Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Turn, Turn, Turn is the 17th episode of the season and has the team reeling from the fact there’s a traitor in their midst. With the revelation that the Clairvoyant is actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and the team’s plane suddenly being remotely controlled, Coulson and Skye aren’t taking any chances with Agent May, who, it was discovered, had a secret phone line on the plane. They want to know who she was communicating with and she tells them it was a direct line to Director Fury, that she’s not the one controlling the plane nor does she know where it’s heading. There’s also a question about Simmons, who’s back at the Hub and was secretly working on analyzing Skye’s blood before the plane was taken over remotely and they’re concerned with her safety. After getting some answers from May, Coulson shoots her with an icer and knocks her out. And that’s because they have a more immediate concern as they learn that Garrett’s plan has been targeted by 2 S.H.I.E.L.D. jets and he’s heading towards them for help to take out the jets. Why is S.H.I.E.L.D. targeting their own agents and could this all be the work of the Clairvoyant or is there something else behind this?

I’ve been on a Marvel high the past two weeks with last week’s episode and then Captain America: the Winter Soldier so I was beyond excited for this week’s episode. And the start of this episode capitalized on that excitement as Agent Garrett was attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D. jets escalating the threat and showing it wasn’t just Coulson’s team in jeopardy, then segwaying into the standoff with May. Despite viewers already knowing who May was communicating with, this was still an intense scene because at the very least it was a betrayal of Coulson and May’s friendship. The standoff ended very well, not for May, but in terms of the story moving forward and character development. And Coulson was taking more of a leadership position with the team members lives being in immediate danger. And the special effects were great for the aerial combat as the evasive maneuvers and team work were pretty impressive. What was more impressive was the suspense that was being maintained because even though Victoria Hand was in the forefront, everyone’s actions seemed suspicious at this point, including Simmons who was still trying to get answers regarding Skye’s blood. And Simmons formed an alliance with Agent Triplett after revealing to him that’s what she’s working on and needed his help to bypass certain security protocols.

And pretty much the entire season I’ve been waiting for an organization to rival S.H.I.E.L.D. so they could have a true villain and some gripping stories, and the lack of an organization was due to Hydra being involved all along. This clearly raised the stakes and going forward this can only mean good things. May was given the opportunity to prove her claim that she didn’t work for the Clairvoyant and this was due to the team being short-handed with Simmons missing and Ward initially being detained. And I’ve always enjoyed the interactions between May and Coulson whatever the situation and this time was no different as Coulson’s pain about not being able to trust one of his closest friends was very believable, and so was May’s explanation of why she did it and how she felt when he was killed. And it’s ironic that it’s now S.H.I.E.L.D. agents or Hydra agents trying to kill him.

Everything changes this episode and that’s not a stretch, although if you saw Captain America then you already know that to be true. And for the first time this season it truly became a matter of who to trust in a spy organization when it has been infiltrated and has told so many lies over the years. And even though there are plenty of spoilers out there I still won’t give any away here but there are answers given this episode but some very important questions either remain or are new and have to be answered.

I was really enjoying this episode and my mind was racing through the possibilities of who the traitor and/or the Clairvoyant could be because of how well this episode was unfolding. The action sequences were cool and the team gets to see plenty of action in this episode. And I’m being deliberately vague to avoid spoilers but there was one revelation that I wasn’t completely feeling and not because it didn’t occur in a really good way because it did. It raises questions because if that is indeed the answer I can’t see how it fits with the level of meticulous planning, use of technology, and outsmarting others that was required. So I think there’s still some deception going on in that case. There’s another revelation that I loved and made the character much more interesting in terms of the potential there going forward and I hope the series doesn’t backtrack from that. Yes, things have changed in the Marvel universe after the events of Captain America but this episode definitely changes things permanently for the team. And I can say I understand why certain things couldn’t take place until the movie but I can’t say that completely changes some of the criticism some might have had early in the season. I can say that this episode (and the ones preceding it) has left me feeling vindicated about my enjoyment of this series as the potential that’s been there all along in this series and its role in the Marvel Universe is coming to fruition.

SUMMARY

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Turn, Turn, Turn is another excellent episode in the series with some startling developments that changes the status quo of the series permanently going forward. There’s plenty of suspense and intense action that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout and for me it raises some important questions and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing those answers as well as all the things the team will face with this new status quo. If you fell off the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. bandwagon before this is the perfect time to get back on and enjoy the ride.