Wednesday, 10 May 2017

S.H.I.E.L.D., 'The Return' - May 9

…And so, agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have returned to RL by AoS’ standards. What did they find there?

Robotic clones of Anton Ivanov, the supposed Superior, but so far everyone calls him ‘the Russian’ instead – apparently even by AoS’ own standards, calling him ‘the Superior’ is simply too ridiculous. Plus, while it is tempting to see his enormous, if not limitless, supply of clones as a homage to SW and its’ clone troopers, in reality AoS already did something like this in S3 already, with the character of Alisha, an InHuman woman with precisely this power – multiple bodies. AoS is back to recycling ideas; Anton is Alisha, while Aida (Mk III?) is Hive, with Fitz taking over from Simmons. Aida is Hive as he should have been – the epitome of the InHumans and their powers, and not just some monster with regenerative powers that ate people…oh wait. At S2 finale, Jiaying was revealing to be some sort of a fraudulent monster that remained forever young by consuming other people, and not just ordinary humans, but also other InHumans. The S2 finale put AoS ‘out of whack’, and it may be that only now they have caught-up with their intended schedule… We will just have to wait and see as to what will happen next.

…Well, yes, we already know some things – namely that Robbie Reyes the Ghost Rider, (or a Ghost Rider, look at MCU wiki for clarifications), is coming back for the S4 finale. We also know that Mack is still in the framework and Yo-Yo went in to save him. Only, the last we see of Yo-Yo in ‘The Return’/ the first we see of her in the framework, is that she was stuck in a framework Hydra’s torture chair with the building burning down around her. This raises the possibility that we will see another ‘Slingshot’ (i.e., Yo-Yo) AoS TV episode or webisode in the future, centered around her and Mack, (obviously). Maybe Tripp and Ward will be around for the ride, too.

However, while Yo-Yo certainly deserves more time to herself and Mack (and Hope), and having Tripp and Ward stick around some more in AoS is also fun, this plot move takes her and Mack out of circulation in any AoS episodes that take place in RL, allowing AoS to jiggle between them and the rest of the team, and Robbie. Yeah, I still think that there is some idea of the Ghost Rider pairing up with Quake in the works – it was probably being worked in the original story arc of S4, when Robbie, and his brother, were introduced properly to MCU and AoS and S.H.I.E.L.D. (in the story). But again, AoS has plot issues that are being resolved only now, (hopefully), and after the misadventure with Mitchell, people are probably reluctant to pair Chloe (Daisy) with anyone, and there is the matter of budget – will AoS be able to handle Luna (Robbie) on top of NCB (Yo-Yo) and everyone else? We will probably learn as to what will happen after the S4 finale, in some special news article/podcast of MCU.

In other news, FOX and Marvel will be releasing yet another Marvel-based show, ‘The Gifted’, about an ordinary family whose children are revealed to be mutants, and who now will have to deal with that and avoid any trouble from the authorities and etc. Sadly, there even is not a proper trailer, so we do not know if the story takes place in the ‘Legion’-verse, (which is also ran by FOX and Marvel, rather than ABC, as AoS is), or what. We will just have to wait and see as to how this situation will play out.

So, this is it for ‘The Return’ – it is a solid, straightforward and suitable episode of AoS. Will it be enough to bring new fans over to AoS even as the show counts down to the S4 finale? We will see.

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