'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Recap: Secret Warriors Slingshot Onto TV
Warning: This recap for the “Bouncing Back” episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. contains spoilers.
With the infiltration of Terrigen into the ocean, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has basically become the show we all wanted in Season 1: Ordinary (and maybe a few slightly less ordinary) people dealing with a world full of super powers. The show gets a boost whenever it crosses over with the Marvel films, but if it can maintain this level of intensity, maybe it can garner the kind of following that the Arrowverse (Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow) has separate from its parent movie universe.
The Plot
The team is tracking down a new Inhuman — Elena Rodriguez — who has the power to move with superspeed in a straight line, then snap back to where she started. She’s stealing guns from the police, but it turns out she’s throwing them away, not planning to use them. The cops are corrupt and they’ve got their own Inhuman — a guy who puts people into a temporary coma — who captures Bobbie and Hunter. They’re rescued and try to detain the Inhuman, but he’s grabbed by Hydra. Elena wants to return home to fight for her people, so Daisy agrees to let the Secret Warriors live off-base with a special watch to communicate back to S.H.I.E.L.D. Meanwhile, Coulson uses the brain wave machine Centipede tortured him with in Season 1 to find out how to contact Gideon Malick from the semi-comatose Alexander Pierce.
Zombie Ward
Producers revealed that Ward will become the Hydra villain, Hive — not to be confused with Arrow’s villainous H.I.V.E. (bees really should get a publicist to combat this negative media portrayal of their homes) — which will require some serious prosthetics/CGI if they go all the way with it. They could also just make him look normal again like Will was back on Maveth. Either way, they need to make a choice, because right now, it looks like he belongs on The Walking Dead.
Related: ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: Clark Gregg Talks Hydra and #Coulsalind
Secret Warriors
It makes sense why they would send the team their separate ways — that way they don’t have to pay to do effects for all of them every week. But it’s pretty spectacular when they do get together. Why aren’t there more gadgets? We got to see Bobbi’s boomerang nightsticks earlier in the season; this episode gave Slingshot those cool glowing handcuffs. It’s a good and economical way of reminding us we’re in a comic book world.
Ship Check
Fitz and Simmons: “Can we start over? Back where we began?” “16 and achingly shy?” This is a will-they-or-won’t-they that doesn’t feel forced, that earns every step forward and every step back. These two have such a marvelous chemistry that it’s almost a shame Bobbi and Hunter are getting the spin-off and not FitzSimmons. A+
Mack and Elena: Maybe it’s nothing, but there seemed to be an attraction there. Bonus: Their ship name would be MackElena, which means they already have their own dance. B+
Daisy and Lincoln: “It’s pretty interesting here.” “I was hoping you’d say that.” Smooch. Barf. D
Coulson and… the job: Never forget. Coulsalind: September 2015 — December 2015. F (for forever unhappy)
Assorted Thoughts
— How long before Zombie Ward eats Mr. Giyera (Mark Dacascos, though we’ll always think of him as the Chairman from Iron Chef America)? Ward keeps looking at him, ironically, like the Chairman used to look at that apple before he took a bite out it.
— Line of the Night: “I don’t know what happened there on that planet.” “I do. You joined the Cavalry.” That, right there, is a love letter to all the fans that have stuck with the show since Day 1. There’s so much emotional heft and history in those last four words… Damn!
— So… who’s crucifix is that floating in the exploding ship orbiting Earth three months from now? Slingshot? Or Mack?
— Is anybody else weirded out by the fact that the music in the S.H.I.E.L.D. promos is “Kickstart My Heart,” most commonly associated with strip clubs?
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.
