Prostitutes is Plural. Review: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D - “T.R.A.C.K.S”

Season 1, Episode 13

Air Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2014, 8/7c on ABC

Rating: ★★★★★

Thinking it will lead them to the mysterious Clairvoyant, Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team board a train bound for Italy to track a package being shipped by the shady Carlo Mancini (TJ Ramini) and his cohorts. As the train makes its way through the Italian countryside, the team’s identities are exposed. There is little they can do, and the results are tragic.

“T.R.A.C.K.S” takes a different approach with the story telling than we are used to by breaking up the team into groups and showing the same moment in time repeatedly from the perspective of each group. While I am not a fan of this type of narrative (which was used in the fourth season of Arrested Development), for “T.R.A.C.K.S” it works, albeit confusing at times.

Ever since the truth about Coulson’s death was revealed, it seems like an enormous weight has been lifted off the writers who now seem free to have some fun with the stories. With the writers’ newfound freedom comes an admission by yours truly that I was wrong in my earlier reviews when I said the team had too many characters and the writers needed to kill off one or more of them. While I stand by the statement at the time I wrote it, the writers have finally learned to spread things around more by giving each character its own identity. Even Fitz and Simmons are being referred to more by their given names and less by the combo name, Fitz-Simmons, which was used in earlier episodes.

In T.R.A.C.K.S, the writers break up the team into groups I would not have expected; something I really appreciated. Too often, shows become predictable and when groups are split, it is always the same people in smaller entities. OK, maybe I watched too much Scooby-Doo as a child but until “T.R.A.C.K.S,” the breakups were always foreseeable: Skye (Chole Bennet) with Coulson, Ward (Brett Dalton) with May (Ming-Na Wen), and Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) with Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). In mixing things up, we get to enjoy some fun and enjoyable conversations that might not have occurred otherwise.

First up are Coulson and Simmons who go undercover as father and daughter. These two characters haven’t had much alone time so it is fun seeing the two play off each other. The look on Coulson’s face alone when Simmons mentions “the prostitutes” is priceless.

Sometimes, I think the writers read my reviews because some of my comments seem to be addressed in future episodes. In one review, I noted that Coulson gets all the meaningful well-written dialogue but that is not the case in T.R.A.C.K.S. Here, the dialogue is spread around more, especially with the second group that consists of Skye and Fitz posing as a couple. The scene where they talk about unknown origins classified as a 0-8-4 is fascinating as only the audience is aware of Skye’s secret.

Skye: “Have you ever heard of a 0-8-4 being a person?”

Fitz: “No. Although I suppose it’s possible. Hate to meet the guy.”

One of the things I am enjoying more and more is the subtle injection of humor added to each episode. Too many times, Marvel characters like Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) in the Iron Man movies effortlessly use a holotable to do their work. I doubt I was the only one laughing as both Ward and Coulson struggle to use their holotable. It is a meaningless scene but it adds a humanity to the characters I find refreshing.

Often, when a bad guy is introduced, the story, conflict, and resulting resolution are all contained within that one episode. The writers could have easily taken this approach with the story arc for Mike Peterson/Deathlok (J. August Richards). Instead, they presented Deathlok through an evolution that began in the “Pilot” with Peterson, and then they slowly transformed him into the almost complete Deathlok we see in “T.R.A.C.K.S.” In doing so, we have a much more conflicted character who the audience can relate to and feel for rather than a simple cardboard cutout of a bad guy, like we usually see on TV. Hopefully, the writers on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D will continue to take this approach rather than giving us a different bad guy each week. A running story line is the perfect reason to tune in each week if it is done correctly, as it is with “T.R.A.C.K.S.”

Thirteen episodes in and “T.R.A.C.K.S” is my favorite episode yet. If I had to sum up “T.R.A.C.K.S” with one word, it would be “balance.” Seeds that were planted in earlier episodes are starting to grow. The characters have become well-rounded, making it easy to become invested in them and interesting to watch. There is the perfect mix of action and humor, as well as lingering mystery. Not to mention, we finally get a cameo by Stan Lee who usually makes an appearance in almost every Marvel movie. Stan Lee, along with Jack Kirby, first introduced S.H.I.E.L.D to the Marvel Universe back in 1965.

Due to the Olympic coverage, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D will be on hiatus, returning March 4, 2014.

Tweet me @staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about “T.R.A.C.K.S.”

For more on the show, go to http://www.agentsofshield.com/ and http://abc.go.com/shows/marvels-agents-of-shield.

Follow Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D on Twitter, as well as some of the cast: <Ward> Brett Dalton, <Coulson> Clark Gregg, <Simmons> Elizabeth Henstridge, and <May> Ming-Na Wen

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Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.