‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Episode 2.1 “Shadows” (7 out of 10) Created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen; Starring Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennet, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton; Tuesdays on ABC.
A lot has happened with our ragtag agents of the organization formerly known as SHIELD. Coulson’s trying to sort the loyal SHIELD agents from the HYDRA impostors, Skye’s been promoted to badass field agent status, and that blasphemous Agent Ward has grown a manky old beard while in solitary confinement. My reviews tend to get a bit spoilery, so ye be warned.
Is That…
It is! It’s Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell)! A nicely-crafted prologue takes us back to post WWII Germany where the remnants of the Red Skull’s HYDRA forces are geeking out about an artifact called the Obelisk–until Agent Carter shows up with two of Captain America’s Howling Commandos to break up their mustache-twisting. I doubt this is the last we’ve seen of the Obelisk this season, however. It’s always cool to see “Agents of SHIELD” tie back to the film franchises, and this scene has a big-budget quality that was a decent way to kick off the second season.
The Playground
When we last saw our heroes, they were lying low in a super-secret SHIELD installation known as the Playground. It’s been overseen by Billy Koenig (Patton Oswalt), twin brother to the late Eric Koenig who got killed by that damn Agent Ward. The episode does a nice job of showing us how certain members of the team have changed since the first season. Most notably would be the fact that Skye (Chloe Bennet) is no longer confined to the “everybody’s little sister” archetype. She’s rappelling, she’s capping hostiles, and she’s no longer confined to the computer lab. This is something that should have happened to Skye much earlier on. Not only does it make her more likable, but it makes us think that she’s toughening up for the inevitable confrontation with her father and her mysterious history.
Though Skye’s transformation is arguably the most evident, it’s easy to see that the whole team has adapted to their new roles as guerilla do-gooders. Everyone seems to have changed for the better—except Fitz the nerd. During the season one finale, Fitz sustained some light brain damage, which has become a bit of a deal-breaker for his career as a SHIELD scientist—he’s been forgetting words and is given to bouts of creepy skulking. Fitz’s inferiority complex didn’t really add much to the episode, except for an explanation as to why the team needed a cloaking device. Even with a bit of a twist at the end, which I will not spoil, I’m hoping that they find something better to do with this guy.
As SHIELD is a bit shorthanded, Coulson has resorted to recruiting a team of mercenaries led by Isabelle Hartly (Lucy Lawless). These hired guns presented an interesting contrast to the uppity discipline that the former SHIELD agents are used to, but there could have been a bit more butting of heads. It was evident that Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) was cast as the mercs’ resident a-hole, but he wasn’t a-hole enough to be interesting.
Absorbent and Yellow and Porous is He
In my past reviews, I’ve mentioned how much I love it when “Agents of SHIELD” digs deep into the Marvel canon and throws some lesser-known characters our way. The addition of Deathlok made me think of all the weird characters that belong to the Marvel universe, and how many of them desperately needed to be on a TV show. Tonight’s episode introduced Carl Creel (Brian Patrick Wade), who some might know as…the Absorbing Man! Delving a bit deeper into his character page on the Marvel wiki, we learn that Loki was the one who gave Creel the ability to make his body assume the properties of anything he touched. Whether or not they’ll go that route on the show is up for speculation, but the fact that he didn’t die at the end of the episode is a good indicator that the showrunners have more plans for him.
Verdict
One episode in, and the show has already surpassed the majority of season one. After the fall of SHIELD in “Captain America 2,” the world of “Agents of SHIELD” has become a playground in and of itself. The showrunners have this big ol’ sandbox to play in—and it’s a sandbox that could potentially supplement and strengthen Marvel’s film franchise through tie-ins and guest appearances. Tonight’s episode felt like a step in that direction.