Warning: full episode spoilers follow.
If last week's Earth's Mightiest Heroes featured Cap trying to rebuild the public's trust in himself and the Avengers, this week's installment turned inward as Cap tried to heal the broken bonds among his teammates. The efforts to repair his shattered shield served as a not-so-subtle metaphor for that healing process. Alongside this interpersonal conflict, the Vision finally made his EMH debut as the latest villain to threaten the team.
The battle scenes with the vision were easily the highlight of the episode. This is a character who is practically a Superman-level powerhouse, but writers rarely seem to reflect that fact except when Vision serves as an antagonist. "Behold... the Vision" took its cues from the character's original appearance in Avengers #57 by presenting him as an agent of Ultron designed to pick apart the team with his impressive density-altering powers. As such, the Ultron reveal at the end was entirely predictable, but it's still nice to know we'll get another major storyline involving that villain before this series wraps.
The various character dynamics were generally well handled in this episode. Thor wasn't much more than ineffectual muscle, but the hostility between Hawkeye and Black Panther was very entertaining. We also got to see Cap step up and prove that he, more than any character, is best qualified to lead this ragtag band of heroes and spies. Seeing characters like panther and Iron Man get called out for essentially abandoning the team during the Secret Invasion storyline was a nice touch. The sometimes hostile and abrasive team dynamic is often what sets the Avengers apart from other superhero teams like the Justice League.
What didn't work so well was the B-plot involving Wasp and Jane Foster. The writers didn't focus on the characters nearly enough to justify their inclusion. The two shared a brief girl's night as Jane pined over Thor, and that segued into a brief battle with Vision. I was expecting there to be more drama with Wasp's injuries, but she merely woke up and seemed to shrug off the effects of being squeezed half to death by a homicidal android.
On the plus side, the writers seemed to have some fun with homages in this episode. Early on, we saw a cameo of Professor Thorton and the Weapon X facility as Vision kicked off his rampage. Later, the episode offered homages both to the Dracula movies (in the case of Vision's attack on Wasp and Jane) and the first Predator (when Vision stalked the Wakandan soldiers in the jungle). In the case of the latter, however, the animation wasn't quite up to the task. The rigid, unchanging layer of shadows in the jungle proved a bit distracting and surreal. I've mentioned this before, but there are times when the gulf in visual quality between this series and a show like Young Justice is depressing.
In any case, "Behold... the Vision" was a fun episode that set up a new, larger conflict and helped ease the Avengers back into working order. Now we just need Hank Pym back in action for this Ultron conflict to really kick off.
Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and various other IGN channels. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.
Source : ign[dot]com
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