Agents of SHIELD: "Bouncing Back" Review (Season 3, Episode 11)

Yay!

After a three-month hiatus, SHIELD's finally back (or "bouncing back" as the title suggests). The midseason premiere was probably the season's weakest episode, but there was still much for me to enjoy from it.

First, there's the cryptic opening scene, which teased that one of the characters was going to die three months in the future on a Quinjet in space. I thought of it as SHIELD's version of the current "who's in the grave" mystery on Arrow. I have mixed feelings on the scene. It's certainly a fun tease, but it's not much more than that. It's like one of the writers or producers just appeared on screen and said "Hey! One of the characters is gonna die at the end of the season!" and just left it at that. I don't know. We'll have to see how it plays out, then I can give my thumbs-up or thumbs-down on it.

The introduction of Elena Rodriguez/Yo-Yo/Slingshot was a major plus. The language barrier between her and the team made things interesting, and I liked seeing the friendship between her and Mack develop over the course of the episode (The "I don't know what you're saying" moment was great). And, dang it, seeing a speedster run super fast never gets old!

The stuff with Hive/Ward was short but sweet, and by sweet I totally mean creepy. Brett Dalton was really great, making it clear that the Ward we knew and loved/hated was gone. I'm really interested in seeing Hive in action later, and finding out what the heck he was doing at the end of the episode. And what's with the growing number of TVs?

Other Thoughts:

• It was fun seeing Lincoln science-ing with Fitz and Simmons. There were a few moments where I thought they were going to introduce another FitzSimmons love triangle, but then the show reminded me that Lincoln and Skye were apparently a thing.
• Coulson's meeting with the President was a cool touch. It also gave some much-needed clarity as to SHIELD's current relationship with the government.
• I kinda want to see more of the "Medusa" Inhuman.
• HYDRA has hold music. Brilliant.

Rating: 8.1/10 slap bracelets

Next week, Talbot and Absorbing Man are back!

Noah