Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S1 Ep15 – Yes Men

Lorelei, an evil Asgardian set out on building an army of men to do her bidding, has escaped from an Asgardian prison to wreak havoc on Midgard (Earth). Following her arrival is Lady Sif, an ally of the mighty Thor who seeks out S.H.I.E.L.D. in order to help track Lorelei down. Meanwhile, Skye is feeling surprisingly great after Simmons injected her with GH-325, a drug only Coulson knows is of alien origin.

Elena Satine guest stars as Lorelei

“Yes Men” has a very simple set up and execution. Lorelei is evil and has the ability to compel men to do whatever she asks. She works her way up from controlling a random newlywed, to an entire biker gang, and eventually to controlling Agent Ward. This makes the situation even more personal for the team, including Agent May. Since the episode “The Well“, Ward and May have been sleeping together here and there. The good thing is May, being the strong-willed character that she is, doesn’t let Ward’s condition affect her in a negative way. In a conversation with Lady Sif, May makes it clear that Ward will never get the drop on her despite her feelings. Meanwhile, Ward takes Lorelei to Las Vegas to keep her safe from S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s here that Lorelei and Ward get very intimate in a hotel room.

Later, Coulson and his team track down Lorelei and Ward’s location. By the time Coulson, May, and Lady Sif make it there they are too late. The evidence in the hotel room leads May to believe that Lorelei and Ward did have sex the night before, which puts her a little on edge. They head back to their plane, only to find Ward and Lorelei have beaten them there. Fitz, now under Lorelei’s influence, traps Lady Sif in their holding cell. With some quick thinking, Coulson is able to get to Skye and Simmons, whom Fitz had locked up, and eventually free Lady Sif so she can take on Lorelei. Before this, May makes her way to Ward and Lorelei, which leads to a a great fight scene between Ward and May. Lorelei leaves to check the holding cell Lady Sif was trapped in only to get into a sword fight with her. Here we get to see two nicely choreographed fight scenes happen simultaneously. It all ends well when Lady Sif eventually takes down Lorelei. Lady Sif is able to place a magic Asgardian collar around Lorelei’s neck, imprisoning her once more. This releases Ward and Fitz from her influence.

The subplot of “Yes Men” showed Coulson still dealing with the truths he discovered in the previous episode. He found out that GH-325, a drug used to save his and Skye’s life, was being extracted from a dead blue alien. He keeps this secret from everyone including Simmons, who demands that she be able to send a sample to be tested at S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson refuses and orders her to focus on the mission at hand. By the end of the episode Coulson opens up to Skye about his discovery. Skye is shocked that her miracle cure came from an alien, but doesn’t share the same resentment as Coulson. She’s just happy to be alive. Coulson is far beyond being just happy and wants answers. His mistrust of S.H.I.E.L.D. is through the roof and now he and Skye are going to try their hardest to find out the truth. What they don’t know is May was listening in on our their conversation. Immediately after she makes a call to someone at S.H.I.E.L.D. stating “he knows”.

Don’t mess with Lady Sif.

Having Lady Sif make an appearance was a great way of reinforcing the fact that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. does tie in to its movie counterparts. Her appearance never felt forced and I enjoyed seeing her fight alongside the team. She had some neat fight scenes, including the climactic final battle with Lorelei and the fight against Lorelei’s biker gang. The show even delved more into her character than either of the previous Thor films. In both Thor and Thor: The Dark World her character is glossed over, never being more than a side character. In “Yes Men” we find out more about her back-story. We find out that Lorelei once placed a man Lady Sif loved under her influence and from the sound of it he may have died in a battle against Lady Sif because of it. Jaimie Alexander did a great job reprising the role of Lady Sif and it was nice seeing an actual Marvel super hero on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s highly doubtful that Lady Sif will have more of a role in Thor 3, or even her own movie, but I would be content seeing her pop up some more on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Elena Satine did well in the role of Lorelei. Lorelei felt like more than just the villain of the week. The episode ends with her getting captured and being brought back to Asgard, so I hope we get to see more of her in Marvel’s next Thor film. Lady Sif does state that Odin wanted her back alive, and those who saw Thor: The Dark World know that Loki has disguised himself as Odin. Will Loki and Lorelei eventually team up? It’s fun to speculate.

Overall, “Yes Men” was a very entertaining and action-packed episode. There were some great character moments, especially one between Simmons and Coulson where Simmons stands up to him. Sadly, I think Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. might be heading into love triangle territory. A line from Lorelei implied that Ward was attracted to someone else before he hooked up with May. Maybe Skye? Either way, May wants Ward to be honest with himself about his true feelings. Considering May’s attitude I don’t think she would be too upset if Ward left her for Skye.

These last few episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have been a pleasant surprise. I’m glad the show is finally finding its footing. Unfortunately, there will be no new episode next week, but in its place ABC will air a new Marvel documentary titled Marvel: Assembling a Universe. It will show sneak previews of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, and upcoming episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., so make sure you tune in for that.

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Watch “Yes Men” on Amazon Instant Video.