Agents of SHIELD Review: Uprising (Season 4 Episode 3)
“A team divided is a team defeated.”
These words The Director tells Agent Coulson feel like a ominous sign for not just Coulson, but to the rest of the team as well. On “Uprising,” we see this team divided triumphs.
Blackouts are the common thread throughout “Uprising” as well as what happens to people dealing with those situations. Since this is Agents of SHIELD, though, these go to a whole another level for the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Fear is always one of the first things that happens in a blackout. From the fear Yo-Yo’s family and friends have for her when she reveals herself to be an Inhuman to save them, to Simmons’s fear when the power goes out just as she’s about to shock Agent May back to life.
Dr. Radcliffe: “How do you cure Fear?”
A wonderfully tense scene on “Uprising” is Simmons and Dr. Radcliffe killing May and then saving her from the spirit possessing her mind.
Agents of SHIELD still delivers a tense scene with Simmons and Radcliffe saving May in the nick of time thanks to a power source inside AIDA, the Life Model Decoy. Thank you, Agents of SHIELD, for putting some fear into the audience worrying about the favorite surly agent’s fate.
Bonding also happens in blackouts between people, and on “Uprising,” we are seeing more bonding occur between Ghost Rider and Daisy.
As they share stories together, it makes it even more heartbreaking at the end when Robbie’s brother Gabe tells Daisy he knows about her being the vigilante Quake. Gabe feels that he is doing this to protect his brother but believing you are doing the right thing is not the same as doing the right thing.
Daisy once again feels the pain of being alone as Gabe demands Daisy leaves immediately or he will reveal that she is an Inhuman. Gabe comes off as a concerned brother but it has a feeling of Daisy being kicked while she is down.
HENRY SIMMONS, CLARK GREGG
“Uprising” brings back the pairing of Fitz, Mack,and Coulson as they try to figure out who is behind the mysterious blackouts and saving Yo-Yo at the party.
My favorite part of “Uprising” is seeing each character get their own moment to shine either in battle, or in Fitz’s case, showing off his old-school methods of tracking down The Watchdogs.
From Fitz’s old-school methods of tracking down the cause of the blackouts to Yo-Yo’s awesome slow-motion scenes of disarming The Watchdogs, it’s awesome seeing SHIELD kicking bad guy butt.
Shocking is the word I would use as SHIELD becomes public again with The Director’s announcement to the public. Agents of SHIELD has been a show in the shadows for the past two seasons ,so it will be very interesting to see where this takes the show now.
Robbie needs good people around him, and that’s not you.
As the announcement is being made, Daisy is sitting in her van listening on the radio having left Robbie’s home.
It’s a heartbreaking moment as we see in Daisy’s face that as she is in tremendous physical pain, she is also hurting on the inside knowing she is once again alone. I fear we haven’t yet seen how low Daisy is going to get.
Once again, Agents of SHIELD gives us an episode that delivers with action, suspense and emotion all in the span of one hour.
Quick Notes:
- Parminder Nagra makes her debut as Senator Rota Nadeer. My concern was we would only get to see her sparingly. That fear was swept away in the final creepy scene that shows her working with the Watchdogs.
- Mack and Yo-Yo finally have it out over her helping Daisy.
- How good is that slow-motion Yo-Yo scene? It’s very similar to the Quicksilver scene in “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”
- We get to see more of AIDA and Dr. Radcliffe’s relationship as it gives off a father–daughter vibe in their scene together. It’s very obvious that Dr. Radcliffe cares for her.
- “You’re back to normal.” “I’m cranky” “Like I said, normal.” Coulson knows May so well. A strength of Agents of SHIELD is the characters know each other so well, and after so many seasons, it feels like a family.
- Robbie telling Daisy the origin of how he became Ghost Rider to seek vengeance on the gang bangers who hurt his brother gives me great sympathy for Robbie. Especially as he thinks fixing his uncle’s wrong will get rid of the spirit (I fear that it will not.)
What did you think of this episode of Agents of SHIELD? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Reviewer Rating:
User Rating:
Agents of SHIELD airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on ABC.
Charles Dulaney
Charles is a full-time fan of television and movies when he's not swamped by his many cats. He's also a proud Uncle who can't wait to show his nieces and nephews all of J.J. Abrams' TV work. He loves all things DC TV and Agents of SHIELD.