In the world of professional wrestling, a spotfest is a match with a ton of exciting moments. There could be some death-defying stunts, hard-hitting blows, and surprise finishing maneuvers from out of nowhere all over the place in a spotfest. Essentially, it’s a highlight reel of sorts. New Japan Pro Wrestling’s The Young Bucks (who happen to be one of the best tag teams in the world today) are known as the Kings of Spots because of the level of excitement that they bring to every match. But if the Marvel Cinematic Universe were somehow fused with the world of pro-wrestling, ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘ would totally be the number one contenders to the Bucks’ Kings of Spots moniker thanks to the show’s last two episodes.
After what may have been one of the best episodes of the show so far last week, the first television series set in the MCU returns with even more big revelations. For starters, one of the biggest questions from the first season was answered when we finally learned why Agent May is called “The Cavalry.” Meanwhile, Skye learns about more than just her new powers.
In last week’s episode ‘Afterlife’, all the exciting new developments with Deathlok, Agent Gonzalez, and the Inhumans had me really hyped up. This week, on the other hand, felt like I was watching an episode of ‘The Walking Dead’ where a main character dies. One week ago, I was cheering and yelling because of ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.,’ but this week was mostly uttering the phrase “No way…” softly. But don’t get me wrong, I mean this in the best possible way because it definitely shows how invested I was in everything going on, especially with Melinda May.
To be specific, I totally didn’t see the super-powered twist in this episode coming. I knew that it had to be something big in order to get May into a desk job after the whole ordeal, which is where we found her at the beginning of the series, but this was much bigger than I thought it would be. When we found out that the little girl Katya was actually the one controlling everyone, I felt like I was watching Lizzie look at the roses in ‘The Walking Dead’ all over again. After watching ‘Daredevil,’ I was ready to accept that there are some dark things going on in the MCU, but I didn’t think it would spill over to ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ like this.
The emotions that accompanied this scene were amplified even further thanks to the build up to the reveal. As previously stated, Blair Underwood and Ming-Na Wen work amazingly together. They have such great chemistry and the flashbacks were even more effective because of that. The scene where May calls Andrew before she goes into the warehouse for what is essentially a suicide mission stands out as a good example of this chemistry. Overall, this Cavalry story gave us an incredibly in-depth look at what makes Melinda May tick, which might come in handy in the coming weeks when she might have to make some big decisions regarding her long-time friend, Phil Coulson.
Speaking of Coulson, I found that it was really interesting that besides the stinger at the end, we only saw him in the flashback when he was still keen on reciting the entire name of the organization that he works for. In a way, we were seeing him through May’s eyes, so we were able to better understand their relationship. This could prove useful later on as well whenever the two confront each other in the present and eventually bring up all the secret bases (which I feel like could be the MCU’s version of Avengers Academy AKA potential spinoff material) and the Theta Protocol.
In addition to all this great stuff with May, we also see a landmark moment for Skye when she finally discovers who her mother is and has a proper family dinner for the first time ever. Though she’s had a lot of great moments in this show, Chloe Bennet was so great in these scenes. The story about not getting her hopes up really hit home and the payoff with Jiaying and Cal was so satisfying.
Overall, this episode was an emotional rollercoaster. From May being at rock bottom to Skye experiencing familial bliss for the time being, it was great to see the ladies of S.H.I.E.L.D. take center stage and experience some solid character development. I’m really looking forward to seeing the fallout from this episode next week, especially because I’m really curious to know how Fitz shakes those agents by using an electronic hand dryer.
Final Score:
‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ starring Brett Dalton, Ming-Na Wen, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Adrianne Palicki, Chloe Bennet, and Clark Gregg airs on Tuesdays at 9:00pm on ABC.
