TV Episode Review - Emancipation (Agents of SHIELD S3, E20) + Azrael (Gotham S2, E19)

This time, Coulson and Talbot talk about registering Inhumans to the Sokovia Accords (finally) in Agents of SHIELD and an old enemy returns to Gotham under a new name and a new motive:

Emancipation

Following the signing of the Sokovia Accords, Talbot and Coulson discuss about registering the Inhuman agents that they have. Coulson refuses this, reminding Talbot that even though the Avengers have signed it, not all of them have. This then follows Coulson taking Talbot to a SHIELD base to give him an update on the Hive situation, introduce a couple of agents and to tell him that the Secret Warriors are to be kept anonymous. And it looks like things are working in SHIELD's favour, but how long this will last is a good question. Its not the first time the series has had a tie in to a MCU film. The first series had SHIELD clean up Greenwich after Thor made a mess there and saw the effects of Hydra taking over SHIELD as a result of the Winter Solider. The second series had Coulson find that SHIELD base for the Avengers as well as giving Nick Fury the location of the secret Hellicarrier while also trying to tie the Guardians of the Galaxy to the rest of the MCU. But I think its safe to say that while Agents of SHIELD aims to be independent from the MCU films and other MCU TV shows and other supporting material, you can't help but wonder if they will make a reference to major events that occur in the universe. This tie in episode probably shows that you don't need to have an entire episode dedicated to events that have happened in other areas of the MCU and that just a small reference is enough to keep people happy. Its good. 8/10

Azrael

Gordon and Bruce suspect that Prof. Strange is up to something and in order to make sure his secret plans don't go bad, Strange sends out a revived Theo Galavan under the name Azrael to take out Gordon. With not enough evidence to take down Strange, its only a matter of time before Gordon's life becomes a risk once again. I thought this was a good episode that foreshadows what we would come to expect when Batman eventually appears and shows us even more of the insane psychopaths that lurk in Gotham. Its a good episode, but I really wish the GCPD could take Gordon more seriously. 8/10