Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 Episode 1 review - Shadows

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1 was a mixed bag at best, so much that I got bored about 5 episodes into it, and stopped watching it. The turning point was having watched the movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had done tie-ins with the movies before, but none of them had hit so close to home as Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I caught up, and there were some decent episodes of S.H.I.E.L.D. in that time, however it really started to gain momentum with the episode ‘Turn Turn Turn’ which began exploring the impacts of The Winter Soldier on S.H.I.E.L.D.  itself. The momentum continued throw and the finale was excellent, with both emotional impact on the characters, and the appearance of Nick Fury.

So, has Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s second series continued the momentum from the finale, or is it, like S.H.I.E.L.D. itself, back to square one? Let’s dig into the 2^nd season premiere and find out.

Episode 1 – Shadows

It was highly enjoyable; the direction the series is going is much more interesting than a organisation with limitless resources. 

So, let's recap.  We have the guy that may or may not be a clone, Ward is their prisoner who’s giving information to Skye, who has managed to develop confidence and as a full on field agent. Simmonds has left, Fitz's condition is extremely bad, he believes he's talking to Simmonds who has in fact left for as of yet undisclosed reasons. We have Mai, who's… Mai, and Coulson who's struggling with the pressures of running the organisation the after effects of the serum

We also have Tripp, who's yet to display any personality, a former undercover agent, who dies at the episode's end, and 2 mercenaries, 1 of whom is dead by the end of the first episode. There’s one other guy, who's a golden boy or something, I don't know, his character’s barely fleshed out at this point.

It’s not a grand cast, but it's actually pretty nice. Of course now, their enemies are everywhere, from what I can tell they have 3 main antagonist factions. One is from newly appointed Brigadeer Talbot (I don’t like Anthony Ainley in Marvel. I don't like him as Iron Man, like him even less as Talbot, but it’s a personal thing, he’s a decent actor, and he certainly looks the part) we also have HYDRA, who are now using the services of the absorbing man to find some ancient weapon, plus there’s the Skye’s family side, which really isn't explored in this episode, minus a brief mention by Ward.

Choosing Carl Kreel, aka Absorbing man as a bad guy was an interesting choice, clearly someone too powerful for the normal military to handle, which warrants the involvement of what's left of S.H.I.E.L.D. Kreel serves as a new villain, but he's not the only task of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mission. Coulson's observations about taking risks is an interesting one. Baring in mind, if any of them were captured and talked they'd be back at square one. But the risk pays off in one way, in that they now have a Quin-Jet with the cloaking Fitz couldn't finish, although it came at a price. 2 dead agents, and an unknown weapon in the hands of the enemy

Fitz is the mainly developed character in this episode, as we look at the after effects of his sacrifice. It was quite touching to see Simmons attempt to comfort him, until we find out that Simmons herself was also a product of his own mind. I don't know where they're taking Simmons' character at this point, but the truth will be revealed in the coming episodes. It was a clever play by the writers of the episode.

In addition, we also have a scene with Agent Peggy Carter, a reminder that her series will be starting in January, and introducing the main villain of the episode/series. I look forward to seeing where all this is being taken

Rating 9/10

Note: Episode 2 will be reviewed next week, after which the show will be reviewed every other week

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