The Hype
I almost didn't right a hype section for this review because i don't think it's really warranted. We're coming off a stale episode last week, and I don't want to beat a dead horse and restate what everyone's been saying since the season 2 premiere, "it's Better". The promos haven't done much to raise interest for this episode, and due to Shields habit of introducing plot points and then ignoring them, I really didn't know what to expect. So lets just get into shall we?
The Review
We get a pretty interesting intro, with two priests discovering the much hyped alien writing on the back of a 500 year old painting, and this is the main plot point that drives the episode. The main gimmick and the only thing ABC thinks we care about is Agent May and Coulson going undercover and...dancing?! What a twist! I hope my sarcasm is translating well. Thankfully those scenes did work well, and the whole "look how cute and charming" moments weren't dragged out.
We get some more General Talbot and i'm glad he's sticking around this season, we see some new dynamics between him and the team, but the rug is quickly pulled from under us. The episode has plenty of twists and turns that kept me invested throughout. We also get some truly funny moments, I was laughing to myself more then once this time around.
It was very cool to see the face mesh from The Winter Soldier return in the MCU and it made for some very interesting scenes. It also had some solid effects, which is more than I can say for last week's episode. We finally get some progress and great scenes with the now mentally broken Fitz, it's awesome to see him (re)finding his place on the team. Finally we get another exiting cliffhanger, but with this shows track record it may not even pay off next week.
The Verdict
A pretty good entry in a much better season
7.8/10