This is my review of episode 2×07 The Writing on the Wall where we finally got some answers, as promised, and again, as promised, more questions.
I’m always amazed at the speed the show is advancing its plotline and how new questions replace old ones that just got answered. I don’t know about you but it keeps me wanting more. As before I’ll just outline my 5 best moments of the episode:
5. Baron Strucker is “overseas”
It’s a subtle hint we got which could shed some light on the plot for Age of Ultron and it could have been easily missed, though I’m sure no one assumed Strucker was actually somewhere in the US (unless he got the same deal as Dr Zola but I don’t think so). My assumption based on the age of Ultron footage we saw (and the post-credits scene of Winter Soldier) is that he’s in Eastern Europe somewhere.
4. Coulson goes back in the memory machine
After we saw the sneak peek yesterday I thought they would go and seek Raina’s help somehow but as it turns out they’d kept that memory machine and it was fun going back inside Coulson’s head prior to his Death-by-Loki.
What puzzled me is that doctor we saw that seemed to know more than she let on and was pushing for more answers by continuing the treatment, saying it’s only the first phase. Given what we know now, is it safe to assume this “first phase” is now over, in which case what’s next? But more importantly, who was that doctor and how did she know what she knew? Could she be related to Skye’s father and have infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. to get the answer to the writing?
3. Fitz speaks coherently
Did anyone else notice Fitz not stuttering, stammering or stumbling upon his words once in the entire episode? The speech he gave Mack about memory while playing that video game just seemed to suggest he must be returning to who he was or at least regaining some kind of ability.
2. Ward is leaving presents like a cat on its owner’s doorstep
That was a pretty funny line from Skye. Ward remains a real puzzle this season. One minute you think he wants to redeem himself, the next he contacts Hydra to ask to meet the local head (Whitehall) only to kidnap Bakshi and leave him as a present for Coulson. The writers are making him really hard to trust and that in turn makes him a far more interesting character than he was last season.
Will he go hunting for Hydra on his own? We know he’s going after his brother next episode (and that’s a given judging by that final scene)? More importantly, what is he trying to prove? Ward is free of Garrett, free of Hydra and free of S.H.I.E.L.D. now, he is his own man so I’m guessing he’ll turn into some sort of mercenary, maybe the show’s version of the Punisher (without the drive for revenge).
1. The alien writing is a map of a city
And I’m going to call it because I don’t think it can be anything else: It’s a map of Attilan, the ancestral home of the Inhumans
What troubles me with the Inhumans link is the timeline between now and the release date for the Inhumans movie. 4 years is a long time to keep dropping clues and given the pace of the show, I don’t know how they could keep it going that long.
The question is though, how is the GH325 compelling people to carve the map of the Inhuman city if the blue alien was Kree? Inhumans aren’t blue, they mostly look like normal human beings. We know they were created by the Kree but that still doesn’t explain it.
At any rate it’s nice to see Coulson now being free of the writing obsession and able to focus on other things.
Overall, one of the best episodes so far 🙂