‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Episode 2.4 “I Will Face My Enemy” (8 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.
There were a few moments during the first season of “Agents of SHIELD” in which some surprisingly punchy bits of humor came out of nowhere, and I really liked when that happened. Tonight’s episode was full of that kind of writing—the type of dialogue that feels like the world of SHIELD is still a part of the Whedonverse. Beware of incoming spoilers.
Coulson and May Undercover
When SHIELD gets wind of a painting that has been scrawled with that bizarre Morse code that both Coulson and Garrett had on the brain, they decide to infiltrate a high-class benefit in an effort to secure and study the artifact. As Coulson and May have experience doing undercover work, they take on the mission—and it’s lovely. For the most part, Coulson and May don’t have much chemistry together. So many of their scenes consist of little more than a scowl-off, but something clicks when they work together as undercover spies. It’s nice to see them shed their shell of authority and do some actual fieldwork together.
Not only did their infiltration of the benefit result in some great comedic moments, but it also set the tone for a bit of lightheartedness with the rest of the crew. Back on the Bus, the team takes some time to discuss the battle scars that their exes have left them. It’s newcomers Hunter (Nick Blood) and Mac (Henry Simmons) who steal the show during these moments—whoever decided on throwing some roguishly good-looking mercs-for-hire deserves a promotion. Ever since their introduction, they’ve injected some Han Solo-esque attitude into SHIELD’s typically prim and proper atmosphere, and it’s working very well so far.
While the team banters about their fractured love lives, Fitz hovers on the outskirts like an insecure black raincloud. Fake Jemma pops in every now and then to encourage him to be more social, but Fitz’s lack of confidence is turning him into the odd man out. It’s fortunate that the narrative evolved to feature Fitz saving everybody’s asses, thus providing an opening for him to insert himself into their group—lonely, self-hating Fitz was starting to get on my nerves.
May vs. May
At first, when we see General Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) communicating with HYDRA, it’s a bit of a well-played shock—but the reality of the situation is that HYDRA is packing the same facial reconstruction technology as the folks from “Mission: Impossible.” The plot thickens when a female HYDRA agent impersonates Agent May and infiltrates the Bus. Coulson figures this out pretty quickly, punching her in the face when she accepts his invitation to grab coffee sometime, since May hates coffee. These fisticuffs lead to a memorable brawl between the real Agent May and the impostor, which is one of the best fights that I’ve seen on TV. The fight had great choreography, and I liked that May utilized some of the same moves that were in Black Widow’s repertoire. Oh, and since fake Agent May had to take real Agent May’s party dress to pull off the disguise, real Agent May was fighting in a silky negligee—which did not suck to watch.
Verdict
Tonally, tonight’s episode was exactly what “Agents of SHIELD” needs to shoot for. There was no shortage of action and spy intrigue, but the writing needs to leave room for some witty dialogue. That’s what makes the Marvel movies work, and it’s not hurting anything here. The overarching story with the alien writing and Coulson’s possible insanity seem a bit too far off on the horizon to be drawing much attention, though with the reintroduction of Raina and the Obelisk, perhaps the story will start to veer in that direction.