Why You Should Be Watching Marvel’s AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
After an atrocious Season 1, which was only saved by the story from ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, continuing in the remaining episodes of the season, ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ has completely reinvented itself in Season 2. Not only is the story of the show relevant and impactful, but it’s tying into story elements from the comic books which will have major repercussions throughout the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including but not limited to upcoming films events like ‘Captain America: Civil War’.
This article will feature a review of ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mid season finale, along with discussion, theories and questions about the series and MCU in general. So needless to say, massive Spoilers will follow… starting… now!
WATCH OUT! SPOILERS!
Season 1 featured a minor arc involving the newest S.H.I.E.L.D. member Skye played by Chloe Bennett. Skye was classified as 0-8-4 as a child, the classification given by S.H.I.E.L.D. to unknown objects of alien or mysterious origins. Her history was a mystery of the show, while the consequences of Coulson’s return after his death in ‘The Avengers’ featured the main arc. After an injury, Skye was treated with the same ‘blue alien’ serum that enabled Coulson to cheat death causing him to seek out and carve alien symbols almost obsessively, while having had no reaction on Skye, implying she may be an alien herself. The first half of Season 2 elaborates and reveals Skye’s origins, and it has repercussions that will ripple through the MCU.
S02E10: ‘What They Become’
The mid season finale shows us a group of individuals from back in the 1940’s who were experimented on and it was revealed that there are certain people that have an ability to unlock more powers through a temple in an unknown city, using certain mysterious objects. The main villain of Season 2, Dr. Whitehall sought out this city, which happened to be revealed by the carvings Coulson kept doing. Skye’s father, played brilliantly by Kyle Maclachlin, claims that it’s Skye’s destiny to reach the city. Through a series of events, Skye, Raina & Agent Trip end up locked in the temple with the mysterious object known as The Diviner, which releases a gas or mist, causing some tremendous transformation within Skye & Raina, while killing Tripp in the meantime.
The episode, while not being the best of the show thus far, had enough story elements to move things forward in a dramatically exciting way. It’s the most progress the show has made thus far, after complaints of there not being enough forward momentum. Skye’s origins finally revealed, the death of a major character; while other things are also left in the air such as the status of Raina after her own transformations, and the biggest question of all: ‘what happens next?’
The Inhumans
To better put this mid-season finale into context, you must know a little about a group of characters known as The Inhumans. Long ago, a group of blue skinned aliens experimented on a group of humans to make them more advanced than normal human beings. These aliens were known as the Kree, a member of which was featured as the main villain Ronan in last summer’s ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ (my Review here) and also the blue alien body shown on ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ in Season 1. The advanced humans continued to evolve alongside the human race, creating their own society and culture, but separating themselves in their own hidden city known as Attilan, similar to the city that was revealed in the show this season. These advanced humans, known as Inhumans, can gain various powers from a substance known as Terragon Mist, similar to what seemed to be released in the temple with Skye & Raina in the mid season finale. How do the Inhumans factor into ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ or even the rest of the MCU? Read on…
Fox Vs. Marvel
Before Marvel Comics created Marvel Studios to produce their own movies, they sold some of the rights to their characters to other studios. Which is why Fox has X-Men and any characters that have powers through mutation, or mutants, remain in the realm of the X-Men and Fox. Therefore Marvel Studios cannot feature any characters on screen in their Cinematic Universe and say that their powers are a result of a mutation. Which is why at the end of ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ the stinger scene implies that the powers of the characters Quicksilver, played by Aaron Taylor Johnson & Scarlet Witch played by Elizabeth Olson, who will be prominently featured in ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’, are a result of experimentation. Similar to what Dr. Whitehall is shown to do during his time on ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, specifically with Skye’s mother.
Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch at the end of Captain America: The Winter SoldierSo no ‘mutants’ in the MCU. As I pointed out in my theory of how ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’ may lead to ‘Civil War’, there aren’t many super powered individuals in the MCU, and a big part of the ‘Civil War’ storyline is the out of control number of people with powers that run amok without accountability in the world. I theorized at the time that something will happen causing many people all over the world to get powers, resulting in the need for a ‘Civil War’ movie. Seems like ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ is doing just that.
Inhumans Debut On Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
It seems like Skye was part of the select Inhuman population who, after being exposed to the mist, will now undergo a change that gives her powers of her own, which also seemed to give Raina powers which may lead to her a super powered villain on the show going forward. We were also shown that Skye isn’t the only one, as other Diviners exist and there are other people who are aware of this transformation, meaning there may already be Inhumans with powers living amongst everyone else in the world. This fills the need of having more super powered individuals in the world than just The Avengers, paving the way for a Civil War storyline, not to mention the eventual the ‘Inhumans’ movie set to debut in 2018. ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ is also the only thing in the MCU between now and the ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’ releasing on May 2015, (not to mention ‘Agent Carter’ releasing January 2015) so expect a lot more things to be affecting the landscape of the MCU between now and then on the show.
What’s Next?
There are many things still lingering about the show that can be pursued in the rest of Season 2.
- Bobbi is definitely hiding something from Hunter, something only she and Mack were privy to, as we see her retrieving a USB drive from Mack’s garage, after the city took control of him.
- Ward, after being brutally shot by Skye in an awesome scene of wicked-ness, was seen leaving with Agent 33, who seemed quite directionless after Whitehall’s death. Given that she has May’s scarred face still on her, and Ward’s history with May, I wonder if we’ll see some twisted relationship between them?
- What role will the other eye-less (presumably) Inhuman who was seen at the end of the episode with the Diviner, play now that they’re aware of Skye’s existence and transformation.
- I’m hoping we see Skye’s father again this season as a psychotic anti-hero, who may have to sacrifice his own life in order to redeem himself to Skye. Also, he seems the most equipped to answer all our questions regarding Skye’s changes and the Inhumans.
- Raina will of course be a villain of this season now, as she was shown to have transformed into some spiky lady.
- If Season 2 does lead into ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’, will they finally reveal to the other Avengers that Coulson is alive in the show?
So go and catch up on ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ right now! Season 1 is available on the US version of Netflix & on CraveTV in Canada. For those with little time on their hands, Screen Rant has a great post that boils down the 9 most important episodes of Season 1, in order to be caught up with Season 2. ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ returns to finish Season 2 on Mar 3rd, 2015 on ABC
Share your comments below if you think there’s more details I missed, or other ways that the MCU will change through ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’
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