REVIEW:Marvel's Agents Of SHIELD Season Two
REVIEW: Marvel's Agents Of SHIELD Season Two
Originally published in 2016, here are my thoughts on Agents Of SHIELD's second season.
Previously I gave a review on Agents of SHIELD's first season, where I concluded that I had mixed feelings overall on the on the pacing and structure of the SHIELD agents' first outing. It seemed as though the writing talent behind the camera had been constrained somewhat by having to wait for the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier in order to progress with its story. The show's second season had a lot of strong foundations to build on, but equally there were plenty of ways in which the show could improve on and learn from its very first season. So how did Season Two compare?
Well, remarkably well, as it turns out. Season Two is a vast improvement on the first season, due to the show no longer having to wait for the release of an MCU film in order to introduce its major season story arc. This time the story arc is introduced from the beginning and the season progresses at a natural pace towards the plot's conclusion. Being able to tell its own story rather than being so intricately linked to the release of a Marvel Cinematic Universe film benefits the programme considerably this time round, as it allows the show to tell the story on its own terms, rather than feeling like a small cog in a big wheel. It means the plot can be told on the creative team's own terms, without having to worry about how Marvel's film division will react.
Season Two sees the origin story of the comic-book superhero Quake, a character who in the comics is called Daisy Johnson (which it is revealed is Skye's - played by Chloe Bennet - real name) and goes on to become the director of SHIELD. In this season, Skye gains her powers from terrigen mist and becomes an 'Inhuman': humans who have had their genetic code altered due to failed experiments by the alien race known as the Kree. Skye is taken to the 'Afterlife' - a peaceful retreat for Inhumans run by Skte's mother Jiaying (Dichen Lachman) - by Gordon (Jamie Harris): an Inhuman who possesses powers of teleportation. It is up to Lincoln Campbell (Luke Mitchell) and Jiaying to help Skye control and adjust to her newfound powers. It is a lovely surprise to see one of the show's main cast members revealed as an established Marvel Comics hero and Skye is a character who works perfectly for a twist like this. She has been shown throughout the previous episodes to be a kind and compassionate woman who has had a very troubled past, and the complicated emotions she displays from her difficult upbringing make for some interesting scenes, given that her emotions play havoc with her earthquake powers. Despite having a different hair cut, she is not too dissimilar to the physical appearance of Quake in the comics either and this makes her instantly believable as the same person transferred to screen.
Chloe Bennet is also one of the strongest actors in the show. If they ever decide to include the TV Shows in one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films (NB: This later happened with the inclusion of Edwin Jarvis from the television series Agent Carter, in the once highest-grossing picture Avengers Endgame), then they need an actor who will be strong enough to stand alongside the likes of Robert Downey Jnr and Chris Evans. Chloe Bennet, I believe, could easily hold her own alongside the Avengers cast. At the very least I could imagine her alongside Tom Holland's Spider-Man now Marvel are able to use the character in their shared universe. She displays so much depth and character in her portrayal of Daisy Johnson in this second season, bringing a real sense of pathos in the way she explores how Daisy is affected by acquiring these powers, and her performance really helps to bring the comics heroine of Quake to life.
Well, remarkably well, as it turns out. Season Two is a vast improvement on the first season, due to the show no longer having to wait for the release of an MCU film in order to introduce its major season story arc. This time the story arc is introduced from the beginning and the season progresses at a natural pace towards the plot's conclusion. Being able to tell its own story rather than being so intricately linked to the release of a Marvel Cinematic Universe film benefits the programme considerably this time round, as it allows the show to tell the story on its own terms, rather than feeling like a small cog in a big wheel. It means the plot can be told on the creative team's own terms, without having to worry about how Marvel's film division will react.
Season Two sees the origin story of the comic-book superhero Quake, a character who in the comics is called Daisy Johnson (which it is revealed is Skye's - played by Chloe Bennet - real name) and goes on to become the director of SHIELD. In this season, Skye gains her powers from terrigen mist and becomes an 'Inhuman': humans who have had their genetic code altered due to failed experiments by the alien race known as the Kree. Skye is taken to the 'Afterlife' - a peaceful retreat for Inhumans run by Skte's mother Jiaying (Dichen Lachman) - by Gordon (Jamie Harris): an Inhuman who possesses powers of teleportation. It is up to Lincoln Campbell (Luke Mitchell) and Jiaying to help Skye control and adjust to her newfound powers. It is a lovely surprise to see one of the show's main cast members revealed as an established Marvel Comics hero and Skye is a character who works perfectly for a twist like this. She has been shown throughout the previous episodes to be a kind and compassionate woman who has had a very troubled past, and the complicated emotions she displays from her difficult upbringing make for some interesting scenes, given that her emotions play havoc with her earthquake powers. Despite having a different hair cut, she is not too dissimilar to the physical appearance of Quake in the comics either and this makes her instantly believable as the same person transferred to screen.
Chloe Bennet is also one of the strongest actors in the show. If they ever decide to include the TV Shows in one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films (NB: This later happened with the inclusion of Edwin Jarvis from the television series Agent Carter, in the once highest-grossing picture Avengers Endgame), then they need an actor who will be strong enough to stand alongside the likes of Robert Downey Jnr and Chris Evans. Chloe Bennet, I believe, could easily hold her own alongside the Avengers cast. At the very least I could imagine her alongside Tom Holland's Spider-Man now Marvel are able to use the character in their shared universe. She displays so much depth and character in her portrayal of Daisy Johnson in this second season, bringing a real sense of pathos in the way she explores how Daisy is affected by acquiring these powers, and her performance really helps to bring the comics heroine of Quake to life.
This season contains the unfortunate death of Tripp (B.J. Britt), and this adds a considerable amount to the season's more emotional beats throughout its 22 episode run. Whilst Tripp seemed a nice enough character overall, there wasn't anything too special about him that made him stand out above the agents, and so it doesn't come as too much of a shock when the show decides to write him out. His death still leaves a considerable impact on the team however, and it helps to add some real dramatic weight to the discovery of the ruins of the alien city. It's a shame they couldn't have shown him doing more to have made the death hit harder with the viewing audience, but it's still a great way to demonstrate the consequences of Coulson's (Clark Gregg) actions. It's his determination to solve the mystery of the alien symbols and his search for the city that essentially gets Tripp killed, and had his obsession not taken over Tripp would still have been alive.
One of my favourite things about this season had to be Dichen Lachman's Jiaying. It is a shame that she killed off as she made for a brilliant villain and it would have been fun to see her return in the third season (NB: Jiaying later returned in Season Seven). You've got to feel sorry for Skye having both a bad mother and father (although Calvin Zabo, played by Kyle MacLachan) did redeem himself in the end). Dichen Lachman played Jiaying so brilliantly, at first appearing as the sweet and caring mother but soon revealing her true colours as the selfish and bitter woman she really was. The whole two-part finale of Jiaying leading the Inhumans to war with SHIELD was an epic climax to the season, especially when Skye found out the truth behind Jiaying's lies and subsequently told Lincoln.
That brings me onto another point: Edward James Olmos is brilliant as Robert Gonzales, the director of a second team called SHIELD who were formed out of the members who remained from Hydra's infiltration. His SHIELD forms a fun arc for the season where the two SHIELD teams are in competition with one other until eventually deciding to join forces over the Inhuman threat. It is basically like a lighter version of the Hydra arc; instead of Coulson's SHIELD's decisions being made by director Coulson, Robert Gonzales's decisions are made by a board committee, and there's something satirical about watching a board meeting take place to discuss a spy organisation's next tactics. Robert Gonzales's approach treats SHIELD like a business, with Robert effectively as the company's CEO. They also offer an interesting argument against Coulson's version of SHIELD: is it right to carry secrets and lies, or is it better to be open and honest?
Overall, the second season of Agents of SHIELD is much stronger than the first. The ongoing season arc is wisely much earlier on, and it features one of the show's best villains in Skye's mother Jiaying. Unfortunately however it is held back by the lack of resolution to Fitz/Simmons' will-they/won't-they romance and a cliffhanger ending that feels so unnatural, it's like they only included it because they realised they needed a hook for the next season.
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What are your thoughts on Agents Of SHIELD's second season? Let me know in the comments section.
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