Last new episode for a little while, what with the holiday season and all. I was READY to pronounce this one a breather episode, but the last few minutes had a lot of twists that should set up plenty for the next few seasons. Yes, seasons!
Not to say there wasn't fan service to be found here, because the episode starts off with the Cosmic Cube! Oh, but it's not done yet. The Cube's a work in progress, but the twist ending (at least one of them, anyway) to this episode is another confirmation that the Cube will come into play heavily later down the line.
Another piece of fan service was the official introduction of Mockingbird and her chemistry with Hawkeye. This was a very nice outing for Bobbi.
Mockingbird: I've come a long way since the days of driving you around. Hawkeye: That was like three months ago.
A decent episode. I still get a lot of enjoyment out of Reaper, as they've portrayed him as a pretty cool hired hand. Also got a lot of enjoyment out of some of the fun, random shoutouts to comic fans. Like this one...
Grim Reaper: I met with the fat man. He won't stand in our way.
Possible Kingpin reference? Awesome.
There's also more to the Black Widow storyline that seems to meet the eye. I wonder if it's as simple an explanation as "she still feels loyalty towards Hawkeye" or if they're giving her the Spider-Woman triple agent angle? It would make a lot of sense, since Fury seems adamant that he's got the entire HYDRA situation under control.
And finally, the big twist at the end.
As a comic storyline, it felt bloated and unnecessary. But as an ANIMATED storyline, yes! Bring on Secret Invasion!
If you're a fan of Marvel and haven't gotten on board yet, jump on. This is now officially Marvel's answer to "Justice League".
There's definitely a parallel to Secret Invasion there, but after the Captain Marvel episode, this felt like more of a set up for the Kree/Skrull war. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part (without exaggeration, I feel like Secret Invasion was the worst comic book story I've ever read), but I think that trying to do Secret Invasion on top of all the other stuff they've already set up would be way too much all at once.
I don't see any reason why they couldn't "fold" Secret Invasion into a Kree/Skrull War type of story. Of course, with how well done the show has been so far, I'm sure I'll be fine with whatever they do. Me and my son will be watching!
"You are going to get a certain amount of snarkiness on the Internet no matter what, and my rule is that you don't post anything that you wouldn't say to someone's face." Marc Andreyko (Writer of DC Comic's "Manhunter")
Announced at the TCA, NBC is going to rerun "Project Runway" Mondays at 8/7PM. Oh, good, FINALLY there's something to watch before RAW starts! Am I right, ladies? Woo.