Written by: Shalisha Francis

Directed by: Holly Dale

Plot: Coulson takes the war back to Centipede, and this time he brings in Mike Peterson for some super-soldier support. As they get closer to the truth, startling secrets are revealed and an unexpected twist threatens the team.

Review: Folks, last episode  was rough, but I have to say, I thought this was a pretty darn good episode. Probably one of my favorites so far.

The explosive opening with the super powered soldiers leading a prison escape was a nice bit of the old comic book super hero world that I want this show to stay in. It was very cool to see how a lot the elements from the previous episodes were use in this episode. (I.E. The return of the death by EYEpad.) It does show that it was all stuff they were building up towards and this episode showcased that pretty well.

The character interaction is finally getting locked down. The stuff between Ward and May was solid, the stuff with May and Skye worked for me etc.  The one thing I wish that could happen with this series, though, is that they keep Mike Peterson as a series regular.

Mike is a good character, with a strong background, good motivation, a likable personality and he interacts fantastically with the whole cast.  J. August Richards is such a great presence in this show, and he brings a great deal of energy to the part that makes him someone you root for. He’s also a character that has no real secrets, and in a cast in which four out of the six have something hidden (or hidden from them) it would be nice for one of the main characters to not have so much baggage. The baggage on these characters are feeling more like plot points that they have to go to which in turn feels like the writers finding ways to delay real character development. Mike is ready to go.

YES, even thought it looks like he might have perished in an explosion. YES, even though he sold out Coulson.  I still want Mike to stay on the show.

I will say that the selling out Coulson was a nice surprise, and if anything, I wonder if they will play out the show with Coulson being captured for more then one episode. One theory I’ve had with friends early on is the idea that Coulson could be alive and well in the first season, but he could die again at the end of the season, and the show could go on with out him. It will allow the death in Avengers to still have it’s resonance but it will give Coulson a good chance to be a full on character.

I obviously don’t want that now. While the rest of the characters have been improving with each episode, Coulson is still the only true compelling reason to watch this show.  Coulson’s scene with Ward in the car was actually really nice. It was very cool to hear about the cellist that was mentioned in Avengers again, and learning about what happened to that relationship once Coulson came back from ….”Tahiti” (It’s a magical place.) It was a good character building scene for both Ward and Coulson, as we see Ward trying to suss somethings out with his feelings right now.

In terms of the villains, Edison Po and Raina are pretty effective in the show so far. Their attitude, their confidence, and their just flat out evilness really comes through, making Centipede a really impressive “big bad” for the show.

This will be the last new episode we will get for this year as the show won’t come back till January.

Come January, it seems like we WILL be finally getting answers on Coulson’s resurrection, but the true question is…will the creative team finally make the show as great as it could be? Comic Book Resources just interviewed producer Jeffery Bell about the show, and I could sense that they are at least aware that the show’s reaction is all over the place.

All I hope is that they do listen to the majority of the problems that people seem to have with the show,  there is still plenty of time to work on that stuff. But right now, I just really enjoyed this episode.