Review: Agents of SHIELD Episode TRACKS

Agents of SHIELD. ABC. MARVEL

This weeks episode SHIELD was a rather a shocker. As always when I review anything there are probably going spoilers. Actually since I waited nearly a week to review it you should have had enough time to watch it, so don't complain if I spoil. 

Let's just cover some of the great things in this last episode. I loved how they kept hopping around the view points of the story and showed the view points of the team members. It certainly gave it a dynamic feel seeing the events of the story playing out in each location. It showed how everyone reacted to the whole train ride events. Hopping back every few minutes wasn't forced and it was done in a way that was easy enough to follow. 

I'm going to admit that the Stan Lee cameo felt a little wedged in to give him the cameo but it was delightful nonetheless. That whole scene was pretty hilarious and Stan Lee said some very moving words that would have been more moving if it wasn't in reaction to a cover story. Simmons' cover story was rather full and her playing it off with Coulson, that scene just made Clark Gregg more.

The humor was well played and well balanced. It didn't feel out of place in an action heavy series. The action was amazing Min-Na Wen just made Melinda May even more badass. One of my favorites scenes was when she was captured. The double agents is threatening her and stabs her in the shoulder and then may waits a moments grabs the knife, who is still in her shoulder, uses it to cut her ropes and proceeds to take use the knife two kill four double agents and slash the guy who stabbed her. Then we see her catch up to that guy and knife throw him to death before he could kill Coulson and Ward. Friendly reminder she did so with a stab wound! Melinda May the poster child for Bad ass!

Though let's face it everyone is going to come in second place in the action department  after that whole May action scenes other characters really stepped up. Fitz whose a tech agents got to fight a little and did a good job.  He and Skye even managed to go to the compound to find the thing the mission was about.

Let's talk about Skye for a moment. Skye first showed up as good hearted hacktevist who planned on using the team for her own ends, finding out about her past and revealing the secret they held. She has really grown and been a solid member of the team and discovering who she is. In the end her head was in the mission and even encouraged Fitz to storm the compound. While she is more like a hard nose agent she still kind hearted and worried about someone she found in side. Spoilers alert people! Last warning. She found Mike Peterson.

A lot of fan boys are going to love this bit. Mike Peterson who was just this guy who wanted to do right by his family at first, then he used the power he was given and was on his way to being a Shield agent got blown up trying to do right. We all thought that was it until we saw that he had been captured and had that whole eye horror bomb placed on his. You feel for this guy. He wants to see his son and make him proud but now he's being used as a weapon to hurt those people who saved him and have tried to help him. That's all heart wrenching and great story telling but here is the part that fan boys are going to love. Having lost a leg he was given a cyborg leg and it was marked Deathlok. Yes, Mike is being turned into this universes Deathlok. Though not one of the best known Marvel Characters this hero or anti hero has been around for a while. In the comic he was a remains brought back by technology and there have been four versions so I wonder how this will all play out. I hope for a happy ending for Mike. Which just goes to show how well both the writing and acting handle him that people care for the character whose only been on for three episodes really.

Big wham of the episode. Skye is shot by everyone least favorite rich blow hard. It seems to be under orders of the mysterious Clairvoyant. The team managed to reach he in time to keep her alive but she's far from out of the woods. This doesn't feel like something to get rating, she's still knew at all this so this was a possible result, actually likely to rushing in pretty much alone. The reactions from all the characters were believable and heart felt. Only time will tell the impact that this will have and what will happen. Remember this is a Joss Wheadon project so anyone can die. They killed Buffy twice less you forget and they planned to keep her dead the second time.

Overall all there is very little I can say against the episode. It was a solid script, well acted, funny and action backed. The twists all worked and didn't feel forced. The cameo wasn't a hundred percent natural fit  with the flow but people loved it and I think that made up for that small flow problem. It really show cased the cast and how the characters have all grown to work as a unit and care about one another. I'm giving it a 4.9 out of 5. Still hopping our new Deathlok makes it out this season, anyone else?