“Face My Enemy”
Writer: Drew Greenberg
Director: Kevin Tancharoen
I finally got a chance to watch this episode, and it was worth the wait. This was a hilarious straightforward spy thriller. You know, straightforward like Charade, Mission Impossible, or The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (which I have never seen, but I imagine there are lots of switcheroos and people wearing masks in that, too. They all do, right?) Unlike most episodes this one can be pretty easily summed up: Coulson and May find trouble while dancing, while the rest of the team bonds in a locked up airplane. More happened, of course. We got to examine Coulson’s fears about his future, and Fitz’s attempts to move forward. We didn’t get to see Skye’s father, but we felt his presence so hard we could almost taste the damn good coffee and cherry pie.
The episode starts with priests in Miami. A church has burned down and a religious painting is the only thing to survive. More interestingly, the back of the painting has the alien printing that Coulson is always doing.
Hunter makes out with a girl and grabs something from her purse and drops it off to Skye as she drives by on a scooter. (See! Spy thriller! Is this Burn Notice?) This is what they need to get into a fancy benefit being held for the church that has the alien print painting. Coulson and May are dressed to the nines to fit in at a benefit for the church that burned down. (Oh and Mack was the driver. That actor, Henry Simmons, is super cool. He knocks the lines he is given out of the park. I can’t wait until for an episode where he is given a meatier part to play.) May does not enjoy this type of field work; Coulson is loving it. He takes the quiet time while dancing to start the discussion about what to do when he goes off the rails because of the blue alien juice he was given to come back to life. (She wants to save him. He wants her to kill him. Always nice to hide a little darkness in an episode filled with laughs. Spoonful of sugar and all.)
Their plans to get the painting hit a snag when they notice someone that looks a lot like Talbot. I mean almost exactly like him. Even down to the uniform, and the hair. I mean, you had to say to yourself a mask couldn’t make a full head of hair look like a crew cut could it? You’d be a damn dirty idiot, because that’s what it did! It wasn’t Talbot at all, but Bakshi (not Ralph). Coulson has a conversation with him that is really weird, since we don’t know it isn’t Talbot, yet. The weird conversation makes it so they have to up their stealing the painting plans. May flirts so strongly that the security guard rolls his eyes, and the entire team is shocked. They use fun SHIELD tech to get into the vault. But, once they get in there they figure out that the painting is missing, so they make a run for it. They escape all of the guards and get out of the house only to be stopped by fake Talbot who offers them a chance to work together. Coulson agrees to the deal, and May follows Talbot to see what the truth behind his change of heart is.
Back at the plane Skye is being Skye and doing extra research to find out the truth behind the mission they are on. She takes a break from that while everyone starts discussing exes. Fitz looks on while subconscious Simmons urges him to join the conversation, but he fights the urges for the time being.
May gets to Talbot’s apartment to find Agent 33 going through Hydra reports about Coulson and May. She attacks her and asks “What have you done with Talbot?” when Talbot comes up behind her and joins the fray. This is when we find out about those masks. May gets knocked out. And, Agent 33 uses the mask to become May.
Subconcious Simmons is really good at figuring out what Fitz needs to talk about. Who wouldn’t want a cheerleader like that living in their head? It’s a good thing Fitz isn’t hallucinating a being that hates him!
Fake May is at the plane and they are making a plan to how to deal with Talbot together. She plants some sort of electronic device that slowly causes the plane to destroy itself (much more effective than a bomb!) Real May is in the hotel room getting tortured by Bakshi. Coulson is in the car with Fake May and before he figures out she is fake he spills the beans about him being director without being tortured even a little bit. Outside of the hotel room Coulson uses the old “Would you like to get a cup of coffee” gambit to figure out that Fake May is fake. Real May uses the distraction to get out of her trap and gets out of the room. And, that’s when the May vs. May battle begins. Coulson chases Bakshi.
Fitz figures out exactly what the device is doing to the plane and how to fix it. He sends everyone to different sections, and has Hunter go along with him to be his hands. They unplug network cables and move chips around and they save the day.
Like I said. May vs. May is pretty bad ass. Oh right. Real May is in lingerie, and Fake May is in May’s fancy dress. Fake May picks up pretty much everything in the room that isn’t nailed down to attack with.
May and Coulson get out of the hotel right as the Hydra strike team arrives. Leaving Bakshi and Fake May to lick their wounds.
Hunter brings some beers to celebrate the successful mission. While Hunter is trying to do a nice toast Fitz opens his heart awkwardly about Simmons. And, a heart warming scene among Hunter, Fitz, and Mack ensues.
Coulson hacks a secure line to talk to Talbot and tells him about what happened. After some witty conversation he hangs up, and Coulson and May have a heart to heart about future plans.
Oh, Rayna, The Girl With The Flowered Dress leaves her hotel to make her way to Miami to find out about this painting. On her way there Whitehall and some of his goons surprise her. He sticks some sort of paralyzing device on her, scares her with stories about operating on a woman for a week. He demands the obelisk in 48 hours. I wonder what Skye’s father will say about THAT. I also enjoy it more when Rayna has the upper hand.
This was a well paced terrifically funny episode. Jumping from the problems at the plane back to May vs. May and back was suspenseful, exciting, and awesome! As far as season long stories go, we got some movement forward with Fitz’s condition, and found out how serious Coulson and May consider his condition. I’m not a huge fan of using the masks to have a new identity. It seems like a plot point where you can always come back and ask “Why didn’t they just use a mask?” Oh well. Winter Soldier brought it in, and there you have it. As long as they don’t abuse it this season, I think it will be ok.
Fun Stuff
[ul]
[li]“Hard choices are coming.”[/li][li]“I spent 5 long months in an enemy war camp. You people make me miss those days.”[/li][li]“Some people are better in small doses.”[/li][li]“No. This is worth a fortune. I’m not going to drop it.”[/li][li]“If you were really me. You wouldn’t be talking so much.”[/li][li]“I can’t believe I’m the only one seeing this right now.”[/li][li]“It will up for all the dancing.” “You liked it.” “No I didn’t” “Little bit?” “A little bit.”[/li][li]“Laser grids. Why is it always laser grids?”[/li][li]ALARM “They already know we’re here.” “Oh yeah.”[/li][li]“He’s your husband?” “We’re modern.”[/li][li]“She’s just said more words than I have heard her say in a year.” [/li][li]“This is fun, right? Look. Cufflinks.”[/li][li]I loved the dance/check out security scene.[/li][li]“I will pay you $500 for a pair of flats.”[/li][li]“Yes. Everyone on the planet knows what you mean, Hunter.”[/li][li]“Is everything ok?” “Yes. She’s laughing. I think the worst of it is over now.”[/li][li]Skye on the scooter scene was just too much fun. [/li][li]“Can we keep the scooter?”[/li][/ul]
