Newsflash!!! An episode of Shield that was actually quite good at all levels!!!! The writing teams can take more of a break if they continue to produce more programmes that show this satisfying level of improvement in quality.
Against all odds and all probabilities I ,dare I actually say it, enjoyed that particular chapter in the on going saga of Shield. Why exactly? Because, for once, they got two things absolutely right.
Firstly they had a mystery that was actually quite interesting and relevant from the POV of the SHIELD backstories, so very well done on that. It’s still a bit of shame they could not have got it done in time to coincide with Halloween ,considering the beginning, but I’m not going to argue to hard about that. I was just very pleased that the overall tone was dead right.
Secondly, and most importantly ,we got some actual emotional honesty from the cast and the writing that made them relatable to the real world. They felt so different to previous episodes I actually didn’t believe I was watching the same people (till Melinda Kung fu’ed the barn door down sigh).
For a spooky moment I thought the writers had actually been reading this thread and were going to off one of those annoying scientwits, I didn’t care which. Yet, low and behold, they actually made me care enough about them here to not to want one of them to die. The Coulson/Simmons scene was excellently done because it felt spot on for both of them. The same could be said for the Coulson/fireman in the station , that’s the Greg we were looking for ,who, lets face it had seemed rather robotic through the series so far, intentionally or not.
And stand out of all of them for me was the Coulson/Melinda heart to heart about his medical. That was a marvellous scene ,again, touchingly true, it moved both the characters forward and it helped move the mystery a little more forward to closure.
Interestingly for anyone who has seen Thor ; The Dark World the answer to Coulsons healing doesn’t seem to lie with an off world jaunt to Asgard anymore. One character suffers a death exactly like his and there was no way they were coming back or could be saved or they would have been. And dozens of Asgardians suffered similar injuries during the Dark Elves fight and they definitely shuffled off this mortal coil. So the healing rooms theories are way out.
Hopefully it will be revealed sooner rather than later and the series can keep improving.
Still no cigar, but I was actually lit a candle as a sign of hope. This episode made the grade. Thank you.
