Toldja

The latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was one of the few this season to feature all the characters in their various, separated story lines. But after the excellence of the FitzSimmons-centered "Inescapable," I found it far less compelling.

Sarge has been brought to the Lighthouse, and Mack is trying to learn more from him about the Shrikes and the threat they pose to Earth. But Sarge isn't giving up his secrets easily. Indeed, he cockily predicts he won't be a prisoner for long, and that our heroes will be looking to him as their leader before the day is up. Meanwhile, FitzSimmons' hasty escape from the Chronicoms has landed them back on the planet Kitson, whose evil ruler is looking to maintain his grip on power by making an example of them.

The FitzSimmons part of this hour can't help but be a letdown after the preceding installment. The episode is just more of them trying to escape, lacking both the strong emotional elements of "Inescapable" and a true sense of agency on their parts. They escape this time not by their own wits, but because someone else swoops in to the rescue. I suppose if this new character Izel eventually grows into a long-running character on this show, we might one day look back fondly on this episode as her first appearance. But she's fairly inscrutable here, trying to come off as a mysterious badass while ultimately being a little too nice and helpful in general to really fit that mold.

The Earth-bound story line of the episode is a disappointment in that it relies on our heroes making a series of stupid decisions just to keep the plot in motion. What little bits of information Sarge does give them is clearly being doled out in a cagey and manipulative way, and Mack and the others just swallow it all, hook, line, and sinker.

Worst of all, the team already knows that the Shrikes are looking to unite with each other at specific locations on the planet to wreak havoc. Yet it doesn't seem to occur to any of them that bringing two Shrikes together in one place might be a Very Bad Thing. So most of the jeopardy in the episode is of the heroes' own foolish making. Sarge winds up looking smart in this episode only because the regular characters are dumbed down from usual to make him so.

I'd grade "Toldja" a B-. It's a necessary part of the ongoing story line, but it doesn't unfold naturally enough. It shows too much of the construction, too much of the deliberate moving of pieces (characters) into their necessary positions. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been more deft with this sort of thing in the past.