"The Asset" is the third episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they investigate the kidnapping of Dr. Franklin Hall. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by co-showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, and directed by Milan Cheylov.
Clark Gregg reprises his role as Coulson from the film series, starring alongside Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge. The episode adapts the character of Hall from the comics, portrayed by guest star Ian Hart. It features Hall's gravitational technology, powered by the fictional element gravitonium that was created for the episode by visual effects vendor FuseFX. The episode also introduces David Conrad as recurring villain Ian Quinn, with his own villainous musical theme; a variation of this theme is played on ethnic instruments to support the episode's Malta setting.
"The Asset" originally aired on ABC on October 8, 2013, and was watched by 12.01 million viewers within a week. The episode received a mostly positive critical response, especially for Hart's portrayal of Hall, but the development of the main cast seen to be lacking.
Plot
Carrying a S.H.I.E.L.D. "asset" between classified bases, a convoy is attacked by a seemingly invisible force, with the vehicles being hurled impossibly into the air. Soldiers break into the main transport and find the asset, Dr. Franklin Hall. Aboard the Bus, the aerial headquarters for S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson and his team, Agent Grant Ward is struggling to supervise the training of the unmotivated civilian-recruit Skye. Learning of Hall's kidnapping, Coulson and his team investigate the convoy wreckage. Agents Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons discover a device, fueled by the rare element gravitonium, that alters gravity fields. The team tracks down the former owner of an excavator used by the soldiers in the attack, and trace the gold bars he was paid with back to Ian Quinn, a wealthy industrialist and philanthropist.
Quinn holds an announcement of a large deposit of gravitonium in his possession, in his Malta mansion where S.H.I.E.L.D. has no jurisdiction. Skye uses her hacktivist background to gain entry to the announcement, and disables Quinn's outer defenses. Coulson and Ward are able to sneak into Quinn's mansion, where they find Hall free and well, and working on a large gravitonium generator that would allow Quinn to control the world's gravity. Hall reveals that he was working with Quinn all along, the two having attended college together where they had first designed the generator. However, Hall realized that he couldn't allow anyone to gain control of the generator's power, and so plans to let it destroy itself and Quinn's mansion. As this would kill the thousands of innocent people on the island, Coulson lets Hall fall into the gravitonium which catalyzes an anti-reaction to turn off the machine, apparently killing Hall in the process.
Quinn escapes custody while S.H.I.E.L.D. takes possession of the gravitonium. Skye finds the motivation to commit to her training, after her and Ward have a meaningful conversation about their "defining moments", and Agent Melinda May, who had previously avoided combat operations since retiring, decides she would rather be fully committed than watching helplessly from the Bus. In an end tag, Hall is still alive within the gravitonium, which is sealed in an unmarked vault by S.H.I.E.L.D.
Production
Development
Marvel Television announced in September 2013 that the third episode of the series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was titled "The Asset", and had been written by co-showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, with Milan Cheylov directing.
Casting
Marvel confirmed that the episode would star main cast members Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz, and Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons.