Anghus Houvouras reviews the seventeenth episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D….
Fellow FM contributor Anthony Stokes recently postulated that Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t deserve a second season. The show is polarizing to fans. Some love it’s earnest awkwardness and lo-fi approach to the Marvel Universe. While others think it’s a lumbering, poorly written, ill conceived attempt at exporting the franchise to television and is in desperate need of a mercy killing.
I’m still a fan of a show and perhaps it’s most stalwart defender in the online community. Last night’s episode ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ is a great stumping point for why I like the show and why I think it deserves a second season.
This was by far the most entertaining episode of the season for several reasons. The primary one being the amount of thrills and turns the episode contained. This was a roller coaster ride from start to finish taking the events of Winter Soldier and creating a lot of tension around which S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were actually serving Hydra. I found myself amused by the thought of people watching this episode who hadn’t yet seen the latest Captain America film (shame on you if you haven’t, it’s freaking awesome). The entire episode is based upon the knowledge that Hydra had buried itself deep within S.H.I.E.L.D.’s ranks and is now rearing it’s heads. Without it, this whole episode would be difficult to follow.
Trust becomes a major concern, not just for Coulson who learns that Agent Melinda May has been secretly reporting on his team to an unknown party. She claims she’s been communicating with Nick Fury, but Coulson is finding that pill hard to swallow. Allegiances are questioned as Coulson believes Veronica Hand is actually the Clairvoyant AND may be serving the evil forces of Hydra.
‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ sets a new normal for the series. S.H.I.E.L.D. is broken. Hydra is making a power play. This is the kind of cloak and dagger war we’ve been waiting for. Coulson and Company are no longer playing nice. This is war, and they will react accordingly.
There’s a couple of big ‘what the hell’ moments. The Clairvoyant is revealed. We finally learn the identity of the mole in an epic and brutal fashion. This was the high point for the series. For a moment it felt like the TV show and the movie world could interact symbiotically. At the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we know that Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. are now battling for control. We can watch that play out each week with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The stakes have been raised. Things are about to get interesting.
I think Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. deserves a second season. The show has not always been perfect. Sometimes it’s been far the opposite of perfect, but I think the pieces are all there. There are any number of shows that dealt with awkward first seasons and eventually found their rhythm. Go back and watch the first season of shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Family Guy, Seinfeld, Sex and the City, or The Simpsons. These were not great shows, but they were able to get their footing and eventually turn into something significantly better.
Unfortunately in this era of instant gratification and infinite entertainment, no one can be satisfied with imperfection. I think Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been an interesting experiment and I’m invested enough to hopefully see where it goes in the second season.
Here’s hoping…
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 April 9, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
