After A Hiatus, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Is "Bouncing Back" With Inhumans And HYDRA!

The Good: Good plot development, Pacing, The few moments of character
The Bad: No outstanding performances, Exceptionally light on character development
The Basics: Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns with "Bouncing Back" and the episode moves the series in a somewhat new direction while clearly acting as a small part in a much larger serialized narrative.


When it comes to Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., I was surprised by how excited I was for the third season's mid-season premiere. While the third season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. was on winter hiatus, I had the option to watch and review Agent Carter and I let that opportunity pass. The Marvel Television Universe has been decidedly mixed and Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been given a difficult task of balancing being its own thing and advancing the Marvel Cinematic Universe in between the major blockbuster releases. The result has been erratic, but the third season's mid-season finale was surprisingly gripping and the anticipation for the midseason premiere, "Bouncing Back" was almost as high for me as Captain America: Civil War or the impending second season of Daredevil being released next week.

"Bouncing Back" picks up after "Maveth" (reviewed here!) and it is impossible to discuss without referencing how "Maveth" ended. Indeed, coming into "Bouncing Back," viewers are left with a lot of questions about how Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. will adapt to the huge character changes that came at the climax of "Maveth." "Maveth," despite the sudden forced passion between Daisy and Lincoln, replayed much better than it originally played. The midseason finale set up a big potential conflict between Coulson and Fitz (the latter having witnessed Coulson murdering Ward on the alien world through the portal), forced a redefinition of Ward (who was killed and then possessed by the ancient evil on the alien world) and left May somewhat lost as her ex-husband is in the wind, last seen as the villainous Lash.

Opening three months in the future with an apparent death aboard a spacecraft, the episode flashes back to the present where a new Inhuman pops up to steal a cache of weapons in Colombia. Coulson, with a new hand, meets with the President Of The United States in his apartment where Coulson is put in charge of the ATCU, which is now retasked as the public face of S.H.I.E.L.D. President Ellis is unable to give Coulson a lead on Gideon Malick, the head of HYDRA, but he takes Coulson off his leash in the hunt for him. Coulson's S.H.I.E.L.D. team investigates the incident in Colombia and Mack encounters an Inhuman who appears to be able to move at incredibly fast speeds. With Mack captured, the team is split between recovering Mack and hunting Malick.

In Colombia, Mack discovers that the Inhuman who captured him moves fast, but whips back to her starting point when she executes her power and it quickly brings him to a detente with her. That allows Daisy, Morse, and Hunter to rescue Mack and apprehend the Inhuman. At HYDRA's base, Malick is surprised that the parasite-infected Ward is already speaking and he is hungry. Coulson, determined to find Malick, submits Von Strucker (the younger) to the T.A.H.I.T.I. protocol to try to jog his memories. Morse and Hunter are captured by the corrupt Colombian "police," who are using an Inhuman. The Inhuman who captured Mack allies with S.H.I.E.L.D. when she loses her cousin to the corrupt police. When Coulson plays his hand against Malick, HYDRA strikes back with frightening efficiency.

Right off the bat, "Bouncing Back" seems like it is still struggling with finding a balance. The flash-forward might appear to be an allusion to Captain America: Civil War or the third season finale of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., but it does not fit in well in "Bouncing Back." Unlike something like the flashes forward in the second season of Breaking Bad, this flash forward comes out of nowhere and is not something that is building a theme (at least, not yet). The gap in time between "Maveth" and "Bouncing Back" is not immediately clear; enough time has passed so Coulson has a new hand and HYDRA is not yet restaffed, but the blood in Coulson's apartment has not yet oxidized?!

"Bouncing Back" continues a disturbing trend in post-9/11 entertainment, which sees otherwise intelligent characters employing torture and accepting that the results are at all accurate. I'm a fan of heroes who have a willingness to do whatever it takes and I was not turned aside by recognizable heroes stepping over the obvious moral lines, like Wonder Woman did in Mission's End (reviewed here!). But morally relativistic characters do not necessarily condone torture or use their prisoners in unethical ways. Genre viewers seem to have forgotten the lessons of Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Chain Of Command, Part II" (reviewed here!) and blithely accept things like "Bouncing Back" where heroic characters torture and get reliable information in the process.

What "Bouncing Back" does well is progress all of the various plots in interesting ways. Ward made it back to Earth, as we already knew, but he is not at 100% yet; the Inhumans are presented as a complex problem that has no easy answers and various interpersonal relationships have threads that are peppered throughout the episode (except, interestingly, any substantive relationship between Daisy and Lincoln - though there is a very surfacey relationship scene late in the episode). The simple twist of Elena Rodriguez and her cousin trying to destroy weapons headed into Colombia makes for an intriguing start and an engaging point for her to bond with members of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team. Similarly, the new villainous Inhuman with the "medusa eyes" is very cool and executes his power in "Bouncing Back" with frightening efficiency.

As with many episodes of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., "Bouncing Back" suffers some from having a large cast and being unable to properly service all of them. More than most episodes, especially of the current season, "Bouncing Back" gives Mack the chance to grow and develop. Mack has been mistrustful of Inhumans and in the course of the episode, he finds one that he actually likes. His is the most consistent arc in the episode.

The plot of "Bouncing Back" ends early enough to drop in fairly underwhelming pairing scenes between Fitz and Simmons, Johnson and Campbell and May and Coulson. Most fans could probably have lived without the Lincoln/Daisy scene to see more of either Fitz and Simmons or May and Coulson. After years of waiting and a single kiss between them, fans of Fitzsimmons are bound to feel cheated by the lack of substantive progress in their relationship, especially in lieu of how Simmons has expressed interest and Fitz has made repeated sacrifices for her.

The performances in "Bouncing Back" are very average; the episode manages to completely neglect the implied tension between Fitz and Coulson that was evident at the climax of "Maveth." Instead, Fitz is working on a new hand for Coulson (because, apparently, keeping Clark Gregg in a glove for the remainder of the series was not a viable option?!) and Iain De Caestecker is back in the performance niche he was given at the outset of the series. Ming-Na Wen is not given the chance to emote any sense of loss or concern for May's ex-husband and only Brett Dalton is given the chance to truly perform in a different way. As the parasite-infected Ward, Dalton has to play his role now with constant menace and less overt emotions. That said, Ward was never characterized by wild emotions so even in "Bouncing Back," Dalton is not given much to play with that offers him the chance to shine.

"Bouncing Back" illustrates potential as Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. prepares fans for the eventual Inhumans film, but is not a remarkable return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

For midseason premieres, please visit my reviews of:
"Aftershocks" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Revenge Of The Rogues" - The Flash
"The Magnificent Ferengi" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. - The Complete Third Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the third season here!
Thanks!]

5.5/10

For other Marvel movie, television season and episode reviews, please check out my Marvel Cinematic Universe Review Index Page for a listing of those reviews!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Lash Drops Into An Already Crowded Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.: "Devils You Know"

The Good: Moments where character is actually explored, Some wonderful performance moments
The Bad: None of the plots sufficiently develop
The Basics: "Devils You Know" moves around the increasingly large cast of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., though none of them get particularly far.


As a fan, generally, of the works of Joss Whedon, watching the development of Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. has become somewhat agonizing. Fortunately, every once in a while the show manages to surprise its viewers - especially the Whedon loyalists - and despite the general banality of the episode "A Wanted Inhu(Man)" (reviewed here!), the episode ended with a bang that reminded viewers just why they fell in love with most of Joss Whedon's works. Because of that, it is pretty much impossible to discuss "Devils You Know" without discussing the climax of the prior episode.

"A Wanted Inhu(Man)" ended with a focus on Simmons, who was recently rescued from an alien dimension. Fans of Whedon's works might have feared that Simmons would just take the same initial arc as Fred on Angel, but the last moment with Simmons ended with a revelation . . . that Simmons wanted to get back to the alien dimension. That type of reversal has been in short supply on Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. but it was enough to do something for "Devils You Know" that few Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. episodes have done for me: I anticipated the episode. For the first time in a long time, I was excited about what might come next on Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D..

After a week of waiting to see what would follow Simmons's big revelation and the promos that teased the Inhuman Lash returning in a big way, "Devils You Know" doesn't disappoint, but it's a pretty huge tease for the next episode, more than being an impressive episode in its own right.

The episode opens with a pair of Inhumans cooking dinner when Alisha arrives to let them know that the Terrigen crystals have been unleashed. Lash appears in the apartment to kill the Inhumans, killing one of Alisha's duplicates in the process. Daisy and Mack go after Lash while the rest of the team cleans up the crime scene. Fitz and Morse continue to find it difficult to work with one another, but Mack and Daisy track Lash until they run into the ATCU team. Rosalind Price goads Coulson, though it seems this is the first time she has encountered Inhumans who have been living among mundanes who were Inhuman before the Terrigen mist was released.

At HYDRA's headquarters, Ward and Kebo prepare for their next big mission. Hunter prepares to accompany Kebo on the mission and he plans to kill Ward, though May objects to how he is pursuing the leads to get him closer to Ward. Daisy discovers that the dead Inhumans had a computer virus that allowed Lash to track them and Coulson orders her to share the information with the ATCU. Dr. Garner counsels Simmons, who is struggling to re-integrate at the base, but she is reticent to discussing her feelings. Coulson confers with May, who tells him Hunter's plan. After conferring with the ATCU, Coulson and Price create a joint mission, which puts Daisy in danger from an Inhuman who has the power to recognize other Inhumans. As Daisy and Mack encounter Lash, Hunter gives Coulson a clue as to Ward's whereabouts and S.H.I.E.L.D. mobilizes to take him out.

By this point, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is packed with so many characters that the strategy for the third season seems to be to create ensemble episodes for every episode. In other words, it does not appear that there will be a "Coulson episode" one week and a "Daisy episode" the next. Instead, it seems like every character is being given about two minutes before the focus shifts to another member of the ensemble. This is unfortunate in "Devils You Know" because in order to accommodate the increasingly uninteresting Ward plotline, the character of Dr. Andrew Garner is getting under-used.

"Devils You Know" might have the longest continuous scenes with Garner as he observes Alisha and counsels Simmons . . . and then interacts with May. Garner could easily carry an episode and actor Blair Underwood certainly has the talent to rock an hour and have a solid storyline of his own, but he's being peppered into the season. Unfortunately, the "next big surprise" is hardly that; in the prior episode, Ward seeded the son of one of the high-ranking HYDRA operatives into Garner's class, so it seems like the thread is going to have Garner being used as a way for Ward to get to May. The character and the actor deserve more than just being an accessory or tool in one of Ward's machinations. At least the producers do not drag that out excessively.

"Devils You Know" marks the return of the Inhuman Alisha, who was introduced in last season's episode "Scars" (reviewed here!) and given that The Flash and the X-Men films had a character with the same essential ability, it's not like most fans were dying to see her again. Alisha has the ability to multiply herself and that ability is used in an engaging way at the episode's outset. But, like the other characters, Alisha is soon put on the back burner, which makes her feel like more of a plot device than the episode fitting into a larger character arc.

Much of the conflict in "Devils You Know" comes from Coulson's S.H.I.E.L.D. team interacting with Rosalind's ATCU team. Price's people do not trust Daisy and this episode does one thing remarkably well. In providing Dwight Frye, the Inhuman "divining rod," with dialogue, the Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is getting pretty packed. Within the episode, there are four organizations - S.H.I.E.L.D., the ATCU, HYDRA, and Lash's loose conglomeration (we have no reason to believe that Dwight is the only person working for Lash). While in the larger context of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is hardly a big deal, it's a lot to get squeezed into a forty-three minute episode.

Arguably, one of the best scenes in "Devils You Know" is a simple one between Bobbi Morse and Simmons. But the moment gets lost when Morse once again defines herself by her relationship with Hunter.

The episode's climax is a good one - though the conceit of the mercenary who barely ever hits his mark is a pretty tired one. While the hope viewers might have had at the end of the prior episode might have been to truly delve into Simmons, "Devils You Know" seems to act as a bridge between Simmons's revelation and her explanation. The episode packs a lot of plot into it, but with so many plotlines, none are serviced as well as they could be.

"Devils You Know" does not disappoint, but it could have been fleshed out into a single double-long episode and made viewers care even more about each of the elements in it.

For other works with Constance Zimmer, please visit my reviews of:
House Of Cards - Season 2
The Newsroom - Season 2
House Of Cards - Season 1
Boston Legal - Season 3

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. - The Complete Third Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the third season here!
Thanks!]

8/10

For other Marvel movie, television season and episode reviews, please check out my Marvel Cinematic Universe Review Index Page for a listing of those reviews!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Inevitable Ward Episode Is “A Fractured House!”

The Good: Decent character development, Good performances, Good plot development, Quips/humor
The Bad: Still a little plot-heavy
The Basics: “A Fractured House” puts Grant Ward and his brother in the spotlight in one of the better episodes of the series!


Ever since Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. turned a corner with the first season episode “Nothing Personal” (reviewed here!) and made Grant Ward an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D., but kept actor Brett Dalton as part of the regular cast of the show, it was pretty obvious that he would become the focus of a future episode. As the second season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. progressed, Ward has been peppered through the early episodes, stuck in a S.H.I.E.L.D. jail cell and the recurring nature of his character did not make great use of him. As a result, the fact that he remained in the cast meant that Brett Dalton would be getting a spotlight role. “A Fractured House” is the episode that gives him the shot to shine.

Fortunately, “A Fractured House” manages to give Brett Ward a decent part to play. Grant Ward and his backstory have been featured very little in the series so far; “A Fractured House” is arguably his best episode of the series so far. Continuing the story begun in “A Hen In The Wolfhouse” (reviewed here!), which made Bobbi Morse a member of Coulson’s S.H.I.E.L.D. team and saw the return of Simmons to the fold, “A Fractured House” has H.Y.D.R.A. stepping up its game and making an all-out war on S.H.I.E.L.D. . . . using governments around the world to do their dirty work. In the process, Ward’s family is fleshed out and Ward and Brett Dalton get to move out of the confines of the prison and the previously-established role.

Brigadier General Talbott is giving a speech to the United Nations when an assault force breaks in and attempts to kill him. The assailants claim to be S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, though Coulson knows none of the operatives were his and Bobbi Morse recognizes the leader of the H.Y.D.R.A. cell that attacked the U.N. Talbott is working with Senator Christian Ward, who is Grant Ward’s sadistic older brother. Senator Ward starts mouthing off about how dangerous S.H.I.E.L.D. is and he tries to marshal world leaders to step up against the spy organization. Coulson allows Skye to interrogate Grant in the S.H.I.E.L.D. cell and Coulson learns that the Senator does not know where Grant is or where his true affiliation lay.

When Bobbi, May and Hunter make contact with the arm’s manufacturer who made the weapon used to attack the U.N., Coulson visits the Senator. When H.Y.D.R.A. lets all of its affiliates know that Bobbi is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Hunter has to rescue her. As Coulson confronts the Senator, Skye uses the opportunity to get whatever information she can from Ward about her father. But when Coulson strikes a deal with the Senator, H.Y.D.R.A. targets Beckers, grandson of the man who designed H.Y.D.R.A. weapons for Red Skull! In rerouting the protection for Beckers, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s vulnerabilities are exposed and Coulson takes some serious losses!

“A Fractured House” is a decent “he said/he said” episode that raises the tension by pitting the two Ward’s stories against one another. As the episode progresses, which Ward is lying more adds real dramatic tension. What could be a troublingly plot-centered episode wherein spies get burned over and over again manages to save itself by inserting enough character development to be interesting. In fact, the episode’s writers, Rafe Judkins and Lauren LeFranc, manage to write the first episode of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. in a year that feels like a Joss Whedon production! The blending of character development, decent performances and quips/subtle humorous moments plays out to make a solidly entertaining episode!

Of the new characters introduced this season, Lance Hunter is easily the least interesting to be added to the mix. Hunter is a mercenary who is ably played by Nick Blood, who is not given much to do with the generic semi-antagonistic character. Hunter is not Spike and given that Skye is still a pretty random agent in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., he is filling a niche that is not one that was needing to be filled. Still, in “A Fractured House,” Hunter is given good banter, more of a backstory and a few kick-ass moments in the episode. Nick Blood and Adrianne Palicki (Bobbi Morse) play off one another perfectly to be a credible formerly married couple and that makes the episode work nicely.

The character struggle in “A Fractured House” extends delightfully into the last moments of the episode. Not dropping the ball with the return of Simmons to the fold, Simmons has to wrestle with the consequences of abandoning her team. Simmons witnesses just how bad Fitz’s mental health has become and the reassuring aspect of the episode is that her return does not mean the death of Henry Simmons’ Mac. Mac has been a stabilizing influence on Fitz and he has managed to be a pretty good friend to the wounded scientist. Simmons gets the chance to see that and Mac does possibly the coolest tell-off ever without exhibiting anger. “A Fractured House” plays well Fitz’s frustration, through Mac gives voice to the passion he had for Simmons and allows Simmons to reveal credibly her feelings of guilt.

“A Fractured House” is a crowded episode on the character front, but it works wonderfully. Instead of appearing silly, Simmons threatens Ward and actress Elizabeth Henstridge completely lands the key moment. Appropriately, Brett Dalton manages to dominate the episode even though he is not given the most air time in “A Fractured House.” Far from being the bland, white bread character who appeared early in the first season, Dalton is cold, menacing and strangely compelling in “A Fractured House.” “A Fractured House” only truly works because Dalton and Tim DeKay (who plays Senator Ward) both have to appear credible in their accusations against one another and both present their characters with enough force of character to be entirely believable. Clark Gregg’s key moments as Agent Coulson in “A Fractured House” boil down to him judging the Wards and his choice is well-reasoned.

While the “twist” at the end of “A Fractured House” is anything but twisty, the episode manages to be one of the best-rendered, most well-rounded character pieces of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. while still managing to have some awesome kick-ass moments!

For other works with Tim DeKay, please visit my reviews of:
Get Smart
Carnivale
Sports Night

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. - The Complete Second Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the sophomore season here!
Thanks!]

7/10

For other television reviews, please check out my Movie And Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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