2.19 The Dirty Half Dozen How did this week’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron episode fare, then? Well, to be honest, somewhere in between the two, but leaning in the positive direction. Winter Soldier-era S.H.I.E.L.D. aside, this is probably the next best allusion to the movies we’ve ever had. Both iterations of S.H.I.E.L.D. teaming up to attack a HYDRA base, with Dr. List inside, where experiments are being conducted on enhanced individuals? “Blummin’ heck, that’s the Age Of Ultron base, right?” you might have asked if you were paying less-than-complete attention. Of course, though, rights issues don’t quite allow that to happen, so we’ll have to settle for a very similar base, including similar people, doing similar things. In all honesty, that’s close enough, considering that the resultant episode was pretty ruddy entertaining. Skye using her powers twice – to a) wipe out some HYDRA agents and b) restart Lincoln’s heart – was very cool, and visually well accomplished, while her combat-based infiltration scene (framed with a slick tracking shot) reminded us of both Joss Whedon’s amazing tracking shot from the original Avengers and the incredible one-shot fight scene from Daredevil episode 2. Speaking of actual movie interconnectivity – List was great (Henry Goodman was given more space to breathe, which he worked with very well), Maria Hill’s Skype cameo was fairly cool (despite seeming like a cheaper alternative to actually bringing her in) and Raina’s foretelling of ‘metal men who will tear our world apart’ was a nice touch, too. That scene wasn’t vital, but it certainly helped ramp up the tension. Our only qualm with the connectivity stuff? That there was no show-down between List and Coulson, which seems like a wasted opportunity to bring Clark Gregg painfully close to a reunion with Cap and the other Avengers. All in all, though, The Dirty Half Dozen was a thoroughly entertaining episode, thanks in equal part to the tie-in stuff, some solid action and several strong character moments. Ward’s return was handled well, too, although something needs to be done about Simmons’ growing unlikeable-ness. One question, though: what do we think Theta Protocol actually entailed? Obviously it relates to the Avengers, but we can’t quite work out how. Any ideas? Read Rob’s review of the previous episode, The Frenemy Of My Enemy, here.
