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| Image Courtesy en.wikipedia.org |
Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues its very strong fourth season in “Uprising,” as we see
both the dark side of the Sokovia Accords (and attendant Inhuman Registration)
and the dark side of human nature at work.
This episode feels like it has been a virtual necessity ever since Captain
America: Civil War introduced the concept of the Sokovia Accords—a document
which all enhanced individuals must sign, under which they are registered and
monitored by the governments of the world.
And
along with this exploration of the Accords—and why Steve Rogers didn’t like
them in the first place—we also get some very strong development from our main
characters. These last few episodes have
actually felt a little more like what I think people were expecting from Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D. when it was first announced: a show set against the backdrop of enhanced
people running around but which focuses on representatives of the massive
international peacekeeping agency tasked with keeping the enhanced people in
line. The cast is spread out all across
America, and all working on different pieces of the same puzzle, with the
Director (officially named “Jeffrey Mace” for the first time on the show) as
the only real connecting link. This makes
S.H.I.E.L.D. itself feel bigger while the (extremely large) cast feels a bit
smaller and more manageable.
The
main action of the episode centers on the Inhumans (for a change) and the
consequences of the Sokovia Accords for them.
It turns out that part of the Accords deals specifically with the Inhumans,
requiring them to register like the Avengers.
Since then S.H.I.E.L.D. has also been relocating Inhumans to cities
around the world, including Miami, Los Angeles, and London. Unfortunately, it turns out that keeping a
written list and placing Inhumans in cities around the world may not be the
best policy, as Coulson discovers that the Inhuman Registration list has fallen
into the hands of the Watchdogs (you remember them, right?), who use the
information to target Inhumans around the world by creating blackouts in the
relocation cities which they blame on the “Inhuman Resistance.” I have to say, I really liked what they did
with the blackouts and the “Inhuman Resistance” false flag. Blackouts create chaos which they can
exploit, and pinning the blame on their enemies is guaranteed to bring the
public over to their side.
This
was also a good opportunity to explore Mack’s non-relationship with Elena,
which does not get a lot of mention, beyond the fact that (again) Mack does not
want to be personally involved with an asset.
Elena does get several good scenes in addition to that, however. The first one that stuck out to me was when
she was subtly fighting against the Watchdogs by stealing their guns in a
heartbeat and dropping them in a planter.
The reaction from her friend—horror and fear to learn that Elena is an
Inhuman—was a great way to bring home what all of this means for the
Inhumans. Our primary focus in this
series is on the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and powered people themselves; we see very
little of the reaction by regular people to coming into contact with enhanced
individuals. The fact that Elena’s
friend wants nothing to do with her—even after Elena saved her life—is a good
way to remind us of the stakes for regular people. This episode also gives us the (obligatory)
speedster-speed sequence as Elena disarms a small army of Watchdogs in a matter
of seconds. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
has only used the trick a couple of times (since their only speedster is
Elena), and they don’t have quite the flair of the movies, but it is still a
fun sequence. I especially like that
they introduce it with the glowstick that turns into a long streak of light.
It
was also cool to see Fitz using old-school science to solve their problem for a
change, instead of relying on technology.
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| Image Courtesy www.mcuexchange.com |
The
Los Angeles aspect of the episode was also cool, as Quake and Ghost Rider are easily
the two darkest and most intense characters on the show. Seeing Robbie interact with Gabe was a good
way to humanize Robbie, who up until this point was primarily a force of
nature. Now we get to see more clearly
the care between the brothers—which gets driven home even more by Gabe when he
tells Daisy to stay away from his brother because she would be a bad influence. The biggest problem I have noticed with this
aspect of the plot is that it seems to be developing much more slowly than we
are really used to (at least over the last 2½ seasons). Daisy has been angry at herself, feeling
guilt over Lincoln’s death, in denial, and on the run for more than 6 months
(and 3 episodes) and at this point she feels no closer to a breakthrough than
she was at the end of season 3. I like
getting to see this side of her, but I’m ready for her to deal with her guilt,
stop using her powers to injure herself, reconcile with S.H.I.E.L.D., and
become the leader of the (new) Secret Warriors.
At some point that’s what’s going to happen, right?
The
final major plot for the episode involved May and her ghostly touch. Simmons and Radcliffe must work together to
figure out what is wrong with her, discover that her brain is being over-stimulated,
and decide they need to kill her to reset her brain. Simmons’ reaction to the diagnosis and
proposal is a great moment for her character, especially with as dark as she
has gotten lately. She still cares about
her old team members, so the idea of losing May terrifies her. When the power goes out at the moment she’s
about to restart May’s heart, Simmons’ reaction of starting CPR and begging May
to come back is very realistic and very much in-character for her. I’m still not sure how stopping May’s heart
and restarting it undid the ghostly touch affect, but as far as plot devices
go, this one did a good job of tying this plot in with the others.
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| Image Courtesy www.screenrant.com |
One
other note on the May plot concerns Director Mace. I really like what they have been doing with
his character. Thus far we have been led
to believe that Mace has some sort of ulterior motives and is not to be
trusted. He is way too smooth and
personable. He tries way too hard to be
nice to Coulson. So when he refused to
disclose May’s situation at the end of episode 2, we were to feel justified in
mistrusting him. However, in this
episode it turns out that he really did have everyone’s best interests at
heart: he sent May to the best facility
available. When that didn’t work, he
brought her back to Simmons and Radcliffe since they are the (somewhat)
experts. He does prevent Coulson from
being there when they try to save her, but that is only because Coulson is too
personally involved and is needed in Miami.
I love Mace’s line to Coulson that “This is the call you would make in
my position” because that is absolutely correct, and it shows that Coulson is
not always in the right. I do wonder if
eventually Mace will turn out to be a villain, but I really hope that he does
not. I think that if they do it right,
Mace can function in the same role on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Captain
America does in the movies: he is the
representative of “moral good” against whom all the other characters measure
themselves and find themselves wanting.
I
did have one serious negative concern with this episode. At the end it is revealed that 17 Inhumans
were killed during the blackouts and ensuing rioting. However, we do not know any of these people,
so we have no reason to feel anything for their loss. Why should we care about these 17 Inhumans
instead of the thousands of people hurt during the rioting? Even seeing faces or seeing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s
reaction to the news would have been better.
I’m also not sure what I think of the senator at this moment, since she
is nothing but dislikeable at the moment.
As
a whole this episode was a strong continuation of the plot on all points. The characters get a lot of good
moments. The effects are all great. The plot
works together nicely. And this episode
answers a lot of burning questions from the end of the previous season, particularly
with regard to the Sokovia Accords. I was
actually surprised that a network TV show would be willing during a heated
election cycle to tackle the issue of registration, and that it would do so in
this way. There is a definite case to be
made that Inhuman Registration (and the Accords as a whole) is analogous to a
firearm registration list: it’s a list
of names saying “here are the people who have the ability to defend themselves
and the ability to stand up to some form of tyranny.” And what happens to this List? It winds up in the wrong hands, and
criminals/tyrants attempt to use it to take out major perceived threats. But it doesn’t have to be the Watchdogs behind
the whole thing; a government could be backing them and using them to fuel fear
against people with the ability to protect the innocent from oppression, and
using that fear to capture all the power for themselves. “Registration inevitably leads to confiscation”—or
in this case to murder or capture.
What did you
think of this episode? Who do you think
is backing the Watchdogs? Do you like
what they are doing with Daisy’s character?
Let me know in the comments!
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