TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Agents of Shield Season 2 Episode 05: A Hen in the Wolf House

It’s been an interesting ride for Agents of Shield this season. New threats, new members of the team, and nothing is truly the same this time around. If “A Hen in the Wolf Den” showed us one thing though, it’s that we’re slowly getting into more Marvel-esque territory.

Everything was on the table today. Skye’s father, Raina, the obelisk (now called “The Diviner”, Whitehall and Hyrda, Simmons being undercover, it was all there. And it did a mostly good job and keeping it all together and interesting.

Some key moments were the ones involving Skye and her father. As Coulson all but spelled out that Skye may not entirely be human. As she’s the only one the alien blood didn’t affect badly (i.e. drawing weird symbols on the walls, desks, paintings, etc.), a realization that Skye handled quite believably.

Then there was her father, who had not one but two terrifying moments to show exactly what he’s capable of. And yet, he’s clearly a man who wants nothing more than to reconnect with his daughter. The reaction to hearing Skye call him a monster was both scary and slightly sad to be honest.

And of course, Raina was there as well, as she tried to play both sides against the middle (again) in an attempt to save her own skin. The coolest scene (save for one I’m about to talk about) in the episode was easily the dinner between Raina and Coulson. I loved how Coulson didn’t fall for her usual tricks and manipulations, and instead pulled out a few tricks that not even she suspected.

Which then leads to Simmons. Who’s deep cover operations was exposed because of Raina. Obviously she wasn’t going to be killed, but even I was surprised when one Bobbi Morse (“just Bobbi”) was revealed to be another double agent under Coulson’s command. I’m saying this right now, Mockingbird is awesome, incredibly awesome in fact. And now that she’s on the team? I can’t wait to see her again in action!

…however. As much as I loved Mockingbird, I do question why this storyline was pulled so quickly. True, they got a database full of Hydra intel, but this could’ve been so much more. Especially since they spent an episode making sure she could be trusted by Hyrdra. Oh well…

One thing that did benefit from Simmons return was her “reunion” was Fitz. His “is it really you?” showed that not even he was convinced that it was her. After all, seeing an imaginary Simmons and talking with her has to leave you weary of seeing another one.

The ending proved that things are about to get dark for the crew. As Skye’s father and Whitehall are now not only teaming up, but Skye’s dad knows how to use The Diviner. Hope Coulson’s team is ready.

In the end, “A Hen in the Wolf House” did a great job of balancing multiple threads. Some didn’t hold up quite as well as others. But the inclusion of Bobbi to the team, and the unifying of enemies showed that Agents of Shield is heading for some big stuff.