Episode 2.08: The Things we Bury (T.V. review)

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My wife and I usually watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. together, a series that she initially didn’t want to watch at all. Now, however, she’s so into it that she watched the newest episode without me. Without me, the person who got her into it in the first place! (Same thing happened with Lost, though the roles were reversed.)

I was laid up by a cold and/or allergies (the jury’s still out) and didn’t watch the show until the following day. Nevertheless I had a heads up as to what to expect due to my wife’s unprompted bedside dialog:

“How you feeling? Can I get you anything? Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is really dark. Maybe too dark.”  

The series is definitely dark, particularly of late, and episode #8 is no different. With a title like The Things we Bury, how could it not be? The title refers to physical burials involving dead bodies and a buried wishing well, plus emotional burials of past traumas, some involving said wishing well.

Most of this darkness stems from Grant “is he bad or good” Ward and his “Conjunction Junction, What’s your Dysfunction” family. He seems to want redemption, but he darkens so much in this episode that I join my wife in wondering — is he redeemable?

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Not all of this episode’s darkness can be attributed to Ward. Some comes courtesy of Whitehall’s backstory as Reinhardt, which is now fully revealed. A terrific time-lapse sequence shows us the passage of Whitehall’s jail sentence imposed upon him by Agent “watch my mini-series” Carter. We don’t just see the ravages of time in regards to Whitehall/Reinhardt, but also his imprisoned surroundings. Everything from chessboards to toilets changes over the course of 44 years.

What follows his release is disturbing as he confronts Skye’s mystery mom who doesn’t age, a mystery that the elderly Whitehall desperately wants to unravel:

REINHARDT/WHITEHALL: “Discovery requires experimentation.”

This experimentation turns the reunion of Whedon alum Reed Diamond and Dichen Lachman (both were in Dollhouse) into a gruesome affair that unveils the motivations of Skye’s dad. Kyle MacLachlan plays daddio with a solid combo of psychotic, dangerous, tragic qualities. And much-appreciated humor. His response to Coulson’s mention of the “tesseract” is priceless.

Reinhardt ascribes to the myth “of stars that fell from the heavens. Of blue angels who came baring a gift for all mankind.” These “blue angels” are not the Navy’s aerobatic squadron performing at an air show near you, but instead a race of blue-skinned aliens. We’ve met two so far — Ronan the Accuser, the villain from Guardians of the Galaxy, and the disemboweled dude whose blood saved Skye and resurrected Coulson. It’s time to geek out because this alien race is most likely the Kree, a staple of Marvel’s cosmic comics since the 1960s.

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Cornerstones of the Kree empire include Captain Mar-Vell (pronounced marvel) and the hidden land of Attilan, home to the Inhumans, which sounds very much like the lost city that Coulson and Whitehall are in search of.

Could the small screen exploits of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. be paving the way for the recently announced big screen adventures of Captain Marvel (pronounced mar-vell) and Inhumans? One would hope so. Otherwise ABC could have an angry mob of disappointed fanboys on their front steps brandishing torches and pitchforks. (For the record, I haven’t owned a pitchfork since Pushing Daisies was prematurely cancelled.)

In sharp contrast to the darkness of Ward and Whitehall’s subplots is the battle of the sexes between ex-spouses Hunter and Bobbi. Their Moonlighting-ish relationship is packed with sexual tension and cutting banter such as Hunter’s comeuppance of Bobbi…

BOBBI: “I can’t argue a man to suicide.”

HUNTER: “Clearly you’ve never been in an argument with yourself!”

…and Bobbi’s comeuppance of Hunter…

HUNTER: “Doesn’t matter what I ask, I can’t trust the answer.”

BOBBI: “Write that sentence down. Hand it to your therapist.”

The two inevitably hook up, but not just because the screenwriters are abiding by the They-hate-each-other-so-much-that-they-must-love-each-other cliché. It’s partly that, don’t get me wrong, but it’s mostly due to the characters’ mutual, sometimes begrudging efforts to help one another, such as when Hunter aids Bobbi in her interrogation of Bakshi.

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The series has gone back and forth all season regarding Grant’s childhood trauma. Did he try to drown his brother Tommy in a well at the urging of big brother Christian? Or, as Christian has claimed all along, did Grant do it of his own sociopathic accord? Pinballing between these two versions of the “truth” has elicited audience empathy or hatred toward Grant. Those emotions in turn make us cheer for his redemption or long for his punishment.

Grant gets what he’s always wanted when senator Christian confesses his crime of forcing young Grant to do his dirty work. Happy to finally have an apology and proof that he’s not the crazy one, Grant forgives Christian. With arms around each other in apparent reconciliation, the brothers walk away.

Empathy resurfaces in the viewer. Maybe Grant isn’t so bad after all. Maybe Fitz was right to look to him as a hero. And then comes the final scene of the episode where **big spoilers ahead** Grant joins forces with Whitehall who shows a news report detailing the seeming murder-suicide of Senator Ward and his parents. As bad as Christian and his abusive parents were, did they deserve to be murdered by Grant? Audience empathy is replaced once again by hatred.

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Just when we think we have Grant figured out, and figured for the side of good, we’re thrown another curve making his redemption seem less likely. In addition to these new murders, he’s also killed Victoria Hand, the first Koenig (who may or may not be robotic), and countless others. Factor in his betrayal of Coulson’s crew, most notably brain damaged Fitz, and one wonders how far an anti-hero can fall before the audience gives up on him.

Anakin Skywalker slaughtered innocent Padawans and Sandpeople before turning into Darth Vader. Then he outdid himself by killing Jedi and conquering rebels, not to mention cutting off his son’s hand and torturing Han Solo. As much as Anakin fell, however, he reformed when it counted most.

Ditto for psycho slayer Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Or at least I think she redeemed herself. I’m only on season 4 of the former and season 1 of the latter. Yes, yes. I’m 14 years late to the Whedonverse.

In the end, my wife is right — Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a dark show, but is it too dark? I don’t think so. Not as long as the showrunners continue to balance it off with lighter moments like Bobbi and Hunter’s tryst. The bigger question is whether or not Ward is redeemable. The jury’s still out on that one. Mostly because it’s still debating whether I have a cold or allergies.


 

NEXT MISSION: A week off before episode #9.

 

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