There’s often a point where things just come together. While a few things are great from the start, more often the people and factors involved take time to find their balance. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. finally showed signs of that just before Christmas when the idea of the Secret Warriors came together at last. This wasn’t just what the season should have been; it's what the should have been from the start, the right blend of spy and superpower adventures. Now as the show returns after letting Agent Carter have her time in the spotlight, this only feels more compounded. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is stronger now than it has ever been and with season 4 now confirmed and the Bobbi/Hunter spin off Marvel’s Most Wanted pressing ahead, it seems those behind the scenes are well aware that their progeny is blossoming.
Bouncing Back – As Gideon Mallick nurses the new entity inside Grant Ward, Coulson is more determined than ever to hunt him down. Meanwhile, the team investigates a suspicious weapons robbery in Bogota Columbia and encounters so new Inhumans in the process.
So S.H.I.E.L.D. comes back from break with one clear message: Secret Warriors assemble. Not just in terms of a powers-based field team; it's the entire approach of the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization as spelled out brilliantly in an early meeting between Coulson and the MCU return of William Sadler’s President Ellis (From Iron Man 3). It’s a great exchange as it redefines the relations between S.H.I.E.L.D. and government while making great considerations to the bigger MCU picture. Ellis rightly states that he cannot make S.H.I.E.L.D. public again because people still remember the events of The Winter Soldier. So instead, we have a relationship of secret cooperation which suits everyone’s needs, “Okay then, we’ll keep doing what we do and you’ll keep pretending that we don’t exist”. Then of course, there is the Secret Warriors team themselves, who following their first field deployment at Maveth are now a functioning part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations (here in Bogota, continuing the Winter Solider references). There’s some great comedy driven by Mack and Hunter about unbalanced playing field of being the regular Joe’s going up against the enhanced. Hunter even gets the best laugh of the episode when confessing to trying the fish pills in the hope of getting superpowers, “I had my fingers crossed for X-ray vision”. It’s great to see the show having some fun with its characters like that. Joey’s mildly nervous new guy routine also continues to be enjoyable.
In what looks likely to be a continuing theme for coming episodes, we see the Inhuman ranks swelling on both sides of the conflict. The biggest introduction is Yo-Yo Rodriguez, AKA Slingshot, one of the original comics team members alongside Daisy Johnson/Quake. The episode takes the classic and effective approach to a new character by initially playing with her alignment before placing her on a team. It also presents her as someone more actively using their new found abilities in pledging the progressing time frame of Terrogenesis event. Whereas before, most encountered new Inhumans would be hiding themselves away; now, we are starting to see more actively using their powers within society. Slingshot’s yo-yo like speed is well represented in slow-mo visual effects and easily explained via her heartbeat limitations. The highlight of the episode comes as she joins the team for their final act mission and immediately seems to gel within them as a missing link. In particular, we get some great combo teamwork with Daisy. This is exactly what we want from the Secret Warriors. We don’t want just a set of cool individuals. We want to see a team becoming greater than the sum of their parts (like Legends of Tomorrow is currently delivering). The conclusion creates a surprising but interesting dynamic within the team as Slingshot becomes a card-carrying team member but stays within Columbia. While this could be seen as a narrative dodge, it actually creates the best setup for the show. The biggest problem Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has is its vastly overcrowded character base (we love them all... but some need to leave or get killed). So rather than trying to keep a bunch of new Inhumans involved in the story each week, making most of them “field warriors” allows each to dip in and out of the story when required.
The new Grant Ward/Hydra story is really just getting started this week, but gets points for creepiness and a big high five for Brett Dalton. His almost skeletal appearance is utterly unnerving and his slow calculated dialogue really makes the differentiation between Grant Ward and this new entity (not revealed in the episode but confirmed as Hive). His confidence in a clear state of weakness makes him feel imposing and really builds anticipation for future episodes. Speaking of future episodes a mention must go out to the opening “3 months from now” sequence. The timeframe is clearly intended as the season finale which looks like it will have some form of space element to it. The sequence is undoubtedly the inside of a Quinjet in zero gravity. We see a shield arm patch on what looks like Daisy’s uniform and the same cross worn by Slingshot earlier in the episode. Is S.H.I.E.L.D. calling its shots for an otherwordly world finale?
Coulson and crew are back and reminding us all why they deserve to be taken seriously. It delivers thrilling action, great comedy and all propelled a superb base of characters. This is less bouncing back and more leaping forward.