Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD: The 10 greatest episodes of the show (so far)
By Shaun Stacy
7. Season 3, Episode 13: “Parting Shot”
One of the most popular character additions to Agents of SHIELD came in the early part of season 2, when SHIELD agent Bobbi Morse (Adrianne Palicki) was introduced as an undercover Hydra operative. Bobbi Morse is a superhero character from the comic books named Mockingbird, who has an extensive history as a member of the Avengers and even founded the Avengers West Coast team with her on-and-off again husband, Hawkeye. This version of the character seems to have no previous connection to Hawkeye, but does have an on-and-off again relationship with her husband, fellow agent Lance Hunter.
Fans were thrilled with Palicki’s portrayal of the character, who retained a lot of her characteristics from the comic books. She was a biologist, an accomplished hand-to-hand fighter, and even had the character’s trademark battle staves. She was an exceptional addition to the team, acting as a mentor to Skye/Daisy and was a respected colleague among May and Simmons. Morse was also part of some of the best fight scenes of the entire series, one in particular featured in this episode against a shadowy Inhuman.
However, the real gut punch of the show is that Hunter and Morse get embroiled in a Russian conspiracy and end up having to give up their lives as spies for SHIELD in order to maintain the safety of the organization. The characters were originally going to take the leads in an Agents of SHIELD spin-off that, unfortunately, never materialized. If the bar scene with everyone else on the team buying them shots, toasting to them, and bidding them farewell without even speaking a word to each other doesn’t bring you to tears, you might want to check on your soul.