Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D S01E05: Girl in the Flower Dress

Cafe Society
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A mysterious Femme Fatale in a flower dress kidnaps a SHIELD protected magician with the gift of fire. The team finds out that someone from Rising Tide broke into their system to find this magician who was just given the moniker Scorch by the girl in the flower dress. This casts doubt on Skye’s dedication to the team. She tracks down the hacker named Miles in Austin, TX. Miles, it turns out, is Skye’s main squeeze and they’re able to have an intimate reunion while May waits outside holding Skye’s shirt. The team searches Miles’ apartment and a distressed Coulson asks Skye some questions. Miles and Skye are handcuffed and taken back to the bus. They find out that Miles sold the information to Centipede (remember them from the first episode? They like making super powered people) for one MILLION dollars. Skye no longer likes Miles.

Meanwhile, Scorch hasn’t been treated very well at Centipede headquarters. Briefly, they amp his powers and give him the hope for a great life. But, once their research is done they take away his platelets which allow him not to burn when he throws fireballs.

The team goes to the Centipede facility to save Scorch. They arrive in time to set him free. But, he’s as angry at SHIELD’s attempts to stifle his creativity as at Centipede’s attempt to stifle his life. He’s not up for being saved. They try to sedate him. When that doesn’t work they make him blow up. Not until after he is able to use his kind of cool fire powers to make the doctor burn up very quickly and kill his handler SHIELD Agent Kwan.

Skye’s former squeeze is sent on his way with a bracelet that makes it so he won’t be able to be able to do any bad deeds. His ill gotten gains are given to Kwan’s family. Skye gets the cold shoulder from May and Ward when she is about go up to Coulson’s office. Coulson gets hard case on her and demands to know what she has been lying about all this time. She admits that she has been looking for her birth parents. The only document she has been able to find has been redacted all to hell by SHIELD. Coulson says he might be able to help her with that, and gives her a box with a bracelet similar to the one given to Miles.

In the stinger Reyna, the femme fatale, is seen talking to a prisoner. She tells him it is his job to talk to the clairvoyant. So, apparently, something approaching ESP is possible, the protests from last episode notwithstanding.

Finally, we’ve made some headway with a character! Skye is looking for something other than a noble quest for data. The search for her parents is bound to be something that crosses over the entire run of the show, or at the very least this season. I suspect it will lead to painting SHIELD as not entirely a force for good (sections of SHIELD not under Fury’s direct control, I imagine). SHIELD’s good name has already been thrown into question this episode in their treatment of Scorch, and the fact that they keep an Index of other super powered beings they try to control.

Skye is allowed on the team, but apparently that bracelet makes it so she is somewhat controlled by SHIELD. Her place in the team is more interesting now. She isn’t trusted. The trust she earned before is long gone, and it will probably take most of this season for her to earn it back from May and Ward. Coulson wants to trust and help her, but he is hedging his bets with the bracelet. Skye still wants to be there, and believes in the team. But, she has an obvious mistrust for SHIELD overall.

I liked the episode. But, then again, I’m easy. (obviously.)

Stuff I noticed

  • What adult plays battleship anymore? And, who didn’t see them playing a game coming with the super serious words that started that scene off?
  • “Alright, Suit, you asked for it!”, Miles said menacingly. And, then he unleashed a TRAFFIC JAM!
  • It’s too bad they killed the bad guy off so quickly. He already had such a great catch phrase “Almost got SCORCHED!”
  • “Now you’re making fun of my VAN?!”
  • “The World’s Largest Vacuum”
  • “How are we going to get in?” we see May shooting up the zip line behind them. “The roof.”
  • Reyna is awesome. The best bad guy yet. “Beginning to think you’re bad luck.” I think that actress did an incredibly great job this episode. She really kicked it up a notch as the episode wore on.
  • “How long is this going to take?” “Done”
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My favorite Coulson line: “We don’t want to hurt you…but we have to”. Also enjoyed the bit when and where Miles gets told he’s free to go.

Otherwise, I personally found the ep somewhat by-the-numbers. I do hope they keep going with the back-and-forth over whether SHIELD is looking after our interests or not, and I’m glad they are developing a recurring storyline with the Centipede group.

Lastly, Skye, er, has some real nice underwear.

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I liked it. Figure Skye, being Skye, will find a way to hack the bracelet just in time to save someone’s ass before the end of the season. Also wondering if Skye is from the future, but currently unaware of that fact…

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And the “I guess you also don’t do comforting” line.

My name is Little Nemo and I approved of this pandering.

So the episode had flaws: Still too few characters being stretched too far. And the “Scorch” thing seemed like a parody of bad comic book writing.

But this episode did have two scenes which advanced the overall arc: Skye’s revelation about her past and the introduction of two new villains.

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I don’t see any evidence for this, but I love the idea.

For me, the Sunfire tease was annoying. I knew they couldn’t go with the name “Sunfire” (plus, Hong Kong =! Japan) because…mutant. That said, I like that they’re not falling into the Flash TV show trap where they’re just fighting bank robbers. The only way SHIELD (as an organization) is if they’re up against problems that (literally) no-one else can handle.

Also=Centipede=multi-limbed=“cut off a limb, another shall take it’s place”=Hydra?

I didn’t think the “double-agent” thing of Skye’s would be revealed so quickly; I hope there are longer-term consequences. This being Joss…who knows? Long range plotting isn’t his strength.

The dialogue was mostly good–a few cringeworthy lines, but overall good as was the improbably hard-bodied hacker that Skye was boinking (really? A guy who spends all of his time in front of a computer has 2% bodyfat? C’mon. Other than Coluson and the older Asian lady (who’s the best actor on the show) how 'bout a little more diversity in casting? ). The “Flowered Dress” woman–that wasn’t Astrid from FRINGE, was it?

The annoying scientists were still there to do nothing but make dumb expository comments.

I was annoyed that they killed Scorch until I saw the chimney blast at the end. What we saw was clearly an origin, not a death.

Overall, excellent ep.

PS–the guy heckling Scorch at the very beginning of the ep looked (face-wise) exactly like I picture Shang-Chi as looking like.

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I liked it. More character development, the nerds didn’t get in the way, we get recurring villainy, and Skye in her skivvies.

I’m betting that an on-going plot line will reveal that Skye’s parents had an association with SHIELD, and that internal politics were/are involved in their fate. The team will be split on sides.

Good scenery, no over-reliance on gadgets, and a building tension.

Now the key question is whether or not Centipede is the LB or the BB for the season.

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Mostly a good episode, but Fitz’s disbelief at Skye’s betrayal was annoyingly over the top. I was surprised twice by the on-screen deaths, first burning a hole through Agent Kwan and then burning the scientist alive.

I was amused by the line about being “between places” for six years, and must echo the appreciation for Skye in her underwear.

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I liked the callback to the first Iron Man movie - “I love those things.”

As soon as they “St. Agnes Orphanage” paperwork showed up, I immediately assumed Skye’s parents are mutants who are currently living in the sewers under NYC, who put her in the orphanage so she could have a normal life.

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She’s only 49, she’s not old.

:wink:

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I enjoyed this one. It is not a perfect show but at least this episode held my interest unlike last week’s.

I am assuming Flower Dress works for the Big Bad (A.I.M?) and will show up again.
Was the scientist who was burned alive the same one from episode one (the one in hospital)?

Hacker guy looked like a clone of Agent guy. I thought they might even make a joke about it.

Scorch’s descent into villain-hood seemed kind of sudden. He went from victim to murderer awfully quick.

One question: was there a scene after the last commercial break but before the credits or was the scene between Colson and Skye the last scene?

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Any guesses on who the clairvoyant is? Mentallo was a long-time foe of SHIELD, and member of HYDRA, but he is a mutant (which may not matter).

This from the scene after the commercials, so a big yes to Quimby above.

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Anybody get a close look at the logo on the top of the boxes Coulson gave to Miles and Skye? A nice touch would be if they said Stark Industries, because they look like something Tony would spin off of his armor development.

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Yes.

Extremis seems to cause paranoia. This is not a good trait in a drug that also causes flamethrower hands.

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I didn’t recognize her either, but I assume she must have been. The Girl in the Flower Dress made a comment along the lines of “Your patients keep blowing up, I’m starting to think you might be unlucky.”

Yes, and I think that’s going to be a consistent thing. Right before the last commercial break before the stinger, there’s a voiceover that says “Please stay tuned for more Agents of SHIELD.”

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Yeah, I was thinking this was a poor approximation of Sunfire and I was certain they could do better than “Scorch.” Scorch did do a pretty quick heel turn while on the table there, but it was pretty gruesome burning the lady outside the elevator.

I did like that they referred to Captain America when they gave Scorch his name. No one knows Steve Rogers, but everyone knows Captain America.

I recognized Flowered Dress but couldn’t figure out who she was until I looked her up in IMDB. I know her from Misfits.

And I didn’t even think about Scorch not dying. :smack: Duh, this is a comic book, no one is really dead unless it’s Uncle Ben or Mar-Vell.

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The character’s name was Raina and the actress is Ruth Negga. She’s been in several other TV series (but not Fringe) and she was recently in the movie World War Z.

And it was the same actress, Shannon Lucio, who played the doctor in the pilot episode and this week’s episode.

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Wild-ass theory: Skye’s parents are Richard and Mary Parker, and she is Peter’s sister. I’m sure there are plenty of legal issues with that, so maybe someone can come up with a better WAG for her parents. Coulson and one of his international spy ladies? Roger Ebert’s Law of Economy of Characters suggests that Skye’s parents have already been introduced, or will be later in some unrelated role.

My wife and I were wondering what was in Skye’s Boobie Card, and figured it was just a MacGuffin, usable for any purpose the writers wanted. So we were surprised when she gave it up to Coulson and revealed its secrets already. But I’m still hoping she’s got some more stories to share.

I’m also wondering if we’ll get origin flashback stories for all of the crew. That’s one way to find out about Coulson’s Tahitian Vacation, or Melinda May’s connection to Shang-Chi, Agent Handsome’s wood & metal sculptures, etc.

Fitz and Simmons are growing on me. Just a little of them a week will be enough, and I’ll be genuinely sad for a few minutes if one of them dies or turns out to be a double agent for Centipede. More funny jokes involving monkeys!

A tip of the hat to the show for giving the women viewers some computer-hacker beefcake along with the Skyecake. Got to get them to watch somehow. Melinda May is still both Mrs. Albert’s and my favorite character - I’m thinking that May appeals to a big chunk of the female audience. If so, including more of her should reward that same audience and increase ratings. Get on it, Whedons!

I don’t have much to add about Scorch except to say that I hope we never see him again. I like the actor, though, so maybe a twin brother or a clone could turn up.

All in all, I’m enjoying the series very much.

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SHIELD dropped again in the ratings, but still beat out everything in its time slot except NCIS.

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It’s happened to everyone who’s been injected with that serum.

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Where did the name “centipede” come from? Did they mention it in the pilot episode? And was the bit at the end with the guy in prison a call-out to some obvious Marvel character?
I did enjoy this episode quite a bit… I was glad to have the Skye-double-agent mystery resolved, and I like the twist that her hacking and her general interest come from something personal to her, rather than just generic hackeriness or what have you.