Such an amazing mid-season premiere for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as the series makes a spectacular and grand scaled return with this week's Inhuman heavy episode. There's a lot of interesting things to talk about here, but I'll focus more on the top moments that got me excited.
1. New Inhumans = New Reasons To Keep Watching
One of my favorite things about the new season as well as the reason I came aboard this ship in the first place is the potential of seeing new super powered characters that may or may not make it to the films. In this episode, we're introduced to two new characters with powerful and visually entertaining abilities. One of whom (on the villain side) has the ability to completely freeze someone's body in a stone-like manner by simply glancing at them once he removes his glasses. With the appropriate name of "Medusa", I was really having fun watching this character completely take down Bobbie and Hunter in that bridge scene. It's arguably my favorite Inhuman introduction scene on the show thus far.
With another amazingly executed debut, we have Elena Rodriquez (or Yo-Yo) who holds the ability to move at super speeds in the mannerisms of a yo-yo always returning back to her initial spot of release. It's an interesting ability as we've seen super speed being shown off in other live action properties in recent years, but never with an actual twist and limit to its scale as presented here. I really enjoyed seeing this character be introduced as a criminal until being shown to have layers of an anti-hero later in the episode. I was sad to see her leave the team, but I was happy and hopeful that they left the door open for her return whenever either side needs backup.
2. Infiltration Scene/Inhuman Frenzy
We've seen scenes in past episodes during this season of Inhuman characters using their abilities against each other, but I have to say that I've never seen it delivered on such a massive scale as shown here. Watching Daisy and her team of super powered soldiers infiltrate the police station to rescue Hunter and Bobbie was one of the most entertaining and visually incredible action scenes in the entire series thus far. Seeing Daisy (or Quake) utilize her powers to send soldiers flying or Joey melt a bunch of guns together so that the soldiers won't be able to use them was some of the most fun that I've had on the show as far as super powers go.
However, the real treat to look out for during this scene and the majority of this episode is within Elena's slingshotting scenes. There's a fun, powerful, serious, and yet amateur feel to the character that I found refreshing in comparison to other characters that I've encountered in live action comic-book properties. You can tell that she's having fun using her powers, yet she's also focused on her goals during her endeavors. I especially loved the quick moments where Daisy would come up with a plan only to see Elena execute it in the matter of seconds resulting in her smiling at their victory.
That's the biggest thing that I took from the character during this episode as we always see her smiling after helping the team faster than they could ever imagine. She's definitely one of the most entertaining characters so far introduced and I hope we get to see more of her in the near future. That's another thing worth mentioning here which is Daisy being fully shown as a leader of this team.
We've seen a couple moments in previous episodes with her slowly building this squad of Inhumans together as well as going on one major mission, but here we really get to see her interact and help push the idea of the "Secret Warriors" plot point even further. Some of my favorite scenes that doesn't necessarily involve a lot of action is watching her ensure to her Inhuman counterparts that they are indeed free to make whatever choices they see fit for their lives while at the same time knowing their potential as being an excellent asset to the team.
It's nice to finally have a leader figure on a show that actually comes across as someone who understands the idea of people having normal lives outside of the more "world saving" mission based lifestyle. The fact that we've seen this character evolve from being someone on the run, to being thrown various different life changing twists and turns in her life, to now being an Inhuman herself, this felt like the most fitting and perfect way to show where she stands now as a leader of this special team of gifted people with complicated lives.
It's strange looking back at Season 1 and thinking to myself that the series might never find a compelling story for her character as she simply came across as the pretty hacker girl with nothing more to do than to push buttons, constantly ask questions, and look pretty for the camera. Now, she's shaping up to be one of the most badass and powerful characters on the show.
3. Hydra's Surprise Entrance
Although, it is a pretty brief scene, one of the coolest moments during the episode was watching Hydra make a surprising appearance after S.H.I.E.L.D.'s victorious infiltration and capture Medusa right in front of their eyes via what looks to be their version of the Quinjet. It's a visually incredible scene and much like the action packed infiltration scene prior to it, it's another example of the type of visual FX this series can offer up from time to time. It also shows how powerful and secretive Hydra can be despite the recent victories being celebrated by S.H.I.E.L.D..
4. Zombie Ward Makes Us Believe
Last but not least is the moment that I was most curious to see continuing from the previous episode's ending. I was never a fan of the idea of bringing Ward back in any type of fashion as I felt his death was the perfect send off for the character. However, I will say that after seen "Zombie Ward" (as he's been popularly called online) disintegrate in mid-air after saying that he'll make Malik believe in him by making his associate believe, I admittedly got a little excited for what's about to come.
So far, we've seen him merely eat, sit, and watch TV which is basically my life and I doubt I have an alien parasite using my body as a host (at least not that I'm aware of). It was only during that final scene that I remembered how much faith I should keep in the writers and producers as they've done an amazing job so far this season. I suppose we'll have to just wait and see what exactly did "Zombie Ward" do to that poor easily expendable Inhuman henchman.
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| Zombie Ward watches the latest trailer for Civil War |
Overall, this was, without a doubt, one of the most entertaining, action packed, and interesting episodes so far. The new character introductions were beautifully executed, the action scenes were top notch, the visual FX were incredible overall, and the storytelling elements were perfectly woven through. These are the types of episodes that I've been imagining and anticipating to see since Season 1 and I'm more than exciting to say to everyone out there "If you've decided to stop watching the show after Season 1's questionable quality in action and storytelling, now is the time to hurry back on.".
Episode Rating: 10/10
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