Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “The Only Light in the Darkness” Review

Howdy ladies and gents of the interweb, time for my review of episode 19 of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. entitled “The Only Light in the Darkness“. AoS has been turning out some really good episode as of recent, does this episode continue to give us the good stuff? Read on and find out.

As usual in these reviews I’m just gonna present the plot and then say what I liked and what I didn’t like. Cool? Okay let’s keep going.

The Plot

In this episode Coulson selects a few members of his team to go out into the world to protect a woman from Marcus Daniels (Blackout), an escaped convict from The Fridge who has his eyes set on this woman from his and Coulson’s past.

What I Liked

What we got this week was another interesting episode with cool discoveries, character development and another dude with superpowers (which is always another welcome addition for me). While there’s not as much to talk about here as there was in the last episode, I’ll just do my episode highlights again below:

• Agent Koenig & The Lie Detector: I loved this part so much. Seeing Agent Koenig submit the team to a series of questions was not only insightful but hilarious too. We so many interesting and random facts like the fact that May was married once, Triplett is the grandson of a Howling Commando and Skye had a really horrible name at her orphanage. Also Fitz and Simmons can be complicated when it comes to answering basic questions. The questions about Project Insight and Alexander Pierce were really interesting and it was nice to see the show still referencing Captain America 2. The answers for the box on the deserted island were great: 1) May: Machete (badass), 2) I loved how Fitz said he wanted Simmons to be in the box haha, 3) Simmons: The Tardis (amazing answer, such a nerdy answer). And then of course the answers about why they are still around were great, Simmons is unsure, Fitz wants to keep the people he trusts around him, Triplett wants beat Hydra like his grandfather did, May’s answer was Coulson and Skye says that S.H.I.E.L.D. is the only home she’s had. Things however got really heated when Ward was in that seat and hell the dude almost got shot too, you could see that both Ward and Koenig were feeling the heat and the tension there was unbelievably high. Loved it.
• May Jumps Ship: Poor May, she’s still trying to get Coulson to trust her but it seems like Coulson isn’t having any of it, the tension between the two of them is on fire. And considering the way that she’s been treated, I’m not surprised that she decided that enough is enough, but I’m still gutted to see her go, she’s my favourite. I’m curious to know why she is going after Maria Hill now, that’ll be an interesting conversation. Also how cool is it that May’s mother knows about S.H.I.E.L.D., is retired and still has connections, that is badass.
• Ward Goes On The Hunt To Kill: So after Ward disposes of Agent Koenig and notices that Skye has left the room, he believes that his cover may be blown and then he walks down the hallways shouting for Skye. The way he walked and the ominous music in the background made him seem like a Terminator out to kill and it was cool as hell, I just wish he had done something badass.
• Skye and Ward Are Lying To Each Other: So it seems like Ward isn’t the only one who can lie about himself as Skye pretty much guessed Ward was working for Hydra when she found a dead Agent Koenig. So she composed herself and then tried to play Ward and get him to sleep with him, but then Ward’s saying that have to go meaning tha he’s on to her, but also is trying to complete his mission too. I just liked how some things have been discovered and yet neither character is willing to give up what they know.

What I Disliked

Now let’s talk about what I didn’t like. This is the first episode where I felt like I got nothing from the episode in the sense that, you good almost take this episode of the season and it wouldn’t matter. I mean sure Ward’s actions definitely need to be accounted for as well as May disappearance, but other than that nothing else in this episode really has any consequence in the grand scheme of things. I was also hoping to feel a deeper emotional pull towards Coulson because of his history with Audrey but the writers I guess just didn’t feel like going for that emotional depth I guess. And speaking of missing opportunities for emotional depth, that point when Simmons said that her and Fitz needed to talk, that was the PERFECT opportunity for him to tell her how he feels and he said nothing. Fool! But the main thing that bugged me was that my man Agent Eric Koenig was wasted in this episode by Ward already, WHAT THE HELL!?! Now I now since he was a guest star that his time wouldn’t be long but bloody hell, the dude was cool, best new character in ages and then he gets taken out just like that? It’s bullshit. I am severely saddened and gutted that the writers didn’t give him more to do, he had so much potential to be a cool recurring character. Dammit Ward!

Conclusion

In conclusion “The Only Light in the Darkness” is good episode and has a lot of interesting points like Ward’s double agent status almost getting compromised while hanging with Skye, Coulson’s history with the cellist lady and having May leave the team. That being said this was a fairy tame and lacklustre episode when compared to the last five, it just lacks an intriguing hook and satisfactory conclusion.

Rating: 7.5/10 (A good episode but nothing special)

So what did you think of “The Only Light in the Darkness“? Whatever your thoughts drop them in the comments below and I’ll see ya again for episode 20! 😀