I hope there’s a very satisfying payoff to the “Obelisk” MacGuffin that’s been driving the plot for the first few episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season two because I gotta tell you: it’s beginning to wear on me pretty fast.
I understand that HYDRA division leader Daniel Whitehall wants to use the Obelisk’s power and weaponize it for some nefarious reason. I also understand that S.H.I.E.L.D. needs to keep it out of their hands, natch. However, the biggest question at hand revolves around the writers’ expectations of the audience’s patience. We only know that the Obelisk causes death to anyone not worthy of wielding it (kind of a murderous Mjolnir), and it contains the same strange alien language that Agents Garrett and Coulson have carved into a bizarre stretch of material. Also, even though it’s 7-plus months away, I have to assume that the writers would conclude this plot in time to do a crossover event that will lead up to Avengers: Age of Ultron in May 2015.
I think the answer is to have Raina (Ruth Negga) join the fray and make demands to Coulson. In case you’ve forgotten, Agent Simmons infiltrated HYDRA by order of the Director in Episode 3. Her cover is now at risk because Raina tipped off HYDRA that they have a mole in their midst. Coulson is faced with an ultimatum: hand over Skye to Raina, or she will alert HYDRA of Simmons’s presence in the organization.
Coulson’s choice and its ramifications were hands down the best part of the episode, partly due to Coulson’s coolness under pressure and partly due to the HYDRA lab escape sequence. I should also mention that Adrianne Palicki, best known for her infamous short-lived turn as Wonder Woman in the NBC pilot that never made it to air, plays Bobbi Morse (aka Mockingbird in the comics). She makes an excellent ace in the hole for Coulson if Simmons’s identity was ever compromised as she is posing as a ruthless HYDRA interrogator.
The other major plot point of the episode revolved around sorting out the mystery of Skye (Chloe Bennet). Not only did we discover Skye wasn’t her real name, but we were finally given a few answers about her true parentage. However, the revelations came just before her unnamed father (Kyle MacLachlan) skips town, leaving a bloody mess of two bodies with slit throats in his wake. He’s a “Doctor” of sorts, more black market underground and less legal practice. He’s using Raina to help track down his daughter in exchange for an unveiling of the secrets in the “Obelisk”.
This big lead for Skye ends up being a dead end, leaving her with only the knowledge that her father is a ruthless murderer. Yawn. Knowing the creators, there has to be more to the “Doctor.” I hope. They’ve done something similar before with the secrets of Coulson’s resurrection last season, and now they’re repeating the same shtick again here. I don’t have a problem with that, but I’d prefer the episode serve as a stand-alone entity rather than banking on future revelations, particularly when last week’s episode was the most fun to date.
Despite giving Negga more to do in this episode and the well choreographed escape sequence, this week’s episode just feels very much of a same song and dance. We’ve become all too accustomed to the mysteries, wrapped in enigmas, shrouded in secrets. This episode was by no means bad, but at this point we should be getting some hints as to what the “Obelisk” is, its connection with the mysterious alien handwriting, and Skye’s place in all of this. Instead, we’re given the same race against time narrative and dangling plot threads that frustrate more than they tantalize.