Agents of SHIELD 'Frenemy of My Enemy' Review- The Calm Before the Storm

Agents of SHIELD was turned upside down after HYDRA overtook SHIELD during Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Coulson was appointed the new director of SHIELD and had to rebuild the organization from the ground up. He has since been overthrown and possibly lost the trust of his agents trying to rescue Skye.

***** SPOILERS for EP 2.18 "Frenemy of My Enemy to follow *****

The eyes of the Marvel universe are focused on the upcoming release of Avengers: Age of Ultron but there is always more happening in the MCU. Daredevil just got picked up for a second season on Netflix and now Agents of SHIELD has started building towards their season 2 finale.

In "Frenemy of My Enemy," written by Monica Owusu-Breen and Paul Zbyszewski and directed by Karen Gaviola, Coulson (Clark Gregg) realizes that his team of Deathlok (J. August Richards), Lance Hunter (Nick Blood), and Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) will not be enough to rescue Skye, who spends some quality time with her father.

Coulson has to make the difficult decision to ask Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) and Agent 33 (Maya Stojan) for their help to infiltrate HYDRA. Coulson proposes wiping Ward's memories after he complies but they instead settle on giving Ward a clean slate so he and Agent 33 can be together.

Meanwhile back in Afterlife, Jiaying (Dichen Lachman) decides it is time to split of the family and send Cal (Kyle MacLachlan) away from the rest of the Inhumans. Skye (Chlose Bennet) is not a fan about this plan so she decides to spend a day with him to try and ease the pain.

Back at the SHIELD headquarters Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) is testing relationships by trying to get to the truth of Coulson's actions. She orders Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) to hack Deathlok and Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) and Mack (Henry Simmons) go to track Coulson's team down.

HYDRA, Coulson's team, Skye, Cal, and Lincoln Campbell (Luke Mitchell) all collide in an epic showdown. The battle ends with Gordon (Jamie Harris) taking Cal and Skye away just as she realizes Coulson and Ward are there and working together. Mockingbird and Mack arrive soon after everyone has cleared out to find Coulson ready to surrender after Ward points out they do not have the necessary man power for this mission.

Kyle MacLachlan is the standout in this week's episode thanks to the wide range of his abilities, both as an actor and as Cal. He gets super emotional talking about the life and family he dreamed he would have had and shows the rage multiple times whenever Skye, who now knows her full name is Daisy Johnson, is put in harms way.

Agents of SHIELD returns next week with "The Dirty Half Dozen" as they prepare to take down HYDRA once and for all. Check out a promo for next week's episode below!

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Agents of SHIELD Post Age of Ultron Synopsis Revealed

If you have already steamrolled through Daredevil then you are probably eagerly awaiting the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron. There is however more action in the MCU between now and then. Agents of SHIELD is currently airing and delivering quality content on a weekly basis.

The show has transformed to become a pivotal part of the MCU and after Ultron and his drones meet the Avengers, the MCU will surely be different.

Coulson (Clark Gregg) has lost control of SHIELD and may be losing the trust of some of his agents while Skye (Chloe Bennet) has been learning more about her new abilities and the Inhuman history.

On May 5th, Agents of SHIELD will return for it's first episode post Avengers: Age of Ultron and it would not be surprising for the show to start having tie-ins during episode 20 titled "Scars."

Here is the official synopsis for the episode courtesy of Marvel.com.

“Skye is torn between her loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D. and her connection to the Inhumans as tensions rise between the groups -- and Coulson reveals a secret he’s been hiding from even those closest to him, on 'Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Tuesday, May 5 (9:00-10:00 PM ET) on the ABC Television Network.

'Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' stars Clark Gregg as Director Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Agent Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons, Nick Blood as Lance Hunter and Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse.

Guest starring are Henry Simmons as Alphonso 'Mack' Mackenzie, Ruth Negga as Raina, Patton Oswalt as Sam/Billy Koenig, Kyle Maclachlan as Cal, Edward James Olmos as Robert Gonzales, Jamie Harris as Gordon, Christine Adams as Agent Weaver, Mark Allan Stewart as Agent Oliver, Maya Stojan as Kara/Agent 33, Dichen Lachman as Jiaying, Luke Mitchell as Lincoln Campbell, Alicia Vela-Bailey as Alisha, David Douglas as Michael and Crystal Coney as scientist.

”Scars” was written by Rafe Judkins & Lauren LeFranc and directed by Bobby Roth.

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Agents of SHIELD 'Melinda' Review- The Calvary is Born

In the early episodes of Agents of SHIELD, it became clear that Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) had a rough past but that she also was a very skilled agent. Nicknamed "The Calvary" around SHIELD, May always hated that name and in this week's episode, we finally find out why.

***** SPOILERS for EP 2.17 "Melinda" to follow *****

This episode, written by DJ Doyle and directed by Garry A. Brown, takes us seven years in the past to Bahrain. We see a completely different Agent May then the one that is currently the second in command at SHIELD. Coulson, May, and a tactical SHIELD team go to Bahrain to meet the super-powered Eva Belyakov (Winter Zoli).

Back in the present time, Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) tries to recruit May into helping the "Real SHIELD" figure out what Coulson (Clark Gregg) has been up to. It appears that Coulson has secretly been very busy. He has been moving assets and resources all across the globe and not telling anyone. This project is being called Theta Protocol and Mack (Henry Simmons) believes it is because Coulson is building a separate base to house powered people. 

Skye/Daisy (Chloe Bennet) is still with the other Inhumans in Afterlife and learns the secret that Jiaying (Dichen Lachman) is her mother. Jiaying helps Skye understand her abilities and the different ways she can use them. Jiaying requests Skye has dinner with Cal (Kyle MacLachlan) because without him her, they never would have been reunited.

When we go back to Bahrain, another organization was also after Eva and captured her and a young girl. This forces Coulson's hand and reluctantly sends May in alone. Once inside the building, May finds a room containing her other SHIELD agents but they are not okay. They need her pain. 

Melinda goes on to take down guards and try and rescue the little girl being held hostage. She kills Eva thinking that her death would eliminate the spell her coworkers were under. Unfortunately, a much darker choice lies ahead for her. The little girl, Katya (Ava Acres), is actually the one controlling their minds. May is given the choice of either touching Katya's hand and falling under her spell or eliminating the child.

She is forced to make the logical choice and kill the child. This came at a time where her and her husband Andrew Garner (Blair Underwood) were trying to have a child of their own. Melinda becomes distant and requests a transfer out of the field and not become a member of the team Coulson is assembling to recruit Earth's mightiest heroes.

Coulson has always referred to his SHIELD team as a family and this week we got a look at an Inhuman family but also the beginning of the end for another. 

Check out the promo for next week's episode "The Frenemy of My Enemy" below, which has strong ties to Avengers: Age of Ultron!

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Agents of SHIELD 'Afterlife' Review- New and Familiar Faces Arrive

Marvel has changed the way they're approaching Agents of SHIELD this season. The first season had the feeling of the show just being happy to be in the MCU, but now it is not only co-existing but changing the shape of the MCU on a weekly basis.

***** SPOILERS for EP 2.16 "Afterlife" to follow *****

"Afterlife," written by by Craig Titley and directed by Kevin Hooks, brings Skye (Chloe Bennet) to the home of the Inhumans while Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) bring in a surprising reinforcement in their battle to regain control of SHIELD.

The episode immediately introduces us to Lincoln, a brand new Inhuman, played by Luke Mitchell. Lincoln has been given the task of helping Skye transition from normal human to becoming an Inhuman and learning to control her powers.

Skye learns a lot of new information during just the first few days of her trip to Afterlife, the base of operation for this group of Inhumans. Among the revelations, the audience and Skye learn just how rare her form of transformation is, that her powers are obviously permanent, and there is a group of unhappy Elders that make decisions for this group.

During a meeting with her "transitioner" Lincoln, Skye figures out that these people are not telling the whole truth either. They have been housing Raina (Ruth Negga) and that brings a near deathly confrontation between the two. Raina's life is only spared when Jiaying (DichenLachman) appears to calm down Skye, who is unaware of their biological connection. 

Meanwhile, Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) go full on spy to outsmart their former allies. This involves Simmons creating a replica of Fury's box of secrets and then sending the real box, plus a few sandwiches, along with Fitz as he leaves SHIELD.

Even though we, the viewers, know where Skye is, Coulson is on a frantic hunt to find his protege. Hunter is along for the ride but is not to happy when Coulson alerts the "Real SHIELD" of their location. The two manage their way past the first wave of SHIELD soldiers but fall right into a trap. That is when the biggest surprise of the night happened and Deathlok (J. August Richards) comes blasting back into the picture.

The return of Deathlok means Coulson has one more ally in his fight to regain SHIELD but the information he carries with him means they will be searching for another former member. Deathlok has spent the past few months trailing Dr. List (Henry Goodman) and that HYDRA is also interested in experimenting on people with powers, just like the "Real SHIELD." This brings Coulson to the conclusion that the only way to figure out what both of their foes are up to is to track down the one and only Grant Ward (Brett Dalton).

The episode was one of the strongest episodes of the series as the story kept on moving but also was tasked with handling a lot of major plot points. Inhuman history, the introduction of Lincoln, bringing back Raina, Jiaying, and Cal (Kyle MacLachlan), as well as showing off the new and improved version of Deathlok are four major stories that would have been handled much differently in the beginning of the series. Instead of spending an entire episode on one of these or stringing out the information over the course of multiple episodes, Agents of SHIELD is impacting the MCU heavily and quickly in season 2.

Craig Titley also deserves a lot of credit for bringing back the FitzSimmons dynamic that everyone loved in season 1. The duo was sneaking around, talking smack to the likes of Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) and Mack (Henry Simmons), knowing what the other is thinking, and genuinely caring about one another. This relationship has not been the same since the end of season 1 and it may never return to full form as it was in the beginning, but these moments throughout a course of an episode and a season are nice reminders to why so many people fell in love with this pair during a shaky start to the series.

Agents of SHIELD returns next week with the origin story of Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) appropriately titled, "Melinda." Check out the promo below!

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Agents of SHIELD EP 2.18 Synopsis Released

Now that there are two different factions of SHIELD, Coulson (Clark Gregg)'s team has been split up as they try and take down the "Real SHIELD" lead by Roberto Gonzalez (Edward James Olmos).

Spoiler TV has released the synopsis for episode 18, "The Frenemy of My Enemy."

A dangerous new alliance is formed as Coulson and Hunter turn to the last person anyone would expect – Grant Ward! As the war between S.H.I.E.L.D. factions continues, Skye and Lincoln will find themselves drawn into this conflict, on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” TUESDAY, APRIL 21 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

"Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD" stars Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons, Nick Blood as Lance Hunter, and Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse.

Guest starring are Henry Simmons as Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, Henry Goodman as Dr. List, Kyle MacLachlan as Cal, Jamie Harris as Gordon, Maya Stojan as Kara, Dichen Lachman as Jiaying, Luke Mitchell as Lincoln Campbell, Kris Lemche as Ethan, Staci Roberts as Paula, and Trenton Rostedt as Hoodie Guy.

"The Frenemy of My Enemy" was written by Monica Owusu-Breen and directed by Karen Gaviola.

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Agents of SHIELD Season 2 EP 15 Review

Agents of SHIELD is continuing a great second season that has turned the focus to the Inhumans and another SHIELD faction. Both of these plots may seem very separate but the two collided together and shaped what we should see during the remaining seven episodes.

***** SPOILERS for "One Door Closes" to follow *****

"One Door Closes," written by Lauren LeFranc & Rafe Judkins and directed by David Solomon, has the "Real SHIELD" show its strength and cause a lot of problems for Coulson's SHIELD.

The episode goes back and forth between the current time and a flashback to the day SHIELD was overtaken by HYDRA. The flashbacks bring Isabelle Hartley (Lucy Lawless) back to the fold and show her and Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) kicking some major butt from the start.

Hartley and Mockingbird are also joined by Mack (Henry Simmons) and rescue a wounded Robert Gonzalez (Edward James Olmos). These four and a few others follow the plan laid out by Fury to sink the helicarrier they are on. That is until Mockingbird proposes a new plan instead. She decides to defect from Fury's plan and save the ship.

This is where we see the beginning of this new SHIELD faction and lays the foundation for what they believe in. It is interesting to see them portray Mockingbird as the brains behind this new faction, even going so far as Gonzalez telling Coulson he didn't even want to be the Director of the "Real SHIELD." During the last few episodes, Mockingbird's true allegiance seemed to be very questionable thanks to her relationship with Hunter, but now it appears she has actually been telling the truth about just how loyal she is.

When we are back in the present day, Coulson (Clark Gregg) immediately starts questioning the loyalty of Mack while Mockingbird is snooping around his office. Once Mack and Mockingbird are discovered as being double agents, a scramble for control ensues as Mockingbird and Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) go toe to toe for one of the best fight scenes in the shows run.

During the scrum for control, we see Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) get the best of Mockingbird and Mack save his old buddy Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) from an explosion that he set.

The "Real SHIELD" takes over the SHIELD base, but during their head count they somehow do not account for Agent May. With Coulson in handcuffs, he and Gonzalez finally come face to face to try and sort out their problems. This is truly great as we see Clark Gregg and Edward James Olmos share a lengthy scene and a lot of interesting dialogue. Just as they are finishing up their discussion, May comes in to save the day and help Coulson escape to find Skye.

Speaking of Skye (Chloe Bennet), she was taken away to a secret log cabin and since this is the Marvel universe, it is no ordinary cabin. 

Hulk Fist Indentation in Skye's Cabin

This just so happens to be the same cabin that Bruce Banner spent time in, likely the same one seen during the last scene of The Incredible Hulk. Skye starts to learn how to control her powers after a visit from Gordon (Jamie Harris) and a promise to return once she needs him. That comes much sooner than Skye anticipated after the "Real SHIELD" begins to hunt her down. She calls upon the other Inhuman after having her first moment that shows her true power as Quake, and it was beautiful.

Seeing Skye, Mockingbird, and May have a major presence in this episode, as well as Simmons to a lesser extent, was a nice reminder of just how many strong female characters the show has. Agent Carter got a lot of praise for being a show driven by a female character and Hayley Atwell was a great leading lady as Peggy Carter, but these four actresses also deserve a lot of praise.

Chloe Bennet started off being an awkward and seemingly forced character but has become a focal point of the show who has been given a story justifying her presence. Bennet has been tasked with introducing the entire MCU and its millions of fans to the Inhumans, and on a TV show none the less. She can now carry the show when necessary and her future is the most exciting thing about the show.

Ming-Na Wen joined the show as a stone faced, no nonsense right hand lady to Coulson but her transformation to becoming Skye's mentor while also kicking major butt every week is amazing. Adrianne Palicki is basically a nicer and younger version of Agent May, but she has been on a roller coaster ride during her first season. She has now been turned into a villain of sorts but I still find myself rooting for her, except for when she is defying SHIELD. Elizabeth Henstridge has also come a long way since her being an agent afraid to be in the field, even taking down Mockingbird in this episode. She is still trying to come to peace with all the changes at SHIELD, and after her best friend suffering brain damage as a result of saving her life and now Skye becoming something that could destroy them all, it's hard to really blame her.

The episode ends with Coulson on a beach, but thankfully not TAHITI this time. He is there to meet up with Lance Hunter (Nick Blood), his only other agent not being held captive. The show has really developed Hunter recently and made him the character that is worthy of being a season/series regular and not just a guest star. He signs on, while be it on a napkin, to be fully committed to Coulson's SHIELD team and these two will have their hands full come next week.

Check out a preview for next week's episode "Afterlife" below!

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Bennet and Gregg Talk Agents of SHIELD at Emerald City Comic-Con

Emerald City Comic-Con ended today in Seattle which means people are finally starting to share what was talked about at different panels.

Agents of SHIELD had a presence at the show with their two biggest stars doing separate panels over the weekend. Chloe Bennet (Skye/Daisy) spoke to the audience on Friday with Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson) appearing to the event Saturday.

Just like with a lot of Marvel properties, no major news comes out of these events unless Marvel wants it too. The shows two stars were able to give some smaller bits of information on how Agents of SHIELD will shape up as season 2 comes to an end.

Here are some of the highlights from the reports given by GeekMom and SeattlePi-

Bennet said Skye "grows a lot" over the rest of the season and that newcomer Luke Mitchell, who will play the Inhuman named Lincoln, will be a big reason why Skye learns more about her new found powers.

Bennet also seemed "hint at a possible death" on the show according to Tim Hall on SeattlePi, but it seems unlikely that one of the main characters would be killed off at this point.

Clark Gregg is no stranger to the many Comic-Cons and he certainly teased quite a bit in Seattle.

Agents of SHIELD has certainly turned its attention to the Inhuman side of the Marvel universe and Clark said, “People who like the Inhumans will be satisfied by what’s coming up.” Hopefully we will be getting some more Inhuman mythology that likely won't be addressed in the upcoming Inhumans movie.

Thanks to the show being part of the MCU, everyone wants more crossovers to happen and we may be getting that in Agents of SHIELD soon. According to GeekMom Clark Gregg said "with a smile" that “There’s always that possibility.” The site also said, "A fan of the way Marvel is telling an overarching story across multiple media, Gregg left the impression that there are still surprises to come." Jeremy Renner teased having to put on the Hawkeye suit again for a secret project a few months ago. Could he be coming to the small screen?

Gregg also addressed how he hopes the Avengers will react whenever they find out Coulson is still alive. “Coulson would like to see Cap happy to see him alive again, but I hope Banner wouldn't be too angry about it.”

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Agents of SHIELD Season 2 EP 14 Review

After weeks of inhuman and alien plots, Agents of SHIELD took a turn back to its roots of secret missions featuring the return of many recognizable faces. We also met a new enemy for the team as we get closer to finding out where Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki) and Mack (Henry Simmons) place their allegiance.

***** SPOILERS for "Love in the Time of Hydra" to follow *****

"Love in the Time of Hydra," written by Brent Fletcher and directed by Jesse Bochno, sent the characters we have grown to love in three separate directions.

The first was Coulson (Clark Gregg), May (Ming-Na Wen), Skye/Daisy (Chloe Bennet), Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) on the mission of helping Skye understand and control her powers while also deciding what her role should now be within SHIELD. May convinced Coulson to pull Skye off of active duty, which did not go over well her.

Simmons developed new gloves for Skye to wear that are meant to diminish the strength of her powers. This seems to be just the beginning of the transformation that Skye will undergo, which hopefully ends with her looking something like the image on the left.

Speaking of transformations, emotions of the audience went through the roof during a straight to the point confrontation between FitzSimmons. It has been great to see these two come back together and hopefully this conversation will bring them back together and give us more of the witty banter the pair had in Season 1.

The other members of Coulson's team were unable to be apart of these events due to them being with the "Real SHIELD." This version of SHIELD is run by Robert Gonzales (Edward James Olmos) and features one familiar face among their leaders in Agent Weaver (Christine Adams). Their leaders plus Mack and Bobbi try and convince Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) that, just like every evil organization, they are not the enemy.

The "Real SHIELD" is convinced that Coulson is the real problem and he should be the one to blame for the deaths of Isabelle Hartley (Lucy Lawless) and Agent Triplett (B.J. Britt), the transformations of Skye and Raina (Ruth Negga), and much more. Thankfully, Hunter does not agree with them and even hijacks one of the many vehicles on-board their helicarrier to escape.

This episode also featured the return of Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) and Agent 33 (Maya Stojan). Last time we saw the two of them they each had a number of things that needed to heal. Ward was shot three times and Agent 33 had part of her mask and face destroyed so they needed some obvious time to get back to being themselves. They set on a mission to fix Agent 33's face and then kidnap and start to brainwash Sunil Bakshi (Simon Kassianides). The kidnapping means an encounter with General Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) which ends up being quite comical thanks to the inability of Talbot in distinguishing who people really are.

Dalton was a welcome edition to the show after a few weeks of being away and getting to see Grant Ward back in action was a highlight of the episode. Nick Blood also gave a memorable performance as he continued to thwart the attempts of the "Real SHIELD" recruiting him. Hunter has become an increasingly likable the past few weeks which I find to be fascinating given his cold shoulder approach at the beginning of the season.

As the writers make the likes of Hunter and Fitz more likable, they have turned Bobbi and Mack into characters that are hard to be a fan of. Their characters are still interesting but I could not imagine them keeping an actress as high profiled as Adrianne Palicki and have her turn evil, especially given her character's history.

Another highlight recently has been the ability of the writers to find time for the fun and heartfelt conversations between Coulson and Skye. Whether it was Coulson comparing Skye to his beloved car Lola or Skye pleading with Coulson to just be her friend and not a SHIELD Agent during this difficult time in her life, the interactions between the shows main characters are something that the show is based on and needs more of.

A quick shout out is also well deserved for Ming-Na Wen who had to display the regular stone cold perception of May but then also convey the emotion felt by Agent 33 after being "taken in" by Ward.

Agents of SHIELD returns next week with "One Door Closes." Check out the promo for the episode below as the two SHIELDs come face to face!

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Agents of SHIELD Season 2 EP 13 Review

Now that Agents of SHIELD has returned from its winter break, the focus has turned to the transformation of Skye/Daisy (Chloe Bennet) and the discovery of double agents, again. In the thirteenth episode of the season "One of Us," Calvin Zabo (Kyle MacLachlan) assembles his own team of super powered people to help him seek revenge on SHIELD.

"One of Us", written by Monica Owusu-Breen and directed by Kevin Tancharoen, introduced us to a handful of new baddies that Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the rest of his (dwindling) team will have to face.

***** SPOILERS for "One of Us" to follow *****

Zabo organizes a team that includes newcomers such as a lady with razor blades for fingernails in Karla Faye Gideon (Drea de Matteo), a man with super strength in Francis Noche (Geo Corvera), a tech genius in Wendell Levi (Ric Sarabia), and later a man with a deathly scream in David Angar (Jeff Phillips).

Coulson and Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) go off together to hunt down this team of super villains, while Agent May (Ming-Na Wen) recruits her ex-husband Dr. Andrew Garner (Blair Underwood) to help Skye deal with her new abilities.

The super villain team lures Coulson and Mockingbird back to his hometown for a big showdown, but Coulson arrives short handed. Skye is unavailable due to safety reasons, Fitz (Iain de Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) are not reliable field agents, and Mack (Henry Simmons) has kidnapped Hunter (Nick Blood) in order to preserve the secret that he and Mockingbird are hiding.

Just as the showdown is about to begin, Gordon (Jamie Harris) steps in and takes Zabo away before any real harm can be done. The team takes down the remaining villains in typical SHIELD fashion but the battle ended yet again with them worrying about Skye.

We were all lead to believe that Skye had been getting a handle on her abilities and stopping the shaking from happening, but as it turns out, she has only been harming herself. Instead of stopping the quaking, Skye has been internalizing the effects which has caused her arms to become severely bruised and for hundreds of hairline fractures to develop throughout her body.

The episode ends with Mack taking Hunter to the place that will reveal what side him and Mockingbird are on. What side is that? According to Mack, it's the "real SHIELD." We will be finding out more about the "real SHIELD" in the coming weeks and find out exactly what Mack and Bobbi are up to.

The episode itself was good and pickup a lot near the end after a slow first half. Blair Underwood was great as May's ex-husband and the scenes with him and Skye are fantastic. The special effects were once again far and above anything we saw in season 1 and shows the commitment by Marvel to give the show the budget it needs to make the VFX as close to movie quality as they can.

Check out a preview for episode 14 "Love in the Time of Hydra" below!

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Agents of SHIELD Season 2 EP 12 Review

The focus of Agents of SHIELD from the beginning was that ordinary people can do extraordinary (inhuman) things. During this second season, more and more special people have popped up with three taking the focus this week.

***** SPOILERS for "Who You Really Are" to follow *****

Skye/Daisy (Chloe Bennet) has been the primary character for the last few weeks but this week, Marvel brought a few cosmic characters into the fold. Asgardian warrior Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) and a Kree by the name of Vin-Tak (Eddie McClintock) join the show with a goal that ultimately shakes up the team.

Vin-Tak comes to Earth to investigate an alert being sent back to his planet from an ancient and dormant city. The city was home of Kree long ago during their experimentation of humans and was the site of Skye and Raina's transformations.

Sif has followed Vin-Tak to Earth because of the disagreements that Asgardians and Kree have had in the past. The two have a destructive dual that ends with Lady Sif without her memories in the bottom of the ocean.

Luckily, Director Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the rest of SHIELD come to her aid. They do what they can to help track down Vin-Tak including Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) and Skye doing their best to take down the Kree "villain."

After eventually subduing Vin-Tak and him granting Sif back her memories, things begin to get very tense for all parties involved. Vin-Tak explains he came to Earth to find whoever was affected by the terrigen mist in their ancient city. Vin-Tak, Sif, and Coulson begin unloading questions upon Skye, which causes her to lose control and quake.

Her secret is officially out and it tears the team apart. Coulson and Fitz (Iain De Caesteker) support Skye and believe she can eventually learn to control her new powers, but not everyone agrees. Mack (Henry Simmons) believes the team needs protection from her and it seems Simmons, Mockingbird, and Hunter agree. Skye's mentor Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) is on the fence but it seems she will side with Coulson and Fitz.

The sub-plot of the episode and possibly this season has been the mysterious plans and alliance that Mockingbird and Mack have. Morse wants to bring her on-again-off-again boyfriend Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) into the fold but Mack suggests to push him away, which Morse does. Unfortunately for Hunter, he knows their is a secret and confronts the enormous human being that is Mack about it and ends with Hunter unconscious on The Bus.

The true star of the episode was Fitz who has time and time again this season turned in memorable performances. He is the only one to stand up for Skye in front of the rest of the team and Iain De Caesteker more than holds his own and steals the majority of the scenes that he is in.

A quick mention must be given to the visual effects team for Agents of SHIELD as they continue to make the VFX look on par with those we've become accustomed to seeing in Marvel Studios Movies. Whether it was the Absorbing Man earlier in the season, the seamless transition from Kree to Human for Vin-Tak tonight, or making the Biofrost look extremely similar to what we see in the Thor franchise, that crew has time and time again risen to the occasion this season.

Check out the promo for EP 13 and the superhero vs super villain battle it will have!

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Agents of SHIELD Season 2 EP 11 Review

After a two month break that had Agent Carter fill the void, Agents of SHIELD returned with force after a crazy season finale. The first half of the season left viewers with some unanswered questions, but the second half of the season is sure to answer those.

***** SPOILERS for "Aftershocks" to follow *****

The return of Agents of SHIELD promised to be very inhuman and it delivered on every aspect fans could want. The episode followed the journeys of Skye/Daisy (Chloe Bennet), Raina (Ruth Negga), and the rest of SHIELD following the events that happened in the Temple.

Skye has been locked in a quarantine room since the last time we saw them and has not been coping well. She dreams of the death of Tripplet (B.J. Britt) and blames herself for his death.

Raina is also struggling with her new abilities and appearance. She now has spikes coming out of every part of her and is using them for some very deadly and bloody reasons. She tries to find comfort in Cal (Kyle MacLachlan) but ultimately his joy from finding out Skye also had a transformation dominates his thoughts.

For the rest of the SHIELD team, they are all in different places and "Aftershock" was able to really show the differences by fantastic performances across the board. Coulson (Clark Gregg) has put the blame on himself and has become increasingly agitated and angry. May (Ming-Na Wen) is using fighting like always, Mack (Henry Simmons) continues to build, Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) investigates Skye's blood, Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) searches through the destruction and seeks the termination of all super powered people, and Hunter (Nick Blood) and Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki) each comfort each other.

HYDRA is scrambling to fill the void left by the death of Whitehall (Reed Diamond) and thinks Bakshi (Simon Kassianides) would be an acceptable replacement. The SHIELD team devises a plan to trick HYDRA into eliminating their main leaders and fulfilling their promise of handing Bakshi over to General Talbot (Adrian Pasdar).

This was also possibly the most emotional episode of the series. Whether it was a large group fight, Simmons announcing her hatred for people with powers, or Fitz discovering that Skye is the one who caused the death of Tripplet, the emotion that each of the actors displayed throughout the episode was a real bright spot for what has been a great second season.

Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) returns next week for episode 12, "Who You Really Are." Check out the promo for next week's episode! 

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Promo Poster for Agents of SHIELD Released

This morning, EW announced they have partnered with Marvel for the second straight year to reveal exclusive promo posters for upcoming episodes of Agents of SHIELD.

EW released the first poster, which you can see below, and features Skye/Daisy/Quake (Chloe Bennet), Director Coulson (Clark Gregg), and what appears to be our first look at Raina (Ruth Negga) post transformation.

Agents of SHIELD returns from it's winter break next Tuesday, March 3rd!

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5 Cameos We Want Before Phase 3

When it was announced that Marvel would be conducting re-shoots for Avengers: Age of Ultron in January 2015, many started speculating what could be in these scenes. A few days later, Marvel officially announced that Benedict Cumberbatch will be their Doctor Strange. This lead to lots of rumors that Cumberbatch will be featured in a cameo Avengers: Age of Ultron. With that in mind, we know that Phase 3 will kick off with Captain America: Civil War. Cameos have always been something Marvel has done and we expect many more before Phase 3 starts. Here are 5 cameos that we want to see before Marvel starts Phase 3.

Coulson in Age of Ultron

By the time Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theaters, it will have been three years since Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) died trying to stop Loki. Thanks to the fans and some Kree DNA, Coulson was brought back to life and is now the director of SHIELD. When season 2 of Agents of SHIELD returns in March, Coulson will be faced with some inhuman problems. Between those tasks and a raging robot terrorizing the world, it is time for Coulson to let the Avengers team he helped bring together that he is still alive.

Ant-Man in Age of Ultron

For the longest time we thought Avengers: Age of Ultron would be the end of Phase 2 and then Ant-Man would start Phase 3. Marvel revealed that Ant-Man is the last chapter of Phase 2. We have yet to get a look at Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) in the Ant-Man suit. It has been rumored that Andy Serkis is playing Ulysses Klaw and he will be broken out of a prison at some point during Avengers: Age of Ultron. We do not know the level of criminal that Lang will be but it would be a great way to introduce our future Ant-Man in almost a villainous light. 

Black Panther in Age of Ultron

It has not been made official that Wakanda will have a presence in Avengers: Age of Ultron but it seems that it is a likely scenario. We know that Chadwick Boseman will appear as T'Challa in Captain America: Civil War, but could it be sooner? Boseman said recently that he will be introduced before his solo movie in 2017 in movies. The key there was the plural "movies." If Wakanda is brought into the picture in Avengers: Age of Ultron, having a T'Challa cameo is a no-brainer for Marvel. 

Murdock in Agents of SHIELD

Marvel is launching their original Netflix series Daredevil in 2015. We know that Charlie Cox will play Matthew Murdock in Daredevil but will we really have to wait till the series hits to meet Murdock? I hope not. So far this season Agents of SHIELD has been on a global journey but if they return to America in the second half of the season, getting a quick introduction to Murdock would be great. The team could potentially rescue him from a threat and they would become his inspiration to become Daredevil.

Iron Fist in Daredevil

In the past week, Marvel has announced that Krysten Ritter will be Jessica Jones in AKA Jessica Jones. It has also been reported that they are eyeing Mike Colter to be their Luke Cage and that he will appear in 6 to 7 episodes of AKA Jessica Jones. The lone man left out of the Netflix news has been Iron Fist. His show will reportedly debut at some point in 2016 but Daredevil and AKA Jessica Jones will come out in 2015. With Luke Cage rumored to debut in AKA Jessica Jones, Iron Fist needs to make his debut before his show as well. My bet it a small role towards the end of Daredevil that helps introduce him and show off his skills.

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Chloe Bennet and Kyle MacLachlan's Roles Revealed

In the mid-season finale for the second season of Agents of SHIELD, Marvel finally allowed us to know the real identities of Skye (Chloe Bennet) and her father (Kyle MacLachlan). During a long and intense conversation between father and daughter, we find out that Skye's real name is Daisy and that her father's name is Cal.

If those names do not ring a bell, don't beat yourself up. We are here to help. Many sites figured out who Bennet and MacLachlan would really be playing long before the reveal was official. Our hats go off to the likes of ScreenRant, one of my personal favorite sites, for being one of the first to correctly speculate who they would become.

Calvin Zabo (Mr. Hyde)

Calvin Zabo is a medical research scientist in the comics who transformed himself into Mr. Hyde by discovering a new formula. With his new-found powers, he transforms into an raging beast whenever he desires. The transformation distorts his body by adding on bone density, muscle, and superhuman strength and stamina. Agents of SHIELD has not debuted the beast side of Kyle MacLachlan but we have seen plenty of moments where is anger is tested.

Daisy Johnson (Quake)

Trying to figure out just who Chloe Bennet was really playing was a tough task from the get go. Before her life as a SHIELD agent we only knew that she was very good with computers and technology. As we learned in the mid-season finale, Skye's real name is Daisy and after being transformed by the terrigen crystals she seemed to possess the power to create a small earthquake close to her. It is obvious that she is in fact Daisy Johnson, also known as Quake. In the comics, she is the daughter of Calvin Zabo and was rescued by SHIELD as a child. Sound familiar? She also was under the close watch of the Director of SHIELD Nick Fury, just like how she has been under the close watch of the new Director of SHIELD Phil Coulson. According to Marvel.com, Daisy possess the ability to generate seismic vibrations and direct them into objects or people, allowing for a variety of effects including earthquakes, tremors and explosions. As Daisy develops her powers on Agents of SHIELD, her connections to the future Inhumans movie and what her role could be in that film will be interesting to watch.

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Agents of SHIELD Mid-Season Finale Review

Over the past few weeks we have gotten increasingly stronger hints as to just who Raina, Skye, and her father might be and become. Season 2 of Agents of SHIELD has clearly been leading to something and it seems like it something that they have had planned since the beginning.

***** SPOILERS for "What They Become" to follow *****

In the series premiere, it became clear that Chloe Bennet was playing a character whose real name was not Skye. Then when we met Kyle MacLachlan, many tried to figure out who this mysterious father and daughter could be. In tonight's episode we finally got our answer, and it is rather inhuman.

With Skye in the clutches of HYDRA and back together with her crazy father, he finally gets a chance to tell her about her life. He tells her his name is Cal but not much else. He includes her in his plan to avenge his wife's death and kill Whitehall.

Whitehall knows the revenge is on the way and has "Skye" realize that she too can hold the Diviner.

All hell breaks loose as a result. Cal fights HYDRA guards. Coulson fights Whitehall. Cal fights Coulson. Skye fights Ward. Cal nearly beats Coulson to death before "Skye" jumps in and threatens to kill the man who has chased after for his entire life. He leaves, but his final word is the most important. Daisy.

"What They Become" written by Jeff Bell delivers on every front. The first 20 minutes is delegated to heart touching and intense conversation between Cal (Kyle MacLachlan) and Daisy (Chloe Bennet). The scenes featured what could be argued as the best scenes of the season thanks to the acting put on by MacLachlan and Bennet.

While the dialogue and emotion truly stood out from the episode, the amount of information and reveals were truly outstanding. They revealed two identities for key characters in the series. They transformed two characters from the first season that did not seem to serve much purpose into potential Inhumans. They also managed to kill off two members of the show who had become well respected among fans. AND, they introduced a new villain for the rest of season 2.

Agents of SHIELD has improved drastically in its second year and has delivered great episodes for the first half of the season. When Agents of SHIELD returns in March 2015, the expectations should be no less than fantastic. As Agents of SHIELD continues to deliver, more and more people will join the party.

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