Agent 33 Is A Mysterious 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' Character

Have you heard the title for this week's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? The episode is called "Love in the Time of Hydra" and I want to hug whatever writer came up with such a clever name. The title also suggests that we're getting the return of evil agent Grant Ward, and with him will be Agent 33. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't revealed much about this S.H.I.E.L.D. agent turned Hydra operative, but hopefully a little bit more will come to light this week. For example, will she still have Agent May's face? Because that is all kinds of weird, even by S.H.I.E.L.D. standards.

So behind May's face (or whoever's face she's rocking right now), who is Agent 33? There's honestly not a whole lot of information about her in Marvel Comics — and yes, there's an Agent 33 in the comics. However, she's not a major player by any means, and only appears in a few issues. In the comics, she's described as a "researcher and historian who has a special interest in classical mythology." She also has a real name: Kara Lynn Palama. Will any of this transfer over to S.H.I.E.L.D.? That's honestly anyone's guess.

Might she even be taking on the identity of someone else in the comics? There isn't exactly a whole line-up of female characters who just happen to have "two faces." That's the big thing that Agent 33 has going for her — she had her own face, and now she has May's face. It's also being hinted that she could now be sporting Skye's face, too. Entertainment Weekly shared brand new concept art for Tuesday's episode, which shows Ward in sort of a double embrace. For one, he has May next to him, but he's also got Skye, too. It doesn't prove that 33 has a new face, but it certainly suggests it.

Once again, it looks like S.H.I.E.L.D. is simply breathing life into a brand new character, and this one just happened to have a tiny role in the comics. Agent 33 could turn out to be someone HUGE in the end, or she could simply be a brand new character that we have to figure out piece by piece every single week. All S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents do have these agent numbers — like, how Sharon Carter is Agent 13 — so it's not like this specific number is anything too exciting. What's exciting about her is her changing face, and how she's now semi-bionic. If it's confusing for us to try and deal with, think about how confusing it must be for Ward. Poor guy. Poor evil, good-looking Hydra agent. What a rough life.

Image: ABC