Like most episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “The Hub” does a few things right and a few things poorly. Some of those things…
Good: The series beginning to treat S.H.I.E.L.D. as an organisation worthy of scepticism rather than filled with unquestioned goodies. The titular hub was a timely reminder that S.H.I.E.L.D. is a large, pseudo-military organisation, with all the baggage that suggests.
Bad: The unoriginal structure of the episode – strongly reminiscent of Firefly’s “War Stories” and Archer’s “Un Chien Tangerine” (the one where Cyril goes into the field), not to mention the rest of the “Overkill” mission.
Good: Separating Fitz from Simmons, bringing extra life to each character.
Bad: Pairing anyone with the perennially tedious Ward, aka Mr Bland.
Good: Continuing to question Skye’s loyalties to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Bad: The renewed focus on Skye’s heritage. I can’t think of a twist interesting enough to justify a storyline straight out of a Neighbours episode.
The biggest mark in the “good” column is that the show is slowly beginning to find its legs, with the writers finding material better suited to their cast. There’s still a lot of room for improvement, and a shift away from the mission-of-the-week structure is where I’d start.
ccpopculture 
Agreed on all points. They’re still trying to keep this episodic enough that anyone can pick it up and feel comfortable. That’s not really working for it. I wish they’d get out of the mission of the week format, so they get into more complex plot and character development.
Definitely. I’m not expecting a Mad Men or whatever level of serialisation, but all of the ongoing plot threads (Skye’s ties to Rising Tide, Skye’s heritage, the truth behind Coulson, uh… I’m probably forgetting something boring) are a long way from compelling. I don’t mind an episodic structure if it feels like it’s going somewhere, but everything just feels so weightless at the moment – even the good stuff.
Completely agreed. And yet. Neither of us has stopped watching.
Hmmmm
Well, if I’m being honest I might not still be watching if I wasn’t trying to regularly review it? It’s fine “watch-it-if-it’s-on” TV but it’s hardly required viewing. Aside from the reviewing thing, I’m pretty sure I keep watching it because it has so much damn potential.
The reviews. Yeah, you have a better excuse than me. 🙂
The potential, the connection to Marvel … And Joss Whedon … They keep me going. For now.
Skye and Ward are both so dull! Fitz-Simmons though are getting much better as characters 😀
I actually quite like Chloe Bennet as an actress, but the character is woefully under-written despite being the main focus of the series. They’re clearly trying to flesh her out but none of what they’re doing is interesting. Fitz and Simmons are definitely improving! Separating them more regularly is a good idea.
Yeah those two work best playing off of straighter characters like Coulson and Ward. Although it does bring a massive spotlight on how dull Ward is haha 😀
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