"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Recap: "Watchdogs"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

When I sat down to watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this week after last week's tearjerker of a goodbye for Bobbi and Hunter I was expecting there to be a sense of unity amongst a group that just said goodbye to two people who sacrificed their careers for the greater good. I truly thought their actions would represent so much more to their cohorts and they would honor their comrades by way of incredible deeds. 

Well it turns out that I was wrong. Incredibly wrong at that. Outside of Mack and Coulson, Bobbi and Hunter's goodbye seems to have had little effect on the team since the show decided to go to some pretty dark places this week on a moral level which in turn wiped away the honorable exit we saw last week and I found myself sitting there stunned after this one ended to be quite honest. This episode felt incredibly uncomfortable and nothing like the show I've come to love.

That sense of discomfort came squarely from our favorite agents, since these characters didn't feel like the ones we have come to know, they felt like guest stars from a different show. I mean come on, it was cool to meet Mack's family and everything that came with that, but does he really strike anyone as a guy who takes a vacation? Something about it didn't feel right and it only got weirder from there, since it was also a little odd to see Coulson rip Lincoln to shreds the way he did on the flight over to Blake's safe house. It's not like Coulson to simply demand respect and command his people. He usually finds a way to reach them without activating boss mode on them. But all of these things that I think I would normally brush off if they popped up elsewhere in the series were perhaps amplified by the biggest stunner of the night...Daisy.

Now, we know she is a fiesty character. She always has been, even when she was the obligatory "edgy hacker" character from so long ago, but last night...she crossed some serious lines with her willingness to do anything and everything to learn about the Watchdogs by more or less hunting down a member of the group and borderline torturing him to gain information. It's something we have never quite seen on the show and well, while we have seen our heroes go to tough places internally to save the day in the past and pay their own price for it, this season is taking that concept and pushing it further. First it was Coulson offing Ward and now it's Daisy slinking down to the bad guys level. But what troubles me more, is that Mack and Fitz didn't say or do a whole lot to stop her despite the fact they clearly disagreed.

So I guess really this is an episode that leaves me wondering a couple of things...is this a one off episode where the writers wanted to see what it would be like if our characters indulged their darker sides a little bit, or is this an incredible paradigm shift in the tone and design of the show. Because this is quite the slippery slope for our characters to be on now and well, once the precedent is set it's difficult to put Pandora back in her box. But when all is said and done, I really do hope that this is a one off episode and this strange behavior across the board is explained away by the characters indeed grieving for the loss of Bobbi and Hunter. It won't justify their actions from this episode, but what they've done will at least make a little bit of sense. Hopefully the return/introduction of Ward/Hive next week will give this team the focus they need once again. Until next time.

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