Skye's Powers Could Hurt Her 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' Status

Skye's seriously changed the dynamics on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with the introduction of her literally earth-shaking powers. Is it possible that she might put things into even more turmoil? Could Skye leave the S.H.I.E.L.D. team entirely? After all, in the early days, AOS was presented as a superhero show sans superheroes. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Joss Whedon himself likened the series to "The Zeppo" — an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer infamous for flipping hero-conventions on their heads and focusing on the arguably least important member of the Scooby Gang, Xander Harris (don't worry, I still love you, Xander!). Here's what Whedon had to say about S.H.I.E.L.D. in EW's January profile.

The people who are ignored are the people I’ve been writing as my heroes from day one. There’s a world of superheroes and superstars, they’re celebrities, and that’s a complicated world – particularly complicated for people who don’t have the superpowers, the disenfranchised. Now obviously there’s going to be hijinks and hilarity and sex and gadgets and all the things that made people buy the comics. But that’s what the show really is about to me, and that’s what Clark Gregg embodies: the Everyman.

Skye's new powers change all that. Last week's episode even had Fitz and Simmons trotting out power comparisons to Captain America and The Hulk, respectively. Nope, S.H.I.E.L.D. has entered decidedly super-powered territory now. So what's going to happen? Is "The Zeppo" concept out the window? Or is Skye?

What the Comics Say

As a disclaimer, S.H.I.E.L.D. has always played pretty fast and loose with the comic canon (which is already pretty fast and loose on its own), so they might not be sticking with the Daisy Johnson from the comic books — heck, they already created a whole new origin story for her.

That said, Daisy Johnson is notable for the fact that she gained a level 10 security clearance in S.H.I.E.L.D. — and she's the only agent besides Nick Fury and Natasha Romanov to do so. So maybe Skye will be sticking around... she has a lot more levels to go before she becomes Daisy, after all.

Regardless of what the comics say, should she stay or should she go?

Why She Should Stay

Skye was our way into S.H.I.E.L.D., and in a lot of ways, she's the glue that holds the team together. She's really gotten a lot of the team members to open up — even the notoriously stoic May has a huge soft spot for her, and Skye and Coulson's quasi father/daughter relationship is pretty darn adorable. Plus, even if they do change the DNA of the formerly "Zeppo"-like show, her new powers are sure to open things up in a major way. Already, we're seeing intriguing things with all of the mysterious Inhumans, as well as Calvin Zabo's band of misfits... her transformation could have a transformative effect on the show as well.

Plus, don't you want to see if she eventually ends up with Ward or not?

Why She Should Go

Skye's drawn a lot of comparisons to other quippy Whedon favorites, like Buffy and Faith, but real talk time? Even with her ass-kicking action scenes and snappy comebacks, Skye's always kind of seemed like a Buffy copycat, and as much as I love Buffy... it's just not the same. I find it very unlikely that the Whedon-Tancharoens will be axing their main character, but should they? After all, S.H.I.E.L.D.only got better when they turned Ward evil — what could they stand to gain from losing Skye?

And complaints aside, an eventual exit makes sense — after all, The Bus might get too small for someone who can generate earthquakes. Fitz may be right — there may be Avengers in her future, who knows?

Images: Kelsey McNeal/ABC; Giphy (3)