Agents of SHIELD 2.02 “Heavy is the Head”

Due to events beyond my control, our Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. coverage had to take a backseat after the Season Two premiere, despite the excellent quality on display and the high hopes I had for the new run. I really meant to get back to it sooner than this, but what can you do? It’s difficult running a multimedia pop culture empire.

But now that the back half of Season Two is getting ready to kick off, I figured this was as good a time as any to rewatch the season and get prepared for what new craziness will be dumped in out laps. So get ready for a steady stream of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reviews as we wait with bated breath for Agent Carter to wrap up and our heroes to return!

Here’s our review of Episode 2.01 “Shadows,” to get us caught up.

Looks like Lucy Lawless‘s Izzy (and Wilmer Calderon‘s Idaho) isn’t sticking around after all. Which is a shame. She elevates pretty much anything she shows up in, and I was really hoping for yet another kick-ass woman on the team. Oh well, May (Ming-Na Wen) and Skye (Chloe Bennet) are doing a bang-up job in the kicking ass department on their own.

And could I request getting May on a motorcycle every episode? Thanks!

The awesomely named Nick Blood is sticking around, though, as Hunter is captured by General Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) and offered a deal — a deal financed by a Senator with deep pockets (hint hint — more on him in later episodes). It’s an interesting conflict that both makes the audience wonder where his loyalties lie and allows Blood to add a little more depth to what could easily be a one-dimensional character. Hunter’s interest in the deal is mostly motivated by making sure Izzy and Idaho’s families are taken care of, so while he’s a bit of a cad, his heart’s in the right place.

Speaking of heart, I’m pretty sure every viewer’s heart breaks a little every time Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) is onscreen, chatting with his imaginary girlfriend (Elizabeth Henstridge). Mac (Henry Simmons) steps up, though, and starts devoting the time it takes to make friends with the brain-damaged super-nerd genius, so the hearts can start warming again. Meanwhile, we still don’t know what’s up with Simmons or where she is.

Back to Creel (Brian Patrick Wade), after being infected by the Obelisk last episode, he’s having some trouble keeping it from spreading, and his HYDRA superior, Bakshi (Simon Kassianides) doesn’t seem too concerned. He just wants the Obelisk. But he’s not the only one. The ever-enchanting Raina (Ruth Negga) shows up and tries to make a deal with Creel, but he’s not quite that dumb. Instead, he rejects her offer — which sends her off to make a deal with Coulson (Clark Gregg) as a way of upending the board.

If there’s one thing you can’t accuse Season Two of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. of, it’s holding its cards close to its chest. They’re throwing story at us so fast and furious that there’s never a lull. And when Hunter seemingly turns on the team in order to get a shot at assassinating Creel, you’re not quite sure how it’s gonna turn out.

Luckily, Mac and Fitz figured out how to suppress Creel’s transformation powers long enough to allow the Obelisk’s infection to take him over, turning him into a charred, stony version of himself. Interestingly though, he doesn’t crumble into dust like most victims. He’s pretty much a statue — which should allow for his return at some point, hopefully. The more Marvel Comics characters they can work into the show — without killing them off after a single appearance (and without putting them in ridiculous costumes — I’m looking at you, Arrow), the better. The tapestry of the Marvel Cinematic Universe just keeps getting more and more intricate and detailed.

I love it.

Before the episode is said and done, though, we get two major plot developments in the final minutes. The First is that Coulson is now consistently obsessed with the same alien writings that Garrett (Bill Paxton) was before he went full-on cosmically insane. The second is that Raina, after stealing the Obelisk out from under everyone’s noses, delivers it to her employer/ally, The Doctor — played by the remarkably creepy and charismatic Kyle MacLachlan. Plus, she’s able to hold the Obelisk without turning to ash; instead, more alien writing lights up all over it and she feels a connection to it she can’t explain.

Yet.

I really can’t wait to see where this is leading.