Anghus Houvouras reviews the sixteenth episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (warning: here be spoilers)….
We all know the strategy: Marvel is putting the pedal to the metal and trying to ratchet up the tension on their oft maligned, extremely polarizing series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. The latest episode ‘End of the Beginning’ is unlikely to pull anyone from the fence or create any converts. It has all the elements that makes the show such a love/hate affair for fans of the Marvel brand.
Coulson has gotten a hot spur is his saddle to track down the Big Bad of season one, the Clairvoyant who always seems one step ahead of our easily duped S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. A plan is hatched to try and root out the psychic villain who may or may not be someone they are already familiar with and catalogged in their super powered index. Additional high ranking agents are brought in including Bill Paxton’s Agent Garrett to help track down this growing threat. The only thing standing in the way of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Clairvoyant is the cybernetic Deathlok who is growing more unstable and powerful with every subsequent upgrade. The crew also discover’s Agent May’s secret phone line and questions about her loyalty quickly arise.
The Good:
Deathlok! I like where they’re going with Deathlok. The character is becoming more interesting as J. August Richards devolves into a robotic Frankenstein’s monster. With all these different characters on the show, Deathlok has the most interesting and tragic arc. Too bad he gets the least amount of screen time.
Conspiracy! The idea that everyone on Coulson’s team is not on the level and alleigances are up for grabs may be the most interesting thing that happened on the plane all season. By the end of the episode, Coulson doesn’t know who to trust. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a much more interesting show when it’s indulging the cloak and dagger tropes.
Sitwell and Garrett are back! Nice to see a variety of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents working with Coulson. The show is rightfully criticized for making S.H.I.E.L.D. feel kind of scrawny and insular. The junior agents are nowhere near as interesting as the senior staff.
Winter Soldier references! We get a couple of tiny connections to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. We don’t need every episode to be a major production, but its nice when these world’s briefly intertwine.
The Bad & The Ugly:
Skye.
It’s tough to defend the most glaring sore thumb of this series. Skye has been a sticking point for a lot of people, and rather than minimize her role or find a way to make her fit properly into the ensemble. But they keep wasting time on her like she’s the center of this universe. There have turned Skye into Bella from Twilight. Countless scenes where everyone (mostly Coulson and Ward) declare how special she is and how she is somehow the warm glowy light that the rest of the world huddles around. These scenes are just so difficult and awkward. Skye finally becomes an official S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and everyone gathers around to declare her the most succulent peach in the patch. Then at the end of the episode when the mysterious Clairvoyant is confronted, he threatens Skey prompting Ward to abandon his principles and murder him in cold blood. And we’re supposed to buy into the logic that it’s all because he was concerned about what could happen to Skye. I’m half convinced Skye’s super power is grinding the plot to a screeching halt.
The show has made so many good strides as it continues to course correct, but the show might not be able to purify the toxic presence of it’s most ailing character.
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 April 2, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
