The direction for the rest of the season seems to be forming.
Cast and Crew Information
Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May
Brett Dalton as Grant Ward
Chloe Benet as Skye
Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz
Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons
David Conrad as Ian Quinn
Ruth Negga as Raina
Bill Paxton as John Garrett
B. J. Britt as Antoine Triplett
Patton Oswalt as Eric Koenig
Adrian Pasdar as Glenn Talbot
Written by Brent Fletcher
Directed by Milan Cheylov
Premise
Coulson’s team is regrouping, but so is Hydra. We are currently in a heavily serialized portion of the season, bringing in a number of elements from past episodes.
High Point
“Chutes are in the bay.”
Low Point
There appears to be an intelligence gap in place. I can’t say more without spoilers, but if Koenig knew the Fridge fell, how did he not know who was involved? End spoiler.
The Review
This is an original episode, spending just as much time on the villains as the heroes, and not even attempting a real beginning/middle/end structure, instead playing out like the middle issue of a comic book story arc. I give it 5 out of 6.
The effects are well done again. The nod to Strange Tales, Vol. 1 #136 could have had a slightly better effect, but the rest seems pretty smooth. I give it 5 out of 6.
The story hits the beats it needs to hit for the bigger picture, but this would be a lousy “first episode” given the amount of prior knowledge that is required. I give it 5 out of 6.
The acting is nicely done, particularly with Dalton and Gregg getting the opportunities to go to new places in their performances. I hoped to see more of Adrian Pasdar in that role, but I suspect that’s still coming. I do find Paxton less convincing now, though. I give it 5 out of 6.
The production remains great from the Mutant Enemy crew. I give it 6 out of 6.
The emotional response is good, but it still feels like a tame episode after the previous two. I give it 5 out of 6.
Overall, it’s a good episode, but one that is probably best enjoyed when you pop in the corresponding DVD/Blu-Ray disk and hit “play all.” I give it 5 out of 6.
In total, Providence receives 36 out of 42.
Low point: Is that a caterpillar on your lip?
I swear that was a hideous fake mustache. Don’t they have more money for makeup on this show?
I had the same though, Re: Stache.
It’s comically bad. I’m starting to think that’s the point.
Hey! What’s this show going to called next year?
So, as someone who still hasn’t seen Winter Soldier, can I watch this episode, or do I need to wait? The suggestion on the last episode was not to watch it before Winter Soldier.
Any episode that comes after TWS chronologically is going to involve a potential plot spoiler. Personally my opinion is that unless you have managed to stay isolated from any spoilers from either the movie or TV show, it isn’t a gigantic spoiler given what was implied by the trailers for TWS and MAoS and Cap’s typical enemy.