Score: 6/10
Episode 2 is titled “0-8-4”. The episode begins with agents Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) and Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) voicing their concerns about the other members of the team to the leader of the squad, Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). Their concerns about Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) are that they have no combat experience and would be liabilities in the field. However, Fitz and Simmons are S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists whose expertise is valuable for the team. Ward’s and May’s biggest issue is the recruitment of Skye (Chloe Bennet). While Fitz and Simmons are certified S.H.I.E.L.D scientists, Skye has no training. The more concerning fact is that she is a member of the Rising Tide. While Ward views her hacking abilities as dangerous when amplified by the technology of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson believes he can assimilate Skye into the team and harness her abilities to be an asset for his team. Coulson’s vision is to have a diverse team with each individual bringing unique skills to the table. If it works, he will have a great team. However, very different people will clash at first similar to the way the Avengers initially fight among themselves in “the Avengers movie” until they unite against a common enemy. The second episode focuses on the natural rift and team building between the brawn, Ward and May, and the brains, Fitz, Simmons, and Skye.
The episode also features more of Coulson’s plane, the Bus. It is a high tech plane given to Coulson by Director Nick Fury after the Battle of New York. His team uses it to fly to Peru to go on a “0-8-4”. The code refers to a mission to find a priority, yet unknown item. The last time Coulson went on this type of mission, he found a hammer, Thor’s hammer. In Peru, the team discovers that the item is a tesseract fueled weapon. In real life, Nazis fled to Latin America after World War II to hide. Piggybacking off the same concept, the episode notes that the scientists of the fictitious Nazi deep science division Hydra, featured in “Captain America: The First Avenger”, fled to Peru and helped its government commission the weapon. While they try to extract the item, they find themselves in the middle of a fight between rebels and the Peruvian military. Coulson is a former acquaintance of the military’s leader, Camilla Reyes (Leonor Varela). As such, they help each other and Coulson gives her troops a lift on the Bus. However, Reyes mission is to take the weapon back and use it to crush the rebels. Accordingly, the climax of the episode is the struggle between Coulson’s newly formed team and Reyes and her troops. During the battle, we learn why Melinda May is known as “the Cavalry”.
Similar to “the Avengers”, Coulson’s team rallies against a common enemy like the way the Avengers rallied against Loki after Coulson’s staged death. The group is forced to come together as a team to stop Reyes’s troops. Overall, the episode flowed well and was definitely entertaining. It also highlights the differences in background and personalities within Coulson’s team that needs to be reconciled so they can move forward as a cohesive unit. The action scenes are also good. Next, Leonor Varela played the villain well. Varela is a Chilean actress and model so she is strikingly, beautiful on screen. At the end of the episode, Samuel L. Jackson makes a cameo as Director Nick Fury. The first two episodes have been excellent at linking back to the Marvel films without forcing the issue. In a comical scene, he tears Coulson apart for severely damaging the Bus within a week of receiving the plane. Nick Fury cameos are always entertaining and I like that it links the show back to the movies. In addition, Fury reiterates to Coulson that Skye is a threat. The concern is not unwarranted. Near the end of the episode, Skye receives a message from the Rising Tide and her response is “I’m in”. It will be interesting to see how this storyline is developed.
On the other hand, there are still aspects of the show to improve upon. First, the acting is good but not great. I would also like to see the character development progress and to learn more about each character’s past. For example, agent May seems to have a colorful past but it has only been alluded at so far in the show. The show also needs a unifying mission and theme. After the first two episodes, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have been doing one off missions. They ensured that a man with superpowers was a not a danger to society in the first episode. Then, they extract a weapon to keep it out of the hands of bad people in the second episode. I understand that the point of Coulson’s task force is to protect society from unusual threats. However, the first two episodes are completely standalone. I think the show needs to introduce a threat or bigger mission that each episode builds upon to keep the show compelling and viewers watching. I am curious to see if the Rising Tide is the aspect of the show that links the episodes together this season.
About Pat Wong
Patrick is a contributor for Rookerville. He is an avid sports fan. Before joining Rookerville, he was part of a defunct New York Yankees message board, NYYankeefans, where he was its top poster and was inducted in its Hall of Fame for his contributions. Patrick is also a passionate fan of movies. He has enjoyed reading movie reviews over the years and is excited about the opportunity to review movies.
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