Okay, so here’s the thing… Last week was a bit hectic for me. My mum went into heart surgery so I was looking after my family, and I had two extra TV shows to cover for Invasion Week sooooo… Deals With Our Devils slipped by me entirely and honestly… Kinda glad it did.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s an interesting premise for an episode but seeing things play out twice from two perspectives, which could have been done in an interesting fashion, kind of feels like padding while parts that I was genuinely interested in were barely expounded upon.

AIDA’s reading of the Darkhold is of particular interest because instead of what I expected ie; she couldn’t read it, she not only could but it was in binary as well. The line Thor said about science and magic not being as distinct as we perceive them to be clearly has some merit when it comes to the Darkhold.

Another segment was the conversation between Reyes and the Rider (is it too much of a stretch to call him Zarathos since Eli is flesh and blood?). It could have been a fascinating look at their relationship but was boiled down to it’s barest element; the deal.

The deal we finally see sealed in The Laws of Inferno Dynamics, which is a fantastic title. Again, the most interesting parts are from AIDA and Reyes, the former finally revealed as an LMD and the latter making sure his uncle can’t hurt anyone else.

It’s safe to say that Reyes was never going to be in the show for long so bowing out at the mid-season finale makes sense. Might as well take the opportunity to say that I’ve enjoyed Gabriel Luna in this role and it’s a shame to see him go. Hopefully he’ll be back in the future and maybe this will lead to a solo series in the future but for the short time we had him, Luna was a brilliant Ghost Rider.

I really liked this continuity nod toward the end of the episode. Very cute moment to cement Daisy’s return as a rostered Agent. Good thing Mac and Yo-Yo got together too because holy fuck, that was getting tedious. But this is the mid-season finale so we need a cliff-hanger right? Something to get people interested in the next arc. Something like…

Yeah, May being revealed as an LMD’ll do it! I can only presume she was replaced when she was still having visions. Could Radcliffe also been an LMD? Could Fitz? Anyone who has interacted with AIDA in the house is immediately suspect! Shame about whatsisname. Guy. Snappy.

Not a bad winter finale overall but I can’t wait to see how the show progresses with this rogue AI plotline. I guess I’ll see you guys in January!

The Flash finally runs head long at the mystery that’s run parallel to the week-to-week shenanigans; who is The Man in the Yellow Suit? The titular character makes his presence felt in a big way as even before the title card we see Barry in hot pursuit of his lemon-flavoured doppelganger. Will Barry catch him and will he get the answers he’s searched for his entire life? Let’s find out!

It’s Christmas time in Central City and Barry and Iris exchange gifts, Barry’s being a replica of Iris’s mother’s ring that she lost as a child. Eddie highlights the point that this isn’t the kind of gift friends get each other and I agree with him but siblings? Considering that Barry and Iris were raised together, I could totally see this played off as a nice brotherly gesture on Barry’s part if it wasn’t so bloody obvious that Barry is in love with her. Hell, even Barry’s dad, who is in PRISON, knows he is and Barry finally confesses and it’s awkward as all hell. Grant Gustin and Candice Patton are both fine actors but their characters have no chemistry. There’s a reason I’d rather see Caitlin become the love interest…

Speaking of Caitlin, her fiancé Ronnie makes himself known to her but tells her to keep away and that he’s “not Ronnie” but Firestorm, the first time we‘ve heard the name. He keeps repeating he’s not Ronnie and I twigged as to why. Firestorm is traditionally made of two individuals so if he’s not Ronnie, that must mean there is another person inside the Firestorm matrix. Most likely candidate is Dr. Martin Stein, a nuclear physicist he provides the brains to Ronnie’s brawn. A last minute save from Firestorm hints at a heroic path and hopefully we’ll see Firestorm flying over Central City again soon.

The Reverse-Flash is the main plot of the episode and he is a beast. He’s stronger, faster and is intimidating as hell. He breaks into Mercury Labs (hint at Max Mercury, maybe?) looking for a device that emits tachyons and Team Flash hypothesise why. Wells indicates that it could enable him to move faster than light and Barry is visibly shaken, as RF already has an edge. They ask Dr Tina McGee for a loan of the device to act as a lure and when she’s initially dismissive, Barry manages to convince her with some very sly tactics.

Flash Fact: Amanda Pays reprises her role as Tina McGee from the 90’s Flash show, where she acted alongside John Wesley Shipp, who played Barry Allen.

Team Flash build a force field trap, Eddie and his taskforce strongarm their way into the opertation, despite Joe’s reluctance and the stage is set and the trap is sprung by the Reverse-Flash. In a surprising move, both Eddie Thawne and Harrison Wells are present in the room where RF is trapped. THIS THROWS EVERYONE’S THEORIES OUT THE WINDOW!

It’s a fantastic swerve to have both suspects in the room as the primary villain. Hell, Wells gets the shit kicked out of him and Eddie pisses his pants when RF gets in his face. RF bodies Barry at every opportunity, highlighting the experience of the former and the power he has over the latter. Barry admits that he’s been terrified of The Man in Yellow since he was a child, so he’s got the psychological edge on him too. If it wasn’t for the timely intervention of Firestorm, Barry would be toast.

Everyone licks their wounds in the aftermath. Joe reveals the existence of met humans to Eddie, but not much else. Wells is being patched up but still takes the time to reassure Caitlin that they will find a way to bring Ronnie home. The West family plus Eddie and Team Flash, minus Wells enjoy some eggnog around the West house. Cisco takes Joe aside and confides in him that there may have been TWO speedsters the night Barry’s mother was murdered. This could be leading to a Flashpoint-style confrontation at the end of the season and I can’t wait to see it play out.
Stinger for this week broke me as… well, just look.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK! HOW!? How the hell did he pull that trick off because I just GAH! I don’t even. Wells is revealed to be the Reverse-Flash? Nah, not buying it. It’s too easy. Wells has spent all his time in the past making sure the Flash has a legacy, the M.O. of the Reverse-Flash is to typically steal that legacy from him, right? The easy explanation is that he’s Eobard Thawne, Eddie’s descendant but again, not buying that for a second. For all of his sneaky actions, Wells has been helping The Flash and appears to have a great respect for his legacy so between drawing Blackout’s blood and this device he fits to the RF costume, I think he’s actually trying to find a way to neutralise the Reverse-Flash’s speed force. Is that just wishful thinking? Maybe, but I can’t believe Wells is the bad guy, especially since it’s obviously not Tom Cavanagh in the suit.

What did you guys think of the mid-season finale? Let me know and I’ll see you guys in January for the Revenge of the Rogues.

The mid-season finale is upon us, SHIELD fans, and while I wondered if this would live up to the prospective hype of The Bridge last season and it knocks it out of the park!

Mack’s missing, Skye’s been kidnapped, Hydra is digging into the city and shit’s generally fucked. In the midst of all this tension, we get some nice bits of humour and levity, particularly from Hunter.

Kyle MacLachlan is on fine form, whether acting like the nervous father meeting his daughter for the first time, the grieving widow or the vengeful monster. It’s a testament to his acting chops that he goes through all these stages in 20mins and it feels organic for the character. We finally get his name, which is Cal, and I can stop calling him The Doctor. He loses control after Coulson kills Whitehall, robbing him of his revenge and proceeds to beat Coulson like an egg until Skye threatens to kill him/calls him dad. He reluctantly leaves but not before revealing her name; Daisy.

Ward continues to play the nutty sociopath we all love to hate. His actions are more on the side of heroic this episode but Raina is quick to call out his reasons and Whitehall takes advantage of that. Not only that, the audience gets some delicious catharsis when Skye is set free and proceeds to empty a clip into Ward’s ass. He survives, thanks to some padding and Agent 33’s assistance, and he lives to hopefully return as a smug cock one day.

Meat and potatoes of the episode is clearly the revelation of… stuff. But first, a moment of silence for Trip. Exposed to an alien mist, Triplett slowly carbonised like many other victims of the diviner and crumbled to dust in front of Skye. Yes, it’s a shame a character played by a black actor died but, really, Trip wasn’t getting anymore character development or screen time than Koenig and was way less interesting so why not bump him off? On the plus side, it appears Mack regained control of himself after the whole incident.

And finally, the main course. The Inhuman Awakening. Once inside the underground city, Skye and Raina (along with Trip) get trapped in a stone chamber, which opens to reveal a Terrigen crystal and the two women proceed to be enveloped by cocoons after being exposed to the Terrigen mists. Trip dies and the two emerge, Raina transformed into something all the more beastial while Skye appears unchanged, until the sight of her friend reduced to ashes causes her to tense and the room and surface above tremble violently.

Daisy Johnson stands revealed as the Inhuman Agent of SHIELD; Quake. It’s fantastic to see our first super-powered female human in the MCU is a character we’ve seen develop over the course of two seasons and I’m all in favour of the Inhuman storyline developing through TV in the lead up to the movie. Post credits scene reveals yet another Inhuman, a seemingly blind man, with another diviner. YOOOOOOO!

As expected, the Inhuman plotline advances and so much more can be made of the actions and events of this episode! A flawless episode of SHIELD and I can only hope those repercussions are felt when we return in Spring! See you then!

It’s been a long time coming but after teleporters, doomsday weapons, Chitauri electro-viruses and Asgardian bezerkers, we finally get back to the Centipede subplot as the Team investigate the prison breakout of Edison Po, whom you may remember from the stinger of Girl in the Flower Dress, by Centipede soldiers. The Team brings in some extra muscle in the form of a now stable Mike Peterson and set out to take the fight to Centipede, as Centipede plans to do just the same.

This was, by far, the best episode of the season and it makes me happy to see this show live up to its own premise. Despite declining ratings, I feel the last 5 episodes have really shown how good this show can be and I hope it lives long enough to continue this trend.

Skye’s mother subplot is touched on again and it’s laid out by Coulson and May that she can never know the truth, hence May pretending to look into it. May and Ward’s relationship is pushed when their blossoming feelings for each other are at loggerheads with their professionalism. There’s lots of fan theories involving either Coulson, May or both in the parentage of Skye and I really hope that’s not the case. As fatherly as Coulson is, it’d be just a little too trite for the show.

Mike Peterson’s return is VERY welcome. J. August Richards is a fantastic actor and it’s great to see him join the Team on the operation, even suiting up into a spiffy uniform that befits a SHIELD sponsored hero (See: Hawkeye & Black Widow) His Angel fighting skills are dusted off as he takes on three Centipede soldiers at the same time, even capturing one, only to have Centipede be revealed as the people behind the ocular implants from Eye-Spy. I really hope this group is revealed to be A.I.M proper, not just capitalising on their tech. Plus I kinda want to see what they’d do with MODOK in the MCU.

I said this on twitter a while ago but I would like to see this show expand the MCU in ways the movies can’t. Specifically, I’d really want to see the British equivalent to SHIELD in MI:13/Excalibur. That’s be really fun!

COULSON WATCH!

Yo, Coulson got kidnapped! In an immensely tense scene on the titular bridge, Coulson and Mike finally meet face-to-face with the mysterious Raina. The set up is that they’ll exchange Mike for his son Ace, who Raina kidnapped but once there, Mike regretfully admits that what Centipede really wants is Coulson. The two share a great scene as Mike clearly doesn’t want to betray the man who saved him and Coulson is understanding and even a little curious as to why they want him. Once the exchange is made, Mike hands Ace to Skye and instantly goes to redeem himself in a Big Damn Hero moment only to be caught in an explosion, consuming both him and the car Coulson was seemingly put into. Skye’s reaction acts as audience proxy.

But it’s a bait and switch! As Coulson and Raina escape in a helicopter and Raina expresses her employers desire, to know what happened to Coulson the day after he died. YOOOOOOOOO, DAT CLIFFHANGER!

The Bridge is a fantastic mid-season cliffhanger and the best episode of the season thus far. It’s what the show should have been from the word Assemble and given the other absolutely brilliant superhero show this week (Looking at you, Arrow) it’s been a damn good week for TV. We’ll be taking another break until January but they were good enough to leave us with a teaser of things to come! Check it out and I’ll see you all again in January!