Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Debrief: Episode 1.12, "Seeds"

Trill Believers! We get a whole new episode and S.H.I.E.L.D. is shady status quo, but it’s also back to the adventure of the week. This time there are weird happenings at S.H.I.E.L.D. Science and Technology Academy which Fitz and Simmons have been asked to come and check it out. Ah, but this time it’s different, Coulson and May go off on their own adventure so it's time to split up the kids from the adults for an episode! 

So Fitz, Simmons, Ward and Skye all go to, what amounts to basically S.H.I.E.L.D. MIT to go fish out who is setting up freezing bombs with technology Fitz and Simmons created while at school there. Since this is the first time Skye is seeing a S.H.I.E.L.D. academy Fitz, Simmons and Ward explain the differences between the Science and Tech cadets and the Operative cadets like Ward was. It’s kind of explained like it’s a version of super spy Alpha Betas vs. Tri Lambs from Revenge of the Nerds or something though.

During all of this our man Coulson is very bummed out, sitting there looking at his autopsy pictures wondering the whys on his situation to a point that May is worried about him and decides to get his mind on to something else. The something else is the secret past of Skye and why that Agent died while delivering her to that orphanage. May has a lead on that agent’s former partner who went off the grid and he’s in Mexico City. Back at the academy Skye and Ward are going around asking questions of students who might be using Fitz and Simmon's creation, during this Ward is also showing Skye some of the history and culture of S.H.I.E.L.D. The team learns about a young student named Donnie Gill who is a bit of a loner and doesn’t have any friends there. The suspicion of him is cast off during a full student body assembly led by Fitz & Simmons when Donny himself is frozen in place by one of the devices. The team scrambles quickly to save the kid and unfreeze him.

Ward thinks that while they continue the search that Fitz should go check on Donnie and befriend him to make sure he’s alright. So Fitz meets the kid who is a fan of him a bit (note at the academy Fitz & Simmons are like the Zack and Kelly of the place, all the kids sweat them hard) and Fitz notices the kid’s genius. Fitz ends up helping the kid with some problems he was having in upgrading one of Fitz’s old ideas on the freezing machines. Ward and Skye are taken by Simmons to the hangout area of the academy called the boiler room to do some more recon. They learn that Donnie isn’t as alone as they thought and that he’s working with another classmate named Seth. Ward contacts Fitz to put him onto what’s going on so that he would go back and when he does Fitz is knocked out by Seth.

In Mexico City we have Coulson and May staked out in Lola (Coulson’s whip of choice) while May is talking an uncharacteristically a lot to which Coulson notices. She keeps bringing up ways for Coulson to disappear and go off the grid. All that talk is ended once they see the man they are looking for and in classic Marvel fashion a fight ensues with May and the former Agent named Lumley which is ended once Coulson uses Lola’s flying ability to follow him and says that that is S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson and May take Lumley to the Bus and ask him about what happened to his partner and why he went into hiding. He tells them of a mission where a 084 (item of strange origin code as we learned in the episode 0-8-4) and that a whole town of massacred but this one baby. They learned that the baby was the 084 and that their whole S.H.I.E.L.D. team was killed and Lumley and his partner decided to make up a new identity for the baby and while his partner was taking the baby to the orphanage she was killed. Lumley then disappeared. Lumley then asked Coulson was the child ok since if so it was all worth it. Coulson responded yes and decided to drop him off in a random location as they headed back to meet up with their team.

So now that Donnie has his device fixed he and Seth call Ian Quinn (you know the fake James bond villain dude from episode 3) of Quinn Worldwide to sell him this new device. Seth’s father works with Quinn and wants to use this as an in to making a lot of money. He ends up telling Quinn about the investigation and Quinn pulls out but asks the kid to demonstrate anyway. Seth decides to comply while Donnie is leery since it has never been tested. They turn the machine and while it looks like nothing happens what does happen is kind of a rip off of the scene from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs but its all super hail that flies out the giant super storm that machine created. Coulson learns about Quinn’s involvement and Coulson then decides to tell Skye everything he’s learned since he doesn’t want to manipulate people. The team has a plan to get down to where Seth and Donnie are with May using her uber pilot skills to land the plane in the eye of the storm. Donnie tries to figure out how to stop the machine and get Seth to help him but it explodes knocking Seth unconscious and knocking back Donnie with it being destroyed.

They plane lands and the Team tries to help Seth but he dies from cardiac arrest as Donnie is dismayed. Donnie is then sent to the sandbox so that S.H.I.E.L.D. can keep an eye on him. Coulson decides to give old Ian Quinn a call stating that it’s basically ON LIKE DONKEY KONG with Quinn countering with a The Clairvoyant says what’s up.  The post credits scene (still weird they are doing this in TV too) has Donnie Gill sitting in a seat as he drags his finger across the window he notices that it’s freezing as it goes on along. BAM we have our second classic super villain in the show.

Did you Know:

So Donnie Gill is known in the classic Marvel comics as the Blizzard (actually Blizzard #2) an Iron Man villain that wears a suit that gives him freezing powers. He’s also been a member of the Master of Evil and also became hero for a while joining the Thunderbolts. He was recently changed in a big way during the Marvel Comics event Infinity and I’m not going to spoil it.

Also it seems going by the show each time Ian Quinn has showed up a classic Marvel villain is created.

During the big assembly speech by Fitz and Simmons they talk about Hydra, Centipede and AIM. That means my theory that AIM is Centipede has gone kablooey.

Even though it just came back the show is going back on break until the beginning of February. I’m guessing that is where a lot of story and world buildup to Captain America 2 timeframe.

Peaces trill believers.