Heavy Is the Head (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Clark Gregg reprises his role as Coulson from the film series, and is joined by principal cast members Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, and Nick Blood.

Following the events of "Shadows", mercenary Lance Hunter is captured by Brigadier General Glenn Talbot, who offers him $2 million and a proper burial for late S.H.I.E.L.D.

In September 2014, Marvel announced that the second episode of the season would be titled "Heavy is the Head", to be written by Paul Zbyszewski, with Jesse Bochco directing.

[1] In September 2014, Marvel revealed that main cast members Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, and Nick Blood would star as Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Skye, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons, and Lance Hunter, respectively.

[1] It was also revealed that the guest cast for the episode would include Kyle MacLachlan, B. J. Britt, Ruth Negga, Henry Simmons, Adrian Pasdar, Simon Kassianides, Brian Patrick Wade, Wilmer Calderon, Carolina Espiro, Cutter Garcia, and Danny Pierce.

Agents Antoine Triplett and Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, General Glenn Talbot, Raina, and Hydra member Sunil Bakshi, respectively.

As well as picking up seconds after that one finished, it also continued (and resolved) many of the plot threads it introduced, establishing the show's operating status quo in the final minutes.

Goldman felt that the episode "continued to show off an improved series, boasting better pacing and a stronger overall tone", and praised the single-scene appearance of MacLachlan.

There needs to be more color and personality in the environments and costuming, and taking more chances with the camerawork will bring more excitement to the action and heighten the emotional beats of the script.

"[11] Kevin Fitzpatrick of ScreenCrush stated that "we're thrilled to see "Heavy is the Head" taking the ball from last week and running with a very confident start to the season thus far."

He particularly praised the characters of Hunter and Creel, and noted that while MacLachlan's appearance "didn't particularly deepen our understanding of the mystery to have the obelisk "spare" Raina its death touch, nor necessarily to have Coulson scratch out another board's worth of equations, it's nice to see the writers keeping the alien aspects in play as often as possible.

"[12] Joseph McCabe, writing for Nerdist, felt that "So far this season, the show has kept what worked best in its first year, that Whedon-patented propensity for pairing end-of-the-world melodrama with the most mundane of concerns ...