[NOTE: This review is for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 12 and contains SPOILERS!]

This week, Agent Coulson (Clark Greg) and Agent May (Ming-Na Wen) head to Mexico to uproot S.H.I.E.L.D. secrets and protocols, while the rest of the team investigates a prank that is leaving its victims in the cold at the S.H.I.E.L.D. academy. Does “Seeds” plant a promising future for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., or will the blizzard stop the show in its tracks?

Surprisingly, the ramifications of last week’s big reveal left a lasting impression for the better… hopefully.  Coulson has resolved to expose S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secrets, so he and May head down to Mexico City in order to track down a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who might know the truth about Skye’s parents. Agent Lumley (Boyd Kestner) reveals that his first mission involved an 0-8-4 or an object of unknown origin, which turns out to be Skye (Chloe Bennet). Lumley recommends they stop digging and to be careful because “death follows the child”. He also cites that the village died to protect the child, and that whatever killed her parents was a force to be reckoned with. Could these clues be a reference to Thanos? He is trying to court Death after all, and is undeniably a force to be reckoned with.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team is at the S.H.I.E.L.D. academy investigating a student who has been frozen by a device at an indoor pool. David Gill (played by Lost alum Dylan Minnette), is frozen in the middle of Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons’ (Elizabeth Henstridge) lecture, and the team splits up to find the culprits. Fitz discovers that David has created a larger freezing device, which he thought would help solve the power source problem. As the campus goes into lockdown, Seth (Daniel Zovatto) and David are trapped, so they contact their backer Ian Quinn (David Conrad) who originally planned to buy their device. Quinn has Seth and David provide him with a demonstration of the device at the academy, and in return offer to provide transportation to get them off the grounds. Realizing the deal has been compromised, he decides to back out anyways.

As the device creates a super-storm, David has second thoughts and manages to reverse the effects of the machine, but not before a bolt of lightning hits the machine killing Seth and injuring David. Once Coulson and the team arrive they apprehend David.

The episode ends with Coulson calling Ian and threatening to shoot down his aircraft down if he ever flies over a country that allies with S.H.I.E.L.D.. Ian responds to Coulson with a greeting from the Clairvoyant.

The episode closes with Coulson and May talking about how the revelation of Skye’s parents is end of her story, but the beginning of a new chapter. Which seems to be a reflection of the show’s attempt to pull up from its nosedive. Although this isn’t the strongest episode of the series, it is definitely a good one that also seems to be changing the tone and direction of the show. Bucky Barnes is mentioned in this episode, which is a reference to Captain America: Winter Soldier, and could possibly foreshadow S.H.I.E.L.D.’s duplicitous nature. It will be interesting to see how they handle Coulson going against S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol while uncovering more of their secrets.

David is hauled off to The Sandbox for observation, which is also where Graviton is being held, but he discovers he possesses the ability to freeze objects. This is Marvel’s chance to do a villain team up before Sony Pictures does it with the Sinister Six. However, in a lot of ways, this episode is just like “The Asset” (Graviton’s “origin” episode). Ian Quinn manipulates a member of SHIELD through their research, and the respective character ends up with super-power pertaining to the nature of their work. It isn’t entirely a bad thing, it’s just unfortunate they are already rehashing some of their previous ideas, but if it’s in favor of getting the show to a different place –  which seems to be the case here – then I’m all for it.

The episode was written by Monica Owusu-Breen who wrote the Thor: Dark World tie-in episode, and her ability to add dimensions to characters via their pasts is evident whether it’s Fitz and Simmons’ return to the academy or Skye reconciling the death of her parents and guardians. Jed Whedon on the other has a grip on the smaller details in order to bring events full circle. If “Seeds” is any indication of things to come we can expect to see greener pastures in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s future, which hopefully will translate in a growth in ratings.

What did you think of Skye’s backstory? Do you think she develop superpowers? Share your comments below.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns February 4^th at 7PM EST on ABC and will feature Stan Lee!

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The writer of this piece was:

Laurence Almalvez
Laurence has previously written over at Whatculture.com.
Laurence tweets from @IL1511