TV Retrospective: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1 episodes 14-16 review

Once again, it's time to look at Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. When we left Skye was in mortal peril, what lengths will Coulson and co go to save her. 

T.A.H.I.T.I.

So, they get Skye to a hospital, but the damage is too much, there’s nothing the hospital can do. May shows a surprising burst of emotion, causing a broken nose I’d wager. Couslon wants to take her to TAHITI to save her.

HQ wants Coulson to transfer Quinn but Coulson refuses, handing Fitz and Simmons details of his resurrection, wanting to replicate the process with Skye (minus the memory part) S.H.I.E.L.D. sends a boarding craft to collect Quinn

Among the boarding party is John Garrett and Antoine Tripplett. Coulson explains the situation and Garrett agrees to interrogate him on the plane. Quinn has killed a few of Garrett’s agents too. Naturally we get some mumbo jumbo about the Clairvoyant. And we find out the Clairvoyant ordered Skye shot in order to find out how Coulson was saved.

Fitz and Simmons used old S.H.I.E.L.D. records to find the location of the base, codenamed ‘Guest House’ it is not a sanctioned S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. Naturally the people inside aren’t willing to see them. And a shootout ensues.

With 2 of the guards down, they follow a blood trail to the third, and find the place has been wired to blow, and they can’t get out. 10 minutes is a pretty long timer. Skye begins to go into cardiac arrest as Coulson discovers the operating table for the TAHITI programme.

Fitz and Coulson enter the Bio-hazard lab and find the GH325 serum. But with Ward and Garrett unable to stop the bomb, they’ve not got long before the facility blows. They blow open the doors, Ward heads up with Fitz, whilst Garrett finds Coulson in a state of shock, telling them not go give Skye the injection.

They get up in the air just as the facility goes boom. Coulson arrives too late to stop them using the serum. Skye’s heartbeat begins to stabilise. Garrett goes to deliver the news to Quinn before departing with him.

We flash back and see that the GH serums are all derived from the blood of an alien being, likely Kree given his blue skin.

Another pretty fantastic episode, giving us some really interesting answers about Coulson’s revival, and another solid hook for coming episodes. Then we get teaser for next week, which I’ll admit now is a step down in quality.

Rating 9/10

Yes Men

According to German legend, there was once a beautiful young maiden, named Lorelei, who threw herself headlong into the river in despair over a faithless lover. Upon her death she was transformed into a siren and could from that time on be heard singing on a rock along the Rhine River, near St. Goar. Her hypnotic music lured sailors to their death. The legend is based on an echoing rock with that name near Sankt Goarshausen, Germany.

Skye is recovering well from her ordeal, Simmons keeps taking blood samples and Ward is happy to see Skye alive. Skye wants to take further training. Simmons wants to find GH-325, but Coulson wants it kept in-house.

They see some energy readings that herald the arrival of an Asgardian. They go out and find Lady Sif who warns that the world is in danger (again). Lorelei can shape men to her control, but if they attach a neck-brace they can shut her up

I don’t like this episode much, aside from a few details revealed here and there, the episode is largely forced around Lady Sif’s appearance. There’s no progress in the Clairvoyant arc. And don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a filler episode, it just seems oddly placed when the plot is finally starting to gather momentum

So, Lorelei gets Ward under her control and Ward is far more resourceful than the bike bozos. He takes her to Caesar’s palace in Las Vagas I think and they screw. They get aboard the plane to take out Sif and the other agents, but Coulson isn’t under her control and uses that fact to finish this.

FIGHT!!! Lorelei is caught and gagged. She was ordered back alive by Odin, which is weird since in Thor: The Dark World, Loki has taken that mantle.

May tells him to talk to Skye about what he saw, and as usual she’s surprisingly optimistic about it. May finds out reporting on the phone that Coulson knows

Rating 6/10

The end of the beginning

Yes, finally we’ve reached the end of the beginning.

Coulson calls a massive conference with agents Hand, Garrett, Sitwell and others. Keeping the meeting at high Altitude to avoid alerting the Clairvoyant. They’ve narrowed the potential candidates to 13, all rejects from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s gifted index.

Coulson says Skye would be the best bet to co-ordinate the mission so no-one on the ground has the full scope of the mission. For this she’d have to be promoted to a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, so she can access the classified files on her own

Deathlok meanwhile is given a new weapon a blaster for his arms. Sitwell is off for his date with the Winter Soldier.  Coulson tells Skye to look into psyche evaluations as the agents investigate the players, and are consistently thwarted in their efforts. With Deathlok intercepting the group with Agent May and injuring his partner, Blake.

Agent Hand wants Simmons to brief everyone on Deathlok (with her wanting to analyse Skye’s blood) Blake hit him with a tracker, so they can track Deathlok to his location, and possibly the Clairvoyant. They track him and it leads them straight to the supposed Clairvoyant.

He was revealed to be rendered catatonic, and he still is, communicating via computers (ala Steven Hawking) he promises that Skye will be involved and Ward kills him. Fitz tries to communicate with an encrypted hard-line but it’s being tapped by someone else, agent May.

Coulson is worried Ward killed the wrong man, a prop for the real Clairvoyant. And Skye has worked out the Clairvoyant is an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Whilst Coulson interrogates Ward, Fitz finds the hard line May had set up in the bus. Fitz tells Skye who tells him to cut the line. May is p*ssed off but is confronted by Coulson. The bus is quickly turned around and we see Victoria Hand wanting to take out everyone on board.

And here’s where things are about to get really good. Join us next week as the tables turn turn turn

Rating 8.5/10

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