Roadkill: Episode 4

 "I will set my country free..."

Argh. You know how things are, essentially, good, bad or indifferent, and in reviewing something (not that I’d necessarily describe this blog as a “review” but me just pontificating however I want), one is essentially placing what one is reviewing along that scale, and why? Well, this episode- and by extension the series- is rather difficult to put on that scale. To show why, I’m going to discuss the episode twice- as a taut political thriller and as a state of the nation political drama from David Hare.

As a thriller, with Peter Laurence as an antihero who schemes his way to the top while still being recognisably human, this is bloody good. It’s admirable how nearly the places click into place in this final episode. The whole thing is extremely well structured, with no loose ends and some nice character stuff- the meeting between Peter and Rose is nicely heartwarming, and I like how they subvert expectations by connecting- although the comparison between the politician and the fraudster is clear. It's House of Cards for the '20s.

Unfortunately, as this is a play by David Hare, I think we're supposed to see some kind of depth of commentary on the state of the nation, wth Peter Lawrence being a thinly veiled Boris Johnson. But there's no attempt here to understand the Tory mind. While I'm sure many Tories are indeed cynical bastards, that's a fairly shallow point to make. Yes, Peter is allowed to have genuine libertarian principles, but this is essentialy taking House of Cards and expecting us to take it, not just as a bit of Machiavellian fun, but as a serious examination of modern Toryism. There's no sense whatsoever that Hare has made any attempt to look at how Tories see themselves. One doesn't have to be a Tory, or right wing (I'm neither: I'm a Whig) to understand that some people, whether I agree or not, may see value in a Burkean clinging to tried and tested institutions and caution about change lest we risk the chaos of change, or indeed in a more fundamentalist view of the free market, incompatible though these ideas surely seem. It would hard to extend this approach to the shallow and destructive Leninism of a Dominic Cummings, which would be fascinating, but most Tories would agree with me there.

I'll be generous, and treat Roadkill as a modern House of Cards. In those terms, it's rather good although not as good as the original. But it's no more than that.

Roadkill: Episode 3

 "I love your turbulence. It makes people think."

I may, while admiring the craftsmanship of the script, have been a little on the lukewarm side about last episode. Fortunately, and pleasantly, this third episode was full of incident, drama, wit, subtle characterisation and, yes, relataile characters.

We begin with two contrasts. Charmian is, indeed, dead. But we move swiftly to scenes of Peter smoothly speechifying as he leaves hospital. It's then sraight home where an outraged Lily has called a family conference- including environmental activist and Peter's other daughter Susan- to discuss his infidelity. It's a fascinatingly subtle series of scenes. Susan is closer to Peter, yet her politics are so different. And Peter's wife Helen throws him out of the house not for his infidelity but for the damage to her dignity of it becoming known, and her becoming an object of pity. These scenes feel very real.

Then Peter returns to Madeleine (still a surprisingly small role for Sidse Babett Knudsen), and a parallel reckoning as she lets out her own rage at being the other woman, used, never allowed into his life. Peter's personal life has collapsed, and all because of his past action- even before another consequence materialises as his secret daughter Rose, in prison, wants to make contact.

But Peter's secrets are being uncovered, as the barrister slowly pieces things together, ending with possession of the tape containing Charmian's last interview from before she died. The walls are seemingly closing in for Peter. Yet there also seem to be walls closing around the prime minister, and we all know that Peter is in the frame.

The concluding episode looks as though it will certainly ne exciting, but this episode was good fun, full of great dialogue and pithy observations, such as that the UK pretty much only does arms manufacturing, pharma and financial services. This still isn't Edge of Darkness, but it's good telly.

Roadkill: Episode 2

 "You think you're too popular to be sacked."

It's odd. There's a lot going on here, the plot is nice and intricate- very  State of Play, still- and there's some nice social commentary, if a bit broad brush, particularly into the Tory psyche. The cast is excellent. But something isn't quite clicking with me, and I'm unsure what.So much happens. Arch-privatiser Peter shows us the other side of his libertarianism with his very sensible thoughts on prison reform (and, privately, drug law reform), but the PM slaps him down. Sensible, humane criminal justice policy may be de rigueur in the rest of Europe but for some reason it's not how Tories, or perhaps even the British as a whole, roll.

We move on to a facinating scene in which Margaret hands some documents to Peter's former barrister- an alternative way of the truth coming out if, as seems possible, Charmian is either dead or incapacitated after being hit by a van following a very interesting and revealing evening in Washington DC. This nicely parallel's Peter's crash at the end when Duncan tells him (having done a swtcheroo of DNA, interestingly) that the myserious young woman in pison is indeed his daughter. Meanwhile, Peter's acknowledged daughter manages to uncover the fact he has a girlfriend and is delightfully pragmatic about the way she handles it.

And there are lots of other little revelations and, indeed, character moments. On the surface it all seems very good, and Hugh Laurie in particular is superb. And yet I'm not sure I feel invested in any of the characters. It's a clever script, but seems more about ideas than people. I'm not sure that should necessarily matter enormously in a political drama, but this seems to be structured, with dramatic beats, as though it should.

Let's see how this goes.

Roadkill: Episode 1

 "Voters think of me as a character..."

So, alternating with the crown, I'll be blogging this very current political thriller from David Hare, starring Hugh Laurie as exactly the sort of morally dodgy character he's been playing of late. First impressions are extremely promising: an intricate yet clear plot that reminds me of State of Play while being very much of our time.

We first meet ambitious Tory transport minister Peter Laurence immediately after he's won a libel case and makes a speech on the steps which has to have been intended to echo Jonathan Aitken, bavk in the Major years back in that innocent era when Toty misisters would actually resign for misdeeds and the concept of absolute truth was rather more fashionable than it is now. But, well, he's essentially Boris Johnson, isn't he? A shagger, a "character", a man with no pirnciples.... although, it seems, Peter is at once more criminal and much more competent than Boris.

It says a lot for Hare's script that there are lots of characters and many moving parts here, but things are never hard to follow. The cast is superb. The hero is clearly Sarah Greene's investigative journalist Charmian,humanised as a recovering alcoholic, but also impressive are Helen McRory as a delightfully machiavellian prime minister and Pip Torrens as a cynical newspaper editor. The direction is excellent yet unobtrusive, and it's nice to see a variety of locations from a prison to a club where young people dance to The Fall's "Totally Wired". Where were these places when I was their age?

A very promising start. Early days, but this could prove to be something special.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: A Wanted (Inhu)Man

"Trust is a strong word for a psychopath..."

It's still early days, and what we're seeing is still just set-up for the main arcs of the season, but it all continues to be entertaining and watchable.

Simmons is back, but she has a long recovery ahead of her, naturally. Fitz is doing his best, but it takes time to recover from the trauma of being marooned on another world. We learn little, yet, of what happened to her, but we discover at the end that she wants to go back for something. Why...?

Hunter and May (she's fully on board) continue on their slow plan to get Ward, for the moment acting as comic relief. It's good to get some development of these two together: they have good comic chemistry. I loved the scene of the two Brits being "incomprehensible" with subtitles- but were they really that hard to understand?

Hunter, touchingly, is staying in touch with Bobbi, and it's also good to see Bobbi slowly recovering. But the episode is ultimately about Lincoln being hunted by Rosalind's lot, his admittedly rather tiresome angst about his Inhumanity, ethical disagreements between Phil and Sk- er, Daisy, and Phil's decision at the end to do a deal with the devil. Intriguing..

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Purpose in the Machine

"To the plane! Am I allowed to say that?"

I love this episode in so many ways. Not only do we get a delightfully unexpected return from Randolph, everybody's favourite Asgardian, but we get Simmons unexpectedly back and, most brilliantly, Fitz- a geek if ever there was one- gets to be the hero and get the girl. I love it.

We begin, though, at a castle in Gloucestershire in 1839, establishing not only what is to come in the episode but that the obelisk is an artifact of great age and power. Much of the rest of the episode consists of Fitz proving that it's an interstellar portal and the team deciding, as one, that now they have proof they will save their friend. And they do, and it's triumphant and wonderful.

But we also establish that Hunter has been tasked with killing Ward, and is setting about the job with enthusiasm. Less enthusiastic is May, still sulking, who refuses Hunter's request to help him. Ward himself, meanwhile, is busy taking over HYDRA with the help of young Werner Von Strucker, who definitely has daddy issues. Brett Dalton is a bloody excellent baddie.

Another superb and brilliant episode, then. I suspect this season's going to be good. But what was that alien world? I'm still wondering if it was Hala.

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

"You've been spying on me?"

"I looked at your Facebook page."

So, a new season, a new status quo, and we begin in media res. Coulson has lost not only his left hand but also his right hand in the person of May. Skye is vigorously looking for new Inhumans with a real sense of purpose, and calling herself Daisy. That'll take some getting used to. Bobbi and Hunter are slowly reconciling as a couple. And, of course, Jemma Simmond is still missing after being swallowed by the Kree obelisk, which is driving Fitz to extremes and Iain de Caestecker to some amazing acting.

(Oh, and it may not be the done thing to start with the last scene, but... is Jemma on Hala?)

The immediate problem, though is that a person who remains mysterious is killing various Inhumans who are uncovering their powers since the release of the Terrigen into the sea at the end of last season. Both SHIELD and a mysterious government organisation called ACTU, lead by the mysterious Rosalind, believe each other to be responsible.. But now. It's this half-hidden figure who looks a bit like a blue Blanka from Street Fighter II...

In other news, Bobbi is stuck doing science rather than field work since her leg got done in, and Lincoln now wants nothing to do with either SHIELD or the Inhumans, preferring to go and be ado totin a hospital. In no way will some sudden crisis later in the season force him to change his mind.

This is a brilliant, intriguing opener, setting up a lot of stuff for what promises to be another splendid season.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: S.O.S, Part 2

"Yeah, and I thought my mom was bad when she started watching Fox News."

This is it, then. No more Agents of SHIELD for an awfully long time. This isn't the most dramatic of finales, but it wraps things up nicely and points towards a new status quo, although those never last long. And we end with quite a cliffhanger.

It starts positively, with Coulson managing to persuade Cal to go all Dr Jekyll again and help SHIELD against his wife; at last he picks a side. Cal also tells Coulson about Jiaying eating people, that elders used to sacrifice themselves for her, and that village in China was essentially a farm for her eternal life. 

In other news, Mack manages to free Skye, but Inhumans still control the carrier. Meanwhile, Ward and Kara have set up a trap for Huntet, trying to free the tortured Bobbi. Instead it is she who selflessly takes the bullet, and it's only at the very end that we discover that she will love. Kara is not so lucky, dying suddenly and randomly, realistic for a combat situation. There are parallels here between Hunter and Ward, both losing their woman. Ward is naturally devastated in an obviously character-shaping way; it's not surprising to see him take over HYDRA at the end, twirling his metaphorical moustache like a pro. His entire arc thus far has just been one big supervillain origin story. I hear he's to be next season's big bad.

Things are looking up, though. Both Skye and Lincoln are on board, and Fitz has a doohickey to deal with Gordon. May thinks things are bleak, though; she actually calls Andrew from a mission, for the first time since Bahrain.

We end with a big, exciting fight during which Cal finally kills Jiaying, Fitz kills Gordon and Coulson dramatically catches the Terrigen crystals before they hit the floor and kill everyone. He begins to die, from his hand outwards... until Mack saves him by, er, chopping his hand off.

The epilogue is long and dramatic. Coulson, arm in sling, briefs Skye on his plan for her to lead a team of "gifted a". Cal, in the episode's most featherlight scene, is found to have had his memory wiped. He will never again remember his daughter, or the best day of his life: the 2nd of July, 1988.

May is back with Andrew in what seem to be the stirrings of an actual personal life. Who'd have thunk it? Mack is staying, after persuasion by Coulson and his being put in charge of all alien artefacts.

Most dramatically, and heartbreakingly, though... earlier, Jemma Simmons tried to talk to Leo Fitz about what he said to her, a season ago, at the bottom. Of the ocean, and his irritated reply was "Why now?". The answer, of course, is that every day may be our last: carpe diem. We end with Fitz asking Simmons out on a date, walking out of the room... and said artefact swallowing Jemna whole.

That moment made my jaw hit the floor. This may not have overwhelmed, as season finished often do, but I was certainly sufficiently whelmed. It's going to be a long wait until Season Three...

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: S.O.S, Part 1

"I am capable of finishing my own..."

"Sentences."

Here we go, then. War. It's all very confused at the start, not least because Jiaying compounds her "provoked" killing of Gonzalez by instigating what looks like a SHIELD attack against her own people.  Oh, and you know that eternal youth thing? That's from killing and absorbing people. Just so we know.

Jiaying is thus, after weeks of ambiguity, firmly defined here as a baddie. That's good plot structure, but it's also, perhaps, a little troubling that the only character to advance the pro-civil liberties point of view about the compulsory cataloging of those who are different is now firmly defined as a villain. Could the programme be defining itself as in favour of authoritarian policies? Hmm. We'll see. And either way it doesn't detract from the quality.

Skye is the piggy in the middle here, but it is she who discovers what is going on and she, with naturally conflicting motives and, indeed, definitions of family, is both the hero and the emotional heart of the episode. 

Bobbi, it turns out, is alive, but she's in the nasty, torturing clutches of Ward and Kara and, noble though her defiance may be, there's little apparent hope for her, much as May and (of course) Hunter set off to save her. Her fellow one time turncoat Mack, it seems, is sticking around for a bit, but only for the duration of the current crisis. 

With SHIELD's various agents' positioning on the chessboard established, Jiaying further cements her villainous credentials by killing Raina; the precognitive, as the cliche goes, simply knows too much. The Inhumans are on the warpath, aided by a rather cool Inhuman lady who can make loads of copies of herself. Jiaying's lot clearly have the upper hand.

This doesn't mean that Jiaying is winning in the fight for Skye's allegiance, though; her daughter realises that Raina was murdered, and works out pretty much everything that her mother has done.  But things look bleak at the end; Bobbi is used as a fatal trap for Hunter, and Inhumans overrun the helicarrier as Mr Hyde takes a load of those serums and suddenly starts looking exactly as he did in the comics. 

Looks like a splendid season finale, then. Much of this episode, as ever for a part one, is set-up, but it had me riveted. What next,

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

"I was expecting a raised eyebrow, but ok..."

I trust you've all seen Avengers: Age of Ultron in between blog posts?

We begin with a recap, retcon even, concerning what Coulson has really been up to over the past year. It begins well (Patton Oswalt! Yay!) and proceeds to drop the bombshell that the Theta Protocol was in fact Nick Fury's secret helicarrier as seen in said film, now the property of a more-or-less united, and now rather well-resources SHIELD.

The fallout from last episode proceeds, as Agent 33/Kara is un-brainwashed and Skye keeps watch at Lincoln's bedside. Lincoln, however, is a little dubious about his "rescuers", pointing out (correctly) that their wish to categorise him is more than a little dodgy on civil liberties grounds; this will run and run way past the episode's explosive ending and, I suspect, on to our cinema screens with Captain America: Civil War.

Cal and, indeed, the narrative, implored us not to trust Raina's claims about what she foresees, a clever bit of misdirection as Jiaying apparently learns of the mysterious Kree artifact hidden deep within the helicarrier- a stone that can liquefy itself in true modern CGI fashion. The narrative puts our sympathies with Jiayibg, particularly if the viewer happens to be a civil libertarian like myself, and we are full of foreboding when Hunter announces that he has located Afterlife; SHIELD are coming. 

Coulson and Gonzalez debate what to do. Ever the dove, Coulson gives some ground to the hawkish Gonzalez by accepting that he, not Coulson, should handle the diplomatic niceties with Jiaying. Revelations tumble after one another, with Skye admitting to Coulson that Jiaying is her mother while May tells him what really happened in Bahrain. But there is much foreboding: Raina foresees the coming of SHIELD, and Afterlife in flames.

This eventful episode also sees Mack's resignation, his differences with Coulson teaching breaking point, while Coulson realises that he, Fitz and Hunter have become a little too much of a clique. 

Things get dramatic as May, travelling with Bobbi, turns out to be Kara, still in league with Ward. Ward shoots Bobbi, and it really seems that she's dead, especially as Ward apparently shoots her again, several times, at the end of the episode. 

The negotiations between Jiaying and Gonzalez seem to start well, albeit with a certain veiled prickliness, with Cal being released to SHIELD as a sign of good faith. But it soon becomes apparent that Gonzalez wants all Inhumans to be catalogued- tyranny in Jiaying's boom. And mine. Despite what happens next, I'm with her on the principles.

But what she does next- murdering Gonzales and manufacturing a fake casus belli for a war with SHIELD- is both shocking and framed to make us side with SHIELD. But what is and is not justified in the pursuit of liberty...?

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: The Dirty Half Dozen

"I thought her gift was spinning really fast to collect gold rings..."

Things speed up for the finale as the opening moments strongly suggest that Raina's Inhuman "gift" is precognitive dreams, people overhear Jiaying saying that Skye is her daughter, and Lincoln is in HYDRA's clutches with Mike Peterson, both  at the mercy of their Dr Mengeles. 

(Incidentally, we get a reference to all previous experiments ending up with fatalities aside from "the twins" from Avengers: Age of Ultron!!!)

But much of this episode consists of negotiations for a merger between the SHIELDs of Coulson and Gonzalez, Cavalier and Roundhead respectively, as Coulson attempts to persuade a sceptical audience of his audacious scheme to send in s small squad to rescue the two captured "specials" from HYDRA. A squad that happens to include both Ward and Agent 33! Brilliantly, the casting vote goes to May, increasingly suspicious of Coulson in recent episodes, and this brings out all of her suspicions as he tries to persuade her. That's good character advancement.

Jiaying, meanwhile, is much less dynamic, deciding to abandon Lincoln to HYDRA's torturous clutches because HYDRA can trace Gordon's movements and a rescue would therefore be too dangerous for the majority. She is very protective of her charges, but cautious and definitely a Roundhead. Skye isn't; she's going on a rescue mission, behind her mother's back and per the advice of Raina, despite her suspicious behaviour. Cal, in particular, distrusts her deeply.

Heartwarmingly, Fitz and Simmons are connecting again; looks like the shipping is back on. Mack and Hunter make up and are friends again. But, now that the set-up is compete, the episode speeds up into the excitement of the mission itself, during which we just know that Skye and Coukson's squad are going to turn up at exactly the same time and bump into each other.

They do. It all gets very exciting. Skye uses her powers to save Lincoln, just as Raiba had foretold. Bakshi is killed. Ward escapes, leaving Kara to SHIELD. Gonzalez is still a dick. But the mission is a success and, in an obvious sign that this episode runs into a certain current movie, Coulson reveals that Nick Fury is alive...

More please. This season has gone lightning fast.

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

"Daisy Johnson. Huh."

Oh, such a complex web of allegiances: we have two competing visions of what SHIELD should be, Skye's loyalties to both SHIELD and her fellow Inhumans- and her complex relations with her loving yet Machiavellian mother Jiaying and her unstable yet honest father Cal, whom her mother plans to betray, and Skye knows it. Skye has a complicated lifestyle these days.

Fitz, meanwhile, at last joins up with Coulson and Hunter, still in possession of that prime MacGuffin, Nick Fury's toolbox. Coulson is doing a deal with the devil, working with Ward and Agent 33 in order to further his plans.

 Bobbi, in Gonzalez' rogue SHIELD, is beginning to worry that they may be somewhat neglecting the still operating HYDRA, which by the laws of television drama must mean that said baddies are about to do something nefarious.

But the heart of the episode lies in Skye learning to connect with her Dad in a Milwaukee that has changed, even though she realises she must betray him. There is much pathos in Cal's disappointment that so many of the things he wanted to show his daughter are no longer there as a sad metaphor of how time disappears. But we end the episode in a flurry of unexpected developments: HYDRA are tracking Gordon's teleports, and are able to arrive just as Coulson turns up to arrest Cal. Both Lincoln and Mike Peterson are captured, and Skye and Coulson fleetingly meet before Gordon takes her away.

If that wasn't brilliant enough for this fast-moving piece of television, we end with Coulson unexpectedly surrendering to Bobbi and Mack. What next? I, for one, am becoming obsessed.

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

"I moved a mountain!"

At last we get the backstory to all this "Cavalry" stuff that Agent May did in Bahrain. The truth feels a bit like backtracking- what she actually did tends to underwhelm after all the hints- but this episode is nonetheless quite as brilliant as they all are at the moment. I'd expect nothing less.

What a difference seven years makes: Melinda was still with Andrew, and seemingly much more comfortable in her skin as she sets off with Coulson on a mission to retrieve a "gifted" individual in Bahrain. Unfortunately, things soon get out of control. This contrasts with the present day, in which Skye is slowly learning to tame her powers. She also finally learns that Jiayang is her mother, "put back together" by Cal after being vivisection by Whitehall, and also learns the circumstances of her birth right down to her actual birthday, which she now finally knows. It's a deeply emotional moment but one fraught with danger for Jiayang, who cannot be seen, as leader, to be favouring her daughter. I bet she will be outed as doing so by the end of the season.

Meanwhile, May impresses on Simmons that Coulson has been keeping many mysterious secrets, and she now wonders whether he should be trusted. Most prominent among these are the mysterious Theta Protocols.

There's a nice structural moment as Jiaying recounts to Skye of a woman, seven years ago, who stole Terrifen crystals and explored her powers without help, juxtaposed with footage, seven years ago in Bahrain, of May dealing with the fallout. The twist is that the powers- to gain power from others' pain- are not those of the target but of her daughter, whom May is forced to kill. This devastates her, damages her marriage, and leads her to abandon combat operations. She is now the distant Melinda that we know. All of this fits the facts as we know them, but it doesn't quite satisfy after all the build-up of the "Cavalry".

We end with Fitz proposing to join Coulson and Hunter, and he's bringing Fury's secret box of tricks... 

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

"Seriously? I was only gone a week!"

My God, there's so much going on in Agents of SHIELD these days. That's why I love it so much.

Skye is beginning to explore this mysterious Inhuman base to which Gordon has brought her, with the help of an Inhuman bloke called Lincoln with electrical powers (an actor from Neighbours and Home and Away, Mrs Llamastrangler tells me). Are they on the Moon with Black Bolt and that lot, I wonder? There is a reference to "elders". Be that as it may, it seems most Inhumans are jealous of Skye; most of their powers are only potential, and they long for exposure to the Terrigen mist. Skye has what they dream of, and never particularly wanted it.

We soon learn that Cal is there too, locked up by Gordon and longing to see his daughter. Not only that, but Raina is there too, predictably enough in a building which was pooh-poohed away earlier. Skye is furious to find said tormented baddie, but she is persuaded that all Inhumans, bar none, are to be helped here. She is also assigned a guide who, unbeknownst to Skye, happens to be her mysteriously not-dead mother. Looks like a bigger role for Dichen Lachman.

Elsewhere, the rogue SHIELD run by Gonzalez continues to have the upper hand, although there are perhaps the beginnings of a rift between Bobbi and Gonzalez. Fits, it seems, is leaving out of loyalty to Coulson, with an especially personal feeling of betrayal from Mack. But Simmons, it seems, is staying. 

Coulson and Hunter are on the run and, seemingly, doomed, but they have an ace in the hole in the form of Mike Peterson, who has been secretly working for Coulson for all this time. It's good to see J August Richards again. 

We get two shocks at the end: Gonzales offers May a seat on the new SHIELD's board as Coulson's advocate- and she accepts. And it seems that Jemma never betrayed Coulson at all. And Fitz is walking calmly away with Fury's actual box of tricks while Simmons "investigates" a decoy. 

Is Agents of SHIELD ever going to not be brilliant again?

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: One Door Closes

"Who's coming for me?"

"SHIELD."

More big things happening this week; Agents of SHIELD is swiftly reminding me of Chris Claremont's long run on Uncanny X-Men in that events are always  in flux and there is no status quo. 

One of those things is the belated revelation that Fitz has a first name: Leo. Rather bigger is Coulson finally confronting Mack on exactly what he's up to: Coulson is no fool and knows damn well that something is going on. Mack, though, keeps insisting that he works for "SHIELD". Meanwhile, May is having a similar confrontation with Bobbi, only with an awesome fight scene thrown in: it looks as though the plotters have been caught.  

Skye, meanwhile, is visited by the eyeless Inhuman, Gordon, in her prison- er, safe house- which was originally built by Dr Bruce Banner to contain the Hulk. She, and we, are left to ponder the extent to which her SHIELD friends want to help her and the extent to which they wish to catalogue, prod, and restrain. He leaves, having given him an open offer to come with him to a place (Attilan?) where there are others like her.

There are further flashbacks here, one featuring Hartley, intended to give us the background to Bobbi's and Mack's motives, but it cuts little ice with Fitz, betrayed by his friend, and Simmons, running rings round Bobbi. Just when it looks like our heroes have the upper hand, however, Gonzales and his rogue SHIELD arrive and take over. Coulson is taken prisoner, and everyone else is offered a place with the usurpers. Fortunately, May has time to warn Skye to get away.

Everything is turned upside down by this massive twist, promising an exhilarating end to the season. 

Efforts are made to get us to sympathise with Gonzales' motives- he mistrusts the motives of the secretive Nick Fury, and doesn't accept his right to simply anoint Coulson as his successor- but we're not exactly rooting for him or his faction. 

We end with a cornered Skye taking up Gordon's offer, while an escaped Coulson meets up with fellow escapee Hunter in a bar, who finally accepts that permanent position...

Agents of SHIELD is bloody good right now.

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: One of Us

"We want SHIELD exposed for its barbaric crimes against exceptional humanity!"

This episode is, obviously, superb. It's also getting at the series' big question at the moment; yes, Cal wants revenge on Coulson. But he also has an agenda, as per the above quote; is SHIELD's treatment of duper humans right? He is most obviously worried about his daughter, of course, and his fears may be confirmed a little as Coulson faces the recommendation to remove Skye,now on the creepy-sounding "gifted index" from active duty. Will Coulson go along with recommendations or will he go his own way again? His idiosyncratic decision making is really being foregrounded as we (and Hunter) end the episode by learning that Bobbi and Mack are secretly working for a rival "SHIELD".

Interesting that we get our first supervillain team in this context. Cal brings together a gang of misfits in an episode whose title recalls Tod Browning's Freaks. With the exception of Angar the Screamer, though, they aren't really villains known to us old followers of the Merry Marvel Marching Society. 

In other news, we meet May's curiously well-adjusted ex-husband Andrew Garner as she gains a little hinterland. Fitz and Simmons slowly start to rebuild their relationship and Skye is slowly learning to control her powers. We get a glimpse into Coulson's Wisconsin upbringing.  And, interestingly, Simmons proposes to  Coulson that there should be two categories of superhumans- "enhanced" and what sounds awfully like Mutants, Sony notwithstanding.

At the end of it all, though, Cal ends up in the clutches of Gordon, our mysterious and eyeless teleporting Inhuman. Sooner or later we will find out what he's up to.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Who You Really Are

"Skye is my friend. That's different!"

A game-changer of an episode, but aren't they all these days? We meet Sif again, we meet an actual Kree, and we get the backstory behind the Kree genetic engineering of humans that created what we're not calling the Inhumans- although it seems the Kree now want to "put down" the results of those experiments. Including Skye.

Oh, and, in the midst of all this, Skye is outed as having earthquake superpowers, and this leads to friction between Fitz and Simmons which will, no doubt, go on for a while. It's an eventful and entertaining episode.

Other stuff: Coulson offers Hunter a permanent post with SHIELD. There is still obvious friction between Coulson and a disapproving Mack. The Kree home works of Hala gets a mention! We get a glimpse of Bifrost, last seen on the big screen. 

But we get quite an ending; Hunter confronts Mack over whatever he and Bobbi are plotting. And gets knocked unconscious...

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

"There's something wrong with me."

"No, you're just different now."

At last Agents of SHIELD is back. It's been a long wait since that cliffhanger, and it's great to see both some things getting resolved (although further mysteries also arise) and lots of geeky Marvel stuff to satisfy fanboys like me. But, well, this episode seems a bit forced, as though it only exists to move or threads forward for the next episode at times. When not geeking out o must admit that it's not the best possible episode to return to.

Time has passed. There's a flashback to 1983, Skye's mum (Dichen Lachman!) and that eyeless Inhuman from last episode who, it seems, can teleport, is called Gordon and is a little distressed, having just gone through the Terrigen must. There are obvious parallels with Skye and Raina in the present day.

We are introduced to another load of senior HYDRA personnel, most of whom due through Coulson's machinations but one of whom is played by Henry Goodman. Coulson wants revenge; Trip's death hurts. Trip was a model agent, burn to join SHIELD and a calm, competent presence in a team that suddenly looks alarming night divided, especially with Bobbi and an awesome visually angry Mack planning something in secret. Mack appears damaged, remembering all tje things he did while mind control, and only Fitz seems to understand. 

There was an earthquake at the end of the last episode which we, the audience, know to have been caused by Skye (Quake). She can't hide her newly acquired powers for long, as the Earth shakes when she's agitated. Yet it's uncertain how the team would treat her. Especially with Simmons mouthing off about how deadly people with superpowers are. We reach the point where Fitz has to hide her true test results to keep Skye's secret, illustrating what could grow to be an important rift between the respective halves of Fitz-Simmons.

Incidentally, if Skye is Quake, who's Raina, with all those spines? I'm sure we will find out. And so will Gordon, seeing as he has her and all.

Sod it. In spite of my earlier criticisms, this season continues to be bloody good.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: What They Become

"I'm her father, not you!"

And they end it there?

Wow. What a half season. Trip is dead. Mack may not be. Whitehall is dead. Ward has been shot, by Skye. And that's just the start. It isn't just crammed full of incident because it's the end of the half-season, though; all episodes are like this at the moment.

Let's just say it: Cal (Skye's Dad) is Mr Hyde, and Skye ("Daisy") is Quake as well as an Inhuman. Exactly who Raina is, besides an Inhuman, is unclear, and the same is true of that mysterious bloke at the end, with another Obelisk and no eyeholes. A lot gets explained to Skye by her father, much of which we have already have worked out; it's hard to hide spoilers when there's a pre-existing Marvel mythos.

Regarding the regulars, it's clear that Slye has come on leaps and bounds as an agent, and Fitz continues to recover slowly from the brain damage. May is a genius pilot, while it seems Ward's whole agenda was to take Skye to her father and her destiny, for which she shoots him. The scenes where Skye receives much exposition from her father are the fulcrum of the episode and, indeed, the season so far. We've been waiting for this.

I'm still stunned from watching that. What will happen next? How long will we have to wait? Will any UK channel be showing Agent Carter? So many questions. Agents of SHIELD is on fire. I keep saying it because it's true.