'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Recap: Ward Teaches Gideon a Lesson
Warning: This recap for the “Paradise Lost” episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. contains spoilers.
Unlike many slowly uncovered mysteries on TV, the more that’s revealed about Ward/Hive/the Hydra god/Cthlulhu Jr., the more interesting the character becomes. Its immortality is an accumulation of lives that means old crimes can come back to haunt the living. In that way, this version of the character improves upon the original — acting like the ghost from Hamlet, punishing people with their own guilt.
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The Plot
Flashbacks to Gideon as a young man (Cameron Palatas): He and his brother (Joel Dabney Courtney) must go through an ancient Hydra ritual, sending someone as a sacrifice to feed the god on the other side of the portal. Whitehall (Reed Diamond) tells them their father actually cheated the ritual so he wouldn’t have to go through. The brothers resolve not to cheat, but Gideon does and dooms his brother to death. In the present, Ward confronts him with a shade of his dead brother. Gideon thinks he will be killed, but it is his daughter (Bethany Joy Lenz) who Ward kills instead.
Sins of the Father
A palimpsest is a page that’s had the original writing scraped off and new words written on it. Back when paper was scarce, that could happen many times and modern technologies can sometimes read what was first erased. In the same way, Ward — we learn the creature is actually a hive mind of parasites — is now a collection of echoes that has left both Coulson and Gideon racked with guilt.
For Coulson, he knows that he killed Ward on Maveth because he wanted to, not because he had to. Seeing his face again is a reminder of the moral line he crossed. The irony, of course, is that the parasite can only occupy a dead body, so if he had left Ward alive for a few minutes longer, it may not have had time to come back through.
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For Gideon, Ward’s strange behavior towards him makes sense now. He’s been holding him at arm’s length both to balance the scales between Gideon and his now-dead brother and also to truly make him a weapon for Hydra. Having him kill the CEO last week was just the beginning of acquiring true power; now that the only thing he loves is dead, he has nothing left to be afraid for. It’s not just evil, it’s downright mean — which is how we know for certain that Ward is still in there somewhere.
Telekinetics on a Plane
S.H.I.E.L.D. was also busy. They followed Hydra activity to a lab genetically engineering ways to get rid of invasive species. The lab was gutted, so clearly there’s something Ward fears there. They run into Giyera there, who they capture (barely) and fly back to base. Then he gets loose and wreaks havoc on the plane, taking out everyone but…
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Shake ‘n’ Bake
Daisy and Lincoln were off tracking down James, a non-powered Inhuman who possesses an ancient Kree artifact with a link to the Hive parasite. They trick him out of it, but not before he exposes some of Lincoln’s past: His alcoholism almost killed an old girlfriend and he’s been hiding it from Daisy. Thanks to their excursion, they are the only ones untouched by Giyera’s attack, so must now rally the Secret Warriors to save the rest of the team.
S.H.I.E.L.D.ed Thoughts
* Lincoln’s alcoholism is probably the first interesting thing we’ve ever learned about him; it’s a much more specific character trait that the aimless angst we’re used to seeing. Let’s see more of that.
* Another great fight sequence — this time in a white box to prevent Giyera from using his powers. Of course, if this weren’t network TV, he probably could have ripped off all of May’s non-organic clothing and smacked her around with them, but this isn’t HBO.
* Line of the Night: “You’re the muscles and the brains, huh? He’s just the haircut.” This James fellow is a jerk, but he’s also pretty perceptive.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.
