Piece of the Puzzle: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S2 E4 - Face My Enemy

In which I review the latest episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Since Coulson's last Fugue state, a painting has been discovered in a burned down church that bears the same symbols that Coulson has been obsessively carving at an increasingly frequent rate: some kind of text written in the same, unknown alien language.  The plan is simple: infiltrate the charity ball where it's being held, steal it, then decipher it.  Brigadier General Talbot's presence at the party complicates matters however, especially when it turns out to be a Hydra agent in disguise.  But when Agent May is similarly replaced by a Hydra agent, can Director Coulson discover the deception before it's too late?

Agent May vs Agent May.  Fight!

It's easy to forget after seeing "The Cavalry" punch, kick and generally smash her way to victory for going on two seasons that Agent May is more than just a fighter; she's a covert agent who specializes in under-cover missions.  Face My Enemy reminds us of that fact by showing her under cover for the first time in the series.  Watching her tango, laugh and monopolize a conversation with sophisticated ease is even more unnerving than Ward's defection to Hydra.  That's not to say that she was unconvincing in the role.  In fact, her transformation into a chittering, bubbly socialite was perfect.  It is simply so blatantly out of character for her that it's impossible not to respect her even more as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The plot of the episode was well enough: nothing particularly good nor memorable, but nothing that didn't work on its own.  May's scenes were certainly highlights of the episode, from her schooled grace at the party and her climactic fight with her doppelganger.  Fitz's decision to try to bond with the rest of the team, despite his recent mental deficiencies, was a powerful step forward for his character.  Everything else, though, pretty stock for an action TV series: the heist, the sabotaged plane nearly exploding, Coulson's last-minute deduction that he was with an impostor rather than the real May - nothing that we haven't seen countless times before.

It's becoming increasingly obvious with every episode just how far the balance of power is tipped into Hydra's favor.  While Coulson's team barely has the resources to get by, Hydra's global intelligence network has been largely unaffected after the battle over the Triskelion.  They have perfected camouflage so absolutely that they can convincingly transform a waify, white woman into a solidly built asian one and the only thing that gives her away is that she likes coffee and talks too much.  They can even brainwash high-value assets into betraying their every core value and work for Nazis.

Face My Enemy proves that there is plenty of room left to explore the agents of Coulson's new S.H.I.E.L.D. if even a relatively blank slate like May can headline an entire episode with such entertaining ease.  Even if the episode fails to be a particularly memorable one, it is none-the-less a perfectly necessary one: progressing the overarching narrative forward and meaningfully developing its characters.  I continue to love the direction that Fitz is being taken and Simmons is just as convincing of a character whether she's a hallucination or a double agent.  Overall, I give the episode a 7 out of 10.

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