Agents of SHIELD Scars Reviews 

Five Thoughts on Agents of SHIELD’s “Scars” [Review]

By | May 6th, 2015
Posted in Reviews | 8 Comments

Alright, ladies and gentlemen! We’re past the Ultron threshold, and hopefully you’ve all seen the film so we can crawl out of our spoiler-deflecting bunkers and interact again like normal people again!

Besides, we’ve got big, penultimate-y things to go over, so who has time to even talk about killer robots in the first place, right? Let’s dive right in to last night’s episode of Agents of SHIELD, “Scars.”

1. Post-Age of Ultron

Before Season 2 started, I wrote a listicle about what SHIELD could do to prevent some of the issues the first season had, and chief amongst them was: Don’t Hedge All Your Bets on Age of Ultron. I wrote 1000 words on that alone; it was the crux of the piece, and I was vehement about it: if SHIELD once again relied on a big Marvel movie to “justify itself,” then SHIELD is decidedly a failure.

And I am so glad to say that they avoided it.

The connections were there: post-Ultron flashes on TV screens, mentions of the crisis and what caused it, and even the explanation of what Theta Protocol was (which, for fans of the film, instantly clicked), but that’s it. Watching the show before the film didn’t ruin any twists beyond what a trailer would show you, and the show’s plot did not become contingent on Ultron in any way. It was a great balance that allowed SHIELD to play in the Marvel Universe while continuing to carve out it’s own territory, and I for one am glad that they did it this way.

2. A United Front

Well, that ends that subplot. Last week it seemed like they were wrapping up the SHIELD v. SHIELD storyline, what with Coulson turning himself in, and I couldn’t be happier that it is over. It wasn’t the worst idea in the world and it led to some interesting tension in the story, but it’s definitely one of those things that went on too long — and, honestly, “heroes fighting heroes over who is better at being heroes” is kinda… overdone. And I say that with Civil War on the horizon for next year’s MCU line.

Though, speaking of: this also feels like the start of Captain America: Civil War, to be honest. I don’t know if SHIELD is going to “come back” into the Marvel Universe properly by the end of the season or if they’ll remain a secret, but there is certainly enough here that would seemingly influence whatever the MCU’s Superhuman Registration Act equivalent is: Sakovia fallout, unregulated Inhuman powers, etc. Everything that the characters talk about now that SHIELD is united all hints that they’re ready to come back and go after a new big threat, and what bigger threat is there than unregulated supers? Trouble’s a-brewin’.

3. Meanwhile, in Inhuman City

Last week I bemoaned the Inhuman subplot and how disjointed it felt to the main episode thread. This week’s episode turned that around pretty quickly, though, as suddenly all of the Inhuman things feel intensely relevant — and while it was a slog to get up to this point, seeing all the pay-offs was certainly satisfying. The general inclusion of the Inhumans does feel a bit too much like forced #ItsAllConnected synergy, but as long as the pieces fit in the puzzle by the end I’m willing to overlook a few leftover pieces that don’t fully fit by the end.

4. What’s In the Box?!

In addition to other revelations, we finally got to see what Gonzales was keeping secret in the lower decks of his Hellicarrier, and it’s– … uh, actually I’m not 100% sure? I used to think that I had a pretty good grasp on the Inhuman mythology and their relationship to their not-so-benevolent Kree overlords, but I’d be lying if I said I knew what this Inhuman-killing Kree obelisk was. I thought it was Graviton at first. (So, you know, feel free to chime in, commenters!)

That said, I’m interested to learn more about it. There’s still a lot of mystery in regards to what SHIELD has done with alien encounters. Where did they get the Kree whose blood they utilized to resurrect Coulson, for example? And where did they get whatever is in that box? SHIELD has currently had some extra-terrestrial encounters so far (so perhaps SWORD is out there somewhere — this is Whedon’s universe, after all), but we don’t know how they’re getting in touch with these things in the first place. We saw a bit of the shared history with the May-centric episode explaining what happened in Barcelona; perhaps that’s something the show can elaborate on in Season 3?

Continued below

5. The Shit has Hit the Fan

A lot happened in last night’s episode. I wasn’t fully conscious of it at first, but I began noticing it more and more as the minutes crept by and the show jumped leaps and bounds through stories that would otherwise be stretched out over numerous episodes or longer scenes in general. And while the stakes on this show have certainly been high before, now we’ve got a finale that’s packed with so many plots that I’m reminded of LOST season finales that spun more plates than David Spathaky (Google it): the Inhumans have declared war on SHIELD, Jiaying is lying to everyone while Raina tries to usurp her, Skye is torn between families, Coulson is shut out, Bobbi is in the clutches of Ward and 33, and Cal has just sipped from a few mysterious vials (that presumably turn him into Mr. Hyde). This is WAY worse than lions, tigers and bears combined, you guys.

It should be interesting to see what SHIELD can do with a double-sized season finale. Last year the show was rather well paced for it’s final handful of episodes, and that balance of quirky Whedonisms and good action storytelling in general saved the show. SHIELD has been up and down this season, but it’s more up than it is down — and in terms of building things up and delivering on high stakes, we know they can do it (see: the midseason two-part finale). Can they pull the same trick twice? I hope so. I’m definitely rooting for them.

As long as Bobbi makes it out alive to get her own spin-of show, I’m good.


//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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