Agents of SHIELD is really starting flesh out some of the other main characters, especially so in this latest episode. Iain De Caestecker has truly shined for the past two weeks as his character is starting to get much stronger. “The Hub” features a team-up between Agent Ward and Agent Fitz on a dangerous mission and it actually felt like a buddy-cop scenario, although in this case, buddy-agent. They both have what the other one is missing and that’s why they’re an enjoyable and effective team.
Hopefully the writers will feature more team-up episodes between these two because it had a balance of action, but at the same time some great comedy and character development. But they do need to work a bit more on Ward because he hasn’t really been developed as well as the other characters. Hopefully that will come sooner rather than later because Brett Dalton has shown some great potential with his acting and he just needs the right developmental stories.
The other unexpected team-up was Agents Simmons and Skye which wasn’t as exciting as the other one, but it gave Elizabeth Henstridge another great opportunity to show more of her acting chops.
One has to wonder what kind of limitations Skye’s bracelet has because it seems that not much has restricted her. Although, seeing her getting stuck to a wall at the beginning of the episode was pretty hilarious and also exactly what she deserves because she shouldn’t be hacking at all.
“The Hub” presented how S.H.I.E.L.D. views their mission compared to an outsider like Skye as Coulson shows that he is following the system while Skye is letting her emotions get to her. There was a nice scene between Clark Gregg and Chloe Bennet when the audience really got to see the difference between Coulson and Skye.
The final scene where Skye learns more about the information that was in the redacted file from Coulson was one of Bennet’s best scenes so far in the series. The post-credit scene was definitely intriguing and it could be a sign that Agent Coulson may be in trouble. There is clearly something up with Agent May because the way she reacted felt like a hint that she may know more about Skye’s situation.
In this episode, they introduced Marvel’s Agent Victoria Hand, played by Saffron Burrows, who will hopefully be a recurring character. Burrows is a strong force to reckoned with and is a nice opponent (sort of) to Agent Couslon. It’s not certain how close to the comic version the writers decided to portray her, but she sure looks almost exactly like her comic book counterpart and Burrows did give a great performance.
There’s something mysterious about her though, and that’s why they should have her as a recurring character. They also brought back Agent Sitwell, who is a comic book character and has been seen in a few previous Marvel movies. It’s always nice to have some comic element to this show, whether it’s a superhero, villain or an agent of SHIELD.
The Hub itself was one of the strongest aspects of the episode because previously, from a personal stand-point, the show had made the organization feel a bit smaller than what has been seen in the movies.
That was particularly the problem with the episode “Girl In The Flower Dress,” but seeing the Hub made it feel big again and hopefully they can show the audience that as much as possible. While it’s obvious that the show can’t have the Helicarrier featured in the episodes, at least they have something as great as the Hub and hopefully they will take this opportunity.
One of the issues that the show has been struggling with is whether or not it’s a serialized show or not and with these two latest episodes, they are starting to get into that form. But it’s moving forward slowly and hopefully before they get to the winter hiatus, the show will finally have reached to the point where it’s a 100% serialized show.
“The Hub” was overall a good episode that is moving the characters forward, some more than others. The show has definitely improved a lot and if they keep it up like this — and perhaps a little increase in the pacing – the show will be a lot stronger.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Tuesday nights, 8/7c on ABC.
[Photo via Kelsey McNeal/ABC]
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