This was the best episode since the Captain America tie-ins began. Right off the bat we get a nice Man-Thing reference for all the geeks like yours truly. What is Man-Thing? That's him in the picture; Marvel's version of Swamp Thing. A government scientist was experimenting on plants and got transformed into a mushy plant-man that lives in a swamp... or something like that. This is actually the second reference to Man-Thing in the Cinematic U. Man-Thing's wife appeared in Iron Man 3. (Same name, same scar, AIM agent: check, check, and check.) It seems somebody at Marvel Studios has a soft spot for the green and mossy guy. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him appear in one of the TV properties someday. Now let's get to the rest of the notes...
- Speaking of Man-Thing, the writers are getting much better at sneaking in Marvel names and references without making them distracting. (The joke two weeks ago about Johnny Horton made me laugh out loud, which is maybe the dorkiest thing I could possibly admit.)
- Maria Hill was talking to Pepper Potts on the phone when the episode begins, but the most interesting tidbit was the news that Stark Industries is "privatizing global security." That's a fact that could actually play out in The Avengers 2. Kind of cool that they seeded it on AoS.
- By the way, I thought Cobie Smulders did a nice job and brought some extra juice to the episode.
- Tripp tells us that Coulson is an "expert in analysis" and Phil correctly diagnoses the predicament his team is in to the letter. I liked that moment and the effort to develop Phil's character, letting us know what makes him talented, unique and valuable as an agent.
- The emotional moments on the show just don't carry weight and I'll tell you why. The high emotion moments and outbursts happen far too often and usually they don't ring true. So, when you have an occasion where that emotion would feel right and appropriate, its impact is stolen. This is the most emotionally fragile bunch of spies ever and any time the feelings come out, the directors have them crank it up to 11.
- Skye calls Ward a Nazi and serial killer. I'm glad, because she's right on both counts and I've been worried that the show would let Ward off easy at some point.
- I liked Deathlok's heart gadget.
- He still doesn't look enough like Deathlok. I understand the difficulties, but rather than looking like a cyborg, it looks like he's wearing an big, ill-fitting vest. In no way do his appliances look like part of him.
- Nice to see Lola, but that green screen work... yikes. Forgiveable though. I got some laughs out of it.
- I like Tripp. There is room to improve on the acting, but I like him and that's more than I could ever say for Ward.
Predictions
Like I said, I was worried they would allow Ward to redeem himself. Now, I'm confident (and happy) to say that Ward is just too far gone for redemption. He's shooting people in the head left and right, including Victoria Hand. Orders or not, Skye's line was correct, he's a serial killer. He had an unfortunate childhood and was misled by Garrett. There isn't enough room to let him off the hook, but I do believe they'll give Ward one chance to sacrifice himself for his former team. One final act to make good and go out on the good side (a la Anakin Skywalker). It could happen in the season finale, but not necessarily. It seems they might like to make him a foil for next season. Scenario B would be something along the lines of Ward kills Garrett and allows the Agents to escape, but he then takes over as the leader of this arm of Hydra; being the oh-so complex character that he is.
We'll see you back here for the final two episodes of the season.