TV Review: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “Turn, Turn, Turn”
By: Brandon Wolfe
*This review contains spoilers for ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’*
‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ has been one of the more baffling disappointments in recent memory. This is a series that is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that is spearheaded by pop-culture maestro Joss Whedon and that stars Clark Gregg as the beloved, resurrected Agent Phil Coulson. Given its pedigree, this should have been one of the easiest slam-dunks imaginable, yet one would be hard-pressed to find anything the series has done right in its first season. From its blandly attractive cast to its pedestrian writing to its dull, nonsensical stabs at cultivating a mythology to its utterly uninvolving team of characters, ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ seems less like an extension of the wonderful Marvel film series and more like some lame syndicated show from the ‘90s that aired between Pamela Anderson’s ‘V.I.P.’ and Lorenzo Lamas’ ‘Renegade.’ Even its direct ties to the recent Marvel films have seemed halfhearted and clumsy.
But all eyes were on “Turn, Turn, Turn” to see how ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ would deal with a movie tie-in it would be forced to make more substantial than, say, a functionally useless guest appearance by Lady Sif. For the just-opened ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ dropped a bombshell that hits the TV series right where it lives, with the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been infiltrated by the Nazi offshoot organization HYDRA, resulting in the agency’s dissolution. It was a reveal that seemed to necessitate that this inert series finally do something substantial with itself. Or, you know, end. Either way.
“Turn, Turn, Turn” is probably the best episode of ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ thus far, which isn’t the high praise it sounds, but is nevertheless true by default. Its proximity to the spectacular ‘Winter Soldier’ benefits the series by association rather than its own merits, but it definitely helps matters. The doldrums aren’t shaken off, but this is a more watchable episode than most.
We pick up with the standoff between Coulson and Agent Melinda May, who had been revealed last week to have a secret agenda involving reporting on Coulson’s team clandestinely. May claims that she was merely following orders from Director Nick Fury to keep tabs on Coulson and monitor his performance in light of his revival from the dead. May is quickly neutralized, but the team soon finds themselves under attack from their own organization. Their ally, Agent Garrett (played by the great Bill Paxton), has also come under fire and boards the plane to join up with the team.
The team soon learns of the HYDRA infiltration and of Fury’s apparent death, but is forced to land at a S.H.I.E.L.D. installation rather than retreat, in order to rescue Agent Simmons, one of the two technical support members of the team. Once on the ground, they are besieged by the forces of high-ranking agent Victoria Hand, who is attempting to kill them. While evading capture and formulating a plan, it is revealed to the team that Hand is actually one of the good guys, but that Garrett is HYDRA. This is not a surprise, as Garrett had seemed to be a ripe candidate for a surprise villain reveal for some time now, and while a sharper show might have realized this and subverted our expectations, this is not a sharp show. But Paxton is such a pleasure among the excruciatingly boring cast that the show would be well-served to keep him around, even as a recurring villain. Paxton has a unique ability to pull off terrible tough-guy dialogue that makes him very valuable here. If the show is incapable of writing good dialogue (actual Coulson line from this episode: “We'll fly in there and face the music, even if it is the HYDRA theme song.” What?), it could do with some people who can actually make bad dialogue work.
The biggest surprise in ‘Turn, Turn, Turn,’ however, is its final twist, where one of the core members of Coulson’s team, Agent Grant Ward, shoots Hand dead and sets Garrett free, seemingly revealing himself to be HYDRA. This is an intriguing move, one I wouldn’t have guessed the show would have the gumption to go through with. It also helps that Ward is the dullest character on a show filled with dull characters, and that the actor who plays him, Brett Dalton, is a hopelessly wooden beefcake better suited to ‘General Hospital’ than the Marvel Universe. If this means he gets a quick villain arc before being killed off and ideally replaced by someone worth a damn, that’s perfect. I’m not convinced that the show won’t try to buy back this revelation and claim that Ward was somehow brainwashed, but hopefully that won’t be the case. Of course, even when ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ does something right, it can’t help but do something hilariously wrong, like an entire pre-credits final scene where Ward stares into space for several seconds before giving us an eeevilll look.
“Turn, Turn, Turn” doesn’t really point us much in the direction of what a post-S.H.I.E.L.D. world will look like for the series. If basically looks like Coulson’s team will keep on keepin’ on for now. But at least the show is attempting to do something somewhat interesting. They might mess it up, and probably will, but if I’m yawning less, it probably counts as a mild victory.
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