Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Eye Spy Review

Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. has had a rough first three installments. In theory a show about the weekly happenings of the little government organization that could would make me go absolutely giddy with delight. Attaching names like Joss Whedon gives the viewing experience an unbelievable amount of hype to live up too, that simple fact does not change the notion that the show has not been entertaining. Flawed heroes that are lacking any rational amounts of depth have made this show a chore to get through.

Before going any further, note that there are spoilers below!

Skye attempts to be playful and misses the marks mostly. The agent attempts to help Phil, yet even she is annoying him by referring to him as his first name. Bad dialogue in the middle of the episode that shows the writers trying to be too clever. “Did you never learn the thing where boy parts and girl parts are different, and our parts aren’t penises” is hands down the worst written line of any character of the night. Congratulations Skye, who also delivers this gem regarding the surveillance program “Russian tv is kinda boring.” Coulson has an impressive exchange with May early on that reinforces the fact they are the strongest links in the cast. She makes the point that they are putting the whole team in danger, this could get interesting if the whole show becomes violent like most shows featuring the showrunners.

The episode has a nice international feel to mix things up opening in the luxurious site known as Stockholm, Sweden. The plane also enforces the exotic locales and foreign vibes, with the jet setting opening taking place in a plane. Men with red faces kick off the conflict by walking suspiciously in the middle of the city, are they part of some strange terrorist organization? They do not look like the typical bad guys for the context of the show, the vague hints towards a greater conflict are bothersome. Rack focus makes the red masks look even more evil. The men are also chained to handcuffs making them look more dangerous than they already are. A colored woman interested seconds prior in this installment cuts off a dude’s hand for some jewels in the cases, that is pretty rad. The tone here is slightly darker than normal, which is a big factor on why this shake up on the traditional formula works better than normal. In other words, the stakes are raised immeasurably here making for an hour greater than the sum of it’s parts.

Coulson going off the grid shows his aggression, which also foreshadows the interesting places this plot proceeds. The strange and violent jewel thief is revealed as a former student of the character, which adds a suitable amount of drama to the episode. Interesting Marvel Universe internal logic shows science that turn gems into plastic balls? This idea is slightly Twin Peaks”y.”

In this dangerous situation Fitz and Simmons are not leaving the van, than what was up with them investigating the 0-8-4? The van camera offers a nice twist that most audiences will not seem coming. The new villain seems quite adequate and capable of taking down all of them. May versus Amador was a pretty fun but brief fight that ended as abruptly as it should.

A moment with Phil and his padawan steals the entire episode. The drama finally feels organic now. I have been waiting for this show to hit this beat since it started. Picking out her eyeball is fascinating. A moment that makes me cringe on this show is very welcome. Another example of how the quality here is improving, even if the characters are not. The englishmen gives Amador her orders. The fingers on the keys could make the coder heavyset is a nice piece of interpretive information. Sticking the needle in her own eye is awesome. Overall the eye bursting moments are worthy of telling your friends about. Fantastic to see the the former student not seething with angst at the conclusion of the story. More seeds are planted about our leading man being an LMD.

Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. has taken a massive leap forward in Eye Spy.

8 Out Of 10