Agents of SHIELD is absolutely killing it this season, and this might be the best episode to date.  At least, it’s one of the best since “Turn, Turn, Turn”, which was a transformative moment for the series as a whole.  So many things start coming together in this episode, from the truth about Skye to Ward’s intentions to the fabled city connected to the Kree to Agent Carter.  The tagline is “It’s All Connected”, and damn, is it ever!

 

Now that it’s been officially confirmed that the blue alien at the center of so many mysteries is, in fact, one of the Kree (worst kept secret ever), one can easily speculate that the city in question might be none other than Attilan, the canonical home of the Inhumans.  Even if they don’t go there just yet, but simply set the foundation for that future film Inhumans that has been announced, it’s great to see the show delve so deeply into Marvel lore.

 

Not to mention that the writers took the seemingly disparate plot elements around Whitehall (aka Kraken) and tied his nature and purpose, not to mention the Obelisk, to Skye’s mother.  And now Ward is wrapped into the drama again, working with Whitehall and The Doctor in this extremely uncomfortable alliance.  All that seemingly unnecessary material from the first season informs the level of devastating drama currently unfolding, and it’s clear that all of this is firmly rooted in the same mythos as the MCU films.

 

Speaking of Ward, this episode could have easily gone off the rails if he was even slightly less sinister in his intentions towards Christian and his family.  Thankfully, they not only pushed Ward right to the edge, but only pulled back long enough to have Ward scorch the earth without looking back.  And that’s actually not even much of a metaphor, which is the most astounding part.

 

The extended flashbacks with Agent Carter are a really nice way to lay the foundation for her own limited series in the winter, and something that I was hoping would manifest as soon as she was featured in the season premiere.  Surprisingly, instead of covering her connections to this season’s arc regarding the Obelisk in that miniseries, they are covering it here.  It makes me wonder what story they are going to add to the mix in her series, because we know that it’s far less self-contained than originally thought.  (Much like Ant-Man is beginning to look like a far more connective thread within the MCU tapestry than first believed.)

 

Continued accolades must be given to Bobbi, who has added a lot to the series as a whole.  I agree with those who conjecture that handling so much of the high-action scenes might have been wearing down Ming-Na, thus prompting the writers to add someone to share the load.  But much like a similar choice on Person of Interest, it was exponential gain by simple addition.  But that has been true of the series as a whole: so much of what is working now is a mere tweak on what wasn’t working as well at the start.