[SPOILERS ahead for those not caught up on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2.]
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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. put concerns about the world of Inhumans on the back-burner this past week, in order to focus on a more immediate threat facing Director Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his agents: the existence of "The Real S.H.I.E.L.D.", headed by the seasoned Robert Gonzales (Edward James Olmos). The next episode in season two, "One Door Closes", will follow the characters who're set on a collision course in episode 14, "Love in the Time of Hydra" - specifically, Bobbi/Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) and Coulson's forces (and Mack (Henry Simmons), who's technically still undercover).
However, while "One Door Closes" will show us Bobbi's next move - and maybe reveal whether Lance (Nick Blood) has any remaining sense of loyalty to her - it will also delve into her past. To be exact, now that Bobbi's "big secret" is out of the bag, we'll find out: what exactly is her ultimate game plan, when it comes to all the spy work she's been doing? And how did she become the person she is on the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series (whoever that really is)?
It's for related reasons that Bobbi is the subject of the latest installment in the ongoing Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Art of Evolution" poster/artwork series. The one-sheet in question (featured below) was designed by the Delicious Design League: a Chicago-based poster artwork/illustrations company founded in 2006.
Click for Full-Sized Version:
EW once again interviewed S.H.I.E.L.D. executive producer Jeffrey Bell, in connection to the latest poster release. Bell touched on how the Mockingbird poster is a visual representation of the character's multi-layered identity ("[You] get close, and there's a ton of stuff going on") and how her character arc is in keeping with the ongoing season two motif (read: revealing characters' "true" identities). He also provided the following tease for "One Door Closes", regarding the history it explores between Bobbi and Gonzales.
I don’t know if it’s so much how Gonzales shaped her so much as who Bobbi might really be. She came in here having been undercover at HYDRA and then we reveal she has this secret agenda, so in many ways, as a spy, you keep going “who is she, really?” And I think in 15, you’ll get the clearest sense of this is who she is—this is what she believes in, this is why she does the things she does. And Gonzales is a piece of it, but she comes in with a very clear singular vision of what things are. And there’s a moment in 15 that really defines the direction of her and Gonzales and Mack and a lot of people, that pivots off of her. So I think more than anything, you’ll get a sense of who she is at her core, which I think people will like.
Rumors persists that Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye - who has a relationship with Bobbi in the Marvel comic book universe - will be making an appearance on a future episode(s) of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Might "One Door Closes" include some kind of reference to Hawkeye, as someone from Bobbi's past (setting up for his future appearance on the TV series)? We're not counting on Renner showing up so soon, but it would be pretty cool if he did, right?
"Love in the Time of Hydra" also put another intriguing story thread in motion: the newfound partnership between Agent 33 (Maya Stojan) and Grant Ward (Brett Dalton). Dalton, during a separate interview with EW, said he feels Ward was "coming from a genuine place" in his efforts to help Kara/Agent 33, after everything that he has gone through in the past (including, his six month stint in isolation/detention). Question is, what's next for the duo, now that they've captured - and started brainwashing - ex-Hydra Agent Bakshi (Simon Kassianides)?
Dalton, of course, was careful to step around the question, though he did provide some intriguing food for thought about Skye (Chloe Bennet) - specifically, what might happen should she and Ward cross paths again, now that Skye has gone through her Terrigenesis transformation (and is now being hunted by "The Real S.H.I.E.L.D."):
Maybe that’s an opportunity for some kind of understanding between the two. For the better part of the first season, Ward was hiding a certain part of himself from the team. They all thought he was one thing and when they found out he was another thing, they all had to reevaluate. Some people like Fitz held onto the hope that he was a good guy, and the same with Skye, but they were forced to think twice about who they think this person is. Skye wasn’t deliberately hiding anything, but she was born with this Inhuman thing inside her. The team is in a simiar position. “I thought I knew who this person was, now I’m forced to completely reevaluate who this person is.” In some ways, there may be a strange understanding between the two of them because they’re both kind of in a similar situation.
And Ward has seen super powers as well. He’s so smart. I’m sure he knows everything he possibly could know. He probably knows something big went down in the Temple. He’s not sure what, but the way her dad was talking about her, I’m sure he’s pretty good at putting two and two together. There’s also a lot of talk in season 1 about monsters, and we see in season 2 a lot of that stuff is coming to fruition. There’s this whole question in season 2 about what characters have become. What’s Ward becoming? Raina is becoming a version of a monster. Raina mentioned, “Maybe you two can be monsters together.” Raina’s intuition is quite good. I don’t think it’s some random thing that she said. It might have more weight to it than that.
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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues with "One Door Closes" next week on ABC on Tuesday, March 31st.