Anghus Houvouras reviews the second episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2….
If there’s one thing the second season of S.H.I.E.L.D. has over the first, it’s momentum. The show seems hell bent on not stalling which means things have to keep moving even if it doesn’t always seem like they know where they’re going.
I’ve gotten a bad rap recently for bagging on the awful, awful Gotham series while approaching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with kid gloves. For me, they are two entirely different shows. Gotham is striving for grit and misses the mark by a lot. It is also mucking with the continuity to a point of ludicrousness I haven’t seen since, well, the awful Birds of Prey show from the 2000’s.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has always been a Saturday Morning serial. A show that is about flying cars, freeze guns, and alien goo used to resurrect the dead. I don’t like to get into words like ‘better’ when comparing two comic adaptations, especially ones that are pursuing two very diverse goals. I will say that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is far superior at achieving its goals, even if they are far less complex.
The second episode “Heavy is the Head” picks up right where the season premiere left off. Carl Creel aka The Absorbing Man is making off with an obelisk of unknown origin (an ‘084’) and in pursuit is Agent Melinda May. Coulson has lost several agents because of his costly plan, but in trade he has gotten his hands on a Quinjet with cloaking technology that will allow him to negotiate the grey area he and his team now inhabit. This obelisk is being pursued by S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, and a mysterious third-party and there are obvious connections to it and the mysterious symbols Coulson has been carving into stone.
Like last week’s episode, this one shows significant improvements over last season. Better pacing, better character interplay, and far more instant gratification. The set up has become far less important than the payoff. Agent Hunter lost some friends at the end of last week’s episode, and its only a matter of minutes before he goes from S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, to double-agent(working for Talbot), and back to S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent again while trying to exact revenge on the Absorbing Man. There is no time for nuance here. This is all about setting a brisk pace and keeping it up.
Iain De Castestecker continues to be the highlight of the performers, with his fragile mental state becoming even more questionable. Like Coulson, it’s nice to see a character actually struggling with something. This entire concept works so much better with everyone behind the eight ball, dealing with increasing layers of stress, being pushed to the breaking point and hearing the beams starting to crack.
The episode also benefits from one of the best Coulson scenes of the entire series during a standoff with Colonel Talbot that turns into ‘I’ll show you mine’ moment. Turns out Coulson’s ‘brass ones’ might be a little bigger than Talbots.
“Heavy is the Head” is another fun little yarn as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. finally seems comfortable being Marvel’s little easter egg of a TV show.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the novel My Career Suicide Note, is available from Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published October 2, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
