Let’s be honest Agents of Shield had a pretty rough first season. If it hadn’t been for the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which changed everything, then the show might not have picked up and might have never been renewed.
However, The Winter Soldier did change everything, the show did go from strength to strength culminating in one of the best season finales I’ve ever seen. It was renewed and the first episode of the second season has now aired and wow, what a season premiere. It definitely picks up from where season one ended, determined to put Agents of Shield on the map as an incredible TV show.
Spoilers under the cut. You have been warned.
Where season one ended
Ward had been revealed as a traitor, and had been taken into custody. Nick Fury had pulled Fitz and Simmons out of the ocean, alive but in Fitz’s case not necessarily well. Fury had named Coulson as the new Director of Shield, asked him to rebuild and then dropped off the map again. The government was hunting them, they had some resources due to Fury’s secret base – the playground, but they were operating in the shadows now. Garret was down, Deathlok was on their side, or at least was in their custody. Coulson was drawing strange symbols on the wall and something about Skye but I don’t care about her.
Where season two picked up
Ward is still in custody and is having some problems with self harm. We don’t get much time to explore his mental state, I imagine that will be a story arc throughout the season. He is however still obsessed with Skye, unfortunately, though I don’t really get why.
Fitz seemed to be fine, he was working even, Simmons at his side and helping him with his word aphasia. She encouraged him, supported him. His frustration was leading towards anger, towards paranoia, but Simmons kept him calm and kept him focused. Only it wasn’t Simmons, she had left the team for parts unknown and the Simmons we saw was Fitz hallucination. Coulson still lets him in the lab, still calls him part of the team, but what contribution if any that he can make now, is unknown.
May has taken over as Skye’s training partner and the two seem to be getting along better. Skye is still annoying but well if she stays quiet and just does what she’s told I won’t rant about her. I do like May though, her part here was small but it’s clear that she is Coulson’s 2IC, he looks to her and she is still looking out for him. That’s nice.
The government is still hunting them. Talbot wants them in jail and considering that they kinda kidnapped him this episode, can’t really blame the guy. Deathlok is nowhere to be seen, no idea what happened to him, though I would have thought the team could have used some superpowered help. Coulson’s symbols are seen, including on the 084, this episodes point of interest, but they aren’t really mentioned and we still know nothing about them.
Coulson is the new director of shield and due to their plane being trackable, has to fly coach. This kinda begs the question of how he gets through airport security. I mean sure he’ll have fake passports but won’t his picture be on the wall? Maybe he wears a disguise, like one of those face hologram things that Black Widow used to impersonate the council member in TWS, or perhaps he just has a fake beard or something.
He’s been recruiting and there’s a former undercover Shield agent, along with her merc team, working alongside the gang. I liked them, I liked them a lot but recruits are few and their enemies are many. There’s a moment where they have potential Shield allies on the board in blue, then in red Hydra appears and they are vastly outnumbered.
It would be remiss not to mention the opening. Agent Carter leading the Howling Commando’s, that was one hell of a shot. Peggy picking up where Steve left off and of course this scene, is just like a mini pilot/mini crossover with her upcoming series Agent Carter. I seriously can’t wait for that. It was incredible and watching them stamp the box, 084, the first 084, it just ties everything together.
Where the season goes from here
Well the premiere ended with the merc team having abandoned our ‘heroes’ and all bar one of them dead, due to an encounter with the absorbing man. I liked those mercs though and I can’t blame them for leaving. You take care of your own, and this came from the guy who was only in it for the money. They did the right thing and I hope that they aren’t actually dead. They looked dead but it’s not over until there’s a body in the morgue, and sometimes not even then. I hope they return anyway.
I also hope Deathlok returns or we at least get some closure about what happened to him. He’s too important, and too powerful, to just get forgotten. I hope Simmons returns to the team and that Fitz somehow gets better. I know that he’s got brain damage and people don’t recover from that but this is Marvel, they brought Coulson back from the dead. So maybe they’ll find some 084 or more Kree blood or something and make Fitz better.
Oh and the guest star, hopefully recurring guest star and maybe if I hope hard enough new regular will be Maria Hill. Not likely to be a regular this season but I do hope she makes at least one appearance, hopefully more, and then maybe in season three comes onboard full time. Although it could be interesting because she might have thought of herself as Fury’s 2IC, and now she’s been passed over for the top spot as Coulson got Director. I know in the comics she would have been mad about that but I like her so much in the films, I think she would be cool with it.
Ward can just fade out for all I care. All he seems to be about now is Skye and I don’t like her. I hope her storyline isn’t such a big deal like it was last season. I want May to have more screentime and I want her to be the heavy hitter, the action hero of the team. She’s had some great fight scenes already and more would be good. She’s ‘The Cavalry’ for crying out loud, so it’s not much of a stretch.
I also hope there’s some movie tie-ins. Now I know that there isn’t a movie release during this season’s run, that they missed Guardians and Avengers 2 is right when the season is over. However, that doesn’t mean that they can’t still crossover a little bit. Guardians is still very much on the outside of the cinematic universe. Agents of Shield could discover more artifacts that relate to it, hey maybe that is what this 084 is, who knows.
Conclusion
An amazing start and I can’t wait till the next episode. Enough said.