agents of something

Welcome back to the ComicsAlliance post-show analysis for Agents of SHIELD, the spy show set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is where we break down each episode using our unique S.H.L.E.I.D. recap system — recapping the show, looking at highlights and lowlights, and exploring the show’s relationship to both the comics and the wider Marvel movie world. In this week's episode, Lady Sif is back, but her memories are missing; secrets are creating tensions among our paramilitary chums; and Eddie McClintock is a Kree. 'Who You Really Are' was directed by Roxann Dawson and written by Drew Z. Greenberg.

Welcome back to the ComicsAlliance post-show analysis for Agents of SHIELD, the spy show set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is where we break down each episode using our unique S.H.L.E.I.D. recap system --- recapping the show, looking at highlights and lowlights, and exploring the show's relationship to both the comics and the wider Marvel movie world. In this week's episode, Raina and Skye try to come to terms with their inhuman transformations, Coulson tries to take down HYDRA, and everyone loves dead Tripp. 'Aftershocks' was directed by Billy Gierhart and written by showrunners Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon.

Agents of SHIELD hit the mid-season mark (and the beginning of a long winter hiatus) with an actual possible game-changer this week, leaving several characters in a severely altered state, and not all of them because of the secrets of the disco doorstop. Mysteries were resolved, shots were fired, and things will never be the same again (because change is the nature of existence, duh). 'What They Become' was directed by Michael Zinberg and written by Jeffrey Bell. As is tradition, I will subject it to my usual 'S.H.L.E.I.D.' recap process, and somewhere in there I'll offer you the shortest mea culpa you'll ever see about a nasty thing the show did last week that it sort of undoes this week, in the most dickish way imaginable!

My colleagues Dylan and Matt get to trade their recap shows for a crossover this week, with Matt doing Flash and Dylan doing Arrow. I offered to let them do Agents of SHIELD instead -- we'll fake a crossover, we have Photoshop! -- but they demurred. So it's still me, folks. This show may be better than it was last year, but 'better' is a relative term, and the stink of a toxic reputation is tough to shake. But with the Agents of SHIELD winter final just a week away -- and the show going on hiatus until about March to make way for Agent Carter -- the show is actually edging ever closer to actual revelations, with one nerd name-bomb dropped this episode, and Mack finally given something to do! Which turns out to be both good news and bad. 'Ye Who Enter Here' was directed by Billy Gierhart and written by Paul Zbyszewski

Last week's Agents of SHIELD was a mixed bag, presenting the second season at its weakest as it revisited those malingering season one plot threads, but with the promise of something a lot stronger in our first (holographic) look at the Inhuman city of Attilan (maybe). This week, we find out if the show intends to grab hold of that exciting new 'secret city' storyline with both hands, or if it's just going stick it in a drawer for the rest of the season while Skye moans about her dad. 'The Things We Bury' is directed by Milan Cheylov and written by DJ Doyle, and it features at least one welcome return cameo, and a villainpalooza thanks to Reed Diamond, Kyle MacLachlan, and Tim DeKay. So let's break it all down in our unique 'SHLEID' recap format.

After a one-week hiatus, Agents of SHIELD returns with an episode about math. And look, I'm not trying to be mean here, but I understand that an hour earlier in the night, the Flash stripped down to his underoos over on his TV show Shoe. (They use the Arrow naming convention, right?) So Agents of SHIELD really needs to step up its game if it wants to be competitive in the increasingly crowded superhero TV market. Lance Hunter in a Speedo, at the very least. This week's episode, 'The Writing On The Wall', was directed by Vincent Misiano and written by Craig Titley, and guest stars both Cougar Town's Brian Van Holt and The 4400's Joel Gretsch, who are two handsome grizzled blond men that you probably thought were the same person until this exact moment. Psych. Here's our uniquely formulated "SHLEID" recap.

Welcome to season one, episode two of Mockingbird, the awesome new Marvel TV show starring Adrianne Palicki as kick-ass superspy Bobbi Morse. It could be everything anyone ever wanted a live action Marvel TV show to be! Unfortunately and inexplicably this new show is saddled to Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, a show that spent an entire season being so terrible that its ratings seem to be in freefall. With the full official arrival of Mockingbird (and an extended Avengers: Age Of Ultron trailer), does the show deserve to see its fortunes turn around? Find out in our SHLEID recap of episode six, 'A Fractured House', directed by Ron Underwood and written by Rafe Judkins and Lauren LeFranc.

The fifth episode of Agents of SHIELD's second season is in a sense the episode some fans have been waiting for since the show began; it's the first episode to ever introduce a fully fledged comic book superhero into the cinematic universe. If you've somehow avoided spoilers until now, I'll avoid saying more until we're safely inside the recap. That big event aside, 'A Hen In The Wolf House' by director Holly Dale and writer Brent Fletcher, is an oddly uneven episode. It's so preoccupied with the show's big mysteries that it lacks the focus that has made this season so much stronger than last. But it still has some great moments, as we'll uncover in our SHLEID recap.

The fourth season of Agents of SHIELD's second season will probably be remembered mostly for its fightin' -- both because the fightin' was memorable and because the rest of the episode wasn't especially. But that doesn't mean the show's regressed to season one levels, even in spite of so many season one plots stinking up the place. So what was good, what was bad, and what wonderful new treats from the Marvel Universe did the show throw at us this week? (Prepare to be disappointed on that front.) ComicsAlliance has all the answers in our patent-pending SHLEID recap of 'Face My Enemy', directed by Kevin Tancharoen and written by Drew Z. Greenberg.

We live in thrilling times, friend; a miraculous age where Agents of SHIELD isn't awful and I don't dread recapping it. Yes, the show continues its second season renaissance with an episode that uses the characters, the villains, and the SHIELD versus HYDRA dynamic to good effect. 'Making Friends And Influencing People', directed by Bobby Roth and written by Monica Owusu-Breen, reveals what Agent Simmons has been doing this whole time when she hasn't been Tyler Durden-ing Fitz. She's been working for HYDRA! OMG! Plus, the return of a nearly-villain from season one.