The Most Epic Fantasy and Sci-Fi Website

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "S3E19 Failed Experiment" - Review: Daisy's dielema


Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D"S3E19 Failed Experiment" - Review: Daisy's dielema
9 out of 10

Failed Experiments – Hive sets Dr. Radcliffe working on ways to turn any and all humans into Inhumans to join Hive’s collective while Daisy struggles to let go of her feelings for S.H.I.E.L.D. and her old friends. Lincoln and Mack take drastic measures to get Daisy back before some unforeseen guests crash the party.

You have to hand it to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. This Hive-controlled Daisy arc has turned out to be a lot more interesting than expected. Rather than just giving us a routine zom-Daisy, under complete powerless control, she has some elements of free will and that though Hive can manipulate her feelings, he cannot suppress them. This puts Daisy in a fascinating position of believing in Hive but not identifying Shield as being evil despite what Hive or any of his lackeys say. It’s a nice representation of the deepest bonds being the hardest to break and much of the episode centers around Daisy’s belief being stressed to that eventual breaking point sending her fully over to the dark side. There’s some great gradual teasing throughout the episode as Hive places the triggers within Daisy’s subconscious over Shield being a destructive and reckless force and waits for the Agents themselves to set them off as they try to save her. Daisy’s climatic turn is an incredible sequence as Mack makes one last effort to reach her. We already know that Mack is about 90% heart under that big chest of his and here it’s pounding like a subwoofer as appeals to Daisy like a big brother. It’s terrific stuff from both Henry Simmons and Chloe Bennett and as the pair come to blows it has shades of Cap & Bucky in the climax of Winter Soldier. The whole storyline is a great puts Daisy in an ideal position for redemption come the finale.

The Hive back story comes with a lot of intrigue. The primitive flashback boasts some excellent visuals and the whole tone is oddly creepy as Bret Dalton’s soft tones narrate over the mildly graphic images of the experimentation. It oddly conjures images of Dr Manhattan from Watchmen telling of his origin story. This is also followed up well when it impacts on the later events as places more meaning and emotion on particular fight scenes. The episode theme of experimentation forms an interesting parallel between Hive and Shield. While Hive works on his dangerous experiments so do Shield in the hope of finding a Hive infection cure. As the same time, it also showcases the difference between them in how such tests are carried out. While Coulson forbids live-testing for the danger despite Lincoln’s willingness, we see Hive forcing his experiment on Hydra members despite their unwillingness. The Lincoln vaccine arc is sadly the weak point of the episode as it turns him into little more than a plot device and much of what transpires is far too obvious to carry enough impact. Though a particular effects shot is rather awesome. Thankfully, the Shield experiments are also where we find Fitz and Simmons this week, who do not disappoint as they bring in some good comic relief over separating work arguments from their relationship. They’re early “who had it worse” argument over last week’s confrontations is also delightful; especially from Simmons, “I had to shoot him 3 times just to make him shut up”.

Just as last week formed Team Hive, so does this episode give him a master plan as Shield continues to inch towards its finale with good purpose (one episode next week then a two part finale on May 17th). It’s an episode with great action and scattered with gem moments like Coulson’s still montage or May’s fan girling routine over Hellfire. Whenever a new Marvel film comes along (Civil War will blow you away!) it’s always welcome to see its TV counterparts producing the goods. This is already by Shield’s best season to date and despite some initial reactions; this show was not a failed experiment.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Anime and Reviews page.