Writers: Brent Fletcher,
Director: Jesse Boncho,
Starring: Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Ruth Negga, Louis Changchien, Shannon Lucio, Austin Nichols, Tzi Ma,
Synopsis: A fire creating human is kidnapped by a mysterious group of people. S.H.I.E.L.D. are the ones coming to rescue to him..
Starting in Hong Kong, we are introduced to Renshu Tseng (Changchien), a street performer whose magic tricks don’t exactly go down well with the crowds. After making eye contact with a pretty (but obviously villainous) woman (Negga), he decides to show off his real power which involves creating and controlling fire. Taking the woman back to his place, and in the process ignoring the millions of viewers doing their best Admiral Ackbar impressions, Renshu finds himself kidnapped by men in fireproof suits. During this time there is some interesting exploration of the illusion vs. reality theme, which could have tied in well with Coulson’s reappearance and the very nature of S.H.I.E.L.D. in general, but all of that is dropped fairly quickly. It’s an obvious opening, and the superpowered posing as magician tactic has most certainly been used before.
We quickly cut to Agent Ward giving a tough guy speech that turns out to be a game of Battleships. This cliché is very worn out and any viewer will see it coming from a mile away. I appreciate this was an attempt at humour, but all it does is highlight one of the show’s biggest problems, a complete lack of originality. The game of Battleships between Ward and Skye devolves into painfully familiar “Did you just compliment me?” banter. Again, it establishes the mentor/student bond, but reminds us they are also close, but again it’s the word of the day…”Obvious”.
Once S.H.I.E.L.D. catch wind of the missing Tseng, things get a little bit more interesting. We’re introduced to Agent Kwan (Ma) whose existence accentuates the international reach of the agency. There is also a lot of talk about how Tseng was a voluntary member of ‘The Index’, which is pretty much this universes version of the Mutant Registration from X-MEN. I’m aware it’s a rather standard and modern plot device in today’s comics, but it’s one of those instances where something interesting is glossed over quickly. The show then crams in a number of trite and needless references to remind us of the much better films before it; “Ever heard of Steve Rogers?”, “…then I took an alien sceptre to the heart.” There’s nothing wrong with making the odd reference, but these ones have no bearing on anything going on and the show is still yet to find its own voice. There’s a pompous air of “Do you know who my father is?” and it’s distracting me from getting involved and merely reminding me that THOR: THE DARK WORLD hits cinemas next week (which Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is conveniently taking a hiatus for).
It’s not all awful though, and the show makes up for some of its missteps in the second half of this episode. Most importantly we get to see a few different sides to Skye. She’s been a bit of an enigma, but we are introduced to both her treacherous and vulnerable side after she alerts her boyfriend to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s presence. Unfortunately, even these moments are undercut by poor writing, most notably Fitz’s 6 year old girlish whine “I thought she was our friend. How could she do this to us?” Somebody pass me the tissues…so I can choke him with them.
The show goes for a more adult approach this week with some sexy time, as well as gruesome visuals. People being burned alive, with no cutaways, is always good for family evening viewing in my book. With the climax seeing the agents trying to free Tseng, who has been given the name Scorch in a very funny attempt to win him over to the darkside, we’re treated to the best moments and dialogue of the series so far. Scorch (and yes, his name is made fun of) proves himself to be rather pathetic, which just makes him even more dangerous. Coulson and May also have a quick succession of hilarious quotes that brought back my enjoyment of the best of the Marvel franchise. We’re also given an excellent villainess in the form of Raina, played by the fantastic Ruth Negga. It ends the episode on a high, and sets in to motion some more mystery surrounding Skye’s motives. Unfortunately, with Arrow back for a second season, it’s showing Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. how it should be done. Arrow is standing on its own two feet and doesn’t need to reference DC counterparts. It also has well defined characters that don’t come across as rehashes from the creator’s previous work. Still, it is heading in the right direction, but these baby steps just aren’t enough.
Best Bit: As Scorch sets waste to the laboratory where he is contained, Coulson and May prove once again why they are the highlight of the show. “Did his file mention anything about him being a homicidal maniac?” asks May, “Just said he was a bit of a tool.” Replies Coulson. As well as Scorch’s threats being met with May’s puzzlement of “Scorch?” and Coulson’s well timed realisation, “Oh God, they gave him a name.”
Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. takes a break next week, but will return to Channel 4 on 8th November at the usual time of 8:00pm.
