Review: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ‘Seeds’

This week on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it looks as if the show may be coming out of the hole it’s been digging for the ever-expected descent to the grave that most naysayers have been predicting.  The series is improving on many levels, from creating stories that are engaging to allowing us to experience the characters within the show without feeling like they are essentially unnecessary.  And while there’s still some ways to go, last week and this week’s ‘Seeds’ combine to give me a glimmer of hope that S.H.I.E.L.D. will become what I (and many others) have been hoping it would.

The story of ‘Seeds’ begins with an accident at the S.H.I.E.L.D. science and tech division of their training academy.  Some wise-guy decided to set off a freezing machine and almost froze someone in the campus pool.  So in come the agents to figure out what’s going on.

They run into a variety of suspects, one of which happens to be a fellow by the name of Donnie.  When another device goes off and freezes Donnie himself, they stop investigating him so much, though Fitz does become buddy-buddy with him.  As it turns out, however, Donnie has more than a few secrets. 

In the meanwhile, Coulson and May head down to South America to chase a lead concerning Skye’s missing parents.  And what they find out there is something that will change the face of the show and adds a whole new level of complexity to the team line-up.

While there were periods of exposition in ‘Seeds’ that were positively painful (seriously guys, stop doing that), the majority of the episode played out quite well.  Fitz and Simmons became more interesting, characters to watch for more than just their quippy banter and ability to build stuff.  Coulson’s mystery death is still being explained, though the show isn’t rushing it.  They have made it seem as if Coulson truly knows everything there is to know, but I’m guessing the writers aren’t done with it yet.  If they were, I would be seriously surprised (and disappointed).

The best parts of the show were, in my opinion, the points at which Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. finally became a show about super heroes.  Sure, they’ve brought in the occasional super-powered villain and hero here and there, but it’s looking like they’ll be taking the presence of these powerful beings to the next level now.  We may see the show evolve into something more than a Marvel version of a bad CSI series (oh wait, all CSI series are crap…).

The next episode won’t be showing up for a couple of weeks (February 4^th?  really guys?  why all the breaks?), but you can still get a brief look at it (and the obligatory Stan Lee cameo) by heading over to this site.  Let’s hope that S.H.I.E.L.D. can continue the trend and end its first season on a high note.

Photo Credits -

Seeds courtesy of screenrant.com