TV Nights: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #14
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Week #14
episode: T.A.H.I.T.I.
original airdate: 3-4-2014
It feels like it’s been forever since there’s been a new episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I also just read that this episode has had the lowest ratings of the season which is disappointing because I think the show has been getting much stronger these past several episodes. It’s unfortunate that it’s been hurt by both a weak starting few episodes which lost a lot of viewers, and these past two months which have been strewn with frequent hiatuses. Two weeks off, one week on, three weeks off. I almost think it would have been a better idea to have just taken six weeks off so there could have been a continuous string of new episodes. There seems to be a lot invested in this show so I hope that there are strong streaming numbers that help this show get to a season 2 because guest star Bill Paxton sure didn’t bring any viewers.
Anyway, back when we last left our agents, they had captured Ian Quinn after he had fatally shot Skye twice in the stomach and she is in critical condition in a hyperbaric chamber. The team is racing to figure out where Coulson’s after-death operations were held so that the same thing can be done to save Skye while S.H.I.E.L.D. sends a small security team consisting of Bill Paxton and his trainee agent to transport Quinn to the Fridge. Luckily everyone is old friends and they convince Paxton to come along to T.A.H.I.T.I. with them so they can save Skye.
Overall I thought this was another decent episode, but it put a bit too much focus on Bill Paxton’s guest role who wasn’t really all that interesting, nor did he really add anything to the team dynamics. His role was basically just to be a fly in the ointment that ends up helping them before going on his merry way. Everyone else was focused on trying to save Skye, but I also felt that the tension surrounding that was a little flat because they had set her up to be such an important cog to the team that there was no real worry that she would actually die. What I did like was how it was tied into all being planned by the Clairvoyant who wants to know what happened to Coulson so they brought about these events to try and recreate the circumstances. I also think that there will be a big “reveal” showing that the Clairvoyant is actually a woman since they spent a lot of time referring to them as a “he”. The other reveal of what actually helped save Coulson was also somewhat weak, as it turns out to be samples taken from the partial body of an alien. After doing some super-quick research, it’s also likely a reference to Mutant Growth Hormone, or just G.H. as it’s referred to in the episode. As I said, overall it was a decent episode, but not quite as strong as the past few. Here’s hoping next week’s episode with the Asgardian Lorelai and Sif turns out to be a good one. Until next time, this has been Bubbawheat for Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights.
Posted on March 6, 2014, in TV Nights and tagged Marvel, review, SHIELD, television, tv. Bookmark the permalink. 7 Comments.
Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 
Watching this over the upcoming weekend. Looking forward to it.
I thought there was a stronger momentum to this episode at least. I didn’t find myself dragging, which has happened during the “monster of the week” stories. Next week looks a little shaky despite having Sif, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m still liking the show overall, though I wonder if it’s going to have a second season.
They’ve rebranded the second half of this season “Uprising” and there’s a much stronger tie-in to the movies with Sif & a reported Winter Soldier connection. I read that it’s more likely to get renewed even if it has slightly lower numbers because it is essentially an hour long commercial for the Marvel movies, but we’ll see.
That’s a good point. It probably benefits them to have it on the air, though I’d hope they’d do a better job with the cross overs.
I thought it was a bit slow as well, and didn’t feel that Paxton’s guest role added much — though I did like that he wasn’t just another obstructive bureaucrat.
As for the hiatuses… yeah. ABC is killing the show by doing this. It’s a decent show, and it’d probably have a decent following if they would just air it. It was nearly a month before this episode, nearly a month before the previous episode, and a few weeks before that. It’s absurd.
I remember when 24 first aired, it had trouble with ratings and also had a frequently-interrupted schedule. Keifer Sutherland pitched a fit to FOX about it, and had it written into his contract that for all subsequent seasons it would air in one continuous block. Ratings went up. Part of that’s due to the writing improving (no “Kim gets chased by cougar” scenes in seasons 3+), but I think part of it is also that people weren’t encouraged to forget the show existed.
I think the ratings were starting to get a post-hiatus bump when they started airing the second half of the season, but these mini-hiatuses for the Olympics and whatever the other one was for is a bit tough. Hopefully from here it’ll run straight through to the season ender which might partly determine whether or not it gets a season 2. Next year will be a lot of superheroes on TV, not sure which ones I’ll try to catch. Maybe I’ll try to catch up with Arrow this summer because I’m quite interested in the Flash, but I’m way off tangent here.
And now it’s taking another week off for a “making of Marvel movies” special. Which, OK, is at least thematically of interest, but still… it’s not the show.