In a recent interview with IGN, Joss Whedon spoke of how the Agents of Shield series complicates the MCU as a whole. No, not just because Coulson wouldn’t stay dead on him, but all the required juggling of keeping certain Marvel elements are set aside for various films while letting the show explore others without making things to confusing for either TV or film audiences. The TV and film Universes don’t always want to exist, but despite their growing pains, they will always benefit from acknowledging each other. This was firmly proven with last season’s Winter Soldier after effects in Agents of Shield, and now as a new Avengers movie dawns the film, and TV worlds look to be having further effects on each other. Just like before, the results are benefitting us all as Agents starts expanding on areas Age of Ultron rather skipped over for a great tie-in, but more importantly, a great episode in itself.
The Dirty Half Dozen – With Lincoln and Deathlok captured, Coulson reassembles the original Shield team line-up in a daring raid on Hydra’s arctic facility. After everything that’s happened to them, can they still work together like old times? Meanwhile, in Afterlife, Cal warns Jiaying about trusting Reina and her new clairvoyant abilities.
Have no fear of spoilers, for this episode carries none. If anything, it forms a prequel comic to the film, ending almost exactly where the film begins as we see Hydra’s penultimate research facility is taken out by Shield before the whereabouts of a certain glow stick of destiny and Baron Von Strucker are discovered. There’s many other great MCU links as well, mostly coming from seeing Lincoln and Deathlok as subjects of Hydra’s enhanced experimentations. “The Twins” are referenced, and our inhuman/cyborg duo even reside in the same adjoining glass cells that were glimpsed in the Winter Soldier post-credits scene housing the fats and weird pair. It all does a great job of bringing the series back into the bigger picture and connecting it to the Avengers, but the real fun here is comparable themes between the Avengers and the Shield team. In the same idea of the film reuniting Earth’s mightiest heroes for the greater good, so to do many of Shield put aside their differences for the bigger threat they face. Coulson and Gonzales reunite, and though they still lack a shared vision, they do reach a mutual understanding of necessity, and so the two Shield factions become one once more. While it might have been nice to keep the divide going, this new development seems just as satisfying by bringing everybody under one roof but still harbouring factions. Coulson and Gonzales still appear to have opposing views on the treatment of powered/enhanced individuals and the importance of voting on everything that will still provide plenty of internal conflict. The house reunited setup also provides some good moments of character reconciliation, the best of which is between Hunter and Mack; as much as the big guy wants to pour his heart out, Hunter’s simple understanding of the “tough call” job requirements is well written and nicely in character for both.
The real payoff though is the dirty half dozen themselves. With Ward back onboard, the season one gang are all back on The Bus together for the first time in over a year, complete with Ward’s reunion observation, “This is great, we finally got the team back together”. The scenes that follow are a wonderful mixture long absent character chemistry, good emotional exploration of Ward’s betrayal, and great complimenting humour. The cast really sell the reunion vibes and Brett Dalton’s Ward is an enjoyable stand out. As he speaks genuinely of his regrets, you can’t help feel for the guy, “We were a team and a family and you betrayed us.... I know, that’s what I regret the most”. His many weeks of moping in a prison cell early in the season stank of overly forced character redemption, yet here, writers Brent Fletcher & Drew Z. Greenberg do more for his character than the rest of the season combined. Of all the group reactions to Ward, the much darker Simmons arc is by far the most rewarding. It’s another great example of how the mid-season finale events permanently changed her character. After seeing her enemies cross the line, she’s no longer afraid to follow them into more drastic actions.
As much this episode plays on the show’s history, it makes one hell of an impressive introduction of the new and improved action Skye (the greatest hero of them all?). Seeing her utilise her powers in a combat capacity was cool but her subsequent single shot action sequence is an awesome bomb out of nowhere! Particularly for its use of precision pistol usage, it feels very much like a homage to Keanu Reeves recent arse kicking delight, John Wick, but you could also throw in some comparison’s for Daredevil’s similar long -lowing action sequences. Either way, it’s one of the best action moments this season, and it affirms Skye as a badass. The Inhumans supporting scenes aren’t detrimental but less enjoyable by comparison to the main story. It’s great to see Reina getting her swagger back as her newly-found abilities become a point of influence along with Cal’s warning of her manipulation. It doesn’t bode well for the growing Reina/Skye rivalry and should see the two heading into direct contact for the season finale.
This dirty half dozen makes a clean getaway as the best Agents of Shield episode since its March return, and if it can hold this kind of form, it will definitely be bowing out on a high note this summer. It will be interesting to see whether or not the Age of Ultron parallels continue for the rest of the season (i.e. does the film take place between episodes 19 and 20 or alongside the remaining episodes?). For now though, those questions can wait as we enjoy Shield’s most theatrical episode to date. It’s enough to warrant shawarma.