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Five Thoughts on Agents of SHIELD’s “Nothing Personal” [Review]

By | April 30th, 2014
Posted in Reviews | 5 Comments

Well, last night’s episode was certainly the best episode we’ve had for Agents of SHIELD, like, ever. I mean, right? That was pretty intense and stuff.

But why am I writing this preamble when I could be writing a review for you?

1. “Who — or what is a Man-Thing?”

Last night returned Maria Hill to the show in full form (as well as Glenn Talbot, if you like comic characters), and man, Robin Scherbatsky Cobie Smulders was just great. I’ve always been a fan of her portrayal of Hill in the films but it always felt muted; she had to act against people with bigger names, bigger roles, and as such the role of Maria Hill is decidedly smaller than the others — even though she was still given room to have a few scene stealing moments (the entire opening scene of the Avengers).

But with this? Man. Smulders couldn’t be more perfect for Hill. Between throwing out references to pretty much every Avenger (and non-Avenger, like Man-Thing) to insulting FBI agents and taking down half of Talbot’s crew, I am 100% honest when I say that Agents of SHIELD Season 2 should just be The Maria Hill Show.

Although I’m still a bit confused at what she does for Stark. Don’t know if I missed that line or if “human resources” is just enough of a catchall for it, but either way.

2. An Honest Conversation

I’ll admit that I didn’t like Skye at first, but I began to turn around on liking her about halfway through the series — or, at least right around the time I started to give up on Coulson. And I think it’s fair to say that this episode, particularly the diner scene with her and Ward, was kind of the final clincher for me to actually being quite a fan of her character. Her “honest conversation,” the way she subtly played him, says a lot not only about her but also Chloe Bennet’s performance, in the way that you expect her to keep underestimating Ward until you realize it’s the other way around. And when she said “Hail Hydra” to him? Oof. I got chills.

Additionally, the scene where Deathlok “kills” Ward was also really well done. If I wasn’t so used to all the tropes you always see in these kinds of shows, I could’ve honestly allowed myself to believe she’d let Ward die. It was a pretty tense scene, as well as the diner, and I am all for the inevitable Skye Kicking Ward’s Ass scene that I think we all deserve.

3. Deathlok, But Mostly Not-Deathlok

OK, just before you get too used to me praising the episode, lets get back on the complaint train: Deathlok? More like Eh-lok.

I really like J. August Richards on this show, let alone in general. I think he’s a strong addition to the cast, and pulling him in for the show was a good move by the show producers. I even think his arc and his character’s motivations are pretty legit; you can easily understand why he allows himself to be manipulated and how he got to this place.

That said? Well, there’s just nothing really Deathlok about him, is there? I mean, I guess the costume is nice enough and he can jump on cars and shoot missiles, but I’m sort of wondering what’s the difference between him and any of the other super-powered bad guys hopped up on wonky Extremis? I get what makes him Mike Peterson, but I don’t get what makes him Deathlok, if that makes sense. Not that I’m Deathlok’s #1 Fan or anything like that, but I feel like there should be more to his portrayal that really distinguishes Deathlok from Peterson, because outside of that Deathlok is just Angry Guy With Gun Hands.

Which is cool, I guess, but not enough. Richards is perfectly capable of a more nuanced performance, but he doesn’t really give it in this show.

4. Philip Coulson, Agent of Nothing

I’ve sort of lost interest in Coulson over the series, as he became less of a character to inspire or rally behind and more of just a self-pitying wildcard. I’m not opposed to character growth, but Coulson devolving felt disingenuous.

Continued below

This episode, though, brought back the Coulson I think we were all waiting for. Perhaps it was finding out Ward is Hydra that snapped the character out of his funk, but it was great to see Coulson being witty and in action again; sneaking onto his old ship, the whole flying Lola scene (bad green screen and all) — this is the kind of stuff I’ve been wanting to see him get into.

Of course, the end reveal of Coulson’s video was also made pretty strong by this resurgence of the character. I am sick to death of this storyline, but Coulson’s message to Fury (and here, to himself) resigning as the lead on the TAHITI project was a nice last second trick, not entirely un-telegraphed but still impactful enough that everything he said in that video message held resonance to what we’ve seen in the series: Coulson’s return to life, Skye’s use of the drug, etc. There was a lot of foreshadowing in that moment too, and I would honestly believe we’ll see a bit more of what Coulson was talking about by the end of the show.

Also, I have to wonder: who would the wounded Avenger that he references be? If we’re all agreed now that TAHITI was using a dead Kree (I know there’s still some argument as to what that big blue guy was, but come on), then it stands as logical if we think about that rumor that I’ve been actively trying to perpetuate on this site that Carol Danvers is in Age of Ultron. And, well, look at that: even more of a clear road map to include her and not need to explain her origin story (unless you don’t watch SHIELD, in which case I would point you to this essay on why that is a problem).

Unless he was talking about someone else. In which case, well, I don’t know.

5. The Catch-22 of SHIELD

So, I’ll relent: for every single horrible review I’ve ever given SHIELD in this column, last night was the episode that I wanted from this show the whole time. Regular readers of this review column know I’ve been hard on the show, and I don’t think I’ve been unfair. However, I think last night’s episode is what everyone has always wanted; it was the most like the Marvel Cinematic U, after all: references to characters, bad jokes, quick quirky dialogue, comic book characters. Yes! YOU DID IT, GUYS! YOU DID IT!

But.

But.

It took twenty episodes to get to this point. Twenty whole episodes. I understand that it takes time to build up relationships and establish aspects of identity so that big events create impact, but jeez, it was a tremendous and arduous uphill battle to get to this point. The showrunners have always said that if you wait it out you will be rewarded, and that’s true — but of course it is true. It still doesn’t change the fact that this show has been a bit of a disaster, and its failure out of the gate doesn’t redeem its triumph towards the end.

I’m happy enough that I kept watching, but even with this episode being as entertaining as it was I think we’ll still find it hard to convince those that abandoned the show to come back.

I stand by my claims that Agents of SHIELD Season 1 is bad, but to be fair, I thought 90% of Arrow Season 1 was pretty bad too. Fingers crossed that the last two episodes are half as good as this one.

Marvel’s live tweeting of the show is definitely the worst part of it, though:

Honestly, I’ve unfollowed people for less.


//TAGS | Marvel's Agents of SHIELD

Matthew Meylikhov

Once upon a time, Matthew Meylikhov became the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Multiversity Comics, where he was known for his beard and fondness for cats. Then he became only one of those things. Now, if you listen really carefully at night, you may still hear from whispers on the wind a faint voice saying, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not as bad as everyone says it issss."

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