FitzSimmons manage to escape rather easily from their guards, locking the lab door behind them and heading down into the Bus.  They’re looking for a place to hide when they run into Ward coming down a ladder.  They quickly lock themselves inside the medbay that formerly held Skye, while Ward bangs on the door trying to get in.  Simmons tells Fitz just to accept that Ward is evil and “doesn’t care about us or anything,” but Fitz refuses.

We see a flashback as a younger Ward points his pistol right at Buddy’s innocent face, but he’s unable to pull the trigger.  Instead he fires a shot into the air and the dog runs off.  On the Bus, Fitz reminds him that they were friends, and that Ward can choose to be good, that it’s all just a choice.  Ward, however, heads to a nearby control panel, telling them that he has his orders.  Fitz yells for Ward to look at them, but he refuses.  In one last act of desperation, Fitz says, “I know that you care about us, Ward.”  I know,” says Ward, “it’s a weakness.”  He pushes a button and the medbay is ejected from the plane, falling into the water below.  In a flashback we get a view of Buddy the dog running away, seen through the scope of a sniper rifle.

Raina takes the vial of “almost” GH-325, telling Garrett that she can’t promise it will work.  She also reminds him that that’s all they have, and if she uses it then she won’t be able to make any more.  He tells her that it’s the only chance he has to survive, and she injects it into the Centipede device inside him just as Ward comes back.  Garrett asks if the job is done, and Ward nods, but before Garrett can say anymore he starts to spasm, shaking uncontrollably and spitting.  His skin starts to burn orange, like an Extremis/Centipede experiment gone wrong, but it just as suddenly fades as he stops shaking.  “What are you feeling?” Ward asks nervously.  Garrett, his eyes open wide, replies, “The Universe.”

Beneath the barbershop, Trip, Skye, May and Coulson are scanning for a computer which they can use to activate the Trojan Horse.  They notice something behind a brick wall, perhaps guarded by a secret door.  “I got this,” Coulson says with a smile, “they’re like my things.”  He looks for a minute and then pushes a secret brick, revealing a hidden room.  As soon as the doors open, however, the lights go out and someone appears in the doorway behind them.  It’s a Centipede soldier, who happens to be holding the Berserker staff.  He’s not alone either, as a group of red, glowing eyes, like Mike Peterson’s, appear in the darkness.

After the credits, we flash to Washington, D.C., where Quinn is meeting with some military brass.  He tells them that the assassination of the drug lord was sort of a calling card for his organization, but the generals say that the end result was a circus.  Quinn points out that it was all done by a single man, and then asks how much the government spent to get Osama Bin Laden.  $30 million?  $50 million?  One of the generals says that whatever it cost, it was worth it, but asks if Quinn’s there to sell them a supersolider.  He says he’s not, and that he actually wants to sell them a thousand supersoldiers.  He says that they’re better, stronger and faster, and that in today’s world with SHIELD collapsing and HYDRA rising they need a reliable security force.  He tells them that Cybertek is moving their supersoldier program to a new facility, and offers them a tour.

Whew, that was an intense episode.  Perhaps not as straightforward exciting as last week, but it felt like part 1 of the season finale, with part 2 to air next week.  We got some big revelations, particularly about Garrett’s role in the Deathlok program, as well as some potential new information on Skye.  Ward’s backstory was very interesting, and I’m still of two minds what to make of it and what it means going forward.  Our heroes were left in their toughest spot yet and things look pretty hopeless, while we don’t know what’s going to happen to Garrett as a result of the GH-325 injection.  It looks like the pieces are in place for an epic season finale next week, which hopefully will be accompanied by the news that SHIELD has been renewed for a second season.

 S.H.I.E.L.D. Thoughts

So let’s start with Skye.  Obviously, the story we got from Raina could be completely made up (she does seem to be trying to manipulate Ward), and it’s also pretty vague on the details.  “Monster” could mean anything, from an alien like the Guest House alien to an Asgardian (Ming-Na Wen wants Skye to be the love child of Thor and Melinda May).  It could also mean some other sort of super powered individual, or something perhaps more monstrous.  I imagine Skye’s story will be one of the big mysteries/storylines of season 2, along with whatever consequences she and Coulson have to face from receiving GH-325.

However, let’s not forget about Garrett.  Comic fans were familiar with the fact that Garrett was a cyborg in previous incarnations, so combining that and the glimpse we got of his metal side previously doesn’t exactly make his condition a surprise.  However, what is a surprise is that he was actually the first Deathlok subject, raising many questions about how many subjects there are and what might be in store for Mike Peterson.  Also, given that he was given Deathlok parts in 1990, after meeting Ward, gives an interesting twist to the flashbacks we saw.  I’m envisioning a scenario where Garrett was 100% with SHIELD when he first met Ward, but his IED encounter happened during the 6 months when Ward was on his own, and when Garrett came back he had been saved and recruited by HYDRA.

I have to admit that I’m a little worried about who’s going to survive next week’s episode.  Particularly when it comes to FitzSimmons.  I doubt that they’re simply dead after a fall into the water, but their absence from both the preview for next week’s episode and the promotion photos for the episode make me worried that they might not both make it out alive.  Of course, it’s possible that they’ll simply be assumed dead and show up at the last minute to save the day.  Regardless, this is a Joss Whedon show, and I fear that not all of our heroes will survive to see season 2.

Ending of tonight’s episode felt like a bit of clue as to what to expect next season.  I feel like the main thrust of the finale will be the struggle to defeat Garrett (and deal with Ward), but that our team doesn’t have a chance of stopping Cybertek/HYDRA in just one episode.  It looks probable that the government will purchase some supersoldiers/Deathloks from Cybertek, which can’t be a good thing in any way, perhaps leading to the main threat of season 2.  Tearing down SHIELD was a huge step for the show and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but if our team is actively fighting against the US government next season, that’d be pretty gutsy of the show.

Last episode of the season next week!  It looks exciting, as we’ll see a showdown between Garrett and Coulson, plus some more Mike Peterson action and Trip and Coulson driving a tank.  There are some great lines, too, like May being “ready to kick some ass” and Coulson saying “man can accomplish anything when he realizes he’s a part of something bigger.”  We’ll also get an appearance from Nick Fury, and theoretically get to see what he’s been up to since the end of The Winter Soldier.  There’s also another (final?) showdown between Ward and Skye.

Does Ward’s backstory excuse or justify his actions?  It’s a universal question when it comes to fiction and villainous characters.  Some characters, when we learn their tragic history, become sentimental figures seeking redemption, for whom we cheer.  For others, it simply offers an explanation of why a character turned out that way, rather than an attempt to elicit sympathy.  I’m not entirely sure what the show was trying to make us feel about Ward.  On the one hand, he had a horrible life as a child, bullied by his older brother who made him beat up his younger brother, while his parents were worse.  He burned his house down and tried to kill his brother, and his family fought back against him with all of their legal might.  Garrett took him under his wing, in a tough love sort of way, challenging Ward to be the best he can be and making him “strong.”  At the same time, Ward is clearly aware of what he’s doing and the choices he’s made.  Just because he was molded a certain way by his life experiences, it doesn’t excuse him from the fact that he chose as an aware adult to act the way he did.  Fitz made it pretty clear when he continually pointed out that Ward had a choice.  I feel like the flashbacks added some much needed layers to the character, and gave me an understanding of how he arrived at this point, but also made it clear that they weren’t letting him off the hook.  The key moments for me in the episode where when Ward killed the dog and when he dumped FitzSimmons from the plane.  He couldn’t bring himself to shoot Buddy up close, instead choosing to use the sniper rifle to make it less personal.  When he dumped FitzSimmons he refused to look at them, as focusing on the button he pushed made it easier.  In both cases, he clearly felt guilty and conflicted about what he was doing, but he still chose to “kill” Buddy and FitzSimmons in spite of what his heart was telling him.  He distanced himself from his actions by convincing himself that it was a way for him to overcome his “weakness,” but in reality he was simply following orders in the way that made things easier on himself.  In many ways, those scenes made me far more disgusted by Ward than anything we’ve seen thus far, and I’m fascinated to see how it all plays out next week.  I don’t see how he can come back from this, how we can expect him to be a hero again.  I think all we can hope for is perhaps a last minute act of redemption before a heroic sacrifice, but he may have fully committed himself to evil at this point.

What do you think?  Did you enjoy “Ragtag”?  Is this next week going to last forever?  What do you make of Raina’s story about Skye’s possible parents?  What did you think about the revelations about Garrett?  How did you feel about Ward’s backstory?  Did it help you understand his actions more, or just make things murkier?  Could anything we learn ever justify the choices he made?  Is there any chance for redemption?  Who do you think will survive the finale?  Let me know in the comments!