Score: 6/10
The series started to lose steam for me in the first half of the episode. Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Jenna Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) are characters that are so over the top nerdy that it is beginning to get annoying. Agent Grant Ward’s (Brett Dalton) is supposed to have poor people skills in the show. However, I do not think they intended Dalton’s acting to be cold. In addition, Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) is being hyped as an agent who is a bad ass fighter in the field. While she overcomes her reluctance to go back into combat by the end of this episode, she has been a poorly developed character so far.
On the other hand, Skye (Chloe Bennet) saves and carries the episode. Bennet does an excellent job portraying Skye. She has personality and spunk. I also like strong female characters that are proactive in helping or leading the charge instead of sitting back and being damsels in distress. She even makes Agent Ward more interesting. He has his better scenes when he interacts with Skye as there is definitely some sexual tension between the two. He tries to maintain his misanthropic, super agent demeanor to hide his affection for Skye. However, he clearly cares about her as he takes her under his wing and mentors her so she can handle herself in the field. The second half of the episode is interesting because we learn whether Skye is committed to S.H.I.E.L.D. or an enemy. As she was a member of the mysterious Rising Tide, her trustworthiness has been questioned by multiple people. I like that her allegiance sways back and forth in this episode until it is finally revealed. Moreover, she looks stunningly beautiful in a pink dress in this episode. Of course, Clark Gregg plays the popular Agent Coulson who is the star and main draw of the show. Gregg continues to play the character well and we get to see him go back into the field this episode.
The title of this episode is “The Asset”, who is S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist Franklin Hall (Ian Hart). The caravan that is protecting and transporting him gets ambushed at the start of the episode. The attackers use small devices that can manipulate gravity to neutralize the S.H.I.E.L.D agents before they kidnap Hall. The kidnapping is ordered by Ian Quinn (David Conrad), who is a former acquaintance of Hall. Quinn is very wealthy and anti-establishment as he is against governments and organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. He wants to utilize Hall’s expertise to help him perfect his gravity manipulation technology. Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D needs to stage a rescue mission to free Hall. As Quinn is in a jurisdiction that S.H.I.E.L.D. is not allowed to enter, Skye volunteers to go in as she is not an official agent yet. For comic book fans, this episode is the origin story of Graviton. I think they could have done a much better job with the character and the origin story but it was decent.
Similar to my thoughts on the second episode, the series needs a unifying theme or villain that links all the episodes this season together. Each episode has stood alone so far and there is nothing within each episode that leaves you hanging and looking forward to the next episode. I definitely think the series needs to introduce something of that nature soon to keep up its momentum.
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.