TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Agents of Shield Season 02 Episode 11: Who You Really Are

Well, that was interesting.

With a very refined approach, “Who You Really Are” delved deep into the Inhuman backstory, primarily it’s origin in regards to the Kree. All the while only showing off one Inhuman, Skye. Oh, and Sif. And an actual Kree. It’s important to state such things.

It’s almost difficult to know where to start with this. You could start with the epic arrival of Sif, the unexpected twist of meeting a living breathing Kree, or how the two ended up on a collision course. For the record, I believed for a while that the Kree was actually a Frost Giant based on what was said. The cold effect on the lamp post, the guy being blue, can you blame me?

One thing that Agents of Shield honestly has always had was a sense of humor, and that was played up greatly by Jamie Alexander’s return as a memory-gapped Lady Sif. Her interactions with Coulson and May were priceless. Especially the, “why Thor makes me smile” part. Classic May, classic.

What really set this episode apart was the use of the Kree. He wasn’t just a “bad guy” trying to kill Sif, or hurt others per se. He was a guy on a mission to fix a mistake. A very Inhuman mistake. Yes, we got the full backstory on the Inhumans, about their creation, their purpose, and what the Kree believed them to be. It was interesting how the Kree now refer to them as “abominations”, because they were original conceived as weapons, genetic experiments with only one purpose: killing. I also enjoyed how he noted that Earth was not the only place the “Inhuman project” occurred on. But it was the only one that was successful, and was actually stopped because of how successful it was. Which no doubt is why there are potential LOTS of Inhumans on the planet, which was teased last episode with Skye’s mom.

This of course did not help Skye, who was still struggling to contain her powers. And when everything started to Quake (ha, ha, ha) the lines of loyalty became blurred a bit. I’m glad they didn’t turn Sif into an enemy, that would’ve soured a lot of things. In some ways, you can actually understand why she reacted the way she did, just as much as you understand why Coulson and May reacted the way they did. And…

…why everyone not named Fitz freaked out after finding out what Skye was. I particularly laughed at Simmons reaction, the whole “she’s my friend” thing felt hollow, especially after how vehemently she proposed exterminating and “subduing” dangerous individuals, no matter the risk. Skye’s dangerous Simmons, do you want to subdue her?

The other big storyline was about Hunter, Bobbi, and Mack. The first and last of which got to showcase a bit of what they’re up to. Thankfully, they’re not Hydra, I would’ve been mad at that. However, that does raise the question of what they’re doing. And why they aren’t willing to tell anyone. It’s clear they don’t want to fight their friends, but it’s also clear they don’t want to risk their “plan” coming undone. Which of course is now at risk with Mack sleeper-holding Hunter after he started asking questions. Awkward…

There were some small drawbacks to this episode. Mainly, though Sif’s memory loss was interesting, and quickly resolved, I didn’t like how it was used for a while. True, I get that the Kree did it so that he didn’t have to hurt Sif seriously, but…what if he never saw her again? Also, them wiping out the Kree’s memory to save Skye was a nice twist. But…do you really think the Kree won’t be able to fix that? And then send someone back to finish the job?

All that aside, “Who You Really Are” was a great episode that really gave this back half of the season a real focus. There are more Inhumans and Deviners out there, and Skye isn’t in hiding anymore. What will happen next?