The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 7: In the Name of Honour

 "I gave you my word. I'm with you until we both fall."

So the season has ended already. It's been a little uneven and experimental at times in recent episodes, yes, but that's no bad thing. And this is a true climax, the ending to a Western movie in which the sheriff and his gang have to do the right thing to protect the townsfolk from the baddies. It's all quite topical, really; I'm typing this as Putin and his fascist underlings murder their way to lebensraum in Ukraine, not an inch of which must be surrendered. May Zelenskyy be as successful as Fett.

This is at once a splendid selection of great-looking CGI set pieces and full of surprises, sort of. The suspense lies in which allies will arrive and the answer is, of course, all of them, from Baby Yoda to the entire population of Freetown. But there's good  haracter stuff, too, as former bounty hunter Boba finally learns what it is to be a hero, to be respected, to... ride a Rancor. And yes, the extraordinarily well done CGI Rancor, cleverly foreshadowed a few episodes aho with Boba saying he wanted to ride it, is the visual highlight, even more than those two ED-209's with force fields that turn up as end-of-level bosses.

But what really matters is when the Freetowners turn up, enraged by the murder of their sheriff and, of course, Grogu returning to his dad, Beskar armour clad, to help save the day by putting the Rancor to sleep and then, er, curling up to sleep next to it in an incredibly cute way.

This is a perfectly structured and awesome finale to a bravely experimental variation on The Mandalorian which develops Boba Fett while reminding us that Westerns are often metaphors for not appeasing fascists and shooting them instead, whatever John Wayne's dodgy politics.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger

 "Can we takre your helmets for a cleaning?"

Well, Boba Fett is in this one. A bit.

This is a most oddly structured series. There are seven episodes in total, with the next one being the finale. The first four are the meat of the series, buioding up to the finale... but the fifth and, now, sixth episodes suddenly move off to follow other characters entirely.

And it's a disjointed series of scenes that dance around the preparation for the strike against the arrogant Pyke Syndicate that is to come. We have extended scenes of the Mandalorian trying to visit Baby Yoda (Grogu) with a Luke Skywalker played jointly by Mark Hamill and some surely very expensive-looking CGI, returning him to 1983 vintage. We have lomg scenes of Luke training Baby Yoda that are enormous fun, We have Ahsoka Tano looking cool and spouting exposition. We have some rather cool insect droids building that structure we see in the recent film trilogy. And yet there's pathos- Mando is discouraged from seeing Baby Yoda as encouraging his attachments will supposedly harm his Jedi training. And, when Mando gives his gift of Beskar armour, cruel Luke makres him choose between that and the lightsabre, at such a tender age. The Jedi attitude to attachments is, without a doubt, wrong.

Then, on top of all this, we have Sheriff Cobo Vanth, armourless but with his trusty sharpshooter and hat, trying to protect his town from trouble, with the Pyke Syndicate lurking in the background. It seems uncertain whether he's going to be able to convince the peace loving townsfolk to fight for Fett at Mando's urging, but then the Syndicate send a sinister black-hatted alen, terrifying to look at, who shockingly shooyts not only the sheriff but also the deputy.

Meanwhile, there's Boba Fett and co aboiut to stike. What will Grogu choose? Is Vanth dead? Will Boba Fett be in the finale of his own show? This is all very oddly structured and disjointed. Yet it's oddly compelling.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 5: The Return of the Mandalorian

 "Dated a Jawa for a while. They're quite furry. Very furry."

This episode is, needless to say, not like the others. It would be blatantly obvious to point out that the eponymous Boba Fett isn't even bloody in this episode, but I'm going to have to do so. Plot-wise, of course, this is to move the Mandalorian into place so that Fennec Shand can hire him on Boba's behalf; presumably it's back to normal next episode, with Mando back to being a guest star in someone else's show.

It's also true that the first half of this episode is just fighting and exposition, while the second half is an exztended montage of welding bits of an antique starship from Naboo last seen in The Phantom Menace. The whole episode is literally fanwank of the most outrageous kind.

So why is this an absolutely brilliant bit of telly?

Partly it's just that it's so well-made and acted, and helmed with aplomb by Hollywood's own Bryce Dallas Howard, but a lot of it is also how, appropriately for Star Wars, the tale of the Mandalorian has a fairytale quality beneath the Western exterior, and this is never so apparent as here. We're reminded of the lrgends surrounding the Darksabre, and how these uber-traditionalist Mandalorianns are those who were exiled to a remote moon, not those who remained on Mandalor to be destroyed by the empire. We learn much mythology that will no doubt become relevant later, with the Madalorian poised as mythical hero.

We are also reminded not to put too store in those too unthinkingly dependent on tradition, too, as Mando is unjustly shunned after having to remove his helmet. I suspect the armourer will later come to regret this.

I've enjoyed this series very much so. But it's striking that this episode, much more like that of another show entirely, should be my favourite so far.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa

 "Take it from an ex-bounty hunter: don't work for scugholes."

This episode gives us a fascinating change of pace as it focuses on the realities of Boba Fett's new life as the boss of Jabba's former domain- he has to make complex, indeed political, decisions. The moisture farmers are having their water stolen by cool cyborg ne'er-do-wells, yet said cyborgs are left with no choice because of chronic unemployment and extortionate parties. The solution, as it often must be, is a messy compromise. Still, at least Mr Fett ends up with some cool cyborg underlings.

We get a nice bit of exposition from 808 too; Boba's position is not yet established as he only runs some of Jabba's old protection rackets and needs to expand his power- politics again. And it seems a bigger power, the Pyke syndicate, is muscling in, and charging protection money within Boba's sphere of influence. I'm rather enjoying this focus on Fett's responsibilities. Being a kingpin is za\a life of much admin.

Things get even more complex after a large set piece in which the twin Hutts' Wookie employee almost succeeds in assassinating Mr Fett (he would be dead if not for the cyborgs), only for the Hutts to apologise, give a Rancor monster as a geasture, and duly sod off so as not to offend the feared Pyle Syndicate. This serves to really big up these new baddies, although it will be a shame not to see the Hutts again. Still, saves on CGI, I suppodse.

We end with a touching scene of bonding with the Rancor (nice cameo from Danny Trejo as the Rancor keeper!) and a bit of a very Star Wars car chase, crammed with visual Easter Eggs, before Bobba determines to go after the Mayor, who is clearly linked with the syndicate.

Meanwhile, in flashback, Mr Fett finds the Sand People settlement raided and destroyed, vowing revenge.

This is the best episode yet, daring to focus on areas which may not appeal to everyone but doing so superbly.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tattoine

 "I am not a bounty hunter!"

Here we have another fascinating episode, yet again light on dialogue and heavy on well-directed and compelling montage sequences, in which the two contyrasting narratives play out. In the present, the esteemed Mr Fett and the redoubtable Fennec Shand, played by the ever-youthful kick-as Ming-Na Wen, 58, battle to seize full control of Jabba's former criminal empire on Tattoine, complete with loads of fun cameos from Return of the Jedi. Meanwhile, in the past, Boba continues to gradually earn the trust of his Tusken captors.

The first narrative is more straightforward, as Boba pursues the recalcitrant mayor only to discover that his true foe is "the twins", cousins of Jabba who are carried on a litter truly creaking in the middle, in a nice little bunch of scenes involving a nice bit of sleight of hand re the Rancor monster. But the meat of the episode is a fascinatingly cpurageous sequence where Boba earns the trust of his sand people captors by masterminding a raid on a train (shades of the Firefly episode Train Job, and a reminder that, like The Mandalorian, this is very much a Western) amnd adopts their customs, including an extraordinary druggy sequence where he swallows a lizard up his nostrils and things go well trippy. This is not your standard mainstream Disney Plus strreaming, and it's bleeding superb. And the mention of "spice" has to be a Dune reference.

Oh, and the train is being driven by a cool-looking droid. And it crawls off like a bloody spider when Boba chucks it out of the train. I have no idea where this is going, but I love it.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land

 "Jabba ruled by fear. I intend to rule with respect."

This is, in the end, a programme in a very similar format to The Mandalorian, although it unexpectedly acts not as a direct sequel but the story of a side character, albeit a major character in the mythos. Jon Favreau is still showrunner; the directorial house style (helmed this time by Robert Rodriguez) is similar, as are the closing credits. Oh, and we're still very firmly within the Western genre.

Temuera Morrison is excellent, as is the ever stoic and ever ageless Ming-Na Wen, whose room wust surely contain a much older-looking portrait of herself. But even more excellent is the writing. On one level there's lots of fan service, perhaps, with Boba's refusal to torture those Gammorrean Guards who escaped the Rancor and hire them instead being a nicely observed character point: he's not a Hutt, he won't travel by litter and he's ruthless but not sadistic. Boba is a much  more expressive character than the Mandalorian, but equally fascinating.

Structurally, the episode is clever. We have two time zones, both of which reflect the Heinlein-evoking title. In one, a flashback, Boba escapes the Sarlacc just after the events of Return of the Jedi only to have his stuff nicked by Jawas and to have to endure harsh captivity by a tribe of Sand People.  The other, in the show's present, shows the beginnings of his attempt to gain full control of Jabba's empire. It's a first episode, with lots of necessary exposition to get out of the way, but so far it's utterly gripping. More please.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 16- The Rescue

 "You are not a Mandalorian."

"Never said I was."

SPOILERS ABOUND. You have been warned! 

This is the perfect finale, and would have been so even without the fanwank, which itself was nonetheless the cherry on the cake. 

The character of Dr Pershing is used, at the start, to up the ante by blatantly foreshadowing the entire platoon of droid Dark Troopers (whom we have seen before) that await our heroes as they plan their assault on Moff Gideon's "light" Imperial Star Destroyer. There's some nice character stuff as a baddie goads the good Marshal about being on the Death Star when the Grand Moff Tarkin destroyed Alderaan. This is the sort of little touch during an action-packed finale that shows real quality.

Bo-Katan and her sidekick are tagging along for the Darksabre- with a little light racism aimed at Boba Fett for being a clone along the way. But the assault goes to plan... until Mando unexpectedly comes across the Machiavellian Moff Gideon, in a superb performance from Giancarlo Esposito. He has three aces up his sleeve. He's got what he wanted out of Grogu; there are hordes of Dark Troopers about to attack against whom they have no hope; and, in defeating Gid and unwttingly claiming the Darksabre, he is forcing Bo-Katan to fight and kill him for it in order to regain the throne of Mandalore, because it's not the sabre that matters, it's the "story". I love this. Perfect plotting.

And then the mysterious Jedi arrives, slicing through the Dark Troopers with his green lightsabre, although interestingly only through screens within screens. This turns out to be highly appropriate when said figure turns out to be a CGI Luke Skywalker, with Mark Hamill's face rejuvenated by a cheaper version of the process used for Samuel L. Jackson in Captain Marvel. The parting betwen Mando and little Grogu is heartbreaking, as he removes his helmet(!) and allows his baby to touch his face. He's a proper dad.

This is magnificent stuff, even before we get to the post-credits teaser for Boba Fett's forthcoming series, as he and the uber-cool Fennec Shand enter Jabba's old palace, kill Bib Fortuna (my first ever Kenner figure back in '83) ad take over.

This is simply superlative telly.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 15- The Believer

" I never saw your face..."

The penultimare episode... and it's a superbly taut and brilliantly made action thriller in which our heroes brave all sorts of dangers order to find out the location of Grogu next season. Boba Fett and Fennec Shand are now confirmed members of Mando's gang alongside Cara Dune- and our old friend Mayfeld is sprung in order to get inside the Imperial base. It's a nicely rich mix of people with some excellent characterisation on display.

The opening scene, with its CGI-enhanced depiction of a New Republic prison, is amazing. So is Boba Fett's ship Slave-1 (friends of mine had the Kenner toy of this when I was a nipper), which appears rather a lot though the magic of CGI. There's some awesome action with some pirates. There are tense scenes with a total bastard of an Imprerial officer.

But the episode focuses around a fascinating conversation between Mando and Mayfeld in which the later points out that Mando is happy to bend the rules about removing his helmet when something he cares about is at stake- over the course of two seasons we've seen the grizzled, taciturn bounty hunter turn into a devoted father. We see him first bend then break this rule, a rule that means a lot to him. For such an undemonstrative man this shows us that Mando cares a lot for this kid.

And so we see at the end, as Mando sends a threatening message to Moff Gideon. This is simply superb telly.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 14- The Tragedy

 "They're back. The empire. They're back."

It's all go in this very eventful episode: Grogu goes to do that magic Jedi thing on the planet Tython but, awkwardly, Mando is attacked at the worst possible moment by a not dead Fennec (the ageless Ming-Na Wen) and... a hooded Boba Fett. Who claims that Mando's Beskar is his armour. Oh dear.

All this is a side-show, of course, to the clever bit of misdirection with stormtroopers from a more than normally moustache-twirling Moff Gideon who, finally, manages to nab cute little Grogu, who now faces an immediate future as a "donor". Brr. And those "Dark Troopers" are cool.

Yet there's another big reveal going on- Mando's armour is indeed his, and Mando eventually accepts that: honour succeeds where battle failed. It's a nice touch, that the esteemed Mr Fett agrees to help return the child as a quid pro quo. We also get a nifty bit of subtle retconning: Jango Fett was a foundling. This is the Way.

The script from the dependable Favreau, the direction from the Hollywood guest helmer, the performances, the whole damn thing... it's excellent. I'm loving this.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 5- The Gunslinger

“I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold...”

Another filler episode, then, our second in a row. It’s reasonably diverting, although notably not as good, so can we get back to the arc please?

This is only a sub-par episode by its own standards, of course. The opening starship battle is retro and cool, and the story of the week about a triangle of bounty hunters is intriguing enough, plus we get to see Ming-Na Wen. The comic mechanic and her card playing put droids are fun too. And it’s nice to see Mos Eisley again- this time a little less pernickety about droids.

But there’s not much development of plot or character, or much world building, although I like the Stormtrooper heads on spikes, and Toro’s defensive protest that “This ain’t Corellia” when showing off the speeder bikes.

But this is ultimately a double cross narrative that doesn’t go anywhere beyond this episode. It’s pretty much a Western with sci-fi trappings; even the Tusken Raiders are blatantly equated with Native Americans. Diverting, but please- no more filler.

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: 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: 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.