Last night ’s installment of Agents of SHIELD was the first fourth dimension this show really felt up like it was “ click , ” in term of the character and the storytelling . And I think it ’s a subject of this show finding its right genre : It ’s not a superhero show , it ’s a spy show .
Spoilers ahead …
There was a lot of catching in the first few episode , of course of action , but there were also a lot more seek to tie in the action with the Marvel universe of discourse and ramp up the storytelling around widgets more than characters . “ Eye Spy ” was the first episode that did n’t sense as though it was skid - horning in a net ton of Marvel references and superhero scrap , and it was also the first episode that kept me in suspense the whole time — and I think the two thing might be related .
Agents of SHIELD is probably going to exercise best when it ’s a superhero show the same way Person of Interest is a show about artificial intelligence — in other Good Book , that stuff should n’t necessarily overwhelm the storytelling most of the metre , just once in a while .
Whatever the reason , this was the first episode where I was actually on the edge of my fanny the whole time , thanks to a taut script by showrunner ( and former Alias manufacturer ) Jeffrey Bell and some really fashionable counseling by Star Trek : Voyager ’s Roxann Dawson .
One problem with a show like SHIELD is that the team is so well - equipped , it ’s hard to put them in situations where they ’re behind the eight - ball , without them seeming unqualified or fallible — but this time around , the team seemed competent and they were at a disadvantage , because they were up against a by rights unnerving enemy .
So in this sequence , there ’s a series of stickup in Europe , and Coulson aright suspect his former protégé ( and former SHIELD agent ) Akela Amador is behind them . He takes his team in to dish out with her , instead of alerting SHIELD — and then it turns out she has an heart implant that ’s monitor her every move , and there ’s a kill switch in her eye that will kill her unless she follows the order she receives via text edition . So after the team fascinate Amador , Ward has to impersonate her using fancy glasses and dispatch her mission — while Fitz and Simmons get the oculus implant out of her . ( A Faraday Cage not being an option for some reason . )
There are a figure of neat twists in this instalment that in reality are surprising — the eldritch masked dudes are n’t the threat , they ’re the looting victim . The video feed that Fitz , Simmons and Skye are hacking is testify the vanguard they ’re in , about to get pound . Melinda May disobey Coulson ’s decree and goes to appropriate Amador herself . And then , when Mr. Grant is impersonating Amador , he receive an club to seduce a heavyset Belarusian mankind . And finally , Amador ’s “ handler ” is just another orb - puppet . None of those felt telegraphed , or random .
And the fictitious character fundamental interaction had a much lighter tactile sensation in this episode , as though the writers have startle confide us to fall out along without deliver our workforce held . Coulson ’s feeling of responsibility for Amador — and the fact that he ’s taken on another protégé in Skye — are both notice without being run into the dry land , and the conflict between Coulson and Melinda May is also ease up some aroused weight without being leaned on like a truck horn . Mr. Grant is also given more of a probability to be amusing — and his plain sincere respect and deference towards Coulson reach him a lot more likable .
This instalment gave the whole team a chance to shine , instead of just Skye the sexxay drudge , and both Skye and Ward were feeling a spot more likable . The dynamic is starting to square off down . The whole affair is right smart less cute , but still cute enough . This was the first sequence where I did n’t feel as though the show was wink at me with both eye , take turns .
Oh , and there was a theme of surveillance — introduced at the start when Coulson is scanning Facebook and Instagram and commenting that people are surveilling themselves now — which runs through the whole story of the cleaning woman with the camera in her eye , who can never have any privacy . The notion that she long for her cage , and she ’s glad to be in a cadre at the death of the episode , because those things are freedom compared to constant surveillance , is a sinewy one — and again , handled lightly .
And lastly , yay for an ongoing enigma — who was deal Amador ’s handler ? What was that equating that they wanted her to photograph on the bulwark of that secret room ? Why was it worth $ 30 million ? Where did they get the orb applied science , that ’s 10 old age ahead of what Fitz and Simmons have ?
All in all , the fourth episode of SHIELD is the first one that feels as though the show ’s starting to find its voltage . And a deal of that has to do with solve really well as a spy show — include giving the squad some counterspy to cope with , who apparently have prank of their own . convey on the Alias - style secret missions and wigs , please .
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