History Recap / AgentsOfSHIELDS3E14Watchdogs

* AbsenteeActor: Creator/PowersBoothe, playing Malick, doesn't appear in the episode, though he is mentioned. Creator/BrettDalton is also absent.

* FaceHeelTurn: Blake has gone from a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to the leader of the Watchdogs.

** On the other side, Daisy considers participating in the group to be tantamount to forfeiting one's civil rights, and has no problem using the JackBauerInterrogationTechnique on them.

* NotSoDifferent: Blake is ready to admit that he does what he does out of hate, and rightly points out that Coulson has also done things driven by hate (namely: killing Ward).

* AbsenteeActor: Powers Boothe, playing Malick, doesn't appear in the episode, though he is mentioned. Brett Dalton is also absent.

* IdealismVsCynicism: Idealist Simmons vs. cynicist May. May reveals to Simmons that she wants to flat-out kill Andrew. When Simmons brings up the vaccine that she and Fitz have been working on and how it could work on Andrew since he's still going through terrigenesis, May shuts her down with a blunt "Don't give me hope, Jemma."

!!Tropes in this episode:

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: At the start of season one, Daisy (or, well, 'Skye') was an anti-government anarchist hacker. Now, she's using violence and threats to extract information from (a) civilians she's tracked down through their internet activity and (b) captured combatants, while arguing that the government agency she works for is on the side of good and that the Watchdogs have given up their civil liberties through their membership of the group. It makes sense in context, given her discovery of her Inhuman heritage and the fact that the Watchdogs are trying to incite genocide, but it's still a pretty big change from where she started the series.
* ChekhovsGun: The plastic dog decoration discussed early in the episode is used by Mack to attack a Watchdogs agent.
* ContinuityNod:

** A news report at the beginning of the episode briefly mentions [[Series/{{Daredevil}} gang wars in Hell's Kitchen]].

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: To get the location of the Watchdogs' hideout, Daisy finds one member who was approached but declined, then starts blasting out his car windows until he talks. Later on, when Fitz is about to implode thanks to a nitramene shot to the neck, she tosses around the shooter until he reveals something useful about the weapon.
* KnightTemplar: The Watchdogs in general are willing to kill innocent civilians for the chance to take out an Inhuman, and Blake specifically is willing to work with HYDRA if it means eliminating alien threats. On the other side, Daisy considers participating in the group to be tantamount to forfeiting one's civil rights, and has no problem using the JackBauerInterrogationTechnique on them.

** Coulson scolds Lincoln for doing this in previous episodes during his briefing. If he wants to be a SHIELD agent then he has to stop "going nuclear" and start following orders.

* MythologyGag: Daisy mentions that ComicBook/DamageControl will clean up the mess at the end of the episode, likely planting the seeds for the upcoming spinoff.

* RightWingMilitiaFanatic: The Watchdogs are a downplayed example compared to their comic counterpart (who are more focused on 'Un-American behaviour' and use torture to brainwash people to behave how they want), but elements are still there; they're xenophobic, paramilitary, and very anti-government. It evidently doesn't end with just aliens though, as one member is shown listening to a radio host rant about both actual aliens and human immigrants, indicating their conservative values still stand.

* HypocriticalHumor: When Daisy can't understand Mack and Fitz's {{Technobabble}}, she calls them the "[[Series/{{Chuck}} Nerd Herd]]". She started the series as a hacktivist, and is still a highly proficient hacker.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Daisy is utterly baffled by Fitz, Mack, and Coulson talking casually about nitramene like everyone knows what it is. She must not have watched the first season of ''Agent Carter''.

* VillainHasAPoint: Blake brings up several of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s and the Avenger's mistakes, which have cost the world much in property damage and lives lost.

** Their attack on a government building reek of Ammon Bundy and the recent armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
** Their violent anti-alien speech are also reminiscent of some Donald Trump supporters.

* FaceHeelTurn: Blake, who's gone from a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to the leader of the Watchdogs.
* FantasticRacism: All over the episode, expressed by the Watchdogs and Mack's brother Reuben, until the latter finds out that the group is so consumed with hatred toward Inhumans that they have no problem killing innocent civilians.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Daisy is utterly baffled by Fitz, Mack, and Coulson talking casually about nitramene like everyone knows what it is.

** Coulson scolds Lincoln for doing this in previous episodes during his briefing.

* TheManBehindTheMan: At the start of the episode, there are suspicions about how the Watchdogs went from online hate speech to domestic terrorism. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Malick and HYDRA are arming them with weapons and intel to achieve a different agenda.

* RightWingMilitiaFanatic: The Watchdogs. Downplayed compared to their comic counterpart (who are more focused on 'Un-American behaviour' and use torture to brainwash people to behave how they want), but elements are still there; they're xenophobic, paramilitary, and very anti-government. It evidently doesn't end with just aliens though, as one member is shown listening to a radio host rant about both actual aliens and normal human immigrants, indicating their conservative values still stand.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: Discussed and played straight. Lincoln complains that his time in S.H.I.E.L.D. seems to frequently consist of this when asking about his evaluation to Coulson. Later on, Coulson orders Lincoln to lethally zap Blake. Despite his reservations, which he voices, he does it (though not quite as lethally as ordered), revealing "Blake" to be a hologram. Coulson even critiques him afterwards, but ultimately praises him for acting correctly.

* StickyBomb: The nitramene bombs the Watchdogs use. Successfully suspending the nitramine in a gel form is a notable innovation.

** Their violent anti-alien speech are also reminiscent of some Donald Drumpf supporters.

** Their violent anti-alien speech are also reminiscent of some Donald Trump supporters.

* HollywoodHealing: Averted. Coulson states that Deathlok broke Blake's spine, but he shows up standing and moving like normal. It turns out that Blake is a paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair, using holograms to create the illusion that he's fine.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: It's probably not a coincidence that an anti-Inhuman hate group ends up going after two black guys who aren't even Inhumans. In the comics, the Watchdogs were explicitly right-wing and racist, and here they seem to have a notable lack of non-white members.
** Their attack on a government building reek of Ammon Bundy the recent armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

** Their violent anti-alien speech are also reminiscent of some Donlad Drumpf supporters.

** Coulson scolds Lincoln for this during the briefing.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: At the start of season one, Daisy (or, well, 'Skye') was an anti-government anarchist hacker. Now, she's using violence and threats to extract information from (a) civilians she's tracked down through their internet activity and (b) captured combatants, while arguing that the government agency she works for is on the side of good and that the Watchdogs have given up their civil liberties through their membership of the group. It makes sense in context, given her discovery of her Inhuman heritage and the fact that the Watchdogs are trying to kill her and everyone like her, but it's still a pretty big change from where she started the series.

** Their violent anti-alien speech are also reminiscent of some Donlad Trump supporters.

** Likewise their anti-government rethorics, their armed WASP male membership and their attack on a government building reek of Cliven and Ammon Bundy the recent armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

* SecretTestOfCharacter: Discussed and played straight. Lincoln complains that his time in S.H.I.E.L.D. seems to frequently consist of this when asking about his evaluation to Coulson. Later on, Coulson orders Lincoln to lethally zap Blake. Despite his reservations, he does it (though not quite as lethally as ordered), revealing "Blake" to be a hologram. Coulson even critiques him afterwards, but ultimately praises him for acting correctly.