Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Uprising - Review

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “Uprising” was written by Craig Titley and was directed by Magnus Martens, whose other credits include Luke Cage, 12 Monkeys, and Banshee. This episode featured the great fight sequences and special effect that really set this how apart. It also included a lot of the terrific dialogue that makes it so much fun to watch. The only rather irritating thing about this episode was the seeming lack of attention to the small matter of timing. How could it be that dark in Miami and that light in Los Angeles? I know there is a three hour difference, but c’mon! And did it really take three hours to come down 30 flights of stairs? I wear heels all the time, and it’s not that difficult!

As the episode begins, we get a little more insight into Elena (Natalie Cordova-Buckey). She’s actually at an engagement party in Miami and is going to be in the wedding party of her friend Maria (Valery M Ortiz)! While I appreciate giving her some additional backstory, I’m not sure this really fits in with what we know of her – didn’t they find her fighting the good fight in Columbia? Wasn’t she reluctant to leave? This seems to imply that she lived in Florida.

Just as Maria is about to call Mack (Henry Simmons) back on Elena, the power goes out – including their phones – and then a helicopter crashes into the building across the way. It’s not a power failure; it’s an EMP. I loved how the entire team got there no problem. An “Inhuman Resistance” takes credit for the attacks, demanding that they be left alone to live in peace. This hardly seems like a violent or unreasonable demand, but it also doesn’t take long for everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. to see through the subterfuge. This isn’t the Inhumans; it’s someone trying to discredit them.

There is still some division at S.H.I.E.L.D., but it really serves to highlight that this new division of labor might not be a bad thing. Mack is pissed at Burrows (Pat Cavanaugh) when he’s more worried about Public Relations – but that’s Burrows’ job. It’s the same division that lets Mace (Jason O’Mara) spend his time being the public face of S.H.I.E.L.D., holding press conferences and liaising with government and other agencies, which frees Coulson (Clark Gregg) to work in the field.

As the episode opens, however, Coulson’s entire focus is on May (Ming-Na Wen). Simmons is remotely monitoring her vital signs. Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) knows where May is while Coulson doesn’t! It’s classified, and apparently she has a higher security ranking than Coulson now! It’s Mace who relents when Chen (Jen Sung) dies and Simmons says that the CDC who are treating May are at a dead end. Simmons says she thinks she might have an idea of how to save May, so Mace brings her back – but he doesn’t let Coulson go with her. He needs Coulson in the field, and it turns out that is the right call. So far, while Mace does things differently and it stings to see our heroes not in charge, it’s hard to see him as a bad guy…. Yet.

Meanwhile in LA, Daisy (Chloe Bennet) is sticking with Robbie (Gabriel Luna) who is determined to go and check in with his Uncle, who used to work at the Momentum Alternative Energy Lab as an electrical engineer. Daisy isn’t a fan of Uncle Ely who’s done time, but Robbie tells her that his uncle was only taking out a bad guy. Daisy learns as the episode unfolds that Ely raised Robbie and Gabe (Lorenzo James Henrie). When the blackout hits LA, it puts Gabe in danger as he’s stranded in a bad part of town.

Luckily, Robbie’s pre-1980 muscle car is free from electronics so they’re able to get to Gabe, arriving in the nick of time. I loved Daisy’s dialogue in this scene as she tells the thugs not to touch the car because “the owner’s a bit of a hot head!” This is a terrific fight sequence, and Robbie tells Daisy afterwards that the fight was all him. Daisy has to use her powers to save Gabe, which snaps her arm and tips Gabe off that she’s Quake – he’s a smart kid. It’s convenient that Robbie’s head doesn’t burst into flames because Gabe doesn’t know about Robbie’s “night job.”

Robbie takes Daisy back to his house, and is concerned about her arm. Daisy asks him what he does when he’s hurt – she’s clearly hoping that he has a doctor in his back pocket because she can’t reveal her location by going to a hospital. Robbie tells her that he heals overnight, so any injuries are never an issue for him. He goes out to try to get supplies to help her. And all those black lines on her arm cannot be a good sign! Gabe offers her food and tries to get to know her. He wants to know if she’s a bad guy. He tells her that he looks after Robbie, keeping the wheels from coming off completely, and that includes keeping bad people out of his life. It’s clear that he doesn’t like what he sees of Daisy, but it doesn’t seem like he makes his decision based on her being an inhuman, rather that she’s just bad news for Robbie. He tells her to go away and not come back or he’ll reveal that she’s Quake. She’s gone when Robbie returns, and Gabe lies and says she just left while he was asleep.

Coulson, Mack, and Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) head to Miami. We get our first glimpse of Senator Nadeer (Parminder Nagra) as the three watch her on the news. She is demanding that they fight back against the Inhumans, fueling the public’s fear. Coulson immediately doesn’t feel like things are adding up. Fitz has the equipment to trace the EMP back to its source so they can stop it. Unfortunately, as soon as they enter the blacked out zone, they completely lose power – right in the middle of Mace pleading with them to give him a big win.

I loved the sequence that followed. The entire cast has great chemistry, but I just adore these three together! Coulson’s electronic hand is frozen on the wheel, and all of Fitz’s toys are useless. Apparently, this is a continuous EMP pulse. Fitz is not deterred – he’s just going old school! I loved Coulson dubbing him “Sliderule!”

Possibly my favorite scene in the episode – and one of the series – is as the three walk off. It’s a beautiful long crane shot of the three from behind, calmly walking into danger, basically unarmed (literally in Coulson’s case!). Fitz remarks, “It was a good light source. Guy with the flaming head.” Coulson wistfully replies, “I’m really bummed I missed that.” Mack assures him, “No you’re not,” and Fitz adds, “Sir, it was quite unsettling.” And then it’s a running gag throughout the episode that Coulson is bummed everyone seems to have seen the flaming head but him!

Meanwhile, a group of seeming vigilantes have crashed the hotel where Elena is. They’re there for the Inhuman – which of course begs the question immediately of how they knew one was there. The crowd is quick to point the finger at the guy (Derek Hughes) who had been doing magic tricks all night. Elena remains quiet until it’s imminent that they’re going to shoot him. She yo-yos their guns, but Maria sees her dropping them into a plant and backs away horrified. It’s another woman who actually points the finger at Elena, but it might as well have been Maria.

Luckily, Mack, Coulson, and Fitz arrive in the nick of time – there’s a lot of that in this episode! It’s another great fight scene – and when did Fitz get so badass?! Even after Elena saves Maria, Maria still turns her back on the freak. Given that Maria was clearly a shallow party girl, I had to wonder how Elena was ever friends with her in the first place.

Coulson interrogates the head vigilante (Dale Pavinski), and Mack is appalled when Coulson shoots him – but Coulson knew the guy wasn’t in danger. He’s wearing military grade body armor. He also has a Watchdog tattoo – so now S.H.I.E.L.D.’s concern is also Daisy’s. However, for Coulson, this is a big move by the Watchdogs who’ve always been a national problem. They are now clearly working internationally and have serious money behind them. They also find a list of Inhumans and their locations, meaning they also have someone on the inside who has access to that information.

Fitz MacGyver’s compasses to find the location of the EMP. I LOVED his incredulousness when the others have no idea what he’s doing – did none of you do Scouts? It’s brilliant and Fitz is so proud of saving the day with rudimentary science. Of course it’s not really rudimentary but my triangulating the position from the compasses deviation from magnetic North, Fitz finds the location.

We get yet another great fight and special effects as the four take down the EMP. I loved the slow motion of Yo Yo grabbing the guns. And of course, it’s confirmed they’re Watchdogs.

Meanwhile, Simmons and Radcliffe (John Hannah) work to save May. Radcliffe hides Aida (Mallory Jansen) before they arrive at his lab. She seems completely innocuous, and Radcliffe himself seems to have developed a serious capacity for empathy as he seems genuinely upset at May’s plight. It’s a bit of a turnaround from the shallow Peacock of last season – I like it, I’m just not sure it’s completely in character.

There’s another great special effect as Radcliffe and Simmons examine May’s brain. They determine that the victims are being scared to death. In order to turn off that flight response, the two determine that they have to shut off May’s brain entirely by killing her. Naturally, the power goes out just as they are about to shock May back to life. Radcliffe uses his clean energy, magnetically shielded power source – Aida’s heart – to power the machine to bring May back.

I loved Simmons ordering May to come back, and then May sitting up – a la Pulp Fiction – and Simmons hugging her. And of course, May’s cool, “Did I miss something?”

Back at the base, Coulson and Mace de-brief. Mace is concerned about defusing all the fear – it’s a nice parallel to May’s condition and one of the things about the writing on the show that I appreciate. Coulson tells Mace to do the roll out, but Mace doesn’t want to deviate from the plan. Coulson gives him Fury’s advice: “It’s important to know when to throw out the plan.” Mace takes Coulson’s advice and gives a press conference to tell the world that it wasn’t the Inhumans and that S.H.I.E.L.D. is back and protecting them.

Mack finally gets a moment with YoYo and catches her continuing to lie about being in contact with Daisy. Mack feels like YoYo has used him, and she thinks that he should respect Daisy’s decision to be left alone. It’s another testament to the writing and the development of the characters that you can easily see both sides of this argument. Mack doesn’t want there to be secrets between them, and YoYo pushes back that that’s all there is between them. She’s clearly tired of him waiting to act on the chemistry between them!

And speaking of chemistry, I loved May calling Coulson as she and Simmons watch the press conference. She tells Coulson she’s cranky – and it’s at least in part because she wants Coulson to be the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. And maybe he will be again one day, but I have to agree, I much prefer him on missions!

The final scene cements Nadeer as having a hand in the attacks – and the killing of 17 Inhumans. She’s at her brother’s place, and the final shot as she goes out the door is an Inhuman shell – is her brother still in there? Is he dead? Shouldn’t this make her sympathetic to their plight? But it’s clear that she still equates S.H.I.E.L.D. with Hydra. I wonder if she will continue to be a villain, or if at some point, she’ll have her eyes opened to the truth.

This was yet another really solid episode for me – time inconsistencies aside. Great dialogue, great fights, and great special effects continue to serve this show well. What did you think of the episode? What was your favorite fight scene? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

About the Author - Lisa Macklem

I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.

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