Well, it’s all out on the table now!
Skye is actually Daisy Johnson/Quake. The Doctor is actually Calvin Zabo/Mister Hyde. Oh, and yeah, the Inhumans are here!
That last part wasn’t explicitly stated in the episode as far as using the words, sure. No one said “Attilan” or “Inhumans,” but by the time a freaking mist was released and unlocked Skye/Daisy’s powers, SHIELD was practically screaming, “Yes, this is the Inhumans!” – and when I spoke to SHIELD EPs Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon after watching this episode, they indeed confirmed the Inhumans are now a part of the series. So here we are!
I know some will complain that all of these reveals were ones people guessed, but that is somewhat par for the course in the internet age, where every theory is gone over and shared over and over. What was important was that “What They Become” did a very good job of getting us to these reveals (and of course, it was simply having the Doctor say “Cal” and “Daisy” that confirmed suspicions about who this father/daughter duo were). I bemoaned not having Kyle MacLachlan in last week’s episode but he was all over this one and giving a terrific performance.
Cal was a mess… a violent, murdering, emotional mess. Having him be so damn sincere, heartfelt and weepy with Skye (do we call her Daisy now?!) was a great touch, as he dropped all pretense of being The Bad Guy just for a few moments, including dorky dad touches like “those little almond cookies” he wished he’d brought. But when he spoke about what Whitehall did to his beloved wife you felt his rage just pouring out of him. MacLachlan perfectly conveyed these conflicting and quickly changing emotions, showing all the facets of this dangerous man. Chloe Bennet was also very good here, as Skye absorbed all of this - and I especially liked her own conflicted despair when Skye broke down with Coulson about how she couldn't bring herself to kill her father.
In an episode that would reveal Skye was in fact one of the Avengers (going by her comic book history, that is - we'll see where her MCU future takes her), she got a lot of cool moments, once more showing how far this character has come from all those "Isn't Skye awesome?!" Coulson speeches in Season 1 that felt so forced and unearned. Now she actually is pretty awesome! The way she used the diviner as a weapon against a Hydra soldier, after surviving touching it herself, was really cool – but nothing could outdo when she picked up that gun, walked up behind Ward and just shot him. It was a really notable and Whedon-esque moment because it worked against expectations and cliches. She didn’t say something first, possibly giving Ward a chance to talk his way out of it or grab the gun – she just shot him before he'd even turned back towards her. Okay, she shot him in the side, not the head, and he lived, but still! And Ward and Agent 33 slinking off together in some perverse partnership is a fun turn of events.
Coulson shooting and killing Whitehall also subverted expectations… but did somewhat serve as a reminder that Whitehall never fully came into his own as a villain (his scene in the car with Raina was probably his best). But with him dead and Calvin/Mister Hyde still out there, the second half of the season looks to be elevating Cal’s role while also putting the focus more on the Inhumans, as hinted at in the final scene by that eye-less gentleman and his second Diviner.
When it happened, I had written in my notes how Trip not hesitating to leap back into that hole to save Skye was a nice moment for him. However, his death, while visually strong and sad in and of itself, was undercut somewhat because he, like Whitehall (and more notably for Trip, given he was one of the team), was never completely fleshed out as a character. I liked B.J. Britt in the role and Trip had some good moments, but he never got the spotlight and kernels of storylines, like his flirtation with Simmons or family connection to a Howling Commando, still hadn’t turned into something more when he died.
But what a scene that was for Skye! Yes, this show – which has pulled off some really impressive visuals this season on a TV budget, including the opening escape from the Hydra Quinjets in this episode – hit its limits when it came to special effects here, so you had to accept that this wasn’t exactly the mostrealistic effect, but still, Skye and Raina becoming encased in stone and then Skye breaking out of it was a well done moment. The rebirth metaphor wasn’t subtle, but it was poignant as she began doing her thing and everything in the hidden city began to shake, as her powers exerted themselves for the first time.
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THE VERDICT
The SHIELD midseason finale delivered in a big way. It gave us Skye and her dad’s true and Marvelous identities and perhaps even more importantly, went all in on the Inhumans being a part of Agents of SHIELD, as Skye and Raina (wonder whatshe can do, huh?) were exposed to the Terrigen Mists and Trip unfortunately showed just how deadly those mists can be for non-Inhumans. This overhaul from the comics of Skye/Daisy’s background to make her an Inhuman is a clever one -- along with the idea that she got her abilities from her mom’s genetics, not her dad's (though Calvin DOES appear to have some super strength as well, albeit not at his comic book level. Hmm...) -- and it’s just exciting to see that Agents of SHIELD is now allowed to truly lead the way in the MCU in this manner.
Source - IGN
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