”We’re your black ops response.”
By Eric Goldman
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
I have to admit, I rolled my eyes a bit when the SHIELD midseason premiere began with “three months from now.” In medias res is a pretty played out idea at this point, and it can sometimes be a bit annoying seeing a story go that route.
Still, the scene we got was so random, it succeeded in piqued my curiosity. A spaceship… floating blood… and then an explosion, engulfing someone inside the ship wearing a SHIELD uniform. A pretty intriguing out of context scenario. The floating cross was interesting too, given this was an episode where Mack and the newly introduced Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez (Natalia Cordova-Buckley) both spoke about their faith… which would make us easily assume it’s one of them in the ship. But probably too easy.
As for the episode itself, there were some rough spots, but ultimately several notable events occurred. Yo-Yo’s abilities were portrayed in a cool way, showing her strange speedster powers – which slingshots (to use her other comic book name) her back to where she started, beginning with her opening takedown of those cops. And I really dug seeing her and Daisy team up in the conclusion, as she’d disarm their opponents, while Daisy would take them out.
Natalia Cordova-Buckley on Marvel’s Agent Carter
William Sadler, Clark Gregg on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker on Marvel’s Agent Carter on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge on Marvel’s Agent Carter
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Iain De Caestecker on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Iain De Caestecker on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Luke Mitchall on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Luke Mitchall on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Chloe Bennet on Marvel’s Agent Carter
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William Sadler on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Clark Gregg on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Clark Gregg on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Ming-Na Wen, Clark Gregg on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Ming-Na Wen, Clark Gregg on Marvel’s Agent Carter
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Ming-Na Wen, Clark Gregg on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Ming-Na Wen, Clark Gregg on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Ming-Na Wen, William Sadler on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Clark Gregg on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Ming-Na Wen on Marvel’s Agent Carter
Coulson’s phone conversation with Gideon was fun, and I’m in “wait and see” mode on Hive, the Inhuman being now inside Ward’s corpse. Brett Dalton did a good job showing this was not Ward, as he spoke in a calm, methodical manner (which reminded me a bit of Kylo Ren when he was questioning a prisoner, before he’d lose his s***), but we haven’t really seen him in action yet to know what he can do. The end made it seem like he was about to kill Giyera (Mark Dacascos), but I wonder if instead, he might amp up his powers or do something else to show his might.
I was glad to see President Ellis (William Sadler, once more reprising his Iron Man 3 role) meet with Coulson, simply because it had continued to be murky just how much SHIELD was or was not connected to the government, especially after Gonzales’ “Other SHIELD” storyline occurred. At least now we understand they are officially unauthorized, with the ATCU their new public front. Though I’d still like to know who’s funding them and paying everyone who works there! But having Talbot now heading the ATCU but answering to Coulson should be amusing.
We want to hear it.
I get how it’s “nice” Daisy decided to let the would-be Secret Warriors live their own lives and be on call when needed, but… really? It’s taken forever to even get just four “members” and two of them aren’t even going to be around. It seems like the Secret part is too secret, if they aren’t even actually an ongoing group.
One other thing that bugged me in this episode: Hunter revealing he tried awakening Inhuman powers via the fish oil and Bobbi admitting she was tempted to as well, all treated as a throwaway, wacky joke. It just seemed like it was downplaying what actually could have been a notable subplot.
Lastly, I’ll miss Coulson’s Luke Skywalker-ish black gloved hand… but hopefully his new, human-looking robo-hand has some neat new tricks. Laser fingers?! I hope he eventually gets laser fingers…
SHIELD returned with a busy episode that juggled a lot of different scenarios, including a sweet reconciliation scene for Fitz and Simmons, Coulson’s troubled feelings over killing Ward, the introduction of a new Secret Warrior and a look at Hive’s acclimation to Earth. It was a bit clunky at times, but had plenty of cool, superpowered action, some re-positioning for SHIELD and the ATCU and an intriguing flash forward that now gives Season 3 a big end point to reach.
