Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Season 3, Episodes 9 & 10 Review

Firstly, killing off Rosalind Price before the opening credits even rolled was a pretty ballsy opening to the first part of this mid-season finale for the show, and while it didn't impact the show as much as the writers would want you to believe (she's only featured in eight episodes prior, most of which as an antagonist), I can't deny that it was a shock to see her demise so soon. Its clear that the writers wanted to really push Coulson to the limits in this mid-season finale, giving him a vendetta against Ward that would spark a real antagonism between the two to explore in the latter half of this season.
Clark Gregg really does impress though, and its difficult to imagine anyone else playing this role as well as he does. Every little nuance in his performance feels very naturalistic, and you really can feel his hatred for Ward throughout the two episodes. I can't say Rosalind was my favourite character, but at least her impact on the show is for the benefit of the (supposedly) main character.
This two-parter also say Mack take a step-up as acting Director of SHIELD, and I have to admit that over the course of these last ten episodes, Mack has grown on me as a character. Maybe it was the whole "can we trust him" thing in Season 2, but I just never really got him as a character. Seeing him pushed in a role that he clearly wasn't prepared for really explored who he is, and he gets some great comedic moments.
However, you really got a sense that May, Daisy and Lincoln took a back-seat in this two-parter. They didn't have much to do and felt a bit too much like supporting characters. At the same time though, the episodes knew what they were focusing on, and at least the plot felt relatively straightforward.
And of course we finally saw Fitz rescuing Will...until Will was revealed to be possessed...or something. To be honest, I'm not sure what was going on with Will, and I'm assuming whatever got him has also got Ward (either that or Ward can survive two gunshots to the chest and having his rib-cage smashed). I can't say that Will being dead really had much dramatic weight, especially given the lack of explanation as to what exactly happened to him, and lack of Simmons' reaction to the events.
Oh, and Lash is now seemingly on the loose again, because...you know...reasons. 
I can't say that these episodes were dull. They were well-paced, focused and certainly interesting, but alas there are so many things that end up taking a back-seat - being vaguely set-up for later episodes, which as a piece of standalone entertainment does annoy me. Bear McCreary's music was still awesome, the direction was good, the dialogue felt very natural, and we still had the horrible blue tint on Maveth (or Tatooine) as well as some poorly-handled slow-motion. Yeah, sorry Agents of SHIELD, those final moments didn't look nearly as dramatic as they should have. I can say that I have thoroughly enjoyed these ten episodes though, and if the latter half of Season 3 is anywhere near as good, I look forward to it. 8/10

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor (2022) - Review

Image
And with that, the Thirteenth Doctor's era has come to a close. It's easy for regeneration stories to be overshadowed by the programme's future - understandable given the show's constant change and renewal - but suffice it to say that The Power of the Doctor makes for a fitting conclusion to this era of the programme. Kicking things off with a heist on a space train, we're reintroduced to the Cybermasters, returning from The Timeless Children back in Series 12. It's good to see them return, even if their ultimate roles in the narrative serve mainly as cannon fodder more than anything else. Their Cyber-converted planet, which I'd speculated to Gallifrey, was a nice idea even if it served as a backdrop to the events unfolding rather than playing a significant role. Quite why Ashad and his Cyber Warriors were brought back, other than fan popularity, I'm not sure. An off-hand comment about the Master cloning Ashad doesn't quite resolve the character'...
Read more

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Season 2, Episodes 8 & 9 Review

Image
Agents of SHIELD started off as a fun, enjoyable spin-off from the Marvel films dealing with monster-of-the-week formulas to build interesting and complex characters, while also setting up arcs that would carry through the series that would be built up and concluded at a later date. This was something simple and I was happy with it. However, towards the end of Season One the show became more focused on the arcs, lost a lot of the fun and began to feel like one continuous story building up the characters. We get to Season Two though, and a lot of the character building that made Season One so great is now lost. Agent May is still lacking in actual background; Skye magically turns from being the likeable newbie to SHIELD with a mysterious background to a badass SHIELD veteran with a mysterious background over the course of a few months; Simmons is still the same person she was at the beginning of Season One, only without Fitz; Ward is still a bad guy who thinks he's a good guy; a...
Read more

Doctor Who: Last Christmas (2014) - Review

Image
Doctor Who Christmas specials have certainly been a mixed bag over the years. Few have truly been bad, but almost all have been mediocre to 'just about bearable'. I was uncertain about this special. I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised, I was expecting something disappointing and I also was promised something surprising...I was really underwhelmed overall. I can't call Last Christmas bad at all, but its flaws are plain to see, making it difficult to just love it despite its flaws (as I can for such episodes as Asylum of the Daleks), and I just feel so underwhelmed and little fed up at the end of the episode. The big selling point of the episode was whether Clara would stay into Series 9, and I feel that this episode was re-written in some way so that she did. Clara's role felt rather small in the story as a whole, and the character of Shona felt like perfect companion material. In fact, I actually thought Shona would join the TARDIS at the end! It would be nice t...
Read more