Not often, anyway. A very cool introduction for a very familiar Marvel character in one of the better episodes in recent memory. Most of the action focused on a SHIELD train heist as Coulson’s team tried to extract a mysterious package from a moving passenger train. The show opened with the usual character schlock, some of it amusing some of it excessive, but as Coulson and company were made by agents of the evil and recurring head of Cybertek Industries, Mr. Quinn, things got very real, very quickly. [related article: Deathlok – The Marvel Comics Phenomenon That Almost Was] Speaking of action, not enough is said about Agents of SHIELD’s featured stunt work. The show continually has the best and most fevered fight sequences on television, and the shot of May parachuting off a speeding train was truly breathtaking. There are tense moments when the Agents are in danger that really grip a viewer as the humor and banter between characters has created depth and familiarity with most of the cast. The heroes are rich and becoming more nuanced, but still, and this is repeated over and over, there is still no villain that fans can grip as a counterpoint to the well established heroes. Quinn is utterly generic and Deathlok, while awesome and welcome, is more of a tragic hero in the making than a true menace. Yes, Quinn does do the unthinkable and shoot Skye point blank, twice, but the moment is filled with concern for Skye rather than loathing for Quinn. The moment made me realize I do care about Skye and don’t want to see her get Whedoned, but the emotions end at concern not hatred for the generic menace that perpetrated the act. Marvel Moments Coulson’s exasperated Asgard reference. A reveal of the current location of Emil Blonsky, aka, the Abomination. Cybertek is a division of Roxxon Oil that created the Deathlok tech in the comics. Well played Marvel. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!
