Anghus Houvouras reviews the fifteenth episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D….
Coulson’s trying to figure out the origins of the alien being whose blood is coursing through his veins. A rogue Asgardian Sorceress is being tracked down by one of Thor’s noble warrior friends. And on top of that, there’s a mole on the team who is keeping tabs on them.
Isn’t this exactly the kind of show you wanted when Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. started last year?
It’s amazing how much fun is to watch when the show is firing on all cylinders, which happens about 47% of the time. The last few episodes have been markedly more interesting than the uneven batch that made of the first half of the season. There’s that grand sense of Marvel coolness pulsing through each episode. The last episode we got blue skinned aliens and Bill Paxton to bring some chutzpah to the proceedings. This week it’s Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) who shows up on Earth to track down the treacherous man-manipulating sorceress Lorelei.
With S.H.I.E.L.D. acting as the welcome wagon, they help Sif track down the escaped spell weaver. It turns out to be easier said than done. Lorelei gets Agent Ward under her spell and the pair go on the offensive invading the team’s base of operations and catching them off guard. Lady Sif gets ejected at 30,000 feet and the male Agents become putty in Lorelei’s hands. It’s up to the women to save the day, which feels SO Whedon it’s not even funny.
“Yes Men” is a superbly entertaining episode, mainly because it allows the show to get grand. By now we are all aware how well this show works when they open the spicket all the way and let the craziness of the Marvel Universe flow in. “Yes Men” gives us a connection to Thor, provides a villain that is not only otherworldly but a real potential threat, and starts to reveal a Coulson who is slowly becoming unhinged. We also learn that one of the crew members is keeping tabs on Coulson and may not be on the up and up. This is the kind of layering this show has been in desperate need of. Not every show has to have a House of Cards level of manipulation and shenanigans, but for a show about secret agents in the Marvel Universe, this show has been lacking any real cloak and dagger moments.
It’s also been lacking Cloak & Dagger, but that feels like an unrelated argument.
“Yes Men” is the road Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. should be travelling. Blending the real world perspective of S.H.I.E.L.D. with the super powered comic book thrills that Marvel has an infinite supply of. Let’s hope this momentum builds.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the novel My Career Suicide Note, is available from Amazon.
Originally published March 13, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
