REVIEW: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Emancipation"
Free at last. Free at last. Thank whatever runs the universe that we are free from this lousy plotline of Daisy being evil. No, that does not make up for the plotline to begin with since that’s still the problem, but it makes this show a lot more bearable. You’d think with the world in jeopardy (again) and the Accords in effect that people would stop caring about mind-controlled worked-up drama. Still, that last five minutes manages to be better than the last three episodes combined.
For those of you intense spoilerphobes, they do mention the events of Civil War, mainly that Captain America is missing and the Accords are a thing. It’s a nice bone to throw but not such a nice bone when SHIELD did a better job of laying groundwork than the movies did. Granted, none of what SHIELD did mattered on that level. Then again, they’ve already tainted the idea of a superhero team thanks to some attachment to character betrayal over a year-long promotion of the Secret Warriors.
Heck, this episode actually focuses on the merits or negatives behind regulation better than Civil War did. A bunch of hijacked Inhumans, including one of their own, is at least an argument to be made for keeping track of what to do should things go south. That doesn’t give this episode a pass so much as taking half a point from the movies for not spending more time on the issue, even though the comics with the SAME TITLE did. If they were really connected, this episode could have been interesting…and probably come before the movie did.
Going back to things related to the show and only the show, SHIELD manages to get back on track at the last minute, just like they always do. With three seasons of this, and this one being the worst, I still don’t think the show will quite bounce back after this. Unfortunately, since I’m more of the optimistic viewer and the season’s almost over, I’m going to pay attention to the fact that this episode finally did something right. Not many things right, but enough for me to care.
The first is bringing Yo-Yo back (along with her scenes with Mack), even if it was just to set up the death at the end of the season. The second is bringing the Lash, even if it was just to kill him. The third is finally getting Daisy back, even if it’s almost at the last minute before the finale. See, even the optimist in me can’t really look at these things without seeing the downside, but thank goodness there’s some good here. If the show ever decides to look at random reviews on the Internet, then I could probably start something from here.
Starting with, I both love and hate these SHIELD surprises. Hate because they come at the most inopportune moments at the very last instances to try and save it from mediocrity. Love because it reminds me that the show’s not a total loss, even if that win comes from getting right back to where we started. If you have to watch a show, you have to take your wins when they come.
Where it is now, I’m also just happy that it showed the team being smart once again. Lincoln’s for once not an idiot, SHIELD finally gets one leg over Hive, and, best of all, Daisy is freed from nothing that had to do with her non-relationship with Lincoln. I cannot tell you how strained I was thinking that it may have come to that. True, it was nonsensical at best, but I liked Andrew/Lash more than Lincoln. Heck, I liked about 95% of the characters more than Lincoln. If any one of them came up with a solution for Daisy I would have accepted more than anything that had to do with Lincoln. The fact that they used Lash through a well-thought plan instead of Lincoln alone gives this episode a passing grade.
At the end of it all, I’m just glad to have these things come back. Mostly, I’m just glad because the gloom and doom aspect of SHIELD doesn’t work longer than an episode. With an indestructible villain and only Lincoln as a good Inhuman, the show’s miserable at best with no hope. Even now, the situation barely changed, but those three instances make it a different show, something with the bare minimum of a Marvel project. Somehow, the team’s gonna win. We just have to wait for it now.
Well, this is the last episode before the two-part finale, and they finally managed to give our team a chance. The drama before means next to nothing now, but I never cared for it in the first place. We can now return to our regularly scheduled good vs evil fight with none of the nonsense that we watched for about eight episodes. In any case, it’s a small celebration for now.
