Agents of SHIELD - 'Scars'

Remember that Theta Protocol we were talking about? Yeah, someone else
gets to play with that.

So, it turns out that Theta Protocol is SHIELD 3, the helicarrier and personnel seen in Age of Ultron, so uh... yeah, we won't be having anymore of that in the series.

Instead, our focus is on the Inhumans, and the clash between Gonzales' desire to control them and Coulson's to make peace. With Coulson now in place as Director of SHIELD, with the Real SHIELD Council as his advisory and oversight board, an approach is planned, and Gonzales persuades Coulson to let him do the talking. Meanwhile, Raina tries to persuade Gordon that letting Jaiying represent the Inhumans will lead to war, but cautioned by Sky and Cal, she is shot down, allowing Jaiying to step up, sit down, and cold-bloodedly murder Gonzales in a move to precipitate a war.

It's kind of like Gandhi suckerpunching J Edgar Hoover.

'Scars' succeeds on a couple of levels, most notably the bait and switch of the final confrontation, in which the apparently hardline Gonzales's sinister 'contingency' is a heartfelt token of regard, and it is the previously ultra-rational Jaiying who goes warmonger, not SHIELD. The slightly rocky relationship between the members of the unified SHIELD is also good, although I'm sad to see Mack head out. Where it is less successful is in the interface with the rest of the MCU, which is a growing problem with the MCU in general.

In Phase 1 and early Phase 2, the existence of the larger universe was to the benefit of each individual film. As we move into Phase 3, however, the need to be aware of and mindful of the multitude of properties is actually becoming burdensome, and as the red-headed stepchild of the continuity, Agents of SHIELD bears it worst, especially in the places where it ought to shine, which is to say in any major plot development involving SHIELD, which ought to be their bailiwick but invariably goes to the movies, which are themselves becoming bogged down with setup to the detriment of each individual piece. With several more miniseries and a Morse and Hunter spin off apparently in the works, this is only going to get more complicated.

I guess at least sprawling, potentially infuriating cross-title plotting is true to the source continuity.

What Agents of SHIELD gets to keep - at least until they launch into their own movie - are the Inhumans, and that plot is pretty decent, with the various members of the group all shown to be complex and detailed characters (apart from Lincoln, who's just sort of blandly decent.) The fairly sudden introduction of what seems to be an Inhuman-busting Kree Macguffin in the hold of the aircraft carrier is a bit left-field, and symptomatic of a somewhat spotty introduction of the Kree and Inhumans into the continuity throughout this season.

Oh, there's some stuff with Ward and Agent 33. They have some revenge plan and then happily ever after in Bora Bora or something. I don't know; the problem is I don't really care and a lot of the pacing is predicated on the audience investing in what happens to him. I also find it aggravating that he is played up as a brilliant operator and field strategist, mostly by passing other characters the idiot ball for a while. This month it was Bobbi, who having been brought to a field by Agent 33 in a quinjet, and then incapacitated 33, just wandered out of the jet instead of contacting base or simply taking off again.

We have a two-parter to bring all this together and then we're done for the season. Illness permitting I may aim to wrap this evening.