TV REVIEW: Agents of SHIELD’s “Providence”

By Felicia Kudronowicz

This week on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. the team is still in trouble as they try to find sanctuary in Providence. The episode opens with Rayna (the girl in the flower dress) being sprung from her cell. Ward and Garrett are still as brotherly as ever and it’s painful to watch. They explain to Rayna that even though Garrett is the infamous clairvoyant he doesn’t actually have any special powers. Rayna is obviously disappointed and seems reluctant to continue helping them, but she sees the mysterious miracle medicine and is back on track.

Meanwhile the team still has no idea that Ward is now the enemy. They are doing everything within their power to gather up what is left of SHIELD (which isn’t much). Nearly all the SHIELD safe houses are corrupt and untrustworthy and Couslon decides they should delete any evidence of their existence. But just as he is handing over his SHIELD badge he discovers coordinates carved into it. They lead to a remote location in the wilderness of Canada. He is confident that this is Fury sending him a message.

Agent May protests that it’s an obvious Hydra trap, but Coulson trusts his instincts and they are off, hiking miles in frozen tundra conditions. on the way to locations unknown, the gang has some serious conversations about whether Coulson is being entirely logical.

Garrett and Ward meanwhile are on to their next mission-  to infiltrate one of the last secure SHIELD locations, The Fridge. They trick security into letting them in and they go shopping in SHIELD’s confiscated goodies. I’m guessing everything the team found early this season is hiding in this stash. In the process they also free some baddies, including Quinn. They also find his beloved gravitonium from earlier in the season.

The team makes their way to Fury’s secret location and there actually is a SHIELD safe house. There is one guy there, Agent Eric Koenig (Patton Oswalt) who tells them they’re at a place called Providence. He takes Coulson aside and tells him that Fury is alive, but he can’t trust the rest of his team yet. Good thinking, because Skye is still in contact with Ward who shows up at the last minute per Skye’s directions. Now that Ward to reconnected with team, how much longer will he be able to continue this charade?

The team isn’t suspicious of Ward yet, and for some fans this is a bit of a bone of contention. Then again, I never thought Ward would be a traitor either. I wasn’t even completely convinced last week, but the way he keeps shooting SHIELD agents in the head is making me change my mind.

It’s painful to watch a character that has been so fun to get to know this season suddenly turn into a monster before our eyes. We can only hope the team figures it out before it’s too late! Either way, sparks are set to fly in the remaining handful of episodes this season.