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

The latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. sees yet another mediocre installment of the series.  And while it doesn’t fail for lack of a decent story or even the actors portrayals of their characters, this series, which I was very hopeful for, is beginning to lose its appeal due to the continued presence of a slap-stick styled execution that makes the show seem less like a Joss Whedon affair and more like a sit-com.  While the wild and wacky approach to sci-fi has worked on many other shows, such as Warehouse 13 (one of my favorites), with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it threatens to drive off all but the most loyal of viewers.  Still, I shall endure and continue to review.

This time around, the team has to head out to deal with a potential doomsday device known as Overkill.  It’s fallen into the hands of some rebels looking to break away from the authority of Russia.  The Hub - S.H.I.E.L.D.’s top-brass organization - calls in Coulson and the team to deal with said problem.  So it’s up to Fitz and Ward to play infiltrators, make their way to Overkill and disarm it.  Along the way, they run into all sorts of wacky situations that they have to think and (mostly) joke their way out of.

Back at The Hub, Skye and Simmons are irked at not being high enough clearance to know what’s going on, so they go on a little hacking mission of their own.  Finding out that there is no extraction plan for their friends, the get a bit irate.  Coulson gets mad at them at first, but then breaks protocol to fly the giant S.H.I.E.L.D. jet in and rescue them in the nick of time.  Everyone gets out and lives happily ever after (until the next episode, of course).

While I enjoyed some of the way the episode looked at various characters’ motivations and even presented a little back-story, it wasn’t enough to save this one.  What could have been a tense story degenerated time and again to antics and slap-stick.  I was really hoping that this tendency was fading away, since it is the show’s biggest weakness.  This time, however, it was back in full force and without much cleverness to make it palatable.  By the end of the episode I was left sighing and longing for a new episode of Arrow.

I shall continue to watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., of course, but I’ve lost much of my faith in the future of the show.  All the complaints that people have are not being addressed and that could spell doom for a second season.  Still, the ratings are high and if it can follow the example that Arrow set, we may see a majority of the problems addressed come next year.  Or at least we can always hope.  Until then, I still pray that the show will get darker and more intriguing.

Next week, an episode that ties in with the new Thor: The Dark World movie.  Let’s see if they can get this one right.  Wishing I’d seen the movie now… Oh well.  For a sneak peak of ‘The Well’, head to this site and check it out.

Photo Credits -

The Hub courtesy of allthatsepic.com