The Biggest Flaw with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2

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I had been planning to post my review of Big Hero 6 this week, but I decided to put that on the backburner for a week.  You see, the last few weeks I’ve been watching the first two seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  There are a lot of really good moments in those seasons that you don’t notice until you know where the story is going.  I would actually recommend rewatching the series before season 4 starts in about 6 weeks.

If you remember from my reviews last summer, I personally think that season 1 is a lot better than most people gave it credit for at the time.  The writers do a fantastic job of introducing the characters, exploring the dynamics between them, and laying just enough groundwork for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  When they get to the Hydra uprising, all of that groundwork pays off in a big way when the agents are left in utter confusion trying to figure out who’s on which side.  And when Ward is revealed as a Hydra mole it may be the single defining moment of the entire season.

All of that being said, season 2 does a lot of things better than season 1.  The series moves forward at a much faster pace.  The reveal of Skye’s/Daisy’s powers positions the show much better in terms of its place in a superhero universe.  They work in a lot of good espionage elements.  Both Whitehall and Jiaying make for compelling adversaries in their own right, with Jiaying making for an incredible villain at the end of the season.

However, something about season 2 has bugged me for over a year, but I could never quite figure out exactly what it was.  Fortunately, while watching through it for the third time or so I finally figured out just what it is that bugs me so much.  What is it?

Weekly MCU Review for 7/30

Another week, and more MCU news!  Comic-Con concluded this week, so we've got a lot of new stuff to talk about.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

How Do We Define a "Tie-In"?

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In talking about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and its connections with other media (particularly the movies), it has occurred to me that I use the words “tie-in” and “crossover” without really defining them.  And considering how frequently we talk about “tie-ins” and “crossovers” between Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the movies, it’s a pretty good bet that I’m not the only one who uses them in a number of different ways.  This can be confusing!

So partly to help myself out—and partly to help everyone else out—let’s take some time to define some terms when it comes to “tie-ins” and “crossovers.”  Next week I will apply these terms in talking about possible tie-ins/crossovers with the movies coming out during season 4 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.:  Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Before we get started, remember that these are the definitions I’m using; I’m not saying this is what we have to use.  Though you’re welcome to adopt them for yourself!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier RETRO-REVIEW

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When I first started this Retro-Review series, I think this was the movie I was most excited for.  After all, before Captain America: Civil War completely changed the status quo and elevated the MCU to a whole new level, this movie was changing the game and elevating the MCU to a level it hadn’t reached since The Avengers—and arguably it even exceeded the level of The Avengers.  Just about every aspect of this movie works perfectly, from the character development and relationship elements to the stunt work and choreography.  This movie doesn’t make nearly as much use of computer-generated effects as most other MCU movies, but it really doesn’t need CGI to create convincing effects (other than the helicarriers and Falcon’s flight effects).  On the whole, there is really nothing in this movie that doesn’t work spectacularly.

Captain America: Civil War TL;DW

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Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War opens in U.S. theaters just over a week from today on Friday, May 6.  This will be the 13^th movie released as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which also includes a number of tie-in comics as well as four TV series (and counting).  It’s almost certain that just about everyone in the world will go to see this movie, but they will not all have seen everything that came before it in the MCU.  And there is the chance that at least some of these will be completely new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  So to help these people out, here is a “Too Long; Didn’t Watch” summary of the MCU to date, focusing especially on what is relevant to Captain America: Civil War.  At the end I will offer my three suggestions for movies that you should watch (or rewatch) before going to see Captain America: Civil War, and why those three.  We’ll start from the beginning, with Iron Man.

Note:  There will (obviously) be spoilers.  Also, these TL;DW articles are starting to get loooong!

The Civil War Conflict Has Been Built into the MCU All Along

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Here we are, 4 weeks away from the wide release of Captain America: Civil War.  This movie has been hotly anticipated ever since Disney announced last year that the third Captain America movie would not have the subtitle “Serpent Society,” but instead would be titled Captain America: Civil War.  However, to think that the MCU Civil War has only been building for a couple of years would be to ignore the facts.  It’s not like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers just decided one day that they wanted to disagree about something, picked the Sokovia Accords, and duked it out.  No, this conflict over accountability vs. freedom has actually been built into the very DNA of the Marvel Cinematic Universe virtually since its inception.  You might say that these heroes were always destined to come into conflict, either with each other or with the government; the time and place was the only question left to be answered.

Frankly, this Civil War has been a long time coming.

Top Ten Episodes/Moments from MCU TV's First Hundred Episodes

Oh, how far we've come!
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Sorry about the late update.  I wanted this ready to go up early in the day, but I kind of got sidetracked by Daredevil season 2!

Let’s do some quick math here:

56+18+13+13=100

You know what that means?  56 episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (22 episodes * 2 seasons + 12 of season 3) + 18 episodes of Agent Carter + 13 episodes of Daredevil+ 13 episodes of Jessica Jones = 100 episodes of MCU TV.  Wow!

Marvel's Civil War Interconnectivity: A Case Study from the Hydra Uprising

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When I was planning out this series, it was just two articles:  one explaining why I think Marvel’s Civil War needs to be more than just Captain America: Civil War, and one outlining how it could be more than just Captain America: Civil War.  That only lasted until I finished writing up possible connections with the Phase 3 movies, realized how long that section was, and decided to split the second half into 2 articles (I know, how very Harry Potter/Hunger Games/Twilight of me!).  Now, here I am adding yet another article to this series, which will lay out an example of exactly what I’m talking about, using a specific example from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a template.

This article is actually coming as a response to some of the feedback on the first article that I received on Reddit.  Specifically, there was some confusion as to exactly what I mean by “Civil War Needs to be BIG”—I realize now a better title would have been “Why Marvel’s Civil War Needs to be BIGger than Captain America: Civil War.”

Regardless, to answer those questions, I am going to look at Marvel’s Phase 2—specifically from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1 through the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3 premiere—to understand the interconnectivity of that series and 3 of the movies that came out during that time (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man).

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episode 8, "Many Heads, One Tale" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

So for the first 2/3 or so of this episode, I was really enjoying myself.  There was a lot of intrigue, particularly with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s relationship with their frenemies at the A.T.C.U.  Several of the characters got some nice moments.  Fitz-Simmons received some much-needed plot development.  Overall, it was a really interesting and intriguing episode.  And then the ending happened.  And my mind kind of did this:

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2, Episode 4, "Face My Enemy" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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“Face My Enemy,” the next episode up in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2, is definitely one of the more fun episodes of the season, particularly because it embraces the James Bond-esque spy thriller genre so much.  The random spy tools are out in full force in this one, including the “Return of the Mask” from Captain America: The Winter Soldier—you thought that thing was just a deus ex machina, didn’t you?  Additionally, this episode gives us one of the most technically-impressive fight sequences on the series (if not for the year).  However, for as impressive as that fight was and as much fun as the James Bond-inspired mission was, the character scenes may have been the most powerful elements of this episode.

Reminder:  Retro-Reviews contain potential spoilers for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1 and 2, as well as everything else that's come out already.

Looking Back at MCU Phase 2

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Now that Ant-Man is over and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to start its third season at the end of next month (thus kicking off Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe), this seems like as good a time as any to look back at MCU Phase 2 and see just what happened.  Next week I will have another article looking ahead to Phase 3, but before we get there, let’s take a look at Phase 2 and see what themes it explored.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 22, "Beginning of the End" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Here it is at long last:  the season 1 finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  This is what the entire season was building toward, and it is pretty awesome.  I think the season 2 finale may have been even more epic and “huge,” but the first season finale had some fun action scenes, and exciting fight between May and Ward, and some great “crazy Garrett” moments.

Reminder:  This retro-review contains potential spoilers for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1 and 2.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 20, "Nothing Personal" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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“Nothing Personal,” the antepenultimate episode in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1, is loaded with Easter eggs, references, and cameos, and at the same time manages to fill in a ton of puzzle pieces for the season’s remaining mysteries.  All the pieces are starting to come together for an exciting season finale two episodes from now!

Reminder:  Retro-Reviews contain potential spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1 and 2.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 18, "Providence" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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After the huge action and intrigue of “Turn, Turn, Turn” (1x17), “Providence” slows things down somewhat by focusing more on the characters’ reactions to everything that happened with the Hydra uprising, Fury’s death, and the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.  After how big the last episode was, I was a bit caught off-guard by how intimate this episode is, but it really works as an opportunity to slow down and reflect on what’s happened.

Remainder:  There will be spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1 and 2, along with Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 17, "Turn, Turn, Turn" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Wow.  I’m pretty sure that’s the only possible response after watching “Turn, Turn, Turn” (1x17) the first time.

This episode aired only four days after the Marvel Cinematic Universe was turned upside down by the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  In that movie Captain America discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra, which was attempting to launch a trio of helicarriers capable of taking out anyone deemed a threat to Hydra.  However, Cap, Black Widow, Falcon, Hill, and Fury took control of the helicarriers and forced them to destroy each other (and if you haven’t seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier yet, I kind of just spoiled the ending… but it’s your own fault for still having not seen it when it’s been out over a year!).  And all of this is happening more or less concurrently with the events of “Turn, Turn, Turn.”

Reminder:  Potential spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1 and 2 ahead (along with a few more Captain America: The Winter Soldier spoilers).  You've been warned.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 16, "End of the Beginning" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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After last episode took a brief detour as the team helped out Sif the Bounty Hunter, “End of the Beginning” (1x16) sees the series start going full-throttle toward the dramatic conclusion, starting with this episode, which serves as a major lead-in to Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  This one is easily the most exciting episode to-date as new alliances are being forged, guest characters from all over S.H.I.E.L.D.’s involvement in the MCU stop by, and the team is torn apart by the betrayal of one of their own.  I remember watching this episode when it first aired last year and being insanely pumped to watch Winter Soldier and then come back for “Turn, Turn, Turn.”  And it’s the same this time around, too (even though this time the movie that comes between the two episodes is Ant-Man!).

Reminder:  Retro-Reviews include spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1 and 2.