The Hub (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
Maximiliano Hernández guest stars as Agent Jasper Sitwell, reprising his role from the films, while Saffron Burrows is introduced as high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D.
"The Hub" originally aired on ABC on November 12, 2013, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 10.13 million viewers within a week of its release.
The episode received a mostly positive critical response, with the character development and the moral ambiguity of the larger S.H.I.E.L.D.
Trainee Skye is frustrated when Coulson refuses to tell the team what the information is, based on their clearance level.
In the Caucasus Mountains, Ward discovers his contact from a previous mission is dead, but Fitz uses his technology and engineering knowledge to win the support of locals, who smuggle them across a disputed border.
At The Hub, Skye is determined to find out the status of Fitz' and Ward's mission despite her restricted access.
She discovers that there is no extraction plan for Fitz and Ward, but when she confronts Coulson, he tells her to trust the system.
[2][3]: 87, 93 [4]: 0:18-0:25 The episode was originally titled "The Sandwich Incident",[2] and was changed after series' creator Joss Whedon felt it should be called "The Hub" instead.
Judkins and LeFranc, who have a sketch-comedy background, enjoyed creating the running gag in the episode of Jemma Simmons unable to tell a lie.
[4]: 6:15 In October 2013, Marvel revealed that main cast members Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge would star as Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Grant Ward, Skye, Leo Fitz, and Jemma Simmons, respectively.
[1] Additionally, the episode's guest cast includes Charles Halford as Agent Shaw, Alison White as Marta, and Ilia Volok as Vladimir.
organization, represented in this episode by Victoria Hand and the Hub base, composer Bear McCreary introduced a theme for "Big S.H.I.E.L.D."
Bonus features include behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel.
Sava called the episode "a mixed bag", listing its new character combinations and the exploration of "the duplicitous nature of S.H.I.E.L.D."
[21] Bob Chipman, writing for Escapist Magazine found the episode's focus on the relationships between Ward and Fitz, and Skye and Simmons, to be disappointing since "the pairings don't really pan out to be that interesting.
[24] Kaitlin Thomas at TV.com felt that the episode was a "good—but not necessarily great—episode that acted mainly as a humorous standalone installment intended to switch up some character pairs."
She specifically praised Fitz' character development, but criticized the lack of tension, negatively comparing the stakes of the episode to those of "FZZT".
