Week 25: The Writing on the Wall, The Things We Bury

The Writing on the Wall: Not great or anything, but a big improvement over the last few episodes. I could take or leave the Ward stuff, which had some mildly amusing exchanges with Triplett and Morse and Hunter but was otherwise standard cat-and-mouse spy movie stuff. What worked better for me was the storyline about Sebastian Derik and the mysterious symbols. Coulson's revelation that he kept Raina's memory machine was just the jolt that the show needed; a spy agency director must have a certain ruthlessness. The sequence exploring Coulson's memories was simple but effective. The showdown with Derik was a little silly -- yes, take your shirt off to showcase the makeup department's tattoo work! -- but ultimately its revelation was satisfying. I don't know where the story's going next, but I'm glad to leave behind compulsively carving Coulson, who was starting to wear out his welcome. (6/10)

The Things We Bury: As glad as I was to get some backstory on Daniel Whitehall, he remains a generic villain. Marvel itself has already portrayed several Nazi-like scientists who will commit acts of evil to further their research, not to mention Hollywood's countless other depictions, so I don't feel like we need another one. Still, I appreciate that the show is finally connecting the dots regarding the Chinese village massacre, and I really liked the montage of 44 years passing in the prison cell; that was a nice touch. I also liked the guest appearance of Peggy Carter, who's always welcome, and Mack's faith in Coulson's plan and its payoff. The Ward subplot was less appealing; I don't know what it's supposed to accomplish for him as a character other than to reinforce that he's a psychopath who sometimes tells the truth, which everyone watching should have figured out by now. And the Morse and Hunter hookup, ugh. (5/10)