After an improvement in quality last week can Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. latest episode; titled “Girl in the Flower Dress”, continue this trend? Let's take a look and see. Warning for those of you that haven’t caught the episode yet there will be some spoilers ahead.
Review The shift in tone continued in this episode, with the darker elements of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the mysterious Project Centipede group being pushed (thankfully) more than the humour of some of the earlier episodes. We got to see more of how S.H.I.E.L.D. operates worldwide and that Coulson has more than his small team for back-up when needed, and we had more focus on the actual series villains while still having time to get in a super-powered threat. "Scorch" was looking to be an interesting supervillian, giving out some of the more vicious of kills in the MCU so far, until he seemingly met his demise at the hands of our S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
The witty banter was less corny and the show displayed its darker side which is what we have all been asking for. The only slow moments in the episode revolved around Skye and her mentor/lover but even that ended with Skye being in a much more interesting place, so hopes are high for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s return in two weeks.
Easter Eggs and MCUbuilding S.H.I.E.L.D. having an index of people and objects with powers that they know about is interesting, which means there are more powered things out there that previously expected but that seemingly go against what was said about the centipede containing all known power enablers especially as our "monster of the week" gained his powers via an unknown source, though hints towards radiation exposer unlocking a hidden power kind of gives you the sort of hints they will suggest when Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver appear. This haracter taks on the name "Scorch", a name used by a few obscure pyrokenetic characters in the comics.
The Centipede group has a new figurehead in Raina (much like Scorch this character seems barely related to the Marvel character of the same name) and she seemed to be joined by people resembling comic AIM scientists (beekeeper suits), if it was only to wear while dealing with a flame powered guy, which makes me think Iron Man 3 missed a trick when they actually had AIM scientists dealing with flammable people. However, what interests me more is the mysterious contact in prison being asked to consult with “The Clairvoyant.” Perhaps Thanos (or more likely his messenger, the Other) have some hand in the group creating a super powered army.
It was good to see Coulson use the same door explosive that was used in the first Iron Man movie, a subtle reference that showed that the people who make the show don't forget the small stuff. However, one thing they really don't want the viewers to forget is that Coulson got stabbed by Loki as we seem to need reminding each week.
One mistake, as noted in the released clips, Skye's t-shirt get removed in one shot only to be still on in the next. On the plus side, Skye took off most of her clothes. ;)
Did you guy notice anything I missed? Let me know in the comments below.
Read the analysis of previous episodes:
Pilot episode Episode 2 “0-8-4” Episode 3 “The Asset” Episode 4 “Eye-Spy”