The Only Light in the Darkness

"The Only Light in the Darkness"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode
"The Art of Level Seven" poster for the episode.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 19
Directed by	Vincent Misiano
Written by	Monica Owusu-Breen
Produced by	Jed Whedon Maurissa Tancharoen Jeffrey Bell
Cinematography by	Feliks Parnell
Editing by	David Crabtree
Original air date	April 22, 2014 (2014-04-22)
Running time	42 minutes
Guest actors
Patrick Brennan as Marcus Daniels Amy Acker as Audrey B.J. Britt as Antoine Triplett Patton Oswalt as Eric Koenig Tsai Chin as Lian May

"The Only Light in the Darkness" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), revolving around the character of Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they face an escaped convict with enhanced abilities. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The episode was written by Monica Owusu-Breen, and directed by Vincent Misiano.

Clark Gregg reprises his role as Coulson from the film series, and is joined by series regulars Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge. The episode introduces guest star Amy Acker as Audrey, who was first mentioned in The Avengers as "the cellist".

"The Only Light in the Darkness" originally aired on ABC on April 22, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 6.04 million viewers.

Plot

Koenig subjects Coulson's team to a rigorous lie detector test, which Ward narrowly beats to maintain his cover. Coulson takes Fitz, Simmons, and Triplett to stop Marcus Daniels, a superhuman and former Fridge inmate possessing the Darkforce, who is obsessed with cellist Audrey Nathan, Coulson's former love interest. After rescuing Audrey, they devise a plan to lure out Daniels. The group overloads him with energy from gamma ray guns, causing him to explode. Coulson briefly comforts Audrey before withdrawing, as he plans on telling her he is alive some other day. Meanwhile, May leaves the team, tired of Coulson not trusting her. Skye and Koenig hack the NSA to get eyes on the Hydra attack at the Fridge, forcing Ward to murder Koenig to prevent discovery. Skye finds Koenig's body and realizes that Ward is with Hydra. In order to avoid suspicion by Ward, Skye joins him as they steal the Bus before Coulson and the others return to Providence. Later, May is picked up by her mother in Ontario, Canada who helps her look for Maria Hill.

Production

Development

In March 2014, Marvel revealed that the nineteenth episode would be titled "The Only Light in the Darkness", and would be written by Monica Owusu-Breen, with Vincent Misiano directing.^[1]

Writing

Executive producer Jeffrey Bell, on the decision to introduce the character known previously in the MCU only as "the cellist" here, said, "there’s that one line and suddenly it’s who is this person? And what is this person? And when are we going to see this person? And we talked about it a number of times over the season, and we had different versions and different ideas how to get there....at a time when [Coulson]’s at his most vulnerable, it seemed to be a good choice for us." Concerning the character of Blackout, Bell stated that "He’s the antagonist, in the same way we’ve used other Marvel characters as antagonists in the episodes. At the same time, we’re dealing with the fall-out of what happened with S.H.I.E.L.D., and the viewers finding out about Ward and what’s going on over there, so there’s a lot going on. Emotionally, he’s perfect. Here’s a character who absorbs light, and one of the things he says to Audrey – which is the title of the episode – he refers to her as “the only light in the darkness.” And his obsession with the cellist is a beautiful metaphor, I think, for who Coulson is to her, who she is to Coulson, who S.H.I.E.L.D. is to the world…and the idea of S.H.I.E.L.D. falling apart, and Hydra coming out and darkness speaking, the idea of having Blackout as an antagonist seemed perfect."^[2]

Casting

In March 2014, Marvel revealed that main cast members Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge would star as Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Grant Ward, Skye, Leo Fitz, and Jemma Simmons, respectively.^[1] It was also revealed that the guest cast for the episode would include Bill Paxton as Agent John Garrett, Patrick Brennan as Marcus Daniels, Amy Acker as Audrey, B.J. Britt as Agent Antoine Triplett, and Patton Oswalt as Agent Koenig.^[1] Tsai Chin also guest stars as Lian May.^[3] Paxton, Brennan, Britt, and Oswalt reprise their roles from earlier in the series.^[4]

Music

With the introduction of Acker as Audrey, "the cellist", in this episode, composer Bear McCreary was able to bring back the Cellist Theme he composed for a brief moment in "The Magical Place" where the character was mentioned. For the sequence in the episode where the character plays cello, McCreary "wrote a collection of three short, repetitive musical figures set to various tempos" for Acker to learn and mimic with a cello coach, before performing the scene. Once the scene had been cut together, McCreary wrote a piece of music that "97%" matched Acker's visible movements, including timing and pitch. Eric Byers of the Calder Quartet performed the solo piece, working closely with McCreary to again mimic Acker's performance. A particularly tricky moment had the character suddenly stop playing on the arrival of Brennan's Daniels, with Byers trying "a dozen different versions" before he and McCreary were satisfied. McCreary stated that the biggest challenge "was to take all those constraints and compose a piece of music that satisfied them all and yet felt soaring and lyrical. After all that, I had to write orchestral score around the cello performance to help sell the tension, emotion, horror and triumph."^[5]

Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins

The character of Audrey was first mentioned as "the cellist" in The Avengers as a love interest for Coulson.^[2]

Release

Broadcast

"Turn, Turn, Turn" was first aired in the United States on ABC on April 8, 2014.^[6]

Marketing

For the final six episodes, Marvel began the "Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Art of Level Seven" initiative, in which a different image was released each Thursday before a new episode, depicting a first look at a key event from the upcoming episode. Bell stated that the initiative was a way to tie the series back to its comics roots, and was thought of at the beginning of the season. The production team tried to pair specific artists to the teaser posters based on their previous work and how it connected to the themes and emotion of the intended episode.^[7] The poster for "The Only Light in The Darkness", created by Pascal Campion, focuses on Coulson and his cellist lover, Audrey, while also hinting at the villain for the episode, Marcus Daniels.^[2]

Home media

The episode, along with the rest of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first season, was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 9, 2014. Bonus features include behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel.^[8] On November 20, 2014, the episode became available for streaming on Netflix.^[9]

Reception

Ratings

In the United States the episode received a 1.9/6 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, meaning that it was seen by 1.9 percent of all households, and 6 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast. It was watched by 5.37 million viewers.^[6]

References

External links

• "The Only Light in the Darkness" at ABC
• "The Only Light in the Darkness" at the Internet Movie Database
• "The Only Light in the Darkness" at TV.com