Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (S2E8) Review: Attacking From The Back(stories)

Everybody's got a story is how the old saying goes, and Agents of SHIELD proved that this week with it's focus on backstories for many of it's characters. What I found interesting about these backstories is not only in how they're presented in an entertaining manner, but in how much they rely on the universe SHIELD has created for itself. Last season, it felt like everyone named dropped Thor or Iron Man every five minutes, and that was the extent of a larger world beyond the central cast, but now the show has developed itself to the point where there's much more to this show. And that makes for very interesting storytelling possibilities.

Agents of SHIELD (S2E7) Review: Answers And Questions

One major flaw of Agents of SHIELD's first season was the way it constantly delayed giving the audience answers on pivotal questions, instead relying on lackluster storytelling to distract them from the fact that nothing of substance was getting answered. The major pivotal question that never got much resolution was Coulson's resurrection, which gets more clarity in this episode than it did in the entire first season.

Agents of SHIELD (S2E4) Review: Getting Past The Inevitable

Agents of SHIELD
Season 2, Episode 4
Face My Enemy
Or......Getting Past The Inevitable 
MARVEL-OUS SPOILERS AHEAD

Nostalgia is a central theme in this episode of Agents of SHIELD, whether its from how the opening mission of the story (Phil Coulson and Melinda May going to a fundraiser in disguise as a couple) has shades of decades old program Mission: Impossible or Coulson reminiscing about a cup of coffee he and May never got to have. For the most part, it's a successfully integrated element that manages to do interesting things with characters like Coulson and May.