Saturday, 3 March 2018

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Review: “All the Comforts of Home”


We’re good!
(This review contains spoilers!)

          I haven’t shied away from letting my complaints be heard about Season 5 thus far. While it had a good start, as the Kasius storyline came closer to finishing it started to get really caught up in itself, with episode after episode of boring, sterile and lifeless gray hallways. It was dull, dreary, and completely unrelateable, a far cry from the quality standard S.H.I.E.L.D is usually up to.

          Wouldn’t you know it, the second we set foot back on Earth the show immediately became what it used to be again: a consistently entertaining and surprising action-packed adventure with great characters, laughs, and a focus on fun.

          It doesn’t take long after returning to present day for things to go awry for the team once more. A mysterious beacon has been set off, posing the threat of bringing more Kree to Earth. The team goes to investigate, only to meet their biggest opponent yet: A former Disney Channel star! AAAAAHHHHH!!!

          Meanwhile, Daisy stays behind to keep tabs on the team online, but discovers a problem of her own when Deke somehow arrives in present day. I’ll be honest, I really didn’t care for Deke at all in the first half of the season, but something about him here really worked. His montage of enjoying life on Earth was a ton of fun, and I’m actually looking forward to seeing where his story goes from here.

          Speaking of other characters, let’s talk about the true unsung hero of this episode: Patrick Warburton as a weird hologram S.H.I.E.L.D agent! He does next to nothing, but it’s so hilarious to have him there.

          Okay, I guess I should talk about Dove Cameron. Again, we don’t get enough of her here to see exactly how good she’s gonna be as an actress, but I really enjoyed her character. A villainous superfan working with her mother to take down what’s left of S.H.I.E.L.D is a really neat idea, and she got a great introduction when she disarmed Yo-Yo.

          Literally.

          Perhaps the best part of the episode was something we haven’t seen from S.H.I.E.L.D much this season: jokes! Actual good jokes! I loved the scene in the 70’s shag carpet van with the whole team crammed in the back, which was made even better when they encountered the policeman. I also loved all the meta references, like May talking about their “small but active fanbase” and Mack’s “Aaaand we’re back.” when the mission first starts. It’s little touches like these that make the show stand out from the generic and grayness of the first half of the season.

          Overall this episode was a true return to form for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Returning to a familiar locale brought a lot of fun and relatability back to the show that was missing in most of the rese of Season 5, and the new plot points have been set up fantastically. With next week being the landmark 100th episode, I’m sure we’ll be seeing some big changes soon enough, but for now I’m glad one of my favourite shows can be great again.

FINAL SCORE
8/10

Great

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