Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Love in the Time of HYDRA

"Well, then. I guess it's safe to say we all hide our true selves, don't we?"

Nicely structured, this episode. Coming after the revelatory cliffhanger that Bobbi and Mack are working for a rival SHIELD, we get most of the exposition done in the form of a flashback to the big HYDRA eruption during Captain America: Winter Soldier, with all the flashback scenes being tinted distinctly blue. We learn how this other SHIELD, led by Edward James Olmos's Gonzalez, featured Bobbi and Mack (and Hartley!) from the start.

We also learn what makes them different: they disagree with Nick Fury's choices, and in particular his appointment of Coulson, whom they see as quixotic and alien obsessed- which, to be fair, he is; we only side against them because we happen to like and trust Coulson in spite of these things.

Back to our SHIELD, and there is still debate about what to do with the post-Terrigen Mist Skye: May wants her removed from operations, and Coulson eventually acts on her views, moving get to a safe house against his better judgement. He feels guilty, meaning that Very Bad Things are likely to happen as a result as such is the way that drama works. This way she's alone and a massive target. 

Oh, and we also see Agents Ward and 33, after a long, long time. Their motives have never seemed more mysterious, nor their motives so interesting. A game of Operation is played, giving all people my age a nice nostalgic glow. There's a nice comedy scene with General Talbot and a bunch of female US military "spies". Fitz and Simmons clash again, Coulson and Talbot deepen their mutual respect and Bakshi is captured, kinkily, by Ward and Agent 33.

We end with the discovery that Coulson and May are both distrustful of Mack, that Hunter has escaped. It's a good individual episode but, even betters ham that, a link in a superlative chain. I'm loving this run of episodes.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: A Fractured House

"I'm telling you I have your brother in a basement!"

Another gripping episode, in which SHIELD goes smoothly from Public Enemy Number One to seemingly in the clear. But a lot of other stuff happens too; both the season arc stuff and the character development are on fire this season. 

The big new character is Senator Christian Ward, a man whose apparent duplicity is shown to parallel that of his brother, especially given the juxtaposition of Christian Ward trying to convince Coulson while Grant Ward tries to convince Skye. The whole effect is undercut by the revelation that Coulson and Skye were both planning to sell out Grant to his brother anyway, but we're left not quite trusting Christian, a Machiavellian type if ever there was one.

(Oh,and is that Grant escaping at the end? We still don't know the truth about who exactly tortured the younger brother either.)

There's also a hint of sexual chemistry between formerly married couple Bobbi and Hunter. Are they going to get back together or is that too obvious? I like them both; Hunter has the best lines while Bobbi had the best moves. We end with Hunter about to leave, maybe. Somehow I doubt it.

May, it seems, has been married before. And she still doesn't like Hunter. After what he did, I'm not surprised. 

Meanwhile, there is much awkwardness between Fitz and the returned Simmons, culminating in a simple revelation during a chat between Simmons and Mack: she left because she knew she was "bad for him". She's right. 

I think our heroes learn at this point that HYDRA has the Obelisk, which is something of a problem. Oh, and Belgium is HYDRA territory. But who's surprised?

Oh, and that HYDRA assassin Scarlotti- is he Blacklash?

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Face My Enemy

"It didn't work out because interspecies relationships are hard. I was a human, whereas she was a demonic hell beast."

Wow. What an episode. Agents of SHIELD is on fire this season. I hope they can keep this up.

Agents Coulson and May are on an undercover mission at a posh do in order to recover this week's MacGuffin, a 16th century painting with some of that alien writing on the back. Having those particular agents on the mission accomplishes several things. Firstly, the fact that Coulson is on a mission at all emphasises SHIELD's reduced circumstances; he's supposed to be Director. Secondly, we get to see the amazing chemistry between Ming-Na Wen and Clark Gregg which suggests, perhaps more so than the dialogue, that they may have been a couple in the past. This isn't something I'd ever assumed before, but I certainly assume it as a possibility now because of the acting choices made.

Thirdly, of course, there's the fact that Coulson tries to spend the whole episode trying to get May to agree to kill him if his episodes of alien writing lead him to go full-on Garret. She's reluctant, and has a contingency plan to avoid this; beneath the hard exterior she cares for him deeply. There's a lot still to come out about their history together.

On a funnier note, though, I love the team's reaction to May's attempt at laughter. And I love how she just walks through the laser grid.

In other news, Hunter seems to be slowly bonding with the team, although Skye seems impervious to his charms (they're definitely going to get together), while Fitz proves his usefulness by, well, saving the whole damn team. He's still far from recovered, though, and still very much the outsider.

Arc-wise... well, HYDRA have suddenly become masters of disguise. Coulson's interestingly nuanced relationship with General Talbot continues. And we end with Raina in deep trouble; she has 48 hours to recover the big bad MacGuffin fircthev disturbingly sadistic Dr Whitehall or he will torture her quite horribly...

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Heavy is the Head

"HYDRA has one thing on their minds; world domination, which is so 1945."

Hartley and Idaho are both dead, but this episode introduces us properly to Hunter as a full member of the team, a man with depths which are hinted at, mainly during a chat with Skye, and whose de facto initiation consists of actually betraying the whole te to General Talbot. This isn't exactly going to endear this wide boy to the team, and he has a lot to do, but this soldier-turned-mercenary seems to be an interesting character. 

There's also Coulson, whose responsibilities in building a fugitive SHIELD and leading the fight against HDDRA are leading him to become stressed, secretive, and not quite his usual affable self. On top of this, every fortnight or so he has "episodes", known only to May, in which he draws those bizarre diagrams that we have seen before, not least from the changed Garrett towards the end.

The revived SHIELD is slowly growing, with two Quinjets and those cool virtual screens as seen in all Marvel films featuring Tony Stark, but it is wounded by the absence of Simmons and the slow recovery of the tragic Fitz, who is still sidelined but, perhaps, a little less so. May and Skye are their usual selves, and Trip once again shows himself to be superbly confident, the consummate SHIELD agent.

Interestingly, Crusher Creel (the Absorbing Man!) may have a HYDRA handler, but it turns out that Raina, our old friend the girl in the flower dress, while interested in what's going on, is not working for HYDRA but has an unknown agenda, and not necessarily a hostile one. Interesting.

This is looking to be a very strong start to the new season which seems set, like many Whedon shows, to transcend it's somewhat rubbish first season.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Nothing Personal

"Who or what is a Man-Thing?"

Episode 20 of 22; not far from the finishing line now and, while it`s all very exciting what with Ward and HYDRA and no SHIELD, I have no idea what things are going to look like when the music stops.

We start with Maria Hill on the phone to Pepper Potts; there is no SHIELD any more so she intends to work in the private sector for Tony Stark, an initial hint that this episode may feature her selling out. She just has time for a quick chat with the recently AWOL Agent May before she is arrested as part of a crackdown against those associated with SHIELD. This does not bode well for Coulson and Co.

 Still, Coulson and his team are no fools, soon realising that Ward is a baddie, Skye is with him, Garrett must still be at large and Hand must be dead. Fitz`s reaction is one of absolute denial, and his later insistence on Simmons telling him outright that she isn`t HYDRA. He loves her, and yet he`s such a big kid that one can`t help but think of this as just a crush. Things seem to get very pear-shaped as sellout Hill arrives with a load of US soldiers, but Coulson ultimtely persuades her to see sense.

 Skye, doing the decoding for Ward and knowing he`s HYDRA, has a plan to get him arrested.  It`s a good plan and nearly succeds but for Deathlok. Mike Peterson is a truly tragic character, a good man forced against his will to do bad things, although it`s fun to see him stop Ward`s heart for a bit. Nothing personal. The highlight of this whol sub-plot, though, is the conversation between Skye and Ward; he still likes her; she despises him as a Nazi and a traitor. What he did was "nothing personal", apparently. And yet... my wife has a theory. Could Ward in fact be a double agent?

We end with an exciting sequence with a flying Lola and some crap CGI. As Hill says to Coulson, there is no back-up, no SHIELD. They are alone and homeless.

And then, just when we think it`s over, May returns with a bombshell; the person ultimately running the TAHITI project was none other than Coulson himself...

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Providence

"You don't seem like her type."

"I'm everyone's type."

This should be a great episode: evil Ward, more Bill Paxton goodness.. sorry, evilness, and Coulson going off the rails a bit. Yet it never quite catches fire. The arc stuff is good, but as an episode it feels a bit like a link in a chain.

We begin with the team on the run, with all traces of their existence erased. Suddenly, there is no SHIELD any more, something which hits Coulson hard in particular. Suddenly there's just the team, plus Trip, and he's only there at Jemma Simmons' insistence. The wife, incidentally, is predicting some Simmons-Trip action in the fullness of time, and she was right about Skye and Ward.

Meanwhile, Ward's mannerisms look suddenly evil as he hobnobs with the delightfully dastardly Garrett, springing Rayna and equipping her both with a new flower dress and a new Centipede project, complete with the "Jesus juice" that revived Coulson. Not only that, but at the end they unveil Ian Quinn and Gravitonium. The countdown to the season finale starts here.

The gang, meanwhile, are being led on what may be a wild goose chase to a piece of Canadian tundra by Coulson, who insists that the coordinates he's been sent are from Nick Fury. Everyone has some level of doubt, especially May, and they only tag along out of loyalty. There's a touching interaction here between Fitz and Simmons: he's besotted with her, but to her he's just a friend. Unlike Trip...

When they reach the spot there seems to be nothing, and it's quite a powerful moment to see Coulson desperately come close to breaking down: "We are not agents of nothing. We are agents of SHIELD!" But fortunately there is a base there. And Coulson (but only Coulson) is told that Fury is alive...

 We end with Wards return to the base, and only we know he's a baddie. This is a charges situation, especially given the sparks between him and Skye which can now develop into actual dating. Skye was obviously a little besotted by their phone call earlier in the episode. Her heart is going to get broken...