KTanch is back with this week’s episode of SHIELD, and it makes me think he should probably direct the entire next season because darn if I don’t enjoy myself while I’m watching his episodes.
Like his previous work on the series, “One of Us” was a May-heavy episode, which I am completely okay with because of my epic lady-crush on her character. We even got some solid May backstory in the form of Blair Underwood, May’s ex-hubby, who showed up bringing the heavy Unresolved Sexual Tension and actually making May laugh a few times. All I could think about while watching the episode was how attractive their children would have been if they’d stayed together. Alas.
The other great thing about a Kevin Tancharoen-directed episode is the hella action sequences. Sure, Coulson got a little butt-kickin’ time, but KTanch took Bobbi and May to the next level with their fight sequences, which were both well-choreographed and slickly directed. Also, he managed to bring a certain amount of visual brightness to a show that is so often plagued by a monotonous color palette of greys and browns. As an aside, I would please like a slo-mo May scene in every episode from here on out, thanks.
So there’s the good stuff about this week’s episode – but it wasn’t all cheerleaders and epic dead bird drops. Skye remains the focus of “One of Us,” but it doesn’t do the script or the audience any favors. Mostly, Skye just sits there with the same open-mouthed expression on her face
while we hear over and over again that she’s different, she’s special, she’s changed, she can’t control her powers, she’s scared, etc. Honestly, we’ve only had three weeks of this and I’m already sick of it. The pacing of this storyline is moving as slowly as most of this show did in its first season, and I guess I got used to the newer, quicker episodes because this is dragging me down. When I started to write this recap I honestly had things to say about every single other part of the episode except what is supposed to be the main plotline. Maybe it’s because we’ve all seen powered-up people on-screen and in comics for so long that we’re numb to this kind of origin story, but I’m over it. Time to lady the fuck up, Skye. Let’s go.
In Side Character news, SpyDaddy (who I think I will now be calling SkyeDaddy due to frequent “There’s only one Victor Garber!” complaints in the comments) has joined forces with, like, the lamest group of villains ever, including too-loud guy, horrible nails girl,
and creepy hacker. If the end-of-episode sting and Coulson’s conversation with Simmons is any indication, SHIELD is looking to rapidly differentiate between people who just graft knives to their hands vs. inhumans – which I think is good, because when it comes down to it, there’s just no comparing the two in terms of strength.
We’ve also still got Simmons being the best bigot she can possibly be – “I hate every inhuman except this one, she’s okay – but we should definitely heavily medicate her ASAP” – and Bobbi dealing with the consequences of lying to Hunter, about whom she genuinely cares. I have to say I’ve really liked how splitting up FitzSimmons has worked out this season; making two new, far more unlikely, teams in FitzMack and MockingNerd has brought a great dimension to the show.
Sadly, Half of FitzMack is missing this week, dragging Hunter’s sorry butt all the way to The Real SHIELD:
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