Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. New Episode Review: 'Love in the Time of Hydra' Brings Back Two Characters

Season 2 of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returned Tuesday night with a new episode entitled "Love in the TIme of Hydra" that featured the return of Grant Ward and Agent 33. By the time the hour ended, S.H.I.E.L.D. was set to face some major conflicts sooner rather than later.

One of the things that has set Season 2 apart from Season 1 is the way it has handled its ensemble cast, both inside and outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. Inside the agency, we've checked in with Fitz, Simmons, Skye, May, Tripp (R.I.P.), and the rest each week, and the show has handled it well by giving ample time to each character. But outside of the agency, we've gotten the feeling that there are so many pieces out there on the board. We had Whitehall and Hydra, Cal and his own agenda, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Raina, Ward, and more. Coulson and his crew have taken some of these players out of the game, but there were still plenty of problems to solve.

Two of those problems re-emerged in "Love in the Time of Hydra" in the forms of Grant Ward and Agent 33, whom we have not seen since the disaster in Puerto Rico several episodes ago. Their return felt ripped straight out of Pulp Fiction, but that's never a problem for yours truly.

The downside to having all these moving parts, especially with the lengthy hiatus that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had this season, is that it's sometimes difficult to remember everything that has happened to these characters. I had almost completely forgotten that Hydra had brainwashed Agent 33 and changed her face, and that was her entire arc for this episode. She was lost in the wake of Hydra's downfall, and Ward offered her purpose and closure by leading her to Bakshi, the man who broke her in the first place.

General Talbot, meanwhile, informed Coulson of Ward and Agent 33's return, so the Director is now aware of their resurfacing. We'll have to see how he handles that in the near future.

But that's just one more thing to add on Coulson's plate. As Hunter discovered this episode, there is another S.H.I.E.L.D. out there that claims to be the "real" S.H.I.E.L.D., the one that stands for truth, justice, and the American...wait, wrong company. Anyways, Mack and Bobbi have been working for this organization the whole time, and Hunter told them not-so-elegantly to take their agency and stick it where the sun don't shine. But as we saw at the end of the episode, this other S.H.I.E.L.D. is about to make its move, courtesy of Bobbi.

Finally, Skye and her powers remained a focus this week, as May told Coulson that she has no idea how to control Skye and her new powers and recommended her removal from S.H.I.E.L.D. Fitz and Simmons continued to argue about Skye's powers with the former putting a positive spin on the situation and the latter continuing her mission to cure and fix Skye. Of course, what they were really arguing about was each other. Fitz was upset that Simmons has changed so much and has become so scared of everything in light of his and Skye's transformations. And he has a point. Simmons is not the same person she was last season, and she has some work to do on herself and how she relates to her friends.

So Skye is now locked away in a cabin learning to control her powers while S.H.I.E.L.D. deals with crises back home. Next week looks like it will bring these situations to a head, and it should be a whole lot of fun to watch.

Notes:

- Poor Talbot is going to need more than Edible Arrangements to right his marriage. He pointed a gun at his wife!

- Edward James Olmos was a welcome sight in this episode, so hopefully we see more of him in the future.

- It's going to be so awesome when Skye learns to control these powers.

What did you think of "Love in the Time of Hydra"? Let us know in the comments section.