Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns this Tuesday night and we'll finally be seeing more of Brian Van Holt's tattooed character "The Carver," who shares Agent Coulson's proclivity for doodling symbols into everything. And everybody, apparently, as according to the official ABC press release for the episode, "The team discovers murder victims with the alien glyphs on them that Coulson’s been etching." That's not good. The only thing we knew about this guy prior to that information was that he has the alleged "map" of the symbols tattooed onto himself to manage the compulsion, and that he carved up the back of several paintings. Now he's a murderer too? Plus, in the above photo he appears to be holding a knife in his hand and a fellow hostage. That's not exactly what I would call nice. Is it possible that the Carver, aka Sebastian, is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 's main villain this season? That would make s a whole host of antagonists we've lined up so far this season. There's Daniel Whitehall, his pal Sunil Bakshi, Raina, and Skye's father. Are they all connected to this stranger?
He could just be another pawn. Executive producers Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon spoke to Entertainment Weekly and explained that while Coulson is searching for the answers that this character could provide, “...let’s just hope S.H.I.E.L.D. gets to him first.” Yikes. Hydra is aware of and after the symbols as well. If they capture him, does this suggest that the Carver is evil, or simply susceptible? What does that mean for Coulson?
At the very least, I don't think the Carver is the "big bad." Coulson and the Carver are both vessels of some kind of important information, which is too strong for the human hosts. However, it's just knowledge. How could a map be so harmless? Let's consider the possibility that the Carver was finding these bodies and carving the symbols into them after the fact, as a way to get himself caught by someone who could help with his affliction. That seems to be what he was doing with the paintings. Am I being naive? They're not his dead bodies, he just found the dead bodies. I'd believe it.
I previously speculated that Skye's Dad was involved in Project T.A.H.I.T.I. — or perhaps an earlier, related project before Coulson knew about it. When the gang first found the GH-325 drug in the Guest House, there were tons of other tubes of GH drugs on the wall as well. The Carver must have received this drug somehow. Perhaps he was involved as a scientist, or a security guard, or a janitor. Perhaps his injection was more recent, and a result of the Doctor's "practice" that Raina interrupted.
On the other hand, we know now that The Carver's name is Sebastian Van Holt. No offense to the actor Brian Van Holt, but if that's not a villain-y name I don't know what is. However, I think we need to start seeing some hope for Coulson. John Garrett was a bad guy who went worse. Coulson is not. Is there a law of averages with GH-325? The S.H.I.E.L.D. Director already wants May to take him out if he shows signs of losing his mind. It would be nice for him to have a friend.
Images: Adam Rose, Kelsey McNeal/ABC; Giphy
