Art by Saturn-Kitty on DeviantArt
The penultimate episode of SHIELD’s inaugural season got off to a rocky start but ultimately provided an insightful episode. Offering a deep dive into Ward (Brett Dalton) and Garrett’s (Bill Paxton) past as well as shedding light on Skye’s (Chloe Bennet) mysterious lineage, Ragtag ended up becoming one of, if not the most revealing episode of the series thus far. While the jokey nature of the episode did bar it from greatness Ragtag was a solid installment of the young Marvel show.
Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson & Ming Na Wen as Melinda May disguised as SHIELD scientists
Shifting focus between the past and present was a good idea but poorly executed, initially. The scenes involving our SHIELD agents were full of jokes and ham-fisted references to comic book lore. Agent Triplett’s (BJ Britt) connections to the Howling Commandoes were cool when first introduced but some specificity would be appreciated, all we got was a vague mention of a relative (presumably Gabe Jones considering he’s the only black guy in the group). The reference just felt forced and wasn’t entirely necessary. The comedic nature of all of those scenes also clashed with the dark and serious tone conveyed from Ward and Garrett’s flashbacks. It reminded me of the earliest episodes when SHIELD tried to piggy back off of the tone of The Avengers. Luckily the writers got on track around the halfway point, dialing back on the humor and instead focusing on the emotional goings on with Ward, Fitz and Garrett.
The revelation that Garrett was the original Deathlok was an interesting one and does make sense given all of the new information we gleamed this episode. His true motivations came to light and made Garrett a little more complete in my eyes. He is no longer just a lackey working for HYDRA; his dastardly deeds came from a point of survival as opposed to generic “evilness”. His background with Ward was also an interesting watch. The ruthless upbringing he thrust upon a young Grant Ward and his story of what turned him to the proverbial dark side were definite highlights in a sometimes-underwhelming episode. Ward’s part in the flashbacks also proved a quality component of Ragtag, his checkered past was definitely worth the long wait. The way he refused to kill Buddy juxtaposed nicely with his ruthless abandonment of Fitz-Simmons. You could see the struggle in his eyes but his allegiance to Garrett pulled out in the end. I hope this is a sign towards a non-redeemed Ward; I would hate to see all of this development go to waste with a sudden sacrifice. The fact that he has murdered so many innocent people since his turn would make trying to make up for his mistakes feel like a case of too little too late.
Brett Dalton as Grant Ward
The biggest (semi) reveal was in regards to Skye’s history. It’s been a long time since we have gotten any new developments on this front and it was nice to finally get some more clues. The people that had been chasing Skye all her life turned out to be her parents and a little less than human (possibly, the explanation was kind of vague on that part). I do hope we get to see these ‘monsters’ in action during the finale or at least more clarification on what and where Skye came from (Inhuman!). Her role in this episode was quite diminished, as was most of the cast’s in favor of the villain development.
In addition to the major players getting some more light shed on them we also got some details into the mind of Mike Peterson (J August Richards) and Raina (Ruth Negga). Bringing Mike back to a more personal level was a good idea, we’ve gotten so used to seeing terminator Mike that it is easy to forget that not too long ago he was just a regular guy trying to care for his son. Raina’s motivations were much more grotesque, an obsession with transformation and how things work is what drives her to stay with the Clairvoyant. It was also intriguing to hear that she has connections to Skye, exactly what those are will be very interesting to watch unfold.
Cyborg Garrett in all his comic book glory!
The ending of this episode leaves Coulson and company in quite the precarious situation, hinting at some pretty high-octane action for the season finale. While I doubt we will get every mystery completely solved I do hope that AoS can answer some of the questions brought up since the first episode. Who or what is Skye? What exactly happened to Coulson? What was the blue alien? So many questions and so little time.
While not up to par with the current run the show has been on Ragtag still managed to contribute a lot in regards to ongoing mysteries. Hopefully these developments can be elaborated even further in next week’s season finale.
Overall I give this episode a 7/10