Scars

This week's episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was burdened a bit by having to address the events of Age of Ultron. With a complicated plot of its own already in play, and not many episodes left to tell it in, the show really couldn't afford to spend much time tying in with the film. But with the world basically brought to the brink of extinction in that movie, they couldn't really ignore it either.

So the TV writers did probably the best they could. First, they simply had Edward James Olmos say "Ultron" a bunch. (Alright, it was a little more skillfully done than that, but that's basically what it amounted to.) Second, they did a breezy, unrelated flashback teaser revealing to us that the long-running "Theta Protocol" Macguffin was actually the construction of a new hellicarrier, as seen at the end of the movie. Fair enough. Bringing back Patton Oswalt for his first guest appearance in too long helped that pill go down easily enough. (And you have to love the cross-Disney tie-in of the Star Wars bed sheets.)

But the episode was also a bit burdened by having to end the way it did, with Jaiying suddenly going all Magneto on all non-mutantsInhumans. Unlike "Theta Protocol," which the writers had carefully teased for the last several episodes, there wasn't much inclination before this that Jaiying had these warmongering tendencies. She's been the zen calm voice of reason. And while this bait-and-switch provided a moment of surprise, I would rather have seen a more consistently drawn character.

Yes, Jaiying has said how protective she is of her people. Yes, we know she had past bad experiences involving Whitehall (putting it mildly) and "the Cavalry." And she's really not even wrong that letting her people be "indexed" is a gross violation of privacy and kind of fascist. But I feel like the kind of person who'd take on all of S.H.I.E.L.D. in open war wouldn't have allowed Cal to stay at Afterlife for any length of time. She certainly wouldn't have allowed him to return after trying to get rid of him. Nor team up with him, as it appears from the last few scenes of the episode that she's done.

Unfortunately, having trouble fully accepting that big reveal, I had a hard time finding much else to be thrilled by in the episode. This was an episode without much action, and with a lot of talking that moved plot pieces into position more than it explored character. I guess the two standout moments for me were:

First, the scene where Mack resigns from S.H.I.E.L.D. I have to believe they wouldn't write the character off the show in such a low-key way, and that he'll be back later. But it was interesting to see Mack take a stand on principles, even if they were kind of vaguely racist (anti-alien) ones.

And second, there was the fun thread with Raina. The writers very cleverly didn't show us her visions this week, leaving us to wonder whether she was slipping back into her old, manipulative self. Jaiying's twist at the end seemed to say that Raina was actually being on the level, and might have been able to avoid conflict between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Inhumans. (Not that we the viewers would have wanted that on an action-adventure show, but it made a nice turn for the character.)

I guess I'd say this episode landed around a B- for me. I'm pleased that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has reached a point where even when it slips, that's about as low as it gets for me. That wasn't the case in the first season. We'll see if this breather to set up the final act pays off with a satisfying finale.