Marvel’s movies have done an impeccable job creating a universe which can effortlessly and convincingly accommodate gods and sci-fi superheroes in the same shot. Marvel on TV… not so much.
Admittedly, Sif’s second guest spot on the show is helped by the fact she’s not wearing her Xena cosplay costume for most of the episode but there’s still something jarring about the cod-Shakespearean dialogue she spouts in a show that generally feels more like a high-tech spy show. The result bears a rather unfortunate resemblance to the tone of ’70s superhero shows. Back then the mismatch between the lead characters and the more prosaic gun-toting hoodlums they invariably fought often simply left the superheroes looking a bit silly.
Wisely, the episode largely plays Sif for comedy value, which helps (and there are some very amusing lines). Perhaps the script could have pushed this further, though considering how hammy Eddie McClintock plays Vin-Tak as it is, if he’d realised that everyone else was camping it up, we could have ended up with extreme mugging wars.
Director's CV
In a previous career, Roxann Dawson was B’Elanna Torres, the half-Klingon, half-human chief engineer on Star Trek: Voyager. She is now a prolific and much-in-demand TV director, with episodes of Heroes, The Mentalist, Bates Motel and Bosch to her name.
The main plot is rather skimpy. Having Vin-Tak operate alone is a suspect piece of scripting chicanery; it’s handy to have a bit of Kree intel at this point in the arc plot, but having the Kree race as a whole alerted to the Terrigenesis would be a bit more than SHIELD’s budget could handle. So, with a spurious excuse, only one Kree turns up. On the other hand, the episode is fast-paced, action-packed and full of well-choreographed fights. Plus there’s a bloody big gun. Always a good thing.
At least the secret about Skye’s transformation is out. We feared this might drag on for weeks but thankfully not. The subsequent arguments about what SHIELD should do with Skye are a little stilted, though once again Iain De Caestecker pulls a brilliantly passionate performance out of the bag. He’s become one of the unexpected highlights of this season.
Whatever Bobbi and Mack are up to, it’s suddenly become more intriguing. Any fears they might be just “Ward: Take 2” seem to be dissipating. Sure, they’re preparing to betray Coulson and co but whoever they’re aligned to seem very different to Hydra.
Plus, Mack strangling Hunter into unconsciousness made for a great cliffhanger.
Best Lines
Behold My Mighty Weapon 1
Behold My Mighty Weapon 2
It's Wossisname!
Google-Foo
Jumpiest Moment
Worst Prophecy Ever
Clean-Up
Marvel’s Agents Of SHIELD airs on Friday nights on Channel 4 in the UK and on ABC on Tuesday nights in the US.
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