REVIEW: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "The Law of Inferno Dynamics"
Nothing reminds me more about why I watch lackluster seasons than the finales. It’s the moment where the budget is finally used, the plots make more sense, and the show teases one thing that could be interesting until they ruin and/or drop it when the show returns. This episode has all this and…pretty much that with a few nice additions. All that lends me to say this was a pretty good episode.
To prove that, I’m actually going to start with some things I didn’t like about it. Since the show has done better than this, I’m obliged to say the pacing is slow. I mean, it starts with an exciting team-up of Daisy, Yo-Yo, and Ghost Rider, ends with the exciting climax, and sifts through that with…a villain’s monologue? I don’t think there was a single thing I needed to learn from that except to prove that Robbie wasn’t dead, and even then, I have eyes for that. And the show can’t try to pass that off as exposition because it’s sometimes fun when FitzSimmons does it.
Going back to Robbie not being dead, because even now he’s not dead. Nevertheless, the show of course has to go back to its tried-and-true method of changing plot lines. But to get rid of Ghost Rider entirely? That’s kind of a harsh move. I’ll forgive this if Eli somehow comes back as Mephisto, but that makes no sense just typing it. It is still going to be odd going forward without the pseudo-seventh member of the cast entirely.
Now that that’s done, onto the other 90% of the episode. Directed by Kevin Tancheron, I expected the episode to be high on tension and fun action scenes, and it did not disappoint. While not his best, this episode still got me to care during a Coulson monologue, watch FitzSimmons both shoot a bad guy , and enjoy the third Quicksilver-esque fight sequence (I always wonder how they scrap the budget for that). All those are things I sadly don’t consider in lesser episodes, and all those things I keep getting surprised by every December.
I have to also tip a hat to the smaller moments that just made me happy. Mack and Elena kissing is great since some couple’s allowed to be happy. The easter egg/joke/foreshadowing(?) reference to Daisy’s future as SHIELD director was so obvious I had to laugh. Heck, I’m even going to add how much I liked Mace’s costume since it’s the one place where I would except Captain America’s Winter Soldier outfit. As a bonus, they even mentioned Agent Koenig through his love of lanyards. No one could have predicted that!
Also, hallelujah, they finally ended the Daisy being separated from SHIELD plot. It’s far from the worst storyline of the show nor is it the worst for Daisy, but spreading out cast members away from each other gets really slow really fast. I think I also look back poorly on it compared to the excellent conclusion to it. Not only is she back, but she’s a hero thanks to the good word of Mace. It’s on-the-nose yeah, but it’s the hopefulness of Marvel that is sometimes ignored for the sake of something edgy. For a show at 10/9c, we could use a little brightness.
And onto the twist and the rest of the season. AIDA is a bad guy to the shock of no one who has captured and replaced May which should be a surprise to everyone, but let’s face it, May can never catch a break. With the lackluster edge in Age of Ultron, I’m actually interested in this A.I. storyline since it couldn’t really be much worse than what we had earlier. Not to mention, I give props to SHIELD for keep having the nerve to have a female villain even when Iron Man 3 which would have grossed $800 million regardless didn’t. I never said that Marvel was perfect.
What else can be said for what the rest of the season will give? While I enjoy the heartwarming reunion of most of the characters, this can’t, won’t, and probably shouldn’t continue, I know that enough. They better tread lightly though since the world is getting tired of people realizing that KEEPING SECRETS IS BAD. Well, there’s still the senator and Ghost Rider’s return to also focus on, so hopefully that’s too much to add the whiny drama again.
I could spend the last paragraph talking about the conflict between wishing whether or not every episode would be like this or wanting to keep it special, but that’s boring. Instead, I wish everyone a happy holiday while I remember how much I will miss that flaming skull head.
