Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. week #15

Episode: Yes Men
Original airdate: 3-11-14

Wow, two weeks in a row, what a shocker! But seriously, it’s nice to see some regularity, too bad it’s not continuing for very long. At least next week there is a Marvel related thing going on. Not only did we get two episodes in a row, but we actually got a real tie-in to the Thor movie rather than the weak tie-in involving a spear and an Asgardian, neither of which featured in the movie at all. This time around we get an actual Asgardian from the movie with Jaimie Alexander’s Lady Sif and a villain that is from the Thor comics. Not only that, but there is a great shift in the team dynamics within the main cast that really helps to further some of the characters. There isn’t too much humor, but there’s a lot of drama and a lot of action in yet another great episode. Not to mention the fact that it’s really taken me this long to realize how much of a strong female cast this show has in general. Fully 50% of the team is made up of women, and they are all just as strong as their male counterpart. It’s something that’s great to see, and maybe I just don’t read enough other viewpoints on the show, but I certainly don’t see it getting a lot of credit for that aspect. The fact that the team is pretty much whitewashed is a different story, but there is at least a fair number of ethnicities when it comes to the other characters and villains that pop up.

Even though this is a bit of a monster of the week episode with Lorelai and her ability to control the minds of men, there is a lot more going on with the team dynamics and the furthering of a few different ongoing plot points. First off, just looking at the general episode, it is a lot of fun seeing Lorelai go from man to man until she finds who she thinks is the strongest man around in order for her to get what she wants out of her visit to Midgard. But aside from that, there’s also the fact that during her time with the controlled Ward, it’s revealed that Ward really doesn’t care that much about his relationship with May, but does care for another member of the team, quite likely Skye though it’s not actually spelled out. But it is also hinted that May was much more involved with Ward than she let on.

There’s also the subplot that I didn’t quite like as much with Coulson dealing with the fact that both he and Skye were healed with some type of alien byproduct by trying to reach Director Fury who is off the grid. Unfortunately, I read him being “off the grid” as Samuel L. Jackson being “not available” for making a cameo this week. And finally there is the big end reveal that one member of the team is actually working for someone else. Most likely it’s just a high level S.H.I.E.L.D. agent including possibly Fury himself, but there’s also always the less likely possibility that they are working for the Clairvoyant in some capacity. We shall see. Until next time, this has been Bubbawheat for Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights.