Rise and Shine

There was a time I was way outside the tent when it came to things Marvel. I'd enjoy (most of) the movies well enough, but roll my eyes at the post-credits scenes, which were clearly intended for another audience. This week's episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. made me realize that at least when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and this show in particular, I'm not outside the tent anymore.

I wasn't entirely enthused to get half an episode devoted to the backstory of General Hale. (Hale HYDRA -- a joke my husband anticipated about three commercial breaks ahead of time.) It felt like a lot of time away from our regular characters. But I totally recognized all the shout-outs and callbacks they were doing throughout the extended flashback. Young Sitwell! Daniel Whitehall! Young von Strucker! The killing of a dog -- a callback to how Ward said he was trained. Yeah... the fact that I got even half of that means I'm definitely not an outsider anymore.

Not that the HYDRA flashback wasn't intriguing in its own way. Certainly, it fleshed out Hale and made her a more sympathetic character. This is definitely needed in the story line they're clearly working now -- a story that requires the audience to see her as more than just another head of HYDRA. Very cleverly, the episode established this empathy by playing up the institutional sexism she dealt with. In a wonderfully on-the-nose bit of commentary, she was wanted literally only for her ability to be a mother. Still, as I said, all of this amounted to a lot of time not spent with the main characters.

Fortunately, what we did get in that regard was pretty good. Coulson as a prisoner, still wry under pressure, was great fun -- and further justified the length of the flashback, by painting a contrast between him and Talbot in similar circumstances. We also got the continuation of Fitz as unrepentant villain, and I'm happy to see they plan to dwell on this for at least a little while, rather than reversing the plot development as quickly as it was introduced.

For me, the most intriguing scene was the final one between Fitz and Simmons, in which Simmons reveals to him the "lesson" she's taken from Yo-Yo's glimpse of her future: they're all invincible. I loved the ambiguity of the moment. For Simmons, it seemed intended as a "you and I are going to be okay, because we live to have a daughter" bit of encouragement. But there was some kind of sinister undercurrent to it, with Fitz freshly embracing an identity as a mad scientist. I'm not sure I need the show to go darker before it goes lighter, but I'm intrigued that it feels like a legit possibility.

Overall, I'd give the episode a B. Not the strongest of the season by any stretch, but it kept things intriguingly moving along.