Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2×03 – ‘Making Friends and Influencing People’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

After spending the first two episodes of the new season as a hallucination ‘Making Friends and Influencing People’ sees the return of Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). The opening scene of the episode focuses of Simmons, following her through her morning routine as she gets ready for her day at work. It’s a very different scene than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. usually delivers; it’s bright and colourful, it has cheery music, and it shows one of the heroes in a very normal, domestic setting.

This light scene takes a sudden turn when it’s revealed that Simmons is actually working for Hydra. This makes the different tone make a lot more sense, as it’s very clearly done to make the audience believe that Simmons has left espionage behind her and is enjoying an ordinary life only to surprise viewers with the reveal. It might be a fairly heavy handed technique, but it does make for a genuinely surprising moment.

Thankfully, the episode doesn’t try to trick the viewers into thinking that the incredibly loyal Jemma Simmons had joined a Nazi led organisation that had murdered her friends and colleagues as it’s quickly revealed that she is actually working undercover for Coulson (Clark Gregg). Sent into Hydra as a low level scientist/agent Simmons has been tasked with gathering useful intel, something that she’s been struggling to accomplish.

Fortunately for Simmons, her mission improves when she finds herself being brought into a manhunt for Donnie Gill (Dylan Minnette),  the temperature controlling former S.H.I.E.L.D. cadet from the season one episode ‘Seeds’. This brings her into contact with one of the heads of Hydra, Daniel Whitehall (Reed Diamond), and his underling Sunil Bakshi (Simon Kassianides). Whitehall and Bakshi are definitely built into the same mould as Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) and Armin Zola (Toby Jones), men who want to rule the world and revel in their evilness. It makes a big difference from previous Hydra villains we’ve seen before yet feels perfect for the show.

We learn in this episode that S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra are both after the same thing, powered ‘gifted’ individuals. The hunt for Donnie is entertaining, taking the action across the globe to a large tanker trapped inside ice. Whilst the location might not be the most exotic or visually interesting, but the tension and emotion in these scenes make them much better, particularly when Skye (Chloe Bennett) has to pull the trigger and kill her first person.

The best scene, however, has to go to Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) coming face to face with Ward (Brett Dalton) for the first time since he dropped him out of a plane. Any complaints made during the first season that Fitz wasn’t an interesting enough character on his own are well and truly shelved now, with the traumatised and wounded Fitz delivering a truly chilling and emotional scene. It’s moments like this that reinforce that De Caestecker is the best actor in the cast, as he takes Fitz through a range of emotions from shock, to fear, to anger, as he processes the fact that the man that tried to kill him has been secretly locked in the base, before he comes to the decision to try to murder him. Thankfully Fitz fails to go through with his revenge, choosing to let him live.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. may be filled with action and comic book shennanigans, and this episode is no exception, but it’s the character moments that make the series special. We get to see in this episode how far characters like Fitz, Simmons, and Skye have come since those early episodes where Zitz and Simmons were interchangeable and felt like one character spread over two, and Skye was an annoying hacker with no training. The series is showing that there are consequences to previous actions, that these characters are not just archetypes who will always remain the same, but will evolve.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2×02 – ‘Heavy is the Head’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

The second episode of season two of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. very much feels like a second part to the season opener, even beginning seconds after the last episode ended. It’s surprising to see that this wasn’t originally a two parter, or even aired back to back, as it very much feels like one extra long introduction to the new status quo.

Despite the pre-season marketing making a big deal out of Lucy Lawless joining the cast as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Isabelle Hartley it’s a shock to discover that the car crash at the end of the last episode killed her. Yes, she may have been under some kind of attack or infection from the alien obelisk, but she could easily lose an arm and stay a part of the show; as such, her sudden death is a genuine surprise.

The one silver lining from her exit from her brief time as a part of the team is that it puts Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) on a path where he’s determined to get revenge for her, which means that we get to see a lot more of Crusher Creel (Brian Patrick Wade). Whilst we still hardly know Hunter I found that we learnt a lot about his character from him in this episode. He’s manipulative, he’ll lie and double cross to get what he wants, but he’s fiercely loyal and has a sense of justice, characteristics that could make him a strong new addition to the team.

In a lot of ways he already feels a lot better than other secondary male leads the series has had. Bret Dalton was fairly bland as Grant Ward across the whole first season, even when he was revealed to be a Hydra agent, and whilst I love B.J. Britt as Antoine Triplett it took a lot longer to get to know him, and even then we’ve not got to see much of his character. Speaking of Ward, this is the first episode of the show to not feature him, and it’s absolutely fine. Perhaps this is a sign that Ward and his story will begin to work its way into the background to make room for better characters.

One of these better characters is Mack (Henry Simmons), who spends much of the episode getting to know Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) better, and helping him with his neurological trauma. It’s a little bit of a disappointment to learn that most of the other characters have kind of just left Fitz alone to deal with his problems himself. I understand that there’s a lot going on for the other characters to have to deal with, you don’t really get days off from being an international super-spy, but this is one of their best friends, left alone to struggle through an incredibly traumatic experience.

Thankfully Mack is too good a person to leave the suffering Fitz on his own, and we get to see that start of what appears to be a very real and caring friendship form between the two men. Mack pushes Fitz when he needs it, supports him when it’s right, and because of this has quickly become one of the best characters on the show only his second episode in. The episode also introduces a big new player to the series this episode, Skye’s mysterious father, played by Twin Peaks Kyle MacLachlan. The episode gives nothing about him away, even his name, but the fact that he has Raina (Ruth Negga) working for him, who is clearly afraid of him, sets him up to be an interesting potential antagonist.

‘Heavy is the Head’ also continues the further evolving mystery of the strange symbols that Coulson (Clark Gregg) has been carving by revealing a connection to the alien obelisk. We know from the flashback in the previous episode that the obelisk was taken from the same Hydra facility that housed the blue alien used to save Coulson, so a connection between the two isn’t a huge leap in logic. How this will play out is anyone’s guess at this point, but hopefully it won’t be teased out as long as the Tahiti mystery in season one.

With some great action moments and a lot of character and plot development the second episode of the season has continued at a great pace and has established a great foundation for season two to continue to build upon.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2×01 – ‘Shadows’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

Following a shaky start the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. really came into it’s own in the last few episodes, with changes to the universe that means things could never be the same again for the show, and the characters. The premiere episode of the second season had a lot to live up to, needing to maintain the momentum and quality of the end of the first season.

Thankfully the second season manages to start with a bang, clearly setting itself apart from the S.H.I.E.L.D. that had come before. This isn’t a big government organisation with glossy secret bases and high tech equipment, this a group of agents out in the field with no back-up, and working out of an old facility, they even lack any transport more advanced than a car. It immediately feels like a bold new direction for the series, one with a darker tone, more grounded in the real world than the Marvel movies.

Despite this feel of being a more real world spy show the episode is packed with comic book moments to make fans happy. The opening scene of the episode brings back Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Dum Dum Dugan (Neal McDonough), and Jim Morita (Kenneth Choi) from Captain America: The First Avenger in a great flashback scene that shows them taking down a Hydra facility following the defeat of the Red Skull. The scene explores some of the beginnings of S.H.I.E.L.D. and even gives us an origin for the blue alien corpse seen in the previous season, all whilst introducing a new ‘Macguffin’ for the episode, a mysterious alien obelisk.

Back in the present Coulson (Clark Gregg) has assembled a team to track down the mysterious obelisk, which includes some interesting new faces. S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Isabelle Hartley (Lucy Lawless) and her mercenary team of Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) and Idaho (Wilmer Calderon) are an interesting trio, one that helps to inject some new energy into the group, especially Blood’s Hunter, who is the only one of the three to make it out of the episode alive.

The mission to find the obelisk unfortunately comes into trouble when they cross paths with comic villain Carl ‘Crusher’ Creel (Brian Patrick Wade), or as most readers would know him, the Absorbing Man. Capable of taking on the properties of any material he touches Creel proves to be a great villain for the team, one that presents a big enough challenge for the group yet doesn’t feel too overpowered. The moment that he picks up his iconic ball and chain is definitely one of the highlights of the episode.

The premiere also sees a new addition in the form of Alphonso ‘Mack’ Mackenzie (Henry Simmons), a mechanic who looks like he should be a field agent because of the sheer size of him. Whilst there isn’t a great deal of development for him in this episode he already seems like an interesting new character and is sure to develop over time. The returning cast also shine in this episode, with Coulson seeming incredibly comfortable in his new role as Director, taking a step back from field work and making the tough decisions from the base. Despite how good it is to see the character out on missions this feels like a much better fit for him.

We also get to briefly catch up with the traitorous Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), who is now a prisoner after betraying his former team. It’s interesting to have seen Ward go from the confident hero to dastardly villain, and now to something of a pathetic character. It will be interesting to see how this will play our over the season, whether this is some kind of act or if he’s as broken as he appears, and how this will alter his relationship with Skye (Chloe Bennet).

The best character development, however, is Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), who we last saw suffering brain damage at the bottom of the ocean. Left to wander the new base and occasionally help out in the lab he’s clearly not the man we saw in the last season. Despite the brain damage, and the physiological affects that it has had on him, the saddest part is the reveal that Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) isn’t a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore, and that Fitz has been hallucinating her the whole episode.

‘Shadows’ manages to maintain the quality that we’ve come to expect from the series whilst setting up some great new characters, an interesting new plot, and a whole new status quo of the team. A huge improvement on the previous season, and a great indicator of how things will be going forward.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×22 – ‘Beginning of the End’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

Despite starting out in a somewhat rocky beginning the season finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. manages to wrap up multiple plot threads in a satisfying way, whilst setting up exciting new developments for the upcoming second season.

Following the shocking moment in the previous episode where Ward (Brett Dalton) ejected Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) out of a moving plane into the sea it’s a surprise to find that the two of them are relatively unharmed, despite being stuck under the ocean. The scenes between the two of them, however, are some of the best in the episode and really show how far the two of them have come over the course of the season.

The relationship between Fitz and Simmons is one of the most earned and genuine, having seen them gone from best friends to two people who clearly have much stronger feelings for each other. Sadly, thanks to everything that has happened to the characters over the latter half of the season, neither one of them has been in a place where they could pursue these feelings. It doesn’t look good for them going forward with Fitz making a huge sacrifice to save the woman that he loves.

Whilst Fitz and Simmons lay stranded on the bottom of the ocean Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the rest of the team formulate a plan to finally put an end to the evil John Garrett (Bill Paxton) and former team-mate Ward.

The attack on the Cybertek facility feels surprisingly big in scale, despite the relatively small amount of people involved. The action is well paced and makes the most of both the actors strengths, and their limited budget constraints.

Teaming Coulson and Triplett (B.J. Britt) together is a great choice, further showcasing not only that Triplett is a fun and enjoyable addition to the cast, but that he works very well alongside Coulson thanks to the fact that they both love being secret agents, and the history behind S.H.I.E.L.D..

Coulson is later partnered up with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in order to face off against Garrett, a pairing that makes a lot of sense considering the history that the three characters share. Despite Marvel revealing before the episode aired that Fury would appear, the fact that he has multiple scenes is a pleasant surprise. It makes the episode feel more like a part of the bigger Marvel universe in ways that the series hadn’t with the past cameo appearances.

However, the best part of the episode has to be the confrontation between Ward and May (Ming-Na Wen), as she finally gets to work out the frustrations of having slept with a Hydra agent. It’s a great fight, one that helps to remind the viewers that even in a group of brilliant fighters May is head and shoulders above them (she was described as being as good as Black Widow earlier in the season).

The season finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. feels very far removed from the start of the series, not just because the characters have grown so much, but because the series itself has finally figured out what it wants to be. The destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D. may not have been the disaster that viewers thought it would be for the series, with the team working so much better as a group of outlaws on the run, trying to do good and take down the bad guys without a huge support network. Hopefully this will be a trend that will continue into the shows second season.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×21 – ‘Ragtag’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

Since the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier things have just been going from strength to strength for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as the titular organisation has fallen apart, reducing our heroes to a lone band of agents with no resources or back-up. This reaches its peak in ‘Ragtag’ as Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team are left planning a secret op from a motel room using a case of 1950’s spy gadgets.

The addition of Agent Triplett (B.J. Britt) to the team really comes to life in this episode. Whilst before he hasn’t stood out much as having brought anything new to the group other than replacing Ward (Brett Dalton) this episode has him bonding in wonderful ways with Coulson as the two of them geek out over his grandfather’s old Howling Commandos kit of classic spy gear.

We’ve known for a long while that Coulson loves history, particularly that of the S.H.I.E.L.D. organisation, so watching him act like an excited school boy over laser cigarettes, EMP joy-buzzers, and hand held hypno-beam. It finally feels like Triplett has his place on the team, he’s the super agent who is actually fun and friendly and gets on well with the team, which is a big breath of fresh air from the Ward we had at the start of the season.

The low tech and retro gadgets are a fun change for the show, ditching the hologram tables and computer hacking. The mission where Coulson and May (Ming-Na Wen) have to infiltrate the Cybertek facility in order to steal files becomes much more enjoyable when you realise that the files aren’t on a computer. The ‘large file transfer’ moment is honestly one of the best jokes in the season to date and feels well earned.

A large portion of the episode is given over to a series of flashbacks that reveal a lot of the backstory for Ward, showing how Garrett (Bill Paxton) recruited him from a youth offenders prison and moulded him into a Hydra agent, or at least someone loyal to Garrett; as Ward has said more than once that his loyalty is to Garrett over Hydra.

Despite these flashbacks explaining a lot of why Ward feels like he is in the man’s debt, I can’t help but feel like there’s something missing from the relationship, something that would instil complete loyalty in the man. I kept expecting a moment where Ward’s life would be saved by Garrett, or some kind of big moment like that, but alas not.

We also get to learn a little more about Garrett in this episode too, particularly the fact that he is the very first Deathlok prototype. Whilst his character in the comics has no connection to Deathlok he was a cyborg, so combining those two here actually makes a loot of sense as it keeps things connected to the main story without adding the complications of a second completely unconnected cyborg.

The highlight of the episode, however, has to be the confrontation between Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) and Ward. After attacking Garrett with with an EMP Fitz and Simmons are locked in a storage unit on board the Bus, at which point Garrett orders Ward to kill them.

Whilst I never thought that Ward would simply shoot them in the head, as Garrett wanted, but the two of them being dropped out of a moving plane into the ocean is a shocking moment. Yes, it’s not an instant death and there’s a chance that they could survive they’re not safe by any means, and even is they live there’s a good chance that there will be serious consequences from this action. It also completely puts to bed the notion that Ward may not be completely evil, truly cementing him as a villain.

The series has a lot that it needs to resolve moving into it’s final episode, but the show has more than proven that not only is it a great comic book show worth the time to watch, but that it can more than just survive without the S.H.I.E.L.D. organisation, but it’s been thriving.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×20 – ‘Nothing Personal’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

Season one of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues to move towards its final confrontation between Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the villainous John Garrett (Bill Paxton) in ‘Nothing Personal’ as the team discover that one of their own has been a member of Hydra all along and Skye (Chloe Bennett) fights to keep herself alive.

Having seemingly forgotten their previous ‘adventure of the week’ format, this episode continues on from where the last one left off, with Ward (Brett Dalton) believing that he’s tricked Skye into going with him to decrypt the information that Hydra desperately needs. Whilst this in itself would be a good scenario, the fact that Skye knows Ward is a traitor, that he murdered Agent Koenig (Patton Oswalt), and that he could kill her makes these scenes so much better. There’s an underlying sense of dread throughout. You can see that this isn’t Skye being casual, but someone desperately trying to act casual.

These scene are actually some of the best from both actors and takes two of the blandest characters in the series to date and gives them scenes that put them to the test. They’re both putting on acts, both trying to get the upper hand on the other, and both of them know that their futures are riding on the outcome.

It’s not just these two that are given great things to do this episode as, back in the Providence base, Fitz (Ian De Caestecker) finds the message left behind by Skye that Ward is Hydra, and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) discovers Koenig’s body. The reactions from the two of them are bold and two completely different sides of the spectrum. Simmons shuts down, focusing on the autopsy on Koenig and looking at facts rather than getting emotional, whilst Fitz breaks down, unable to accept that someone that he lived and worked alongside, who he thought was a friend, is actually a killer.

De Caestecker is definitely the best actor in the cast and will have some amazing material to work with over the next five seasons, but this is the first time that he really gets something big to work with. He gets to be emotional to the extreme. You completely believe that he’s feeling broken and betrayed, and his desperate cycling through possible reasons why Ward isn’t really evil, including brainwashing, effectively reflect the responses to his Hydra reveal that a lot of viewers had at the time.

Whilst there’s a lot of character development and heavy emotional scenes, there are also some good action sequences in this episode too. We get to see the return of Hulk antagonist Colonel Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) as his team storm the Providence base with the assistance of Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), which leads to Coulson and his team having to fight their way out in order to track down Ward.

The best sequence in the episode though – and perhaps one of the most fun in the show – is when Coulson has to rescue Skye from the Bus, resulting in the two of them escaping the plane mid-flight in Lola, Coulson’s flying car. Whilst the effects aren’t the best, the visuals of the two of them falling through the air as the car fights to stay aloft is a great deal of fun. It would have been easy for the show to simply have them eject out of the plane in Lola and then cut to the next scene with a ‘well that was a close getaway’ kind of comment, but it has the balls to be ridiculous and amazing and really push what they could get away with.

‘Nothing Personal’ continues the trend of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. improving in quality and excitement. It’s got some of the best character moments in the series to date, it moves the story on at a great pace, plus thanks to a tiny namedrop at the start of the episode, it makes Man-Thing a canon part of the MCU. All in all, a pretty damn great episode.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×19 – ‘The Only Light in the Darkness’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

‘The Only Light in the Darkness’ is a strange episode to have at this point in the first season. On one hand it continues to tell the story of the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the machinations of the villainous John Garrett (Bill Paxton), and on the other it feels very adventure of the week as Coulson (Clark Gregg) must revisit a piece of his past.

We’ll deal with the more out of place plot first, the mysterious cellist that who was mentioned as a romantic interest for Coulson way back in Avengers when he recruited Iron-Man onto the team. Whilst this may seem like a very small thing, and something most people wouldn’t even have remembered, it would appear that there was a small and dedicated Coulson fan-base online who wanted to know more about this woman he was romantically attached to before his death.

The series Executive Producer Jeffrey Bell spoke about this plot point, saying that “It’s so funny how one line in a movie… it tells you the power of Clark, and the power of the character, that there’s that one line and suddenly it’s who is this person? And what is this person? And when are we going to see this person? And we talked about it a number of times over the season, and we had different versions and different ideas how to get there. But when the Fridge was emptied, suddenly we had a real legitimate reason to go there and bring him back. At a time when he’s at his most vulnerable, it seemed to be a good choice for us.”

Despite initially seeming like the kind of story that would be better suited in the early part of the series, before things became as dire for the team as they are right now the fact that Coulson is having to revisit a painful piece of his personal past whilst his whole world is falling apart actually makes this a great time to do so.

The cellist herself is a woman named Audrey (Amy Acker), who Coulson saved from a deranged powered individual, Marcus Daniels (Patrick Brennan) months before the events of Avengers. Now that Garrett has released a load of prisoners from The Fridge Daniels is once again focused on Audrey.

It’s a touching little side story, one that explores the impact that dying and secretly coming back to life had on Coulson from a personal perspective, something the show hasn’t really done before. It shows that his life outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. is pretty much non-existent now, that the one piece of happiness he had outside of work is long in his past. It actually shines a light on just how much our hero has had to give up.

The other main story in the episode is the return of the evil Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) to the team. Unable to access encrypted information thanks to Skye (Chloe Bennett) Ward has been sent back into his old team in order to get her to help him. Now that we know Ward is Hydra it’s interesting to see him interacting with a team who has no idea, how things that wouldn’t have been out of place for him before are now clearly his being a bad guy.

His complex feelings for Skye become a big point in the episode as Ward almost has his cover blown when being questioned. His declaration that he came back for Skye, because he has feelings for her might be a clever cover in order to hide his true intentions, but feels a lot more genuine. How these apparent emotions will play in once his true allegiance is revealed is anyone’s guess, but thanks to the dark turn of events at the end of the episode it’s looking harder and harder to see any kind of redemption for the character.

‘The Only Light in the Darkness’ is definitely an episode of two halves, with stories that don’t really feel connected, but have a similar theme in regards to characters having to hide who they really are as they give up on an important piece of their past.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×18 – ‘Providence’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

Following the complete game changing events of the previous episode ‘Providence’ continues to apply pressure to the S.H.I.E.L.D. team, whilst also giving the evil Agent Ward (Brett Dalton) a chance to finally shine after nearly a season of being one of the blandest characters in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Carrying on from the shock reveal in the final moments of the last episode that Ward has actually been a Hydra agent since the beginning of the show, the episode makes it clear that this isn’t a ploy, a triple-cross, or even Hydra brainwashing. This is who Ward is, a cold blooded killer.

Assisting the series villain John Garrett (Bill Paxton) to attack a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility called The Fridge, where he uses his status as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to willingly kill the staff stationed there. Whilst he doesn’t seem to take any joy in killing people he clearly doesn’t feel any kind of compunction in doing so. It’s interesting to see him opening up about his time in with Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team, where he reveals that he jumped out of a plane to save Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) simply because it’s what his cover would do, and that he started a sexual relationship with Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) because she was the biggest threat.

These explanations go a long way to explaining some of his character. He was bland because he wasn’t trying to stand out or draw attention to himself. He never made big moves to form strong friendships where he opened up because these were people that he was prepared to kill. The revelation that his feelings for Skye (Chloe Bennet) are genuine is a little surprising, and makes me wonder what about her has drawn him to her other than her looks, as there’s not much that I remember from the season that stands out as a real bonding moment between the two.

Whilst the episode showcases the villains coming together, including the return of Raina (Ruth Negga) the rest of the episode showcases Coulson and his team on the run as the worlds government move to arrest any remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Now joined by Garrett’s former right hand man Agent Triplett (B.J. Britt) the team head out for a set of mysterious coordinates found within Coulson’s S.H.I.E.L.D. badge to discover an off-the-books facility manned by the odd Agent Koenig (Patton Oswalt).

Koenig is a great new addition to the show, bringing a sense of fun and humour to events that have become quite dark compared to the start of the season. He has an air about him that reminds me of Coulson way back in Iron Man, when he was the deadpan guy there to give exposition in a way that made him instantly charming.

The episode also introduced us to another new character, Glenn Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) a military officer tasked with capturing Coulson and his team. He’s a great addition to the series, with an over-the-top bravado and swagger to him. The fact that it’s another new character to the MCU from the comics, this time the Incredible Hulk, is just a great little bonus.

Not a huge amount of action happens in this episode, but it does a lot for the world building of the new status-quo of S.H.I.E.L.D. on the run, considered criminals and terrorists by the government whilst they try to combat Hydra. It’s a bold new time era for the series, and it’s already off to a strong start.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×17 – ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. began with a very simple premise: that the audience would follow the adventures of Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team as they participate in covert missions for the global organisation S.H.I.E.L.D.. Outside of some minor team changes or a big guest star or two there seemed to be little that would alter the show in any major ways outside of the initial setup. Then Captain America: The Winter Soldier came along and destroyed everything.

‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ is the episode that coincides with the second Captain America film, where it’s revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been infiltrated by the evil organisation Hydra since it was founded. It’s no exaggeration to say that from this point onward nothing about this show will ever be the same again.

The episode begins with the ‘surprise’ reveal that a Hydra message has been sent out over every S.H.I.E.L.D. frequency, initiating sleeper agents across the organisation to attack and kill those loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D.. This makes the sudden turn of Victoria Hand (Saffron Burrows) wanting Coulson captured and his team dead at the end of the last episode make a lot more sense. It also puts Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) in a lot of danger, her being stuck in The Hub with the somewhat unknown Agent Triplett (B.J. Britt) and dozens of Hydra soldiers.

The Simmons story is handled pretty well, with a number of points where Triplett comes across as quite sinister; by the end it’s clear that he’s not Hydra, preferring to die an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. than defect to the enemy, but it’s a small mystery that could have gone either way. The double reveal that both Trip and Victoria Hand are actually S.H.I.E.L.D. is a great scene, and one that showcases just how much of a great character Hand is.

With one major S.H.I.E.L.D. operative confirmed as being loyal, it’s no surprise that another is actually Hydra, Coulson’s good friend John Garrett (Bill Paxton). By then, the fact that he’s actually a bad guy is not so much of a surprise. His sudden urge to kill Victoria Hand is too much of a turn for him not to be a villain. The revelation that he’s also the Clairvoyant is a shock though, and a plot that the series will hopefully explore in greater detail as the series progresses.

The biggest shock of the episode – that one of the core team has been Hydra since the very beginning of the series – comes when Agent Ward (Brett Dalton) murders Victoria Hand. Considering how great she was in this episode, it’s a huge shame to lose her, but she certainly went out in a memorable way.

It’s not a surprise that one of the main characters would turn out to be Hydra, but that it’s Ward was not easy to see coming, mainly because he’s been so dull and lacklustre up to now. Perhaps this is the only way that the writers could think to make the character more interesting, a character whose only major thing was being attracted to Skye (Chloe Bennet). Whatever the motivations for making him Hydra it certainly makes things more exciting going forward, especially after he admits his feelings for Skye before saving her life.

The changes to the series are incredibly bold and mean that nothing will ever, or can ever, be the same again. It also changes everything that came before, especially with the knowledge that Ward has been a bad guy since the start. With S.H.I.E.L.D. now gone the team are left with no resources, no back-up, Garrett on the loose, and a snake within their midst things have never been more dire for Coulson and his team.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×16 – ‘End of the Beginning’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

After an episode that put the main plot on the back-burner in order to feature some alien hi-jinks Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns it’s focus to the main story of the mysterious clairvoyant and the hunt for Deathlok, the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Mike Peterson (J August Richards).

The episode begins big, with Deathlok attacking a safe house and trying to kill Agent Garrett (Bill Paxton) and Agent Triplett (B.J. Britt) before moving on to one of the best S.H.I.E.L.D. team-up in the series yet, bringing together a number of fan favourite agents. Knowing that time is short to capture the clairvoyant Coulson (Clark Gregg) calls together the agencies heavy hitters, minus Captain America of course.

The episode sees the return of Victoria Hand (Saffron Burrows), Agent Garrett, Agent Blake (Titus Weaver), and Jasper Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernandez). It’s a good mixture, featuring characters that first appeared in the feature films, in the blu-ray bonus stories, and in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.

The group, with the help of Skye (Chloe Benett) formulate a plan to investigate possible candidates for the Clairvoyant, splitting off into two-man teams. The sequence where Blake and Agent May (Ming-Na Wen) come across Deathlok is a highlight of the episode, with the short but sweet fight being incredibly tense and brutal. There’s not enough time or budget to do a big, all out fight, but the smaller scale really works to the shows advantage, displaying the brutality of Deathlok.

This scene is only topped by the surprise reveal that the Clairvoyant is actually a man named Thomas Nash, played by the iconic horror actor Brad Dourif. Nash is completely paralysed and unable to speak, and as such Doruif can do very little in his scene, yet manages to steal the episode is an incredibly subtle yet great performance. It’s a huge shame that he’s just a puppet that ends up dead by the end of the episode because he would have been a great addition to the show. Perhaps him actually having some kind of precognative powers and having him working alongside the real mastermind would have been an interesting direction that they could have taken the character. Any extra Brad Dourif is a good thing.

The episode feels like the season has begun to grow up, that it’s taking the story far more seriously and is going darker in tone, possibly to become more in line with the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The mention by Sitwell that he’s having to leave the mission to head to the Lumerian Star places the events of the episode firmly at the start of the film, and makes the moment at the end when Hand hijacks the Bus take on a much more sinister tone.

This is the point in the season where things really change for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where there’s no more adventure of the week stories but a major focus on the overarching story and character development. With the major change in the status quo coming from the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier the series is sure to go from strength to strength.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Star Wars Resistance 1×04 – ‘Fuel For The Fire’ – TV Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The fourth episode of Star Wars Resistance puts world building on the back burner to take some much needed time to focus on its lead character, Kaz (Christopher Sean). Having learned in the previous episode that he needs to slow down a little and focus on his cover as a mechanic, rather than his mission as a spy, Kaz struggles to keep that focus, wanting to revel in the exciting life of the racers on the Colossus rather than the skills of the trade.

Unfortunately, Kaz is still a young man and his attention isn’t the best. He quickly falls afoul of the manipulations of a rival racing team led by Jace Rucklin (Elijah Wood). It’s obvious from the beginning that Jace and his gang, Lin Gaava (Rachael MacFarlane) and Gorrak Wiles (Eric Bauza), are out to take advantage of Kaz, but at least they do something to earn his trust and respect. Saving his life during an ‘accident’ is a pretty good plan as far as these kinds of episodes, but you can’t help but feel that Kaz is being something of an idiot.

By the end of the episode Kaz figures out that he has been used by Jace, in this case in order to steal experimental fuel, and chooses to do the right thing and rescue Jace from a fiery death. Kaz realises that he’s been used, yet risks his life for the person that betrayed his trust. This is the Kaz that Poe (Oscar Isaac) saw when he first met him; the brave man hidden within the brash kid. It’s this that appears to have finally earned the respect of Yeager (Scott Lawrence).

Despite the focus on Kaz, we do learn a little more about Yeager here too. We were told that Yeager was in the Rebel Alliance in the first episode, but now we get confirmation that he was also an X-Wing pilot that served during the Battle of Jakku, the final battle against the Galactic Empire as depicted in Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Star Wars Aftermath: Empire’s End. However, most intriguingly is that Jeager had a wife and child. As there’s been no mention of his family to date in the show, it’s probably a safe bet that he’s since lost them and that this will play into why he doesn’t want to be a part of the Resistance. Personally, it’s the most fascinating story element in the season so far; and one that I’m looking forward to seeing explored further.

The animation in this episode looks particularly great too. The speeder-bike race across the surface of the ocean is some of the best that Star Wars Resistance has given. With so much of the show being set within the sky or the cramped corridors and hangers of the Colossus, it’s hard to appreciate how beautiful the new animation style can be. Hopefully the series will explore some more varied environments again at some point so that we can have more of this.

‘Fuel For The Fire’ feels like a much smaller episode in a lot of ways and definitely benefits from this. The attention to character is a welcome change of pace and introduces a number of elements that the show can continue to explore as the season progresses.


Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×15 – ‘Yes Men’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was criticised early in its first season for being too disconnected from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with people wanting characters such as Captain America and Iron Man to make appearances. Whilst this would have indeed attracted more viewers it would have taken away from the main focus of the series: the team.

Now that the show has had time to establish its own characters and story it’s the right time to bring in an already established movie character. Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) might seem like a strange choice of character to bring into the show, but it makes sense for a lot of reasons: she’s got a connection to Coulson (Clark Gregg), she’s an amazing fighter, she brings the team knowledge that helps with the overall story in the form of knowledge of blue aliens, and the fans really like her.

On this occasion Lady Sif has returned to Earth in order to capture the escaped Asgardian villain Lorelei (Elena Satine). A fairly major character from the Thor comics, Lorelei is a surprise choice to appear here as it expands the Thor universe quite a bit. With connections to characters such as Enchantress and Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Lorelei now being a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is sure to raise questions of whether or not we will see Enchantress in future films. The inclusion of these characters also showed that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t need to be connected to big events such as the destruction of London in Thor: The Dark World in order to feel integrated into the larger universe.

Within the show itself this episode manages to move some of the character development forward a little, in particular the relationship between Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) and Grant Ward (Brett Dalton). The May and Ward relationship never felt like there was much to it other than two people finding a release for their stress with each other through sex. Thankfully, the relationship came to an end this episode, which puts to an end any awkward love triangles that may come from Ward having a thing for Skye (Chloe Bennet).

The inclusion of the Asgardians means that the episode has the opportunity to up the ante in regards to action, making good use of their enhanced strength to deliver bigger and crazier set pieces than the show usually has. The fight in the biker bar where Lady Sif completely clears house is one of the better moments of the season to date.

The biggest misstep of the episode, however, is how it treats Ward, in particular him falling under Lorelei’s spell and sleeping with her. Whilst under the influence of her magic he’s not himself, his judgement has been altered, and he’s not able to completely consent to the things he does. In short, Lorelei date rapes him. This could have been an interesting area to explore, but the show and the characters seem to completely brush this aside as soon as it’s done, never bringing it up again. I can’t help but feel that some of this comes from the fact that it’s a fit, muscled man going to bed with a beautiful woman that has something to do with this, that changes how people look at it. If this was a young woman being magically made to sleep with an unattractive man people would quickly, and correctly, identify it as being very wrong.

Despite these missteps the episode is actually very good. Yes, it’s a standalone episode, but it’s done so well and is so enjoyable to watch that you don’t really mind that the show isn’t really addressing the main issues such as Coulson’s resurrection, Centipede, and the mysterious Clairvoyant. Hopefully the series will produce more episodes like this, and get Lady Sif back again in the future.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×14 – ‘T.A.H.I.T.I.’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

The fourteenth episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. picks up where the previous story left off, with Skye (Chloe Bennet) having been shot by the villainous Ian Quinn (David Conrad), and now fighting for her life. Despite the best efforts of the team medic Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) Skye isn’t going to survive, leading Coulson (Clark Gregg) to make a desperate gamble to save her.

Things are definitely high stakes in this episode, and there’s a huge sense of tension from the very beginning as the ultimate fate of a member of the team hangs in the balance. Whilst this show is far from being Game of Thrones where no character is safe from death, the fact that Skye isn’t a character from the existing Marvel Cinematic Universe or comics lends a genuine degree of peril to her situation. Essentially she’s a character that the show-runners could kill off without any huge impact on the larger universe.

It also adds some good character drama as we get to see how each member of the team deals with the situation. Fitz (Ian De Caestecker) blames himself for not stopping Skye from being shot, Ward (Brett Dalton) blames himself for not having trained her better, whilst Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) simply blames Quinn, focusing her anger on him. The reactions from the team show how far the characters have come, and how much they actually care for each other now. It wasn’t too long ago that May didn’t want Skye on the ship, now she’s beating the man who tried to kill her.

Whilst the team spend time placing blame for the event Coulson makes the bold move to try and use the technology that brought him back from the dead to save Skye. The mystery of Coulson’s resurrection was always going to be a big part of the first season, and this episode reveals that there’s a lot more to the mystery than first speculated, especially when the team manages to locate the mysterious ‘Guest House’.

With so much of the focus of the episode on the central S.H.I.E.L.D. team the show is still able to introduce two new members of the organisation, John Garrett (Bill Paxton) and Antoine Triplett (B.J. Britt). The late great Paxton is brilliant as John Garrett, an old friend of Coulson who also appears to be an agent with a degree of freedom to operate how he wants. With several more appearances from the character announced throughout the rest of the season there’s little insight into who he is in this episode, but it’s a solid introduction for him that makes him an enjoyable addition to the the show.

Joined by fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agents John Garrett and Antoine Triplett Coulson locates the ultra secret facility where he was brought back to life, a facility that is so off the books it isn’t even run by S.H.I.E.L.D.. Here they discover what has to be the most shocking revelation in the series to date, that the technology comes from an alien body.

Despite the fact that aliens are well established within the Marvel Cinematic Universe at this point thanks to the events of Thor and Avengers Assemble it’s still a bold move for the series to take, and one that fans didn’t actually manage to predict. Of course, there’s still huge unanswered questions around this reveal, most important of which is ‘is this the first appearance of the Kree in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?’

That question might actually get answered sooner than expected as the episode ends with a set up for the following episode, the arrival of the Asgardian villain Lorelei (Elena Satine) on Earth. Perhaps aliens are about to become a big part of the series.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×13 – ‘T.R.A.C.K.S.’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

T.R.A.C.K.S. is the season one episode that a lot of people will take notice of and remember for one very specific reason: the Stan Lee cameo. It’s not a Marvel production until Stan The Man turns up. In all seriousness, this episode proves to be very fun, clever, and moves the story forward in some great ways.

Having continued their hunt for the evil businessman Ian Quinn (David Conrad) the S.H.I.E.L.D. team discover that he has purchased some advance technology from Cybertek Industries, which is being transported to his private estate in Italy by train. The team plan to steal the tech by infiltrating the team posing as ordinary passengers. However, as this is television the plan immediately falls apart.

The central feature of the episode, retelling the same events from different points of view to fill the audience in on what has happened has been done before, and can sometimes be a bit boring, but the writers use the concept very well here, especially when it gives some surprising reveals. Each section of the episode follows a different member of the team, giving each of the main cast a moment to shine.

The stand out is easily Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) who sneaks through the train, runs across the roof in a cat suit, parachutes, steals a car, and takes down a room full of bad guys. May has always been the secret weapon of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team but watching her in this episode it’s easy to see her as an agent on the same level as Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and fighting alongside the Avengers.

Despite being full of spy intrigue and action the episode also packs in some great comedic beats, with Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) and her overly prepared backstory about Coulson (Clark Gregg) being her distant father who cheated on her mother being one of the best moments of the season. It’s great to see Jemma so flustered and panicked, as she does it so well, and Coulson trying to process what she’s doing and not break his cover, whilst being chastised by Stand Lee, is a particularly great turn from Clark Gregg.

The biggest developments in the episode come in the final few minutes, however, when it’s finally revealed just which comic book character J. August Richards is playing, when Mike Peterson is implanted with cybernetic devices from the ‘Deathlok’ program. With so much speculation over who Richards would be revealed to be Deathlok was certainly not a character that I’d seen mentioned, but it works well. The character has decades of comic book history and connections with characters from across the Marvel universe, but remains fairly unknown to the casual reader, allowing the series to be able to do almost whatever they want with the character.

The episode ends with a bang (sorry for the bad pun) as Skye (Chloe Bennet) is shot twice in the stomach by Quinn. With her life on the line the team are forced to take desperate actions in order to keep her alive. With Skye’s life far from saved the series seems poised to keep up it’s faster momentum.

T.R.A.C.K.S. takes some of the standard television formulas and puts the Marvel spin on things, adding new tech and innovations that are sure to reappear again in the future, as well as sneakily adding a new comic book character to the series. Each character gets a moment in the spotlight, and the actors all get to play to their strengths before a dramatic finale that leads to some exciting developments. An episode that shows how good the show can be, and possibly one of the best in the series so far.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

The Flash 5×01 – ‘Nora’ – TV Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Flash returns to our screens with huge changes this season as the show picks up directly where the last season ended, with the daughter of Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton), Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy), having travelled back in time and becoming trapped.

Having seen Nora appear a number of times throughout Season 4 the show managed to build an air of mystery around the character, though many fans managed to figure out who she was long before the on screen reveal. Despite many of her mysteries having been revealed in this first episode, though not all of them, the character hasn’t completely lost that sense of mystery, but manages to become a bright, wonderfully fun new addition to the cast.

The majority of the episode centres on Nora, even the opening and closing narration is done by her instead of her father, with the villain of the week being elegated to a minor annoyance. Nora even points out that Gridlock (Daniel Cudmore) was a ‘one and done’ villain according to the Flash Museum records. Sometimes the meta-human of the week routine can get quite dull, especially when it’s done so often at the beginning of a new season, but it’s easy to overlook that here as the story of Nora, and her time with Barry, is so much more important.

As many fans had theorised over the break between seasons, Nora had travelled back in time to see her dad because he isn’t around in her time. This isn’t really a surprise as the show pretty much gave us this information way back in the very first episode with the newspaper from the future telling us the the Flash ‘disappears in crisis’. This episode builds on that, with Nora showing another future headline stating that the Flash has been gone for 25 years. Eagle-eyed viewers can also spot a few additional hints in the text of these papers, but it’s quite hard to do without pausing the screen and getting very close.

The news that Barry disappears for what could be forever in this upcoming crisis is a big moment for him, as it tells him that this is probably one ‘death’ that he can’t cheat, and most importantly, that he’ll never get to have a life with his daughter. This becomes the emotional heart of the episode, and could go on for most of the season. Barry loves his family dearly, and the knowledge that he won’t be there for his daughter visually tears him apart. His decision to keep Nora around rather than sending her back to the future might not be the smartest choice, but it’s the one that makes sense emotionally. Barry wants to be a father now because he knows he can’t be later.

Whilst the new dynamics and emotional story that Nora brings to the season are great, one of the other side effects of having a character from the future in the show now is that she gets to hint at so many things that could happen in the Arrowverse one day. She mentions King Shark fighting Gorilla Grodd (please god let us see this on scree!), name drops heroes such as Ryan Choi’s Atom and Lightning Lad from the Legion of Superheroes, and brings up the Flash Museum. The best thing she brings with her, however, is the new costume.

The episode also managed to add some additional developments outside of the Barry/Nora plot, exploring further into the Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) plot to bring back killer frost, with Ralph (Hartley Sawyer) managing to discover that Caitlin’s father appears to have faked his death. The episode also highlights the fact that Ralph wasn’t around much in the previous season, poking fun at this with his lack of knowledge of time travel and the multi-verse in some really fun scenes. Hopefully this is the production team acknowledging that he wasn’t full used last year and that they intend to correct that.

Overall Nora proved to be an incredibly strong opening episode for Season 5, possibly one of the best season openers that the series has had for quite a while. The character dynamics are great, the new costume is fun and interesting, and Nora is a brilliant addition to the cast filled with energy and a sense of joy.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×12 – ‘Seeds’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

After two weeks delving into the overall story of the season with Centipede and the mysterious Clairvoyant, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. takes a step back to adventure of the week, but brings a level of charm and fun to proceedings that has been missing for a while.

When a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. cadets at the academy fall foul of a mysterious assailant who uses a device to try to freeze them to death, Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team are called in to get to the bottom of it. What’s surprising to the team, and the audience, is that it turns out that Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) are something of superstars in the science division.

Giving Fitz and Simmons the spotlight without making a thing of their obvious love for each other was a welcome change, and we actually get to see the two of them having a lot of fun. They both seem incredibly comfortable being back in the academy, and fit well into the roles as mentor-like figures for the younger cadets. If the show were to suddenly spend a handful of episodes just following the two of them at the academy, helping out the future agents, it would be a great little diversion.

It turns out that one of the victims of the ice attack, Donnie Gill (Dylan Minnette), orchestrated the entire event specifically to get Fitz back at the academy in order to get him to fix the power source for his machine. Whilst this isn’t the biggest or most shocking secret plan in the history of espionage fiction, it’s kind of brilliant in its simplicity. Fitz identifies with the young Donnie, and desperately want to connect with him and help him come out of his shell, so of course he helps him with his project. But the project is actually a secret weapon that Donnie and his friend Seth (Daniel Zovatto) plan to sell to the shady Ian Quinn (David Conrad).

Outside of the Fitz and Simmons focus the episode sheds a little more light onto the mystery of Skye (Chloe Bennet) and her past, in particular her connection to a failed S.H.I.E.L.D. operation in the past that led to several deaths. Not only did these developments put an end to Skye’s search for her parents, but hinted at some deeper mystery to her past that could tie her into more important plots.

The best things about this episode though are the sense that the show has finally started to spend a little money on its episodes, and it painted S.H.I.E.L.D. as a larger organisation in a better light.

Donnie’s weather machine looks great, especially on a television budget, and the team behind the scenes managed to make things look fresh and interesting. We get to see the bus in an action sequence that wasn’t just the camera shaking on the set whilst the actors threw themselves around feigning turbulance. We got to see the plane from the outside as it fought against the deadly storm. It might not seem like much, but after so many episodes of seeing the plane just flying from place to place it makes a difference to see something a little more spectacular happening.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. academy is also portrayed as a really nice place to be, which is a stark contrast to the hectic nature and cold personalities of the Hub. You can see the hope in the eyes of the staff and the students, you get a sense that they’re eager to become part of something bigger than themselves, something that stands for what’s right. We get a small moment of this when Coulson takes Skye to see the wall of fallen agents. It’s an inspirational moment, and even the nod to Captain America can’t ruin it when she just happens to pick out the name Bucky Barnes out of all of them to read.

‘Seeds’ is a very different episode from what has come before. It doesn’t appear to play into the central plot in any big ways, but doesn’t feel like previous adventure of the week episodes. It has a sense of comfortableness that comes from a series that has finally found its feet.


Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×11 – ‘The Magical Place’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

After Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) is kidnapped by the villainous Centipede in the mid-season finale, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. slows down slightly a little as the team are forced to search for their missing leader in ‘The Magical Place’.

The episode sees the return of Victoria Hand (Saffron Burrows) leading the S.H.I.E.L.D. team as they try to track down Centipede and rescue Coulson. Hand makes for a good leader of the organisation in the absence of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders). She represents the facelessness of the organisation, the rigid rules and unwillingness to break from protocol.

We see how much leeway Coulson’s team actually have in the way they are treated when he is no longer there. The team are allowed a lot of freedom and whilst their standard way of operating might end up well for them, it’s far from the norm for S.H.I.E.L.D.. This is no more obvious in Skye’s (Chloe Bennet) role in the episode.

Thrown off of The Bus, Skye is left to her own devices to try to find Coulson. Normally this might not be much of an issue for her, but she’s slowed down by her inability to use any tech thanks to her S.H.I.E.L.D bracelet. However, after 10 episodes, we get to see that Skye has finally learnt some spy skills.

The main season arc moves forward as more information about the mysterious Clairvoyant is teased. Sadly, with this still being halfway through the season, very few real answers are given here, though the story does seem to be finally advancing with a clearer narrative.

The episode ends with the surprise reveal that Mike Peterson (J August Richards) wasn’t killed in the previous episode, but is now being forced to work for Centipede with one of the eye implants first introduced in the episode ‘Eye Spy’. It’s good that Mike hasn’t been killed off as he’s one of the best characters in the show. His shift to working for the villains definitely produces some extra drama. It’s also a nice thing that the show didn’t hide this reveal for a later episode and actually gave us some information up front for once.

‘The Magical Place’ doesn’t so much as provide answers to the mystery behind Coulson’s resurrection as much as it just confirms suspicions. Hopefully now that the cat is out of the bag, the series won’t be as stingy with information as it has been up to this point. ‘The Magical Place’ continued on from ‘The Bridge‘ by giving the audience a much improved experience, embracing a larger narrative and decent character moments over adventure of the week stories.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn