Marvel's Agents of SHIELD 3.08: Many Heads, One Tale
Jed Whedon and DJ Doyle
Garry A. Brown
Anyone who is a major fan of the Whedonverse
had to stand and applaud during the reveal regarding Hydra and the “ram’s head”
symbol that has been popping up everywhere.
Not because of how it has been lingering in the background for a while,
but rather, because fans of Angel will no doubt be thinking of Wolfram and
Hart. And really, they are probably the same
organization in the end, right?
I’ve mentioned many times over the years that
I’m a sucker for storylines that reveal secret histories, and between the
Inhumans and the truth about Hydra, the past couple seasons are hitting all the
right notes. Of course, it’s been said
since the beginning of the series that “it’s all connected”, so I suppose this
shouldn’t have been much of a shock.
Even so, I love it when the pieces start falling into place!
This episode also rather prominently took the
FitzSimmons ship to a completely different level, and that has been
long-awaited by many. It also raises the
rather obvious question of what to do about Will, although now that seems to
have an equally obvious solution.
Looking back, wouldn’t it make sense if Will himself was the
all-powerful being that Hydra was trying to bring back from the other side of
the portal?
I was a bit concerned about Coulson’s
closeness to Rosalind after the previous episode, but as it turns out, he was
playing quite the angle. There is some
indication that it was at least a slightly tragic level of misunderstanding at
play; Rosalind may have been betraying Coulson to some degree, but not nearly
as much as he believed. I suppose that’s
not much consolation, really, but it’s better than turning her into some kind
of maniacal villain. I prefer
motivations that are somewhat relatable.
Even as Hydra’s origins were expanded beyond
the implications of the earlier days of the MCU, there were ties to the
previous incarnations that have appeared in the films. Gideon and Ward’s power struggle was nice to
see, and it also puts Ward’s activities in perspective. It was a little too easy for him to assume
control of Hydra as it was; having him discover just how little he understood
about the organization was a bit more intriguing. That, and seeing him take down Gideon’s men
was a lot of fun.
Agents of SHIELD has been putting down the framework for a great mid-season finale, and so far the third season has been the show’s strongest material to date. I’m still worried about the fate of the series as a whole; they might be able to get a fourth season based on the legendary syndication formula that still prevails, but that’s all I see happening at this point. Of course, at this rate, the show might live on via Netflix, if the popularity of that corner of the MCU is any indication.
- The secret connections between the Inhumans and Hydra
- Fitz-Simmons. The ship has launched!
- Those ratings continue to worry me.