The Writing on the Wall Gives Us What We've All Been Waiting On...
So after a week off for the mid-term elections and Marvel's 75th Anniversary special, Agents of SHIELD came back really strong this week. Spoilers ahead!
This episode was the end of the "writing" story arc as far as I can tell. After teasing us with the meaning of the alien writing since season 1, Agents of SHIELD actually gave us some answers this week. While there is still much left to be explained about the alien writing, what we did learn did not disappoint. It's pretty important for any ongoing medium that its answers be as exciting and compelling as its mysteries. If the mystery is too good and the answers do live up to the fun of speculation, the show is setting up it's viewers for major disappointment. *cough* Lost *cough* Agents of SHIELD has found a good balance with this story arc. The mystery was compelling, but not so much that we weren't ready for the answer. Now that the writing has turned out to be a map, or a blueprint rather, I think the reveals to come will be just as interesting if not more so than the mystery.
Recap
Let's briefly recap where we're at in Agents of SHIELD and what happened this week on "The Writing on the Wall." We had two major stories playing out in this episode. We saw one group chasing down Ward, while the other group is trying to catch a murdering who is scrawling the alien writing on his victim's bodies. May, Hunter, and Mockingbird are all on Ward's tail, but he continues to be a step ahead of them. He spots Bobbi Morse at the bus station before even boarding the bus with her. Carrying a bag of C4, Ward threatens to blow up everyone on the bus if she tries anything. He escapes and makes his way to a bar where he attempts to rejoin Hydra. Ward continues to elude our agents, but he does give Skye and/or Coulson a "gift" in the form of Hydra agent "Bakshi."
Meanwhile, Coulson, Skye and Simmons are on the case for the murdering who is carving up his victims. This side of the episode was quite satisfying as it totally unfurled the story behind the Tahiti Project. SHIELD has been using the alien blood called GH-325 to save their critically injured agents, including Coulson and later Skye. GH-325 has some serious side effects, making the recipient basically lose their shit completely. In order to save them, SHIELD erased their memories and replaced them. All this because the alien blood was imprinting memories on the agents and their brains couldn't handle two set of memories. After having their brains reformatted, they were giving normal lives without any knowledge of their time at SHIELD. Except for Sebastian Derrick (played by Brian Van Holt). Derrick begins to remember his SHIELD days and continues to root out his old memories after learning that pain would trigger a relapse. Then after remembering everything that happened to him (which was all pretty effed up honestly, WTF SHIELD?) he targets all the other agents who underwent the alien blood transfusion. He wants them to remember as well, but mostly just succeeds at killing them. This all culminates in a throwdown between Coulson and Derrick. Coulson finally realizes the meaning of the alien writing while choking out Derrick. Overlooking a sculpture by yet another agent from the Tahiti Project, Coulson puts everything together and then the crazy urges just stop. We find out in the end that the writing is a blueprint of a city and that SHIELD has to find it before Hydra.
Review
While this episode was not as high paced or action packed as some of the past few episodes, it was still very good. Agents of SHIELD feels like it is on the verge of a huge revelation. The buzz all over the internet is that the alien writing is Kree and that the story is all leading toward an Inhuman connection. The city is rumored to be the great refuge of the Inhumans or possibly even Attilan. Personally, I really hope things pan out for the Inhumans coming to SHIELD. This would be a great injection of superhero powers to the TV show. Not to mention, this would be an unprecedented alignment of TV and movie storytelling. We know that Agents of SHIELD has a pivotal place in the MCU after The Winter Soldier, but this development could take that whole type of execution to the next level!
Brett Dalton is doing a great job as the skeezy bad guy creep so far this season. I find his performance to be much more compelling as an antagonist. His fixation on Skye is beyond creepy. (Side note: he kinda looks like a hunkier version of Mac from Always Sunny with a beard) The rest of the cast is also really gelling with the new additions of Hunter, Morse, and 'Mac.' Mac is one of my favorite supporting characters this season, but I feel the newly introduced dynamic of Simmons vs. Mac feels a little forced or just unnecessary. While the storytelling on this show has been elevated quite a bit this season, the set pieces are still dark, drab, and repetitive. I don't think I can stand to see another scene in the ominous, laser-beam-shielded prison cell in the basement. Even after letting Ward go, we end up back in that room again and again.
I still have to rank Agents of SHIELD somewhere on the lower end of comic book adaptations on TV, but the show is staying good. I'll definitely be watching next week.
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