Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 – Top 5 Episodes

Originally published on Set The Tape

The second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. saw some huge shifts in the series, not just in quality, but in plot elements that would fundamentally change the show for the rest of its life. Here we attempt to pick out the five best episodes of the season, episodes that weren’t just well made, but that stood out as game changers.

5. Episode 15 – ‘One Door Closes’

After the reveal earlier in the season that Mack (Henry Simmons) and Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki) were secretly working for another branch of S.H.I.E.L.D., one that’s working against Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his people, ‘One Door Coses’ not only fills in a lot of this backstory but pits the two teams against each other.

The flashbacks to the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier are great and really show that these aren’t a group of villains, but people that are just as dedicated to what S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for as the heroes. The inclusion of Isabelle Hartley (Lucy Lawless) is a nice nod to the beginning of the season, but also means that Battlestar Galactica fans have the added pleasure of seeing her on screen with Edward James Olmos once again.

The episode is filled with intrigue and action; it moves the plot forward in an exciting way and fleshes out the backstory of not just some of this season’s new characters, but the Universe as a whole. The fact that the ‘heroes’ essentially lose by the end of it just makes it even more exciting.

4. Episode 17 – ‘Melinda’

This episode might not have had too many huge action set pieces, but managed to pack in a lot of character moments and shed some light onto one of the more mysterious members of the main cast.

In Afterlife, Skye (Chloe Bennet) learns that Jiaying (Dichen Lachman) is her mother. Whilst this had already been revealed to the audience, it was something of a surprise that this was shared with Skye so quickly. It’s normally the kind of thing a series would drag out for a number of episodes, keeping the main character in the dark. The fact that it was so quickly revealed to Skye highlights that the show runners may have listened to some of the criticisms about slow pacing during the first season.

However, the best part of the episode is the focus on Melinda May’s (Ming-Na Wen). Specifically, how she came to earn the nickname ‘the cavalry’. Despite some misleads in earlier episodes, we were told that she rescued an entire S.H.I.E.L.D. team on her own, but the details were more than a little vague. Here we discover that she not only came up against an InHuman with mind control abilities, but had to kill them to eliminate the threat. The biggest problem, however, is that the InHuman was just a child.

The revelation that May had to kill a child is devastating, particularly as we get to see how fun and full of life she was before it happened. It makes the change in May all the more sad and adds a whole lot of depth to one of the characters we knew the least about.

3. Episode 21 and 22 – ‘S.O.S.’

The two part finale (I know it’s two episodes so this is a bit of a cheat) manages to not only meet the expectations built up over the course of the season, but beats the previous season’s finale.

‘S.O.S.’ sees a lot of changes going forward, not least of all due to several characters being killed off or leaving the series through other capacities. After all of her changes and the ups and downs of her journey it’s genuinely sad to see Raina (Ruth Negga) die, though the fact that she did it knowing that she was going to her death but that it would help Skye see the truth about her mother was something of a noble end for her.

Jiaying and Cal (Kyle MacLachlan) each get a fitting end, with Jiaying dying at the hands of her husband in order to save their daughter, and Cal being given a new life as a reward. The reveal that Jiaying was the true monster, simply manipulating Cal, was a stroke of genius and meant that the ends for both characters feels incredibly satisfying and well earned.

Outside of the character moments the episode packs in the action with Coulson and his team fighting their way through the InHuman forces across the aircraft carrier. Not only do we get some great, great fight sequences, but some pretty cool super-powered battles too. Plus, Mack’s comments to Gordon (Jamie Harris) still remain some of my all time favourites:

Mack: It’s Gordon, right?
Gordon: And you are?
Mack: I’m the guy that kills Gordon.

Ward (Bret Dalton) also manages to get some good development. His path for revenge is clearly laid out for season three. The brutal torture of Bobbi, as well as the tragic death of Agent 33 (Maya Stojan), puts to rest any possibility of a redemption for the character.

The introduction of the Secret Warriors programme at the end of the episode and Coulson losing his arm certainly sets some interesting elements up for the coming third season.

2. Episode 19 – ‘The Dirty Half Dozen’

After almost two seasons we say goodbye to the Bus. Thankfully, the team’s original base of operations goes down in a blaze of glory as the original team come together once again, including Ward, as they assault a Hydra facility.

The first time that we’ve seen the whole of the original team together since the first season, this episode goes a long way towards showing how much these characters have changed over a relatively short period. The fact that it’s Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) who set out to kill Ward during the assault was a surprising, if not unpleasant, turn of events.

The highlight, however, is getting to see Skye in all of her secret agent glory in one of the best action sequences the series has given the audience to date. Filmed in one continuous shot, Skye dodges and weaves her way through the room, taking down Hydra agents in hand to hand combat, using guns and even utilising her powers. It’s hugely impressive and shows that Skye has gone from a hacker that couldn’t throw a punch to an agent that could fight alongside some of the best in the MCU.

There might not be a huge amount that happens in this episode, but the first season team coming back together, and some great action makes this an absolute standout.

1. Episode 10 ‘What They Become’

There are a number of big, game changing episodes across the seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the first being the reveal that Hydra has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and the destruction of the agency, but the most surprising comes in ‘What They Become’.

Bringing to a close the mystery of the hidden alien city, the episode officially introduces the InHumans to the universe when Skye, revealed to actually be the comic book character Daisy Johnson, is transformed and given superpowers. The scene is hugely dramatic, not least because it sees the shocking death of Agent Triplet (B.J. Britt). Whilst we didn’t know Trip for long the death feels so pointless and throwaway that it makes it all the more tragic.

The episode showcases a lot of Skye’s father Cal too, having MacLachlan go through a huge range of emotions, including dorky father and ruthless killer. The scenes with him and Coulson are great, and showcase how good both actors are, especially when their characters both have Skye’s best interests at heart.

Whilst the episode concluded many of the story elements introduced in the early parts of the season, answering the mystery of the city, as well as killing Daniel Whitehall (Reed Diamond), the introduction of super powered people and Ward still out in the world meant that this felt like the start of something bigger rather than the end of certain chapters.


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Batman: The Court of Owls – Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Of the three recent Batman novels published by Titan, one is based upon a comic, one is a retelling of an animated series episode, and one is completely new and original. Batman: The Court of Owls is the latter, telling its own story that draws upon the events of Scott Snyder’s first story on Batman following the New 52 revamp.

One of the advantages that writer Greg Cox has here is that he’s able to draw upon the source material without having to feel shackled to it the way the writers of the other Batman novels are. For example, in Harley Quinn: Mad Love Pat Cadigan has a destination set out for her, having to build up to the events of the animated series; yet this is something that Cox can sidestep. He doesn’t have to incorporate the work of another writer, or shape his story to fit.

The result of this is a book that works in complete isolation as its own entry into the Batman mythos. Yes, it draws upon the events of the Snyder comics, acting in some way as a sequel to those events, but you don’t need to have read the comic to understand anything that happens.

Batman: The Court of Owls gives readers a mystery story, one that relies more on Batman in the role of the ‘World’s Greatest Detective’ than martial artist vigilante. When an art professor at Gotham University is killed Batman discovers that the mysterious Court of Owls, a group of wealthy and powerful people that have controlled the city from behind the scenes for generations, is behind the brutal slaying. Investigating into why an elderly scholar would become the target of deadly assassins Batman discovers an even bigger mystery, one that involves a missing young woman and her research into an artist and his muse from the turn of the last century.

To say much about this central mystery would be unfair, as it’s a very well written story that deserved to go unspoiled, but it’s not what you expect. There were several moments throughout the book where you may imagine where the story is headed, but each time expectations are subverted. Unlike some mystery stories, which throw in twists that don’t quite work in order to surprise the reader, Batman: The Court of Owls is surprisingly consistent, with unexpected turns that work logically within the universe and don’t draw you out of the narrative.

Whilst the story centres on the mystery of the missing student, and explores the history of both Gotham and the Court of Owls, it also contains a lot of action. Utilising the deadly and highly trained Talons, the Court is able to dispatch foes that test Batman to his limit. In the comics these assassins were augmented by chemicals that meant their wounds healed almost instantly, and even allowed the Court to revive Talons from centuries past to fight for them once again. The Talon within this book is close to unstoppable thanks to these advances, which means that Batman has to fight harder, and dirtier, that we’re used to seeing.

With a central mystery that explores the history of Gotham, an adversary that pushes Batman and his allies to the limits, and a story that moves at a brisk pace and packs in dynamic action Batman: The Court of Owls is a faithful follow-up to the comics that still stands on its own as a fantastic adventure.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2×07 – ‘The Writing On The Wall’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

The mystery of the strange symbols being carved by both Agent Coulson (Clark Greg) and John Garrett (Bill Paxton) after being exposed to the alien derived chemical GH-325 final comes to a conclusion, and it’s a lot more surprising that first speculated. When a man covered in tattoos of these strange symbols goes on a killing spree, carving the same symbols into his victims the S.H.I.E.L.D. team discovers that Coulson and Garrett weren’t the only people to be exposed to the chemical, but several other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had too.

Using the Hydra memory machine Coulson is able to retrieve some of his hidden memories as the director of the T.A.H.I.T.I. project. It appears that a number of other agents that were killed in action were revived using GH-325, but after a short time began to express disturbing behaviour, including obsessively drawing the symbols. These agents eventually had their memories erased and were given new identities and civilian lives.

Now this is the kind of plot that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. does really well. A hunt for a serial killer with links to shady government dealings, that sheds light not only on one of the central mysteries of the season but the past of S.H.I.E.L.D., this is definitely the kind of thing that we could use more of.

We knew that Coulson was the director of the T.A.H.I.T.I. project, but getting to see more of what he did during this time, and the development of the technology is interesting. It also sheds more light onto the flashbacks we’ve already seen of Coulson going through the process after his death in Avengers Assemble, he wasn’t just asking to be killed because he was in pain, but because he knew that the process was going to cause serious psychological damage to him.

The revelation that the killer, Derick (Brian Van Holt), was once a dedicated agent who fell victim to this process also makes him somewhat sympathetic, and not just some deranged killer needing to be stopped. The final confrontation between him and Coulson is certainly makes for one of the more interesting and three-dimensional villains of the week.

Despite the fact that the episode doesn’t tell us exactly why those who have been exposed to GH-325 draw these symbols we get a surprisingly interesting reveal that it’s not something as expected as a language that needs translating, but a three-dimensional blueprint to a city. Not what viewers were expecting, and if you say you saw that coming you’re definitely making it up. Now that Coulson has been cured of his compulsion to draw these symbols the team gets to focus on something infinitely more exciting, racing Hydra to a hidden alien city. Definitely a step up on season one.

The episode also manages to squeeze in some more developments to the Ward (Bret Dalton) story, and actually makes it fun and engaging again after the previous episode almost bored me with it. Finally free and on the run some of the team are sent after Ward to try and recapture him, leading to a pretty cool sequence in a bus depot where Ward slyly reveals to Triplett (B.J. Britt) that he knows he’s being followed by flashing the C4 strapped to his chest.

With most other villains this would definitely be seen as something of a bluff, but after seeing how being incarcerated almost drove Ward to killing himself earlier in the season it’s definitely believable that he’d rather kill himself than go back, and it makes him a much more dangerous adversary. By the end of the episode Ward has managed to worm his way back into Hydra, betrays Sunil Bakshi (Simon Kassianides) to S.H.I.E.L.D., and is even preparing to get revenge on his brother.

Despite only being in a small portion of the episode it shows just how competent a villain he can be, and makes him more interesting than he’s been since his reveal as a Hydra agent back in season one. If Ward continues to be used this way for the rest of the season he’s sure to become one of the more interesting members of the cast.


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Marvel Action: Avengers #2 – Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Marvel Action: Avengers continues to tell the story of the brainwashed Tony Stark in it’s second issue, which begins to shed more light onto what the evil AIM (Advanced Ideas Mechanics) are up to.

With Iron Man missing his memories thanks to the evil organisation he’d been led to believe that he’s one of their agents, operating the stolen Iron Man suit. It’s interesting that Matthew Manning has decided to go with this idea, instead of the standard Avenger being turned evil plot that is often used in the comics.

Rather than simply being the hero turned bad it put both Stark and the rest of the team in an interesting position. The Avengers think that Tony has been kidnapped and that an AIM agent is operating his stolen suit, and Tony thinks the same, but that he’s the agent. Instead of a simple fight the bad version of the hero and snap him out of his brainwashing scenario the heroes don’t even know that they need to break the brainwashing because they don’t know it’s him. It’s a great twist on a fairly common trope.

We do get to see, however, that this brainwashing isn’t perfect, with Tony having flashes of his adventures as Iron Man coming and going. Whilst the AIM scientists try to make him think that this is just a byproduct of using the armour it starts to become clear to him by the end of the issue that it’s more than that. Perhaps this less than perfect mind control will allow the rest of the team to be able to snap Tony out of it by the end of the story arc.

The issue also introduces an old foe of the Avengers, who is now also under the control of AIM. The giant space dragon Fing Fang Foom. Whilst one of the most ridiculous characters that could have been chosen to be pit against the heroes it’s brilliant to see him flying into battle against them, and will certainly lead to an exciting fight in the third issue.

In the first issue the designs of the characters costumes bore some analysis, and whilst the second doesn’t introduce a load of new looks, Fing Fang Foom is essentially exactly the same, it does offer a couple of neat new looks. During one of Tony’s memory flashes we get to see an older version of Captain America, complete with his classic fish scale armour look, and gets an upgrade into the Advanced Iron Mechanic, the Iron Man armour with an AIM aesthetic over the top of it.

Marvel Action: Avengers continues to tell an interesting and engaging story, and whilst it doesn’t move events forward in huge ways this issue it does set the stage for a huge confrontation in the third issue, and fingers crossed a satisfying conclusion.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2×06 – ‘A Fractured House’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

When Hydra launch an assault on a United Nations meeting, having the attackers pose as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, members of the United States government make the former security organisation their prime target.  Thankfully for the team, Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) is able to recognise the frightening new weapons that they have used and they are able to track down the real attackers.

‘A Fractured House’ is the first real weak episode of season two. The reason for this, a focus on Grant Ward (Bret Dalton). Ward was definitely one of the weakest characters in the first season, only really becoming interesting when it was revealed that he was secretly working for Hydra. Sadly, now that Ward is a prisoner of S.H.I.E.L.D. he’s even more boring to watch than in the first season.

Whilst the revelation that the United States Senator that is pushing for a task force to hunt down S.H.I.E.L.D. is Christian Ward (Tim DeKay), the older brother of Grant Ward was fairly surprising it doesn’t feel like this was used to the best here. After meeting with Coulson (Clark Gregg) things begin to get complicated when we learn that there’s a possibility that Christian wasn’t the abusive older brother that Ward made him out to be during the first season, and that Ward was the one torturing their younger brother. The inter-cutting between two brothers telling their own versions of events is a well made scene, though.

Sadly, any mystery of what may have actually happened and who is telling the truth here seems to have been completely wiped away by the end of the episode, when Ward escapes from captivity whilst being transported to his brothers custody, killing his guards. This also squarely puts to end any possible notion that there may have been some kind of redemption story for him this season.

Whilst the Ward story is weak the rest of the episode remains fairly entertaining, with the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. main team doing their best to locate those behind the UN attack and bring them to justice. After the brief but entertaining introduction to Bobbi ‘Mockingbird’ Morse (Adrianne Palicki) it’s great to see her in action for real this episode, especially working alongside Agent May (Ming-Na Wen).

The action sequences are competent, but lack any real wow factor that the series has shown it is capable of in the past, yet don’t fall into the trap of feeling flat and by the numbers. It’s a good indication that whilst the show has managed to find it’s feet and how it wants to go about telling its stories it’s not being lazy in its execution.

This episode also sheds more light onto the mystery of why Simmons would walk out on Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) when he needed his best friend the most. It would have been easy for the series to say that she was ordered to by Coulson, to make it something completely out of her control, but instead they take the brave choice of having it be a major part of their relationship this season. Fitz was getting worse with her around.

It’s something of a cliche for television shows to keep characters in love apart, and most come up with some pretty poor excuses to do so, but this one feels a lot more genuine. Simmons cares for Fitz deeply, but was presented with the revelation that being around him was helping to destroy his already damaged mind. She had to make the choice to hurt them both by leaving in order that he could one day be himself again. Whilst this was a huge sacrifice on her part it definitely leads to major baggage for the two of them to work through over the rest of the season.

Whilst the episode manages to move the plot and character arcs forward in organic and interesting ways the overall focus feels too clustered, and the inclusion of the heavy Ward elements drags at times. At least with Ward now out of S.H.I.E.L.D. custody there’s a chance that he might be able to do something interesting this season.


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