"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Recap: "The Dirty Half Dozen"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Well, there are really only two words that properly describe last night's episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., jaw dropping. Last night the show pulled out all of the stops and well, there were some decisions made that the show can never go back upon, some changes to a couple of characters I never expected to see and well...we got some big time answers and our Avengers tie in "The Dirty Half Dozen".

Let's start by taking about some of those irrevocable changes the show decided to go through last night, specifically the big time character surprises. For one, I honestly don't feel like I even know Simmons anymore. She has walked down a super dark path this season and her attempt on Ward's life was just plain shocking. I never saw it coming, never thought she would go through with it. But here we are, she tried to wax Ward and she'll never be the same. I was also stunned by the fact that Ward didn't try to get all murder-y this episode. This was his big chance to handle the original team he worked with and well...he's turned out quite classy. It was a hell of a change for these two characters, and curious ones at that. 

As for the other big event last night that cannot be taken back, I'm stunned they blew up the Bus. In fact, my shock over that can only be compared to Star Trek III: The Search for Spock when Kirk made the decision to scuttle the Enterprise because man, the Bus was a big part of this show, and many an important event happened there, just...wow.  Of course there were plenty of other awesome moments as well, Skye's rescue of Lincoln was nothing short of spectacular, kudos to the show for giving us an action sequence as epic as that, but let's be honest...we were all dying for one thing last night, the Avengers tie in.

Now the show certainly did not disappoint here. Our first big reference was to the Twins, but that was merely the appetizer, since the show brought us the main course in the last five minutes. Raina, who it turns out is extremely clairvoyant after the change, spoke of metal men ripping our world to pieces and that nothing would ever be the same in obvious reference to Ultron and his army...but there was still plenty more to feast upon.  Especially when Coulson dropped the bomb that Gonzales should enjoy his time as the big dog of S.H.I.E.L.D. because Fury would be back soon enough and then we got the phone call with Maria Hill and the answers we wanted. Coulson has been hunting for Loki's scepter all this time, and Theta Protocol involves...calling in the Avengers. 

Needless to say, I was jumping up and down in my seat during those five minutes. The return of Maria Hill was a nice little surprise, but the Avengers shout out and the set up for Friday's release just made the wait all the more unbearable. When this show ties in to the movies right, it sure doesn't mess around but holy hell, the rest of this episode was seriously impressive as well. In fact the last few weeks on the show have been nothing short of stellar, with top notch performance and plot and as we inch closer to the Season Finale, I'm wondering what else they have in store for us.  Until next week my friends...

---