Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD Recap: ‘Shadows’ – 2×1

ADRIAN PASDAR, RAQUEL GARDNER

Yeah! “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” is back for Season 2! It’s been so long, I had to go back and read my own recaps to refresh my memory!

When we last left our gang, SHIELD was in shambles. Ward was captured and waiting interrogation, Fitz and Simmons almost drowned to death and Fury made Coulson director of SHIELD just so he can put it back together again. Any questions about what he and Garrett had individually carved into the wall were left unanswered, but Coulson put Skye on the task of deciphering it.

The Season 2 premiere opens up in 1945 Austria where a Nazi officer named Reinhardt (Reed Diamond) is overseeing the removal of various artifacts and antiques. One, in particular, the Obelisk, is of special interest to him, but before he can secure it and take it away, Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell) and two of the Howling Commandos (“Dum Dum” Dugan played by Neal McDonough and Jim Morita played by Kenneth Choi) break up his little party. He’s arrested and the Obelisk confiscated and marked as an “0-8-4”. I presume we’ll see more flashbacks to help roll into the premiere of “Agent Carter”?

Now, I thought the big nasty blaster Coulson used on Garrett was the original 084, but according to this episode, this Obelisk is. Can someone clarify this for me?

Back to present day, we see Skye dropping into a warehouse a la Tom Cruise in “Mission Impossible.” Why isn’t Triplett, the more seasoned agent, infiltrating the location? Instead he’s with May hidden away and on the look out.

We’re introduced to mercenaries Isabelle Hartley (Lucy Lawless) and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood), as well as a third mercenary (and possible redshirt) named Idaho. I wonder if he likes potatoes, hence his moniker, or maybe I’m just overthinking it and his name is actually Idaho.

They are trying to buy tech off an agent who quickly gets killed by a HYDRA baddie we later learn is Carl Creel aka Absorbing Man. He can make his body into any substance just by touching a piece of it. In trying to keep the Obelisk away from HYDRA, Hartley takes it in her hand and the thing begins to turn her hand to stone. As the poison creeps up her arm, she orders Hunter to cut off her arm or it’s going to kill her. It’s a gruesome task, but Hunter reluctantly does it to save her.

This posits a couple of questions. What happens to Creel if he were to directly touch the Obelisk? I may be reaching here, but since it appears that no human can pick up the obelisk without turning into stone, what if a non-human or half-human picks it up. Someone like Peter Quill? Perhaps this is a setup for a special guest turn from Chris Pratt? Let’s hope so and let’s hope he brings Baby Groot and the gang along. Besides, the guy has got to have some way to get batteries for his Walkman, right (that was bugging me during the entire “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie!)?

Ward is locked up in a jail like Anthony Hopkins in “Hannibal” – does he crave fava beans and a nice chianti? Coulson sends Skye to talk to Ward. Looks like Grant had an epiphany awhile back after he came out of sedation. He had tried to kill himself several times (so now we know why he has a beard, no razors allowed?) But he claims he has turned over a new leaf and only wants to help Skye and SHIELD. Skye walks away and mutes him before he can tell her he wants to tell her about his father – the bloodied man in China that Flowers visited at the end of last season.

Fitz is alive, but not the person he once was. The injuries he sustained from lack of oxygen have caused some lag in his reaction time and recall. Simmons is there to support him, but we learn later she’s just a hallucination like “Battlestar Galatica’s” Number Six. Simmons quit SHIELD months ago…

Reinhardt is now known as Daniel Whitehall. The man hasn’t aged a minute in 70 years and despite replacing his German accent and 40s garb with a nondescript American accent and modern tailored suits, he still has his Harry Potter glasses from way back when as he absentmindedly cleans them with a cloth. You’re telling me in 70+ years, those glasses don’t have a scratch on them? My glasses are less than two years old and are covered with scratches! #justsayin

What did you think of the season 2 premiere of “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD”? Do you believe Ward is actually regretful and apologetic or is he still scheming?

http://youtu.be/Vevi-B7Ocdc

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One response to “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD Recap: ‘Shadows’ – 2×1”

  1. […] last week’s “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD,” a horrific single car crash with Creel left Hartley and Idaho dead and Hunter’s leg […]

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