100 Days of Marvel: Road to Infinity War - Day 18: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (S1, E8-15)

Episodes 8 to 15 of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. picked up the pace in a major way. The character development has started to take a little more flight. We begin to learn a lot more about Coulson and how he was resurrected. We even get some development of Skye. I want to try something new with this post and talk about each episode, but shortly. This could go horribly wrong because my memory definitely blends them together since I watched them as one long thing.

It is also Friday and I am short on time between paid work and play.

Episode 8

These episodes start and end with Asgardians, so I think it is safe to say waiting to watch these after Thor 2 is the right play.  This one picks up just after the events of Dark World where Coulson's team is cleaning up the mess from that film. They find a man who has been living as an Asgardian on Earth for hundreds of years, Eddy Cullen style. I found myself drifting off during this episode. I wasn't really all that interested in a new Asgardian, and really wanted to see how it all tied in with Coulson's resurrection, Skye's parentage, or Centipede. Now that we are this far into the season, I was hoping for an escalation here, but I think while the Asgardian plot added to the overall show, it served as a side quest of sorts to let us know that this episode took place after Thor 2.

Episode 9

This episode was also subplot heavy as our team continues to deal with the aftermath of Thor 2. I wasn't really a big fan of the mystery here. It was exciting, but I was starting to get annoyed that another episode happens where we get little to no progression on the A plots. We do get some great scenes with our team, like when May shoots the then-presumed telekinetic woman before the team brings her back on board their ship (smartest idea, amirite). At its heart, however, it was an Agent May focused episode. We learn that even though she seems to takes things overly seriously, that she really does care about the team.

Episode 10

Now we are getting somewhere. There is SO much that happens in this episode. Mike Peterson returns, and ends up a "villain" by the end of it, though our team believes him to be dead ironically (a great way to use irony correctly if you know what situational irony is - where we know something as the viewer that the characters do not). But hugest thing is Coulson's capture by Centipede, and that is a catalyst for him to learn more about...Tahiti.

Episode 11

A major game changer. We see Coulson's brain surgery that helps him "comeback" (but sometimes, dead is betta). This was a very intense episode where there are finally some real stakes (at least ones that matter to the A plot) sure the b plots can be tense, but they do feel like distractions, unlike e11. IIRC, we also get a little more about Skye here that helps develop her character.

Episode 12

I thiiiink this is the FitzSimmons episode where they play with the weather machine and discover that the kid was his own enemy the whole time. Best part here was more FitzSimmons, and I am always here for them.

Episode 13

Quality train episode. I was thinking the entire time about the Archer train episode. It was a fun stand alone mystery that had excellent camera work and time manipulation that had a different feel from the other episodes. Every great show has a train episode (Big Bang Theory,  Hey Arnold!, Archer, etc.). But I liked all the characters here.

To ripoff Tony Baker's joke style once more, 'we on trains out here.'

Episode 14

I am still not 100% onboard with Skye, but by now I really want to learn the mystery of her circumstance. I am happy that we not only get more of that, but we also get a major hike in the stakes. This episode and the next really set us up for the march to the end of the season. I felt bad for Skye when she is shot, but truly happy when she is saved, Alien tech or naw.

Episode 15

This episode is really cool because it ends with a really powerful moment between Skye and Agent Phil, son of Coul. It ends with Coulson on a vendetta to discover the truth, and OH SHIT Agent May already knows it, or so that final scene would lead us to believe. It really was the perfect moment to end this crop of episodes. The episode itself also brought fire, and we get to see two bad-ass Asgardians fight each other. Personally, I love Sif, and if I had things my way Thor would realize it was her all along. But alas, I think he will end up with Natalie Portman. I am a big fan of unrequited love, and I know Sif did not die in Thor 3, so I can only hope she finds happiness in her life as a warrior.

So, moving forward I am getting out of rewatch territory and starting to move into have-not-seen-it-yet territory. I can't wait to see where the rest of this season goes (be reminded), so I can get to 2 and have it be totally new to me.