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

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

For the most part, barring heavy doses of Alien DNA or out right being a monster, we sometimes forget that villains are people as well. They have families, siblings and parents like so many of us, they just happened to turn to a life of you know...murdering and taking over the world and such, and their wild and crazy schemes are what allow us to forget all about their humanity.

Which is why whenever we see villains in their natural, "normal" settings, it can be quite the jarring experience, or a fascinating one depending on the bad guy which is why I think I so thoroughly enjoyed this week's episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. because "Paradise Lost" took us deep into Gideon Malick's life and past while also delivering the best of both worlds; surprising us by giving us a look at the tender side of his home life, while giving us just enough evil to keep him firmly entrenched in that villain realm.  

Yes, that's right, I used the word "tender" to describe the head of Hydra and well...it's the right one to use believe it or not. Malick as it turns out isn't as frosty with his daughter as the show implied a few weeks ago, he loves his daughter, only wants the best for her and she in turn loves her father and respects him deeply and even makes a point of supporting him in his moments of doubt and quite frankly, if we didn't know his back story, you'd respect Malick for being such a good dad. But thankfully, Hive was present in the Malick home all episode long to remind us that Gideon is a murderer and a monster and along the way, teach us that Malick is a coward as well.

Because we also learned last night that Gideon discovered a way to never have to face sacrifice on Maveth by following in his father's footsteps by rigging the selection process. It's a gambit that clearly saved his life time and time again, but unfortunately cost his brother his life and I loved how that wrapped around in the finale when we discovered that Hive retains the memories of all its victims, including Gideon's brother Nathaniel and man that made for one brutal and powerful moment when the Nathaniel version of Hive demanded revenge, and sacrifice by putting down Gideon's daughter Stephanie right in front of her father.  

But what made this little slice in the day of the life of a bad guy so worthwhile, is that I'm starting to wonder if Hive just sealed its own fate. Malick loved his daughter more than anything, so to sacrifice her in that fashion...well it's clear that Gideon is outright pissed about this. The look upon his face in the closing moments of the show pretty much said it all. He was no longer certain in what he believed in, or if it was right and I'm wondering now if Malick will eventually strike a deal with Coulson and the gang to bring down this ancient monster, and that deal may come sooner rather than later since it won't be long before Malick and Coulson are face to face once again seeing as to how Giyera has captured Zephyr One with Phil and the majority of the team still aboard it. Until next time. 

---