Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Episode 27 “Heavy is the Head” Broadcast September 30, 2014
Written by Paul Zbyszewski
Directed by Jesse Buchco
Picking up right after the killer auto wreck from last week, Lance Hunter struggles to exit the car and can’t, only to pull a gun to defend himself against whoever is pulling up in a motorcycle. It’s Agent May, but she can’t get him out of the wreckage and he convinces her to leave him and go after Carl Creel. She does and he is able to free himself from the vehicle, only to be surrounded by several soldiers. Cue opening logo.
May is in hot pursuit on the freeway of the Absorbing Man. She has the opportunity to take a shot and take him out, but is ordered down by Coulson so he can learn whom the criminal is working for. Begrudgingly she acquiesces. At S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ Trip and Skye arrive in the recently stolen Quinjet. She tells Coulson that the obelisk revealed the same mysterious symbols seen in last season’s finale that are haunting him. Skye wants to go after the object, however Coulson is more concerned about Hunter spilling secrets to the military. Speaking of, two soldiers (in fatigues) step out of their car near a mountain and take wisecracking Hunter out of the trunk and drive off, leaving him. A helicopter arrives and Brigadier General Talbot emerges. He tells Hunter to get in. Cue first commercial break.
This episode finishes up the Creel storyline, while building up Hunter’s character and showing a slight improvement in Fitz. I was caught up with the Creel story. I liked how he has been having issues since obtaining the obelisk, and these problems are spilling into innocents’ lives. Brain Patrick Wade is fantastic in this part. It was also nice to see the unexpected return of a villainess from the first season and how she’s now working for someone new. Who this person is and what he’ll bring to the show I couldn’t say, but anything Kyle MacLachlan does is always interesting to watch. I’m looking forward to seeing how he’ll be involved. Hunter was a waste for me. Having a new character, who was already established as a wild card, become trustworthy is painful to pull off in 48 minutes, and his story is painful to endure. He held no surprises and actor Nick Blood didn’t establish any depth beyond his cliché character. This is by the numbers storytelling. His conversation with Coulson in the end was completely unbelievable, even with the agent’s justification. Is anyone trustworthy in this series? It was nice to see May be the voice of reason in the last act. Coulson does have a nice scene with Talbot in the final minutes, which reestablishes some of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s clout. The surprise standout of this episode was Ian De Caestecker who gets to have Fitz progress. He did best in the scenes without Elizabeth Henstridge, and the individual his character is beginning to bond with was a welcome addition. I believe this new friend more so than Hunter. The tease for things to come from MacLachlan is keeping me going until next week.
The good: Creel, Fitz, May and Coulson, Adrian Pasdar as Talbot, and S.H.I.E.L.D. surprising Talbot.
The bad: Lucy Lawless dead? BOO! HISS! Simmons’s inclusion in Fitz’s scenes. It would have been more interesting to see him more talking to himself as the other characters do so viewers could more of a crazy vibe from him. Hunter, who was a major chunk, and clunker, of this episode.
The final line: Hunter is quickly establishing himself as the weakest character on the show, replacing Skye. Watchable, but not as much as last week’s episode. Overall grade: B-
Patrick Hayes was a contributor to the Comic Buyer’s Guide for several years with “It’s Bound to Happen!”, he reviewed comics for TrekWeb, and he currently reviews Trek comics at TrekCore. He’s taught 8th graders English for 20 years and has taught high school English for two years and counting. He reads everything as often as he can, when not grading papers or looking up Star Trek, Star Wars, or Indiana Jones items online.
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