So after an inhumanly long winter break, we’re raising the shields once more as Coulson and company return to our screens. Yet through no fault of their own, they find themselves, more than any time this season, under pressure to deliver thanks to the unprecedented success of their little sister Agent Carter. Many described the plucky little 40's series as the show Shield should have been all along and while they certainly have points let’s not write off the big brother until its had a fair chance to rebuttal. For let’s not forget Shield left us on a hell of an earth shaking ending last December, and this week we’re feeling the aftershocks.
Aftershocks - Following the events of San Juan Skye is in quarantine with the rest of the team unaware of her transformation but the discovery of Raina’s vastly altered appearance leads them to question he she has become. Meanwhile, now Whitehall’s dead Coulson presses the attack on Hydra before they can rally.
So the main idea circulating this week is that “change is terrifying” and it’s not just those that were inside the temple that are going through it. In fact all though Skye is a main focus in many ways her change is the least dramatic shown. That unexpected title goes to Mack who is following his unknown possession by the underground city has had a complete character shift. He drops his warm and approachable persona in favour of a rash, and aggressively confrontational figure as lashes out at Coulson and the others over their actions, blaming their drive for alien knowledge as a root of all evil that befell them. Henry Simmons became an unexpected asset to the show’s cast last year through his relationship with a battered and broken Fitz. Here, we see that brilliantly reversed as Fitz returns the favour; showing the same patience and support he’s received to Mack’s emotional trauma of being losing control and hurting those he cared about. Fitz and actually a curious pre-cursor for much that now transpires as his difficult journey of accepting and rehabilitating from his permanent brain damage places in the ideal position to understand and help both Mack and more crucially Skye. His return to almost his former self sets up a clear finish line for her coming to terms with her new found powers and by his surprise decision to lie to Simmons and the rest about Skye’s transformation (following their Raina induced fears) and keep it a secret provides the emotional and scientific support required to setup her ascension/discover plotline in a realistic and audience understandable manor. Just as Fitz learns the sciencey science explanations for Skye’s Quake abilities so will we and as she learns the scope of her powers so to we come to terms with them. You could almost call it an Inhuman “Secret World of Alex MacK” storyline as Fitz even name drops the big I-word. Speaking of inhumans, the episode opening introduction into to their society was stunning on every level as we see a young terrified version of Gordon (who looks like a variant on the comics Reader character) dealing with both losing his eyesight and gaining teleportation. Seriously, take a moment to think how much that would screw your head up! It also portrays the idea of being guided through your regenesis and even shows Skye’s deceased mother as Yoda like training figure through the centuries. The ideas of how difficult an unguided adjustment can be echo nicely through Raina’s horror at her new thorny look and Calvin/daddy Skye’s delight at using this for another chance at re-bonding with his daughter. Raina’s power envy vendetta sets up as a nice nemesis for Skye too and how freaking awesome was The Reader’s “hail Mary” save of her at the end? It looks like Raina will be used to further introduce the Inhuman characters and society and possibly even lead a Mystique style team in vengeance against Skye.
The ongoing war on Hydra takes a very surprising turn this week thanks largely to one major name drop; Baron Von Strucker, mentioned several times by the gathering of Hydra bigwigs looking into replace Daniel Whitehall. Yet in fact in looks like we may finally be seeing Strucker’s Winter Solider post-credits scene in action as infamously proclaimed “we’ll feed them the other Hydra cells to keep them off our scent” which exactly what feels is happening here. Shield is fed an apparent victory of Hydra eating its own heads in brilliant “execute order 66” sequence featuring what looks like a weaponised form of The Diviner’s power. It begs the serious question of could we in fact be seeing the shock death of Hydra in favour of a new evil helmed by Strucker (hopefully this will see Thomas Kretschmann feature on the show!) that could have some very direct links into his part in the upcoming Age of Ultron. This Hydra story in episode must also be applauded for its excellent theatricality setup as Hunter is positioned as an inside man for the captured Hydra agent Bachi. It’s a great action and stunt sequence with truck slamming the car through the warehouse and some enjoyable badass moves from May. Her and Coulson’s acting feedback moment afterwards gets a great laugh “If I let you write the script no-one would say anything”.
There’s also a nice side note going on more details on Bobbi and Mack’s secret. Though Hunter appears to be fooled by the support group cover up, something tells me he isn’t convinced. Then the final Trojan Lola play reveals they’re after the “toolbox” that Nick Fury gave to Coulson. It’s an ideal teaser from an opener creating a great what but leaving a tantalising why. Simmons also does well this episode as her takes on a slightly darker role voicing the possibility of more severe action in the event of an outbreak. Her breakdown scene with Skye really hits home as she blames herself and fellow scientists for everything bad that’s been happening to the world “The Avengers wouldn’t be necessary if we hadn’t unleashed alien horrors”. Finally, Coulson’s visit to Trip’s mother is brief but it’s so touching it barely leaves a dry eye in the house.
Agents of Shield has come back strong doing exactly what it needed to do. It’s presented its finale bombshells as the gateway to new stories and new worlds. It’s shown it’s not afraid to take risks and completely shake up many established factors. Where will it take the Inhumans? What will happen to Hydra? How will Ward and Agent 33 fit into everything? It reminds us that Agents has broken away from its floundering season 1 to become a must watch show for genre fans. It’s a different show now and there’s nothing wrong with that.