Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ‘Shadows’

Tonight was the premiere of season two of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. I was a little thrown by the time jump but soon caught up and was very happy to see Lucy Lawless make an appearance. Her support team was two typical military mercenary types and were forgettable. It was good to see B.J. Britt and Ming Na Wen back as well. Cards on the table, I have IMDB open right now and I’m going to stop pretending and just call them by their character names.

This episode started with a flashback to the timeframe of the new Agent Carter show, which hasn’t premiered yet, but it was awesome to see the Howling Commandos at work kicking Hydra butt. I, however, am less than excited for that show and honestly will probably sit that one out. The flashback detailed a mysterious object, the first 084! The rest of the episode dealt with the acquisition of the mysterious artifact and a little something extra to help the team.

They are opposed by a fantastically thought-out and well-utilized Carl “The  Crusher” Creel—the Absorbing Man! The way the show portrayed him was awesome. They kept his look and his power set but added a neat twist, a slight fetish on Creel’s part for certain elements. I was really worried when I heard that they were going to bring powered villains into the world, but they showed his powers in a visually and logically appropriate way. The graphics and morphs for Creel were awesome and showed exactly how his power works in the comics, the scene with him and the wrecking ball made me so pleased. It was perfect!

This whole episode, though, was a little irritating. They didn’t fill in the gaps I wanted filled, and they went some strange places with characters I really loved. Ward is suicidal, and I honestly don’t think his character would have been. The Fitz and Simmons storyline is sad, and it honestly crushes me to see his frustration.

This episode, while awesome, is a 3/5 for me. I feel that some characters should have stayed and been introduced better than they were. They did Absorbing Man very well but unfortunately killed off Lucy Lawless, which made me sad. I am still really glad SHIELD is back. I missed it greatly, and it’s nice to have some nerd-friendly Tuesday-night viewing again!