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Five Thoughts on Agent’s of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s “Paradise Lost”

By | April 13th, 2016
Posted in Television | % Comments

Secrets, backstories, and plot development! Where shall this week’s episode take us?

1. Civil War: Hydra Edition

Flashbacks in the episode reveal that Malick’s Hydra and Whitehall’s Hydra were vastly different. While Whitehall was more “classic evil Nazi-esque” Hydra (a Hydra Classic, if you will), Malick’s schtick was more “worship an alien being that’s stuck on another planet and make yearly sacrifices to it,” which, admittedly, seemed a little un-Hydra-esque.

It initially felt like an annoying departure from what Hydra is supposed to be (as well as something of a retcon), but this episode shows that Whitehall wasn’t too fond of the Malick family and their way of doing things, and tried to put an end to it. While obviously he wasn’t successful, it shows that Malick’s idea of what Hydra should be was more of a step away from the rest of the organization’s goals, and only when the other heads had been cut off could he really start focusing on Hive’s extraplanetary extraction.

2. Even Villains Have Families

We learn a few more important things in the flashbacks. For example, Gideon Malick had a brother, Nate. Considering we never saw him before, it was obvious he wouldn’t be surviving the flashbacks.

We also learn a little about his father. Viewers may recall that the Malick family and their little cult would often send sacrifices, or “The Traveler,” as they liked to call them, over to Hive’s planet by randomly drawing stones from a bag. It turns out good ol’ papa Malick was cheating to make sure he never drew the unlucky lot, and the kids swore they’d be better than that.

Except Gideon was lying, and Nate got sent off to be another host for Hive. Pretty much exactly as one would expect.

This comes back to bite him when it’s revealed that Hive maintains the memories of all his past hosts, including Malick’s brother, and he’s not happy about the betrayal. So how does he get his revenge? By killing Malick’s daughter, Stephanie, whose entire screentime couldn’t fill up a commercial break.

Congratulations, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., you tossed a potentially interesting female character into the fridge in order to provide more drama and motivation for another guy. Admittedly, it does demonstrate Hive’s ruthlessness, but there was so much more that could have been done with Stephanie.

3. More Lincoln Backstory

Speaking of angsty backstories, we learn a little about Lincoln, Daisy’s maybe-kind-of boyfriend and fellow Inhuman. As revealed in this episode, he had something of a drinking and an anger problem when he was younger, up until he was told of his Inhuman heritage and taken to Afterlife to begin his training.

More importantly, though, we meet a would-be Inhuman who was kicked out of Afterlife, and he’s got a piece of Kree technology. What is it exactly? It’s hard to say, but it’s a little metal sphere with a few patterns all over it, which immediately brings Guardians of the Galaxy to mind.

4. Fight Scene of the Season

Hands down the best part of this episode comes from a fight between Agent May and Giyera, Malick’s telekinetic right-hand man. Giyera had proven himself to be a major threat all season, thanks to his ability to move objects with his mind, which usually results in him pulling everyone’s guns into the air and shooting at the good guys. So how do you defeat someone who can turn anything around him into a weapon?

Lock him in an empty room and have May beat the crap out of him, of course.

But the fight scene itself was fantastic. Not only was the choreography a joy to watch, with plenty of flips and spins that showed off the martial arts skills that Mark Dacascos and Ming-Na Wen have to offer, but it was also wonderfully shot, with the all-white background of the room contrasting the black suits the actors wore. It was definitely a big plus for the episode, and is well worth watching again.

5. Secret Warriors, Assemble!

Unfortunately for the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents present, locking up a telekinetic with an axe to grind can often end pretty badly, and such is the case at the end of the episode. Pretty much the entire team is down, thanks to Giyera, which leaves just Daisy and Lincoln out in the field.

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That means it’s finally time for the Secret Warriors subplot they’ve been setting up to pay off. Every time the team picked up a new Inhuman ally, Coulson or Daisy would say something or other about the Secret Warriors, and we’d never see them again, under the assumption that their cameo time was over.

But it looks like next episode we’ll be seeing the ‘Secret Warriors Initiative’ put into play. (No relation to the “Avengers Initiative,” of course, aside from the fact that it’s the exact same thing except smaller and with Inhumans.) A team of super-powered individuals working together to take down Hydra? Now this is what S.H.I.E.L.D. viewers have been waiting for.

Don’t let us down, S.H.I.E.L.D. You have a chance to do something awesome, so we’ll see how it pays off in the next episode.


//TAGS | Marvel's Agents of SHIELD

Robbie Pleasant

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