The past few episodes have been significantly better than anything we've seen prior. Each one taking the performances, writing and FX up a notch over previous efforts. This episode does all of that and more! Coming off of Captain America The Winter Soldier, Agents of SHIELD offers twist after twist and high-octane action that would find itself right at home in any Marvel film. The identity of the Clairvoyant is finally revealed (you never saw it coming) and we are treated to some of the best performances of the entire season. I may sound like a broken record at this point but this is by far the best episode yet!
HYDRA attacking “the bus”
Right off the bat audiences are subject to an intense jet on drone action sequence, we are in for one heck of a ride. This episode moves from highpoint to highpoint while sprinkling in nice character moments and always making sure fans have no idea which side to root for. Coulson is faced with having to make hard calls in quick succession and his struggle shines through in Clark Gregg’s performance. He really comes off angry, confused and in the latter half of the episode genuinely surprised. When the identity of the Clairvoyant was finally revealed NOBODY saw it coming. I won’t spoil it for you here but it is definitely a satisfying answer to a mystery that has plagued the season since its early days.
Iain de Castecker as Leo Fitz
Iain De Castecker really shines as poor Fitz, the entire episode he was lost and confused and during the final showdown he was petrified. His eyes told it all, i felt like giving the little guy a hug to let him know that everything was going to be ok. When he was cowering under that desk with death and destruction and pretty intense action sequences all around him his reaction was my favourite moment.
Another standout was Brett Dalton; he went from dazed victim to crazy terminator like it was nothing. Typically I think Dalton is a pretty flat actor, coming off as very boring and not playing “the specialist” convincingly. He definitely proved me wrong here, the way he tore into the enemy agents (not to mention the insane ending) was truly awesome. He may not be at Black Widow or Cap levels of awesome but he sure can kick some butt.
Brett Dalton as Grant War tearing through SHIELD agents
It is a bit funny to have SHIELD destroyed almost immediately after Skye gets initiated into the organization. Had her “defining moment” come a few episodes earlier it might have been a more substantial development. Chloe Bennet brings her usual charm to the role, no major reveals about her past but we do get a nice emotional beat between Skye and Ward. It really went a long way in connecting these two characters and finally giving fans what they’ve been waiting for since day 1 (well almost). Another interesting point is that Skye is probably the only character that doesn’t have any blame pointed at her in this episode. Even Simmons has some suspicion thrown her way but Skye gets off free as a bird. One would think that a new recruit from a previously malignant group would be a prime suspect when being taken over by an unknown entity. This isn’t a negative, just an interesting approach to the episode and the character.
“Turn Turn Turn” does an incredible job of picking up where Cap 2 left off. Hydra overruns SHIELD and Coulson and Co. are on a mission to survive. With the death of Nick Fury mentioned a few times and a nod to Caps defeat of the helicarriers over the Triskellion episode 17 does a commendable job of making everything feel like a cohesive universe. Like the marketing for AoS has been saying of late, “it’s all connected”. All the tech and “assets” we’ve met since the beginning of the show were mentioned in some capacity here, this gives us a reminder of all the cool adventures the team have gone on together as well as reminding us how dangerous these items and people can be if they fell into HYDRA hands. All in all I just can’t wait to see where the show goes from here. With only 5 more episodes to go and a handful of SHIELD agents fighting the good fight I look forward to the rest of the mysteries to unfold!
I give this episode 9.5/10