Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 'A Fractured House' Review: Don't Give Him an Inch

After last week's fantastic introduction to Bobbi Morse aka Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki), Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continued its excellent start to Season 2 with its sixth episode, "A Fractured House." By the end, we had a new enemy on the loose and an even clearer picture of just how fragile S.H.I.E.L.D. is right now.

Firstly, we must comment on how drastically Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has improved in Season 2. It's almost a completely different show in terms of tone and quality at this point. The final handful of episodes in Season 1 went a long way to helping, but Season 2 thus far has been much more quality television by leaps and bounds.

Much of that has to do with the renewed focus on being a spy show rather than trying desperately to serve as a connection to the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. works much better when it stands on its own two feet, which is all it has done in Season 2. The increased emphasis on character development has also helped greatly, and "A Fractured House" had plenty of it.

The most telling line of the episode came from Coulson when he was looking at the map of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents around the world. After months and months of rebuilding, they still have only a handful of operatives globally. S.H.I.E.L.D. is outnumbered and outgunned, and one false move could wipe them off the map.

And that's nearly what happened in this episode, as Hydra agents impersonated S.H.I.E.L.D. and attacked the United Nations. The assault almost started a witch hunt for the good guys that could have collapsed the spy organization entirely. But thanks to Coulson and his team's work, the operation continues.

Coulson has really come into his own as a more than capable leader this season. He makes a questionable decision here and there and he often intentionally shrouds himself in secrecy, but he's proven that he's earned the title of Director. "A Fractured House" also showed the weight of responsibility of his position, as he lost six agents during the mission. There's a lot on his plate, but he's dealing with it all.

After a handful of episodes, it was time for the show to do something with Grant Ward, and here's where Coulson made one of those questionable decisions. He agreed to transfer Ward to his brother, Senator Christian Ward, in return for public support of S.H.I.E.L.D. The episode did a great job in making the viewer question each of the brother's motives to determine who was telling the truth. The double interrogation scene with Coulson/Christian and Skye/Ward was tense and extremely well done.

But the second they let the bars down on Ward's cell, you knew he was moments away from breaking free. And the show let him do it in one of the most badass ways possible by breaking his own hand to slip out of the cuffs and take out a vehicle full of soldiers. The dangerous and vengeful Grant Ward is now on the loose, which is bad news for S.H.I.E.L.D.

The other major character development in this episode occurred in the FitzSimmons pairing. Fitz has been coping with losing Simmons, but now she's back and working side by side with him. Unfortunately, all she does is make things worse. The two had a mostly honest conversation about their friendship/relationship/whatever it is right now, but Simmons came up just short of revealing that she left because she knows she makes Fitz's condition worse.

It seems pretty clear at this point that she does not have the same romantic feelings for him that he has for her, but it seems like she's almost afraid to tell him for fear of shattering his already fragile mind. But this is why Mack and Fitz make such a good team (aside from their hilariously different physical proportions). Mack shoots straight. He's not afraid of hurting or offending Fitz, and he seems to appreciate that. Simmons is walking on eggshells, which is upsetting her friend.

We've got a week off now before the show returns on Nov. 11 with an episode seemingly dedicated to Coulson's alien writings. The tag at the end of this episode showed a man getting the symbols tattooed all over his body, so hopefully we get more answers than questions in the next episode.

Notes:

-       I'd be okay with an episode that focuses entirely on Hunter and Bobbi. Their banter was amazing throughout this episode. Their quick double kill shot on Toshiro and then resuming their argument was hilarious.

-       "You know I don't like you, right?" Never change, May.

-       How long until Ward resurfaces and wreaks havoc on Coulson's team?

-       General Talbot seems to have changed his mind about S.H.I.E.L.D., or is at least starting to do so. Could the good guys finally have an ally with some clout?

What did you think of "A Fractured House"? Let us know in the comments section.