Agents of Shield seems to be going through an interesting case of “balancing”. Mainly, they seem anxious for us to know more about the characters at points where it’s not really necessary. Last week, we got the Mack reveal of his ex-wife and daughter…and he had slept with Slingshot…and subsequent had a drawn out argument with her. This week? We got the mystery of the Koenig’s solved, and a glimpse into the young life of Fitz.
Now, the former at least worked within the storyline, as we found out that Coulson gave the Koenigs the Darkhold because they’re good at making things “disappear”. Which I believe. The problem though was that there was a little too much Koenig in this episode. Three of them to be exact. I dig Patton Oswalt, I do, he’s a funny guy, and a total geek/nerd at heart, but…he’s best in moderation. That whole “Quake fanfic” thing? Yeah, that’s funny, but they should’ve stopped the joke a few lines sooner. Just saying.
Then there’s Fitz, who just so happened to have been reminded of his father when the Radcliffe LMD just so HAPPENED to mention that he’s known the father for years! And, he apparently saw him a little while ago. Irony!…not so much!!!!
And of course, like Mack before him, this sent Fitz into a spiral where he questioned everything…we’ve seen it all before. Trust me, I love character stories, and yeah, there’s a lot of retread. But, there’s a limit to the amount of “coincidences” and “timing” that fans can take before you can’t help but roll your eyes and go, “Oh, NOW we’re hearing about this!”
Thankfully, those who are evil came off much better today. As Radcliffe, Aida, and the new Superior got to show off their stuff. I particularly liked how the Superior introduced himself, and how he and Radcliffe bonded. However, I’m not sold on why the Superior wants to kill Coulson. I mean, yes, he was made to be the guy who was everywhere any time something odd, mystical, or cosmic happened. But he’s not the cause, any idiot can see that.
Oh, and the May LMD? Yep, she was discovered, two-fold! That was cool. As was her and Coulsons bonding and subsequent “break-up”. I dig that they’re keeping her for now, but I hope it doesn’t bite them in the butt.
In the end, “Hot Potato Soup” did advance some storylines, but the need for character reveals and depth kind of upended it in an unfortunate way.
Todd Black
Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!
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