Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV Series) Purpose in the Machine (2015) User Reviews

brilliant update on the lost in the culvert arc....

[A_Different_Drummer · 9/10 · 19 October 2015]

Hats off to Team Whedon. Once again (shades of Buffy!) we have an episode where the entire arc of the series becomes secondary to the humanistic issues of the characters.

And - it works. Boy does it work! In the 1940s, one of the common "danger" stories in movies was about getting lost in a culvert and finally getting rescued. This was then picked up by the TV writers in the 1950s. If this reviewer had a dime for every time Lassie rescued someone from a drainage ditch -- well, you get the picture.

In the new millennium, drainage ditches are no longer as menacing as they once were. Enter Team Whedon, who not only bring us a monolith that seemingly disintegrates people, but also bring us this wonderful episode where "true love" prevails and an improbable hero crosses time and space to retrieve something he misplaced.

Bravo.

DragonSlayer saves Simmons

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 8 October 2015]

Peter MacNicol returns as the Asgardian-in-Professor's clothing "Elliot Randolph". Fitz now has proof that this bulbous rock with holes in it is a black hole leading to someplace that has sand, and that it can be controlled somehow. But how? Randolph might know, but he's in Norwegian Jail.

Meanwhile, Agent May is visiting her pop (Asian character actor James Hong), while Ward, the new head of Hydra, tortures prospective new agents. One of these is the kid from Gladiator, Spencer Treat Clarke.

During the seasons I missed, a few new agents had been added to Coulson's ragtag: Mainly Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki) who is good at beating people senseless with two sticks, her husband Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) who is good at running Ops inconspicuously, a huge guy "Mack" (Henry Simmons) who was the Mecnanic on a HelioCarrier and likes to mangle people with a huge Axe-Head, and there was one other guy, but he got turned into pieces of statue when Raina the Flower-Girl turned on one of the Kree Obelisks.

I always thought that more people in Coulson's Ragtag made it more interesting. The whole Inhuman's storyline has led up to this point, and now it's time to rescue Simmons from some alien planet we saw her at in E1. All it took was a little sand left over after the Rock liquefied, for Fitz to start piecing it together. He comes across as still damaged and still brilliant- He has nothing to lose. Dr Randoph's assistance leads them to some stone ruins in England, which turns out to be an ancient control system for this thing.

They turn it on, but Daisy's powers wreck it. But her powers fix it as well. Basically, it's the sub-woofer that ate Stonehenge.

One of the best episode

[sankale · 10/10 · 23 December 2015]

This episode has to be the one of the best of agents of shield series. The way in which they unravel the mystery of monolith and Fitz's belief in Simmons being alive is really amazing. This episode starts a new chapter in the series which will be the base of the season.This episode takes cue from previous episodes to find a way to solve the mystery of monolith. This give rise to a whole new dimension to the series. Flitz now believe that the monolith is some kind of black hole which teleports things to another planet.With the help of Elliot Randolph an Arcadian roting in jail shields try to rescue Simmons from the alien planet.Dr Randoph's assistance leads them to some stone ruins in England, which turns out to be an ancient control system for this thing. But still unable to control the thing, Daisy uses her power to stabilize the monolith leading to destroying of the stone.

Re-watch thoughts

[noorea-85147 · 6 March 2019]

This was my favorite episode of the show for a long time (only got replaced by a s5 ep) It's not the best by any means, it just meant a lot to me as a fan of Simmons who stressed about her fate for months! so this episode just gave me the feels! The monolith portion of the episode was absolutely perfect, bringing Randal back, the cold open, the chilling maveth theme, Fitz being a badass! teamwork! interesting sets, small details like the flair gun...pretty much all of it! I also really loved May's plot, her father is great, and her wanting to try life outside shield is interesting (though with hindsight, I know it goes nowhere) and her teaming up with Hunter is a fun dynamic to try. I guess the one plot I didn't love is the Ward stuff, I like the guy, he gets way more interesting this season, I just didn't feel the new hydra vibe, it feels off .Introducing the Strucker kid was a nice twist but the last scene with Garner was strange.

FitzSimmons

[toratoratora-1 · 9/10 · 23 April 2023]

Fitz jumps through a freaking hole in the Universe to save his Jemma.

In all of TVs history there will be no love story greater than this of Leopold Fitz and Jemma Simmons. And here we've seen just the beginning.

Apart from that a decent episode, which mainly sees our heroes willing to give it all to help Fitz beyond all doubt. They all had their ups and downs within the team, but when it mattered they all could count on each other.

Also nice May and Hunter side story. They've come a long way since Hunter shot May to get to Creel. Some sort of comic relief here.

I shed a tear here at the end.