Anghus Houvouras reviews the twentieth episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D…
I’m still trying to convert the haters. The ones that gave up on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. after its wildly uneven first half of the season. Episode 20, “Nothing Personal” is another fantastic episode for a series that has been bordering on greatness since the reveal that Coulson was resurrected via dead alien DNA a few episodes back. The Uprising arc has proven just how much fun the show can be when firing on all cylinders.
Things are bad for the few remaining Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Hydra has leveled the agency and reduced it to ashes. Agent Ward has shown his true colors, revealed to be a villainous traitor working for the Clairvoyant. He’s desperate to break into an encrypted hard drive that holds the secrets to Coulson and Skye’s resurrection protocols. Tonight’s episode brings some new complications to an already messy situation.
Colonel Glenn Talbot is hunting down the agents with the help of Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) who has decided to turn agency secrets over to the Government in exchange for her freedom. That means Talbot and some special forces troops rolling up on the secret Providence base where they had holed up. Meanwhile, Agent May is digging up some old dirt on the T.A.H.I.T.I. project trying to figure out what Director Fury was up to.
The show seems to be working well because of a few things and most of the positives from last week’s excellent episode have carried over. There’s a lot more tension in the proceedings. The stakes are significantly higher. The Agents are far more interesting when the chip are down and they’re forced to work smarter. I like the entire ensemble far better as rogues on the run. The show feels far more engaging with multiple overlapping narratives. The newer episodes feel motivated and extremely well paced.
It doesn’t all work. Some of the attempts at big screen action thrills have that cheapy low-rent TV feel. In spite of the tie-ins to the latest Marvel movies, there’s still a very detached feeling to the happenings. Seeing Maria Hill helped a little, but everything still feels like a Marvel microcosm. I’m also a little disappointed in the aftermath of the Clairvoyant reveal. He was a far more threatening when we knew very little about him. Ward’s transformation from hero to heel has been satisfying, and I’ve come to terms with this toothless television version of Deathlok (but frankly he needs to do more ass kicking and less talking).
In spite of the usual minor criticisms, “Nothing Personal” was an entertaining episode with some good moments. The final scene revealing the person responsible for the T.A.H.I.T.I. project was a nice moment adding another cryptic layer to a show that has found its footing in the fourth quarter.
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 30, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
