What I’m Watching: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season 2, Episode 9 “…Ye Who Enter Here” (B+)

I’m really happy that this show has managed to evolve in its second season to the point that there’s such a big ensemble and so much going on. Raina’s return at the beginning of this episode also meant the return of Agent 99 and Ward asserting himself directly as an ally of Hydra and all of its world-conquering aims, though he’s not as keen on killing his old friends. Unfortunately, Dr. Whitehall doesn’t agree, and now the Bus may be in trouble following Ward’s extraction of Skye and Raina. It’s always been perplexing to identify Raina’s allegiances, and here it seems that she’s loyal to Skye’s father but not really to anyone else, running from Hydra at first and then welcoming them coming after her. I can’t describe how big a fan of Patton Oswalt I am, and I love his performance here as both of the Koenig brothers. Showing up to use an umbrella cone of invisibility over Raina was a cool introduction, and he’s beyond entertaining and awesome the rest of the time. I was intrigued to know what secret Mack and Bobbi were sharing, but things went bad fast and now it appears that Mack may be gone for good after being possessed and nearly killing Bobbi. At least Bobbi and Lance are getting along better, though Fitz and Simmons are not doing well at all. In better news, Skye has become quite the combat master, going toe-to-toe with Agent 99 and fending for herself pretty well.