TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Agents of Shield Season 02 Episode 07: The Writing on the Wall

Alright, now we’re getting somewhere. After weeks and months of speculating what the mysterious writings were, we finally got the answer. One that may lead to something pretty…Inhuman.

But let’s get to the heart of the matter, “The Writing on the Wall” really dealt with Coulson as he struggled to maintain control with the writings slowly driving him insane. It’s sometimes the small details that sell the road to madness in regards to a TV show, so when Coulson brought up that the urges went from once a month, to a couple times a week, to nearly every day, it sold the madness. This was backed up by Clark Gregg who did a fantastic job displaying a Coulson we’ve honestly never seen before.

The fun was intensified as we went back to where it all began with Coulson (the second go round that its) with the T.A.H.I.T.I. project, where we saw it’s true origins, long before Coulson was put in them. It was very interesting to see Coulson watch over the project and see how he went from full support of it, to demanding Fury know and the project be stopped. The scenes with Coulson in the memory machine was intense, and it allowed us to see how other members of the team who weren’t privy to Coulson’s situation feel about things. Mac and Simmons really showed some objectivism in how they felt about this.

But truly the fun part was seeing Coulson go over the edge, like Skye in the cage and go after the bad guy himself. Who we found out was an original member of the T.A.H.I.T.I. project, and wanted so bad to figure out what the symbols meant that he killed every member of the project to find out. During the fight scene you wondered if we were only going to get a clue as to what the symbols meant, but instead we got a full blown reveal. The symbols weren’t a map exactly, they were a blueprint…for a city.

Which city? I’ll get to that in a second, but right now we need to talk about my favorite member of the show, Grant Ward.

We didn’t know how long it would be until he resurfaced, thankfully it didn’t take long, and just like he should be Ward was in top form. From strapping a bomb to himself to ensure he wouldn’t get caught, to spotting both Mockingbird and Hunter as they tried to tail him, and of course his outmaneuvering of Hydra in order to both play nice and get free, it was all freaking awesome. And like a boss, he saw a few steps ahead and chatted with Skye before heading out to meet his “dear brother”. Good times everybody.

Now, about the city, thought NOT CONFIRMED, many a fan speculate that the city in question (which is easily more advanced than anything ON the Earth) is indeed Attilan, the home of The Inhumans. This is fueled by the statement by one Kevin Fiege that the Inhumans would arrive long before their movie hits theaters. Again, not confirmed, but it would make sense in a lot of ways.

In the end, “The Writing on the Wall” finally gave us the reveal we’ve been waiting for, and sets this season on track with a collision that’s bound to happen soon. What will it all truly mean? I don’t know, but I’m enjoying the ride to the end, and that’s what counts.