Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has returned with a bang: Coulson is back, but his left hand is not, and his “right hand,” May, is taking her own sweet time getting back. Skye is back, but is now going by her birth name, Daisy. Mack and Hunter are back, being competent and cracking jokes. Bobbi is back, but working in the lab rather than as a field agent while she recovers from wounds. Fitz is back, but searching for clues to Simmons’ disappearance in the field rather than in the lab. And Simmons has been having more than a little trouble getting back. The team has immediately found themselves at odds with a new agency, as well as a shadowy monster, and a resurgent Hydra. Today, we recap the first two episodes of the season. And this post will start a thread to give everyone a chance to discuss future episodes as the season progresses.
Only Agents cleared to observe SPOILERS should proceed beyond this point!
Stan Lee has long been a proponent of starting a comic book with action, or what Shakespeare used to refer to as “alarums and excursions.” In August 1965, that’s the way Lee and Jack Kirby kicked off the first adventure of S.H.I.E.L.D. In the course of that brief 12 page tale (appearing in Strange Tales #135), prospective S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury encountered assassination attempts at every turn. And along the way, the tale introduced many elements essential to the stories that followed: secrets within secrets, Life Model Decoys, hidden lairs, flying cars and helicarriers. So this year, we are not only celebrating the return of the television show, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.
The first episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Three followed in these action-packed footsteps. We see the Terrigen-tainted fish oil pills from Season Two, a shattered cocoon, and are introduced to a frightened man who can warp metal objects. The man is surrounded by paramilitary troops in blue camouflage, but takes shelter in an alley. He sees those troops, and one of their SUVs, go flying back past the alley, and around the corner strides Daisy, flanked by Mack and Hunter. A flying elevator lands, the man is deposited inside, and it zips up to a new S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft that puts last year’s Bus to shame. The troops are chastised for their failure by a mystery woman, whose picture is snapped by a lurking Coulson…and all this before the first commercial break!
The man with metal warping powers, Joey, is brought to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, and during the rest of the episode acts as a surrogate for the audience, as the others explain to him what an Inhuman is, and that he has an alien gen, activated by a chemical called Terrigen which gave him his unnatural abilities. We see Joey react to this news with hysterical laughter, and clash with Daisy when she tells him he can’t leave. By the end of the episode, he is beginning to deal with his situation, but is still unhappy at the loss of his normal life.
Daisy and Mack convince Coulson that they should find and bring back the Inhuman, Lincoln, who is not only a doctor, but who was skilled at helping new Inhumans deal with their transformation. The two confront Lincoln in a hospital where he works. He wants nothing to do with them, and considers his Inhuman status a curse.
Coulson and Hunter investigate the mystery woman and her organization. We learn that transformations have been happening frequently, and Joey is the first person who didn’t vanish before they reached them. We see the mystery woman in her own base, looking into a room full of dead people with wounds in their chests. Coulson and Hunter find that the woman sometimes rides home from a DARPA office on DC’s Metro. They confront her, only to find it’s a trap. Coulson is unperturbed, and has a long talk with the woman, who calls herself Rosalind. Coulson asks her about her activities, and she trumps his probing by mentioning T.A.H.I.T.I. and Coulson’s resurrection. She accuses him of leaving a trail of bodies, blasted by energy weapons. He asks who is killing these individuals, and they realize it is neither of them.
The show cuts to the hospital in chaos, as a strange blue monster with spiny hair, fangs, a deep voice and energy powers strides down the hallway after killing a guard. This is obviously the one who has been killing new Inhumans. Daisy, Mack and Lincoln fight the monster, who takes their best shots, and disappears after Daisy quakes the floor open beneath him. Lincoln and the others go their separate ways. In the subway car, both Coulson and Rosalind get calls about the hospital incident, Coulson sets off a bomb, and he and Hunter escape.
Meanwhile, Fitz is in Morocco, chasing a lead to Simmons’ disappearance and looking driven and unshaven. He meets with some terrorists, and trades bombs (the ones used last season to attack the U.N.) for an ancient scroll he thinks is connected to the monolith. The bombs go off in the face of the terrorists, and Fitz escapes in a hail of bullets.
Bobbi spends the episode working in the lab, recovering from wounds suffered during last season’s finale. We find Bobbi and Hunter are a couple again, and he wants to marry her, but she isn’t sure. The one thing they both agree on is the need to go after “him” (Grant Ward), but Bobbi wants Hunter to wait until she recovers and can help.
In a pivotal piece of exposition, the team gathers around televisions to watch a speech by President Ellis, who makes references that tie the show to the Avengers and Winter Soldier movies. The President has created a task force, the Advanced Threat Containment Unit, or A.T.C.U. Coulson realizes that Rosalind is connected with A.T.C.U. After the address, Coulson watches a simulation that shows Terrigen incidents spreading all over the world.
Fitz opens the scroll with Coulson, but finds it contains only one word, in Hebrew: “death.” Coulson tells Fitz they need to move on. Fitz agrees, but then goes into the room with the monolith, and blasts the containment door open with a shotgun. He pounds on the monolith, screaming in frustration, as nothing happens. Then, during the stinger scene, we see a strange blue landscape with a woman running across it. The woman is Simmons, and we see two moons in the background: wherever Simmons is, she isn’t on Earth.
The second episode starts with an unexpected flashback to the 19th century. A committee of men draws lots, and the loser loads up a pack and straps on a sword. He passes through a door, and we see the monolith that swallowed Simmons. We hear the noise of the monolith swallowing the man while the committee discusses the fact that no one has ever returned.
The show then focuses on four major narrative threads: Ward’s efforts to rebuild Hydra, Daisy’s desire to add members to her “Secret Warriors,” May’s struggle with her role with S.H.I.E.L.D., and the team’s attempts to rescue Simmons.
We see Ward in a fast car, weaving among columns in a parking garage, all with people standing beside them. There is a man on the hood of the car, who slides off in a heap when Ward stops. The man is a leader in the old Hydra, who Ward proceeds to mock. The people beside the columns are his new recruits, learning to show no fear. Then Ward targets a rich young man on a yacht, taking out all the security guards with ease, and knocking out his target. Back in his lair, he leaves a minion to torture the young man to get bank account passwords. But the young man turns on the minion, and gives him a savage beating. We find that the young man is Werner Von Strucker, son of the Baron Strucker—whose experiments created Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, and who was killed by Ultron. Ward offers Werner a role in the new Hydra.
Daisy is frustrated. She wants Doctor Andrew Garner (May’s husband) to clear Joey, the newly found Inhuman, to begin training. The Doctor says that Joey isn’t ready, and says she is desperate, and that desperation leads to mistakes. He also says Coulson is making questionable decisions and tells Daisy she is turning into a leader. She says she wants to give people a place to belong, and a chance to make a difference. He counsels her to be more patient.
We find May golfing with her dad. He questions her about giving up on S.H.I.E.L.D. They talk about how she was an award-winning figure skater in her youth. They get a visit from Hunter, who wants May to help him take out Ward. May’s dad points out that when Hunter arrived, May immobilized him and was ready to take him out with a kitchen knife. He tells her she hasn’t left her old life behind, and reminds her that when she fell during skating, “My daughter always got back up.” When we last see May, it looks like she’s made her choice, as she’s loading weapons into a truck with Hunter.
The thread that dominates most of the episode involves efforts to rescue Simmons. Fitz’s tantrum in front of the monolith has set off alarms, and the team gathers, pulls him away, and closes the enclosure just before the monolith liquefies again. Coulson decides to call on an expert on history and alien artifacts; Professor Elliot Randall (played by Peter MacNichol), an exiled Asgardian who we first encountered in Season One, who has been living on Earth for centuries. He’s in jail following a drunken rampage, but when he decides to go with them, simply breaks open the door of the cell and walks out. They show him the monolith, and he says it’s some sort of portal or wormhole. Upon seeing the scroll Fitz collected in Morocco, with the word “death” on it, he recognizes it as being connected to an English castle where he once attended a party. Professor Randall agrees to help them, but only if after they rescue Simmons, they destroy the monolith.
The team travels to the castle, and finds a secret room marked by the same Hebrew word. The room is full of steampunk machinery, with a well in the center. They discover the equipment is designed to control the monolith, and have Mack fly it out on their new aircraft (which is called Zephyr One), and drop it into the well. They start the machinery, and the portal opens. But the machinery is unstable, and after they fire a flare through the portal, it all comes apart and the portal closes. Daisy has been affected by the portal, collapses and complains about a pulsating sound. They realize that the monolith is controlled by a resonance, and that Daisy’s powers can activate it. So they build a frame with a cable, and a probe to drop through it. Daisy uses her power to activate the portal, but before they can deploy the probe, Fitz takes the cable and jumps through. He finds Simmons, and after a struggle, they join hands. But the machine is coming apart, and the portal closes. The team looks into the well, and all they see is a pile of dirt. Fitz emerges from the dirt, and then so does Simmons, and the team celebrates. Back at the base, we see Simmons awake with a start, and sit up in bed with a flint knife clutched in her hand. She then sees Fitz sitting next to her, also asleep, and snuggles up next to him, with her head in his lap.
The stinger for this episode finds Doctor Garner talking to a new student who wants to join his class in mid-semester. The student turns, and we see it is the young Strucker, with an evil smirk on his face.
The two episodes were a strong start for the new season. The performances were good, the scripts were snappy, and things moved at a brisk pace. The return of the Asgardian Professor Randall was enjoyable, as it was a nice nod to the earlier days of the show, and added some humor to the proceedings.
The team is worn down by the challenges they faced in the first two seasons, and while they have bounced back stronger than ever, they still showing the scars they accumulated along the way. Some of them, especially Hunter and Mack, tend to use wisecracks as a coping mechanism, which helps lighten the mood of the show. Clark Gregg’s performance as the wounded and harried Coulson was especially noteworthy in both episodes.
The search for 0-8-4 artifacts is behind them, as is the opposition of General Talbot and “Real” S.H.I.E.L.D. It seems that ACTU will fill the role of the ‘frenemy’ team in the coming season, rivals that will clash with, but also grudgingly cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D. to deal with common threats. Constance Zimmer did a good job as Rosalind, and it will be interesting to learn more about ACTU.
For those who are familiar with the comics, the reveal of Werner Strucker is huge. Baron Strucker played a major role in Hydra in the comic books, and many were surprised to see him so quickly dispatched in Age of Ultron. But now we see that a Strucker will be playing a role in Hydra moving forward, and we can expect it will not be a small one…
The new monstrous blue Inhuman (played by Matt Willig), while he is unnamed in the show, is called Lash, and is the first Inhuman on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. who comes from the comic books (Daisy was not originally an Inhuman in the comics, so she doesn’t count). Lash is a new character, and was not part of the pantheon of Inhumans that first appeared in Fantastic Four comics back in the 1960s—it’s obvious that Marvel is saving those characters for the upcoming Inhumans movie.
So, yes: the show is off to a strong start, but it needs to be strong at this point. While ratings for the season opener (at 4.9 million viewers) were better than the disappointing ratings for last year’s finale, the ratings need to improve further to justify this expensive show continuing into Season Four. But there are a lot of well-loved genre shows that didn’t find their footing until after the first year (Star Trek: The Next Generation and Babylon 5 come immediately to mind). With the strong story arcs of the second season, and these two episodes to start the third season, it looks like the show will continue to grow, and live up to its potential.
This post will give people a place to discuss the show each week, and depending on the level of interest shown, might be followed up with a mid-season or end-of-season post as well. So let the discussion begin—and, as Stan Lee used to say back in the ‘60’s, “Don’t yield, back S.H.I.E.L.D.!”
Alan Brown has been a fan of S.H.I.E.L.D. from the beginning. He still remembers the day as a young boy when he read that first S.H.I.E.L.D. adventure and saw Jack Kirby’s splash page reveal of the helicarrier.
While the show might be cheezy and not that deep, I love its quick pace. This show does not waste time, especially since the second half of last season.
I looked at my wife about halfway through the first episode and said: “This show seems to have taken a huge jump forward in quality.” She agreed. This has been a good show. I think its about to become a great show.
Agreed, I like where this is going. It seems like in season 1 it probably would have taken weeks or months to resolve a plot thread like the Simmons disappearance and here they wrapped it up in 2 episodes. Also, I like the newer Ward, less slightly crazy, conflicted weirdo that he was for most of season 2 and just straight up bad guy. I like Daisy, Fitz, and even Hunter has grown on me. I’m really enjoying this show and since the mid-point of last season, it has been really fun to watch.
I almost gave up on the show midway through S1, but I think they’ve got a much better handle on the characters and on where they want to go. Now if they could just get Joss to write a few episodes….
I have to admit I’m a little disappointed in the Simmons resolution. They had her on an alien planet. For months. And five minutes after Fitz dives in, he finds her and drags her back and that’s all we see. I mean, I understand, that would be a huge FX budget to keep up, but… come on, it’s like handing out a flyer advertising your epic yard party with pictures of steaks, and then when you get there you say, “Oh, hey, all we have is salad, but salad’s good, right?” Yeah, it might have been, if you hadn’t gotten me salivating. And that view of Simmons standing up against a mountain with a ringed planet taking up the sky, THAT had me salivating. 2 minutes of blue-windy desert did not.
We had better get some details of what happened to her, tales of how she survived, what she ate while she was there, or I’ll be even more disappointed. And you won’t like me when I’m disappointed (get me too disappointed, and you risk me turning into the Incredible Sulk)
My best fanwank is that Simmons realized that she had to stay near the point where she arrived in order to have any chance of return. Thus, it was easy for Fitz to find her.
That doesn’t explain how she survived, of course, so we’ll need an explanation there. I’m guessing we’ll see changes in her as a result, too.
@1, @2, @3, @@.-@, The show is lots better, and I agree, Brett Dalton is doing a great job of portraying evil Ward.
@5, I don’t think we have heard the last of Simmons’ adventures on the faraway planet. I doubt she is unchanged by that experience. I think we would all be disappointed if nothing comes of it.
@6 There was a mention that Simmons saw the flare they fired the first time they operated the portal-opening machine, and headed toward where it came from. Explaining why she was so close when Fitz came through.
I meant to mention that the discussion about May and ice skating, including the references to Dorothy Hamill, was very similar to Buffy’s love of figure skating in What’s My Line.
How do we know Simmons was on the blue planet for months? Might have been a day or two for her.
My problem with her being so close is that they moved the portal several thousand miles and apparently it still opened up at the exact same location, which raises even more questions about how the portal actually works.
@10 well, that make sense: Earth spin on its axis and orbit around the sun, and the sun orbit the center of the galaxy… if the portal had not a method to point to a specific spot, there would be no way to travel to another planet that spin at a different velocity around a different star.
as for ratings: that 4.9mil is the Live + Same Day rating. it’s useless in general and even more so specifically. AoS has consistently had a major increase in ratings when factoring in L+3 and L+7 data (not to mention L+30). the season premiere went up to 7.5mil in the L+3 data (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/10/04/abc-l-3-results-s-h-i-e-l-d-emerges-as-number-1-scripted-show-for-timeslot-in-adults-18-49/475877/), beating out NCIS, which if recall has been tops in that time slot for years. AoS has plenty of viewers, it’s just that it also has a demographic that watches when they have time, via DVR or Hulu or ABC’s app. every discussion regarding AoS’s ratings has focused on the L+SD ratings. i don’t understand why anyone would do that.
Edit: to hammer home the point: Aos has a frelling 120% increase over the L+SD numbers when you consider multi-platform viewers (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/04/22/abc-releases-multiplatform-35-day-viewing-report-for-select-series-including-black-ish-scandal-once-upon-a-time-more/393204/). over half of its audience watches after the day it initially airs.
Randall is not an exiled Asgardian. He was left behind and doesn’t WANT to go back, but he could if he wanted to. He has a more exciting life on Midgard, whereas on Asgard, he was a stone mason. And it was cool the show recalled that, by having him note the good masonry at the castle!
It’s already been confirmed that there will be flashbacks exploring what happened to Jemma on Blue Planet.
Ming-Na’s face when Hunter said she was going through a mid life crisis was priceless! (She’s also 50, which just makes Hunter’s backtrack hilarious)
I REALLY hope we meet Momma May on Agent Carter
Mack and Daisy’s rapport is really good. Bennett’s portrayal has improved by leaps and bounds.
I thought for a moment that Werner might be Ward’s little brother, from the well. We never learned for sure if he survived the incident, but he was not mentioned in regards to Ward’s massacre of the rest of his family.
as far as the show goes…i’ve been enjoying the hell out of it. and yes, the simmons in space has to have some relevance, other than driving her back into the loving arms of fitz. you don’t have a trans-dimensional portal snatch one of your main characters to another planet for an indeterminate amount of time and not expand upon that. she has certainly been there long enough to be traumatized and fear attack, but not so long as to die from starvation/thirst. i suspect it is Kree related (on that topic, with all the Kree involvement, will be see Skrulls as well? or are they wrapped up on the Fantastic Four rights, and stuck with Fox?) a completely out-of-left field idea would be to have simmons have been exposed to kree cosmic energy and become captain marvel, but i know that’s not going to happen.
i enjoyed seeing our favorite lazy asgardian again, though.
edit: my geeky complaint of the day: dear hollywood, YOU CANNOT CARBON DATE INORGANIC MATERIALS. nor can you carbon date much past 50K years anyway. you want to determine the sand is billion years older than the earth, you are using uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating, or rubidium-strontium (Ru-Sr) dating. probably both, with an unknown sample age, the ru-sr will establish rough age, then refine with U-Pb (provided it is not beyond the range of about 5bil yrs). sure, that is too refined for the layperson, so just say RADIOMETRIC DATING. say it with me: radiocarbon is for archaeology, radiometric is for geology.
@14, The Skrulls are with Fox.
However, the TV rights vs Movie rights is fuzzy. Disney got all the TV rights when they purchased Marvel, but some people feel those are only animated characters, that live action characters would be a No No. But I’ve seen nothing clarifying this.
Some characters, like Werner Von Struckers twin siblings Andreas and Andrea, belong to FOX, because they are more connected to the X Men series. BUT Marvel has TV rights to those characters regardless, so there is a possibility we could see them, or the Skrulls, but ONLY on television.
@12 twiff
Agreed on the numbers. I’ve never watched AoS (and a number of other shows) when it was aired. I DVR it and watch when I get time or catch it online while I’m working. Hopefully the networks (ABC in this case) understand the numbers and don’t bag the show.
Ok, a couple of points regarding Simmons:
1) While Fitz came to the conclusion that the monolith was something like a stargate, transporting things to another planet, that’s not necessarily true. Asgaard, and the other Realms, are not merely other planets. They exist in different dimensions. You can’t get to Asgaard from Earth on a spaceship. This Monolith could be transporting them to another planet in another dimension.
2) In other dimensions, time may not flow the same as it does in ours. If Simmons was in another dimension, it could have been a day, or even a few hours, for her. We’ll have to wait and see.
3) The Writers’ Room for this show is filled with people who worked on Angel and Buffy. Angel had this exact same plot device on a season ending cliffhanger, when (SPOILERS FOR ANGEL) Angel’s son was stolen from him and taken to a hell dimension.(/SPOILERS) In that dimension, however, time ran more quickly than in Buffyverse LA. 17 years passed between the time (SPOILERS FOR ANGEL) Angel lost his son and the boy found his way back to Earth.(/SPOILERS) It could be that the reverse is happening here, and it was only a few days for Simmons.
@14: Yes on the dating. Joss made the same mistake on Buffy in Becoming.
@17: Also there was the Hell dimension in Anne when time ran more quickly there than on earth. I agree that this will be the most likely explanation.
Regarding DVR ratings… The ratings only matter as a metric to sell advertisements. That’s how they make money. So, DVR ratings don’t help them at all, because advertisers know we aren’t watching the ads. And adspace on Hulu is ridiculously cheap, compared to primetime on ABC… and yet STILL I have to watch the same two ads over and over and over, because advertisers are not buying them.
So, sorry, overnight ratings are the only ones that matter for whether a show will be renewed or not. If a network believes they have something that can fill its time slot and draw better ratings (or, at least, have a better profit margin after the cost of producing the show) then the show will get canned.
And we also have the “too close to a black hole” theory in pop culture, thanks to Interstellar.
Great season start, agreeed. But does anyone else think that Lash looks more like Emplate, from the Generation X comics, than like his actual comic self?
@12 twiff, I have been told the same thing that @19 anthony has said. That old fashioned rating still matters to the advertisers who foot the bills because those initial viewers are the ones who see the ads. But it is also clear that delayed viewing is a more and more important component of the viewing experience, and something that has to be factored in.
@13 Aeryl 1) Good catch on the use of the word ‘exile.’ ‘Expat’ Asgardian would have been more accurate. 2) Including May’s mom would be great for Agent Carter! 3) And I also like the way Mack and Daisy play off each other. His exasperated everyman approach helps ground things, and lightens the mood.
@14 twiff, like Aeryl says, rights for the Skrulls are with Fox because of their link with the Fantastic Four. But if ties to a particular comic are what determines where the rights went, I have never understood why rights for the Inhumans, who have also always been very strongly tied to the Fantastic Four, stayed with Marvel.
@21 A comment on another website called Lash “Sonic the Hedgehog,” and now I cannot get that image out of my mind!
@14, 22:
Re: the rights issues:
I think that’s all going to be a moot point soon, given the reception given to the new FF movie. And when a franchise does nothing but cost money to the company……. I’m sure we’ll soon have a lot new characters aviable. I’m confident about this.
On the skrulls… It was my understanding that the Chitari were the Ultimate line version of the Skrulls. Joss using them for the Avengers, provided a clever work around to copy right issues. That isn’t to say they are exactly the same, but much like mutant and Inhuman, they can functionally occupy exactly what is required. So little of them is actually known in the MCU that anything can be written to fill in gaps.
Really the only question was the army that attacked New York a mercenary one, is Thanos actually directly in charge of the entire race, or something in between.
The Chitauri are the Ultimate version of the Skrulls, but in the Ultimate universe I believe they could shapeshift, whereas in the MCU they can’t, or at least haven’t shown us that ability yet.
@19 anthonypero BINGO! L+7 bump over L+SD is all freeloaders as far as ad revenue is concerned.
However
There WILL be a 4th season of AoS, practically guaranteed.
per @TVGromReaper http://www.tvgrimreaper.com/2015/09/21/abc-predictions-agents-of-shield-is-certain-to-be-renewed-what-about-the-goldbergs/15/
Skeptical? http://www.tvgrimreaper.com/2015/09/16/the-prediction-record-of-tv-grim-reaper/89/
The Ultimates universe was created to give the Marvel team a chance to look at familiar characters in new and different ways. And to face some new threats in addition to the old familiar opponents. The Chitauri were one of those new threats. While they share some characteristics with the Skrulls, as I understand it, they were not created to replace the Skrulls, nor created specifically for use in the MCU–their creator, Mark Millar, just wanted to do something a bit different. The MCU was created when the Ultimate universe comics were very popular, and the MCU approach to the characters often owes a lot to the Ultimates universe (a bald black man as Nick Fury instead of an unusually spry white WWII vet, for example). And when the MCU needed a hostile alien race that wasn’t under someone else’s control, the Chitauri were an obvious choice.
They weren’t originally created to replace the Skrulls, but they were later used for that in the comics, prior to the movie. And while the MCU shares a lot of the visual aspects of the Ultimate Universe, the characters are more like the 616 universe, to wit,reg Ultimate Cap started off as an asshole, a hardass soldier (though he later became more like mainstream Cap), and MCU Cap has the same personality as 616 Cap.
@26 You raise a good point. I did some research, and markets that are looking for shows to air in what is called “strip syndication,” or running a show five days a week, prefer shows that have filmed at least four seasons worth of episodes. So if ABC wants to sell the show into syndication, which I imagine they would want to do sometime in the future, they need to support at least one more season of episodes beyond the current season.
Hunter kind of grew on me through last season but I have straight out adored him so far this year.
“That’s one squad for each of us. Again, killing it with the math.”
@29:
TV Syndication isn’t really going to factor that much into renewals moving forward. A tight, awesome 22 episode show will earn more from Amazon and Netflix over time than a show bloated to reach the previous-era golden number of 100 episodes. In other words, in the digital age, word of mouth trumps all. If the show is really good, it will find an audience in the TV afterlife regardless of length, because distribution is not an issue anymore.
Looking forward to seeing what’s coming next, the action is rocking along at a good pace, there’s all sorts of interesting perils for the cast to fall into and everything’s looking appropriately wizzbang.
Random thoughts:
Both me and a friend said “Soinic!” as soon as we saw Lash.
I also had to disappoint my French flatmate by informing her that there isn’t a real castle in Gloucestershire like that, but bonus points to Peter MacNicol for pronouncing Gloucestershire with a Gloucester accent.
Lance Hunter should team up for a buddy show with May’s dad, ALL THE SNARKY COMMENTS!
Regarding ad-buys, CTV didn’t even have any on their own website when I was catching up on last week’s episode. It was nice but not exactly a good sign for the business model.
@32 – phuzz: I’d forgotten Hunter’s first name was “Lance”. “Lance Hunter” is an awesomely cheesy action hero name.
As I said last week, there won’t be a new Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. posting each week. But we can still continue to discuss the show by adding to this thread. The first two episodes put a lot of balls in the air, so it is no surprise that this week’s episode simply allowed some of the different stories to move forward. The main story followed the Inhuman Lincoln, and efforts by both ATCU and S.H.I.E.L.D. to bring him in. At the end, he has accidentally killed a friend, and been betrayed to ATCU by S.H.I.E.L.D., but has escaped and is on the run again. This has driven a rift between Daisy and Coulson.
Meanwhile, Hunter is trying to work his way in to HYDRA through battling people in some sort of illicit fight club. At the same time, May gets to blow off some steam by taking down some thugs who were making unwelcome advances. And by the end of the episode, Hunter has made it to the outer edges of the new HYDRA organization.
One of the most interesting stories in the episode was a kind of Spy Versus Spy courtship dance between Phil and Rosalind (and we find that she drives a classic Thunderbird ragtop that catches Phil’s eye). To protect Daisy, he tries to hand Lincoln over to her ATCU organization, but when Lincoln escapes, rather than let them take Daisy, he agrees to work with her even though he doesn’t trust her.
And in the stinger at the end of the episode, Simmons, who has been fragile and traumatized during the entire episode, tells Bobbi that she needs to go back to the planet she had been trapped on. It will be interesting to find out why…
So no new stories, but quite a bit of motion within each of those stories.
Incoming Inexplicable Love Story alert! Next they’ll be asking us to ship Coulson/Roslin. Is the demand that Daisy HAS TO HAVE a LI coming from the network? Or the writers? Because it was forced with Ward, to good effect, I just don’t think they can go to that well again with Lincoln, and right now there is just not enough foundation for this.
When Bobbi said fresh start and Fitz pulled out his phone, I so hoped he was going to get Simmons a puppy.
Simmons has to go back? INTERESTING
Hunter’s plan worked, but it was phenomenally stupid.
AGRON! Looking up how to spell Dan Feurriegal’s name, IMDb tells me that Ward’s Hydra henchman is named Kebo. Did we know this? He also looks like a great Sagat. Maybe we’ll get a May/Kebo fight and I can pretend it’s Chun Li vs Sagat?
Mack and Daisy’s bonding continues to get to me. Where is Joey? Are we please going to be getting back to him? Because if this show REALLY wants me to ship something, Joey/Mack is where it’s at.
Yes, I also wonder where Joey is. Brought aboard with so much fanfare in the first episode, but then pretty much abandoned. And speaking of abandoned, does Coulson still have the RealSHIELD aircraft carrier at his disposal? And how about that helicarrier that showed up in Age of Ultron? If all that, and more (like that new Zephyr One aircraft), is at his disposal, is his SHIELD really the scrappy underdog it was during Season Two? And where is that RealSHIELD advisory committee he agreed to consult with? A few meetings with those folks every now and then could really help the larger picture snap into focus. And at this point, I would love for Coulson to have to justify his actions to someone, as he has been rather erratic in his decision making.
@37, They all died in the Inhumans attack. And I think they are setting us up to have Roslin to be his supervisor, as I imagine part of the agreement is that she lets Coulson & Co take point on apprehending Inhumans instead of her goon squad.
Yeah, I don’t get the Daisy/Lincoln romance either. OTOH, this being a Whedon show (albeit collateral branch Whedon), I don’t expect much will come of it.
Hunter’s plan strikes me as monumentally stupid for another reason too: NewHydra is way too small, so he’s likely to run into Ward much too soon (and unarmed). May probably realizes this.
Does anyone else think that the Monolith activated for Simmons because she’s an Inhuman? With Fitz it was inert, and it only activated again once everyone rushed into the room to pull him away and seal it up – everyone including Daisy, an Inhuman.
I wondered how much of the Daisy/Lincoln romance was actually romance and how much was that she was trying everything she could to help bring him in, and an emotional attachment might be stronger than her other attempts to persuade him?
Not to say she doesn’t care about him, but I wasn’t sure if part of it was her trying to manipulate the situation.
@40 I wondered if Simmons was an Inhuman too! I’m so curious about why she wants to go back, and to learn more about the blue fog planet.
Someone else suggested that, and it seems plausible. But didn’t we see it become liquid in the container with nobody in the room? I have a memory of seeing that, but I could be wrong.
@42 – The monolith does shift back and forth from liquid to solid at (apparently) random intervals during season 2. But it did noticeably change from solid to liquid once Skye/Daisy entered the room to save Fitz. And again when Prof Randall gets close to it. That hints at it not always changing at random intervals. Not to mention, didn’t someone on the Inhumans say something about how the monolith was some type of threat to their kind?
Re: Hunter’s plan – I think this has to be one of the least thought out plans we’ve seen on AoS (and that’s saying something). Hunter has no way of knowing who is screening potential new Hydra recruits, and what information on existing SHIELD (or other government agency) agents may be at that person’s disposal. Seems Hydra would have some serious screening measures in place to prevent infiltration, based on its mission and previous history (Mockingbird did infiltrate just last season, afterall).
I’m cosigning @37’s questions regarding the carrier and the advisory committee. Gonzalez and “Bearded Agent” are dead, but Mack and Bobbi are still alive and I think Agent Weaver survived too. Shouldn’t the carrier still be patrolling whatever waters it was sailing last season, and shouldn’t Coulson still be running his plans by the remaining committee members?
I’m not feeling the Daisy/Lincoln attraction, but it was hinted at a little bit last season. As for Phil and Rosalind, I don’t see anything wrong with a little fun sexual tension. And I’m still pulling for May and her ex.
All in all, I have liked the first 3 episodes of this season. Here’s hoping things continue…
@sophist, It’s a Whedon show, sure, so you can expect some D’Hoffryning(go for the pain) along the way, but it’s also a prime time ABC show, which pretty much demands that main characters HAVE to have love interests, regardless if it makes sense for the characters or plot(looking at you Once Upon a Time).
I liked the episode, but I found Lincoln killing his friend to be a bit contrived, and forced. He has been shown to have perfect control over his powers, and yes, accidents do happen, but it still felt forced. I did like how Hunter was completely beaten up in his fight, like, totally pummelled. Not everybody is The Cavalry, he has other skills (taking punches, like a lost Matt Murdock sibling).
Oh, and Ming-Na looks FANTASTIC. I asked my kid how old he thought she was and he goes “30-something?”, and he was amazed when I told him she’s 50. Asians.
Mack… I like Mack, but I miss Tripp.
Didn’t they figure out that the monolith opened to frequency resonation? That was the point of the room, and Daisy vibrating it at a particular frequency to open it.
If it IS another dimension, and not simply another planet, it could be that the whole dimension vibrates at a specific frequency, a la Fringe. Perhaps the Kree in the MCU are originally from another dimension, like the Asguardians, and Inhumans also vibrate at this frequency? Or maybe only while accessing their powers, or maybe there’s another component to it as well.
RE: Lincoln and Skye… um, totally saw that coming from last season. Didn’t seem shoehorned in the slightest.
Lincoln did NOT kill his friend.
Lincoln’s friend was overweight and out of shape, and his heart rate was up from harboring a murderer, as he thought. When Lincoln used his powers to zap the bat, and walked by him, his friend has a heart attack. Lincoln then tried to restart his heart with his powers. But it didn’t work. Lincoln says “I killed him” because he caused the heart attack, not because he literally killed him with his powers.
Agreed. I “don’t get it” in the sense that (a) I don’t see any plot need for it; and (b) I don’t see any chemistry between the actors.
Anthony, you’re right. It still feels forced.
@47, Sure I “saw” it coming, in that I could tell that was what the show was going to do. That still doesn’t mean the show has established this in any way.
It seems a somewhat natural consequence considering who Lincoln was to her at one of the worst moments of her life. She references this in the scene where she kisses him. I thought it was obvious that he meant something to her last season. The fact that there’s no chemistry acting-wise doesn’t mean to me that it is a failure writing-wise. Not seeing it the same way you guys do, I guess.
As far as being unnecessary–romantic relationships aren’t necessary it all on this show. I think FitzSimmons actually exploring a romantic relationship undercuts the dynamic about them that I loved in Season One. Everybody thought of them as a pair except themselves. Heck, they even referred to them as one person.
This episode started out like last week’s episode, with a lot of plot lines moving slowly. A red haired Inhuman, Alicia (the “multiple girl” from the end of last season?), is helping Coulson find an Inhuman couple she knows, when the monstrous Inhuman, Lash, comes in and kills everyone. Coulson calls in the ATCU, and he and Rosalind bicker. Then he and Daisy bicker about his relationship with Rosalind and the ATCU. Hunter and May bicker about the search for Ward. Simmons is being treated by Andrew, May’s ex, and bickers with him. May comes to ask Coulson for help. She asks him why no more ties, he raises his prosthetic hand in reply. Then she bickers with Coulson, and bickers with Andrew in the hallway. Simmons bickers with Fitz when he and Bobbi find her notes about the monolith. Daisy tracks computer virus on the dead Inhuman couple’s computer to a government employee, who turns out to be working for Lash. When Daisy and Mac ride with ATCU and the captured government employee, Lash blasts his way into the truck, kills the man, and escapes, seemingly shifting back to human as he escapes.
Then, Hunter finally gets into the main HQ of Hydra, but meets Ward himself, and gets pinned down in a firefight. May intervenes, but she is pinned down also. Ward threatens to have his minions (led by the young Von Strucker) kill Andrew, but while May hangs back, Hunter ignores the threat, and goes berserk Ward and his lead minion escape, and while the show doesn’t actually show Andrew dead, we see feet and a puddle of blood, and then the convenience store he was in explodes. In the stinger, Simmons finally tells Fitz she needs to go back to the other world she was trapped on, and it appears from the previews that we will find out what she went through on that other world.
This episode started slow, without a strong central plot, and with too many arguments between characters that didn’t lead much of anywhere, but it ended powerfully. If Andrew is indeed dead, and Hunter’s decision led to his death, it will drive a wedge between Hunter and May (to say the least). The Lash storyline got some development, but nothing definitive. Rosalind and Coulson’s interactions are looking more and more like flirting. And it looks like the Simmons alien world story will take center stage next week, and give us some answers to what actually happened.
Those shoes could have belonged to cameraman though, so I’ll have to see the body before I buy that Andrew’s dead. Provisionally, the show wants me to accept this, and I’ll go along, but Von Strucker was a bit TOO freaked out for a kid who calmly beat the shit out of Kedo last week.
IF Andrew is dead, well at least they didn’t immolate him alive while broadcasting to May, which is what I feared when I first saw the gas can.
Everything else is moving the rest of the plots and arcs along nicely. I was glad to see the return of Ginger Ninja, I do hope they find someone to help with therapy.
I definitely suspect someone on the ATCU is directing Lash, but I’m not sure if it’s Rosalind. Perhaps Banks, he seems like a wild card.
Dalton continues to deliver as DangerWard. That is a man on the edge right there.
If I had to guess as to how Andrew may have survived, I’d say Momma May. May knew her loved ones were at risk, that’s why she was hanging out with her dad. She obviously cannot get her mom to watch over her dad(no love lost there), but it’s not like May to leave Andrew exposed like that, so she probably had her mother keeping tabs on Andrew.
I’m excited to find out more about Simmons and the Hell planet/dimension.
Coulson and Rosalind are a little more flirty than I’d hoped, but I guess they need some outlet for Coulson’s quips?
@54 Aeryl, I like your theory that May had her mother keeping tabs on Andrew. Upon first watching, my reaction was “Noo, not Andrew!” but I’m suspicious of only seeing shoes next to the blood — you’d think they would show Andrew’s face if he were really dead. Also, agreed that von Strucker seemed freaked out, when in the previous episode he was completely calm about the interrogation/torture, which leads me to believe something else went on in the convenience store.
I am starting to wonder if Joey is going to be this season’s Deathlok? He’s in the first episode with great fanfare, talked about occasionally in other episodes, but we won’t see him until the mid-season cliffhanger.
My first thought was that Andrew was/is Lash, but I like the idea of May’s mom protecting him as an alternative. I don’t think he’s dead.
I keep hearing the Andrew/Lash theory but it doesn’t jive to me. I find it entirely possible he came over all Inhuman though, and that’s why he bailed on May.
The reason I suspect Momma May is that the show was very careful to remind us a few weeks ago that A) May was concerned for her loved ones and B) Her mom is a badass superspy ninja too.
Two things have me leaning to the Andrew theory: (1) the look of fear/terror on Strucker’s face at the end. That doesn’t seem to be the reaction he’d have to Momma May. (2) The fact that Lash left Daisy untouched. In fact, he’s done so twice now.
That said, the Momma May theory is a good one and might very well be true.
the look of fear/terror on Strucker’s face at the end. That doesn’t seem to be the reaction he’d have to Momma May
You didn’t see the look of fear/terror on Ward’s face when he realized May was there then, huh?
Ward was worried because May was there attacking him. Strucker had a look of fear after he’d left the building and was seemingly in the clear. Whatever happened there spooked him.
While I had doubts about Andrew being dead, and young Von Strucker’s reaction after the store exploded was ambiguous, I hadn’t thought of the Andrew as Inhuman thing until the idea showed up on pretty much every internet site that talks about Agents of SHIELD. But it makes sense. Not sure if I buy him as Lash, though. Even though it is an obvious guess, I still think Lash might be Rosalind’s chief goon (whose name always escapes me).
I still think that May is going to think Andrew is dead for at least long enough for Hunter to really, really, really regret charging into the fray after Ward threatened Andrew.
If it’s that obvious that it’s on all the sites — hey, even I caught it — there’s probably a twist. I agree that Hunter is now on May’s shit list.
@61, I suspected Banks as well, but someone pointed out he’s on the train with Coulson, Hunter and Rosalind while Daisy, Mack & Lincoln were attacked at the hospital, so I need to rewatch that part and check. But I’m also pretty sure we can place Andrew at SHIELD during that attack as well.
Agreed about May as well. If this is how they want to let Ming Na show her range, I’m not gonna complain.
You know, I think Andrew is Lash. That explains why he abandoned May while they were trying to rekindle their marriage, and why they didn’t actually show him dead. Of course, another possible candidate, albeit an obvious one, is Rosalind.
I told all that to my son, and then he commented that Lash looks like the Pokemon evolution of Rayna’s Inhuman form. Hmm… she is a precog, that’s how she knows about other inhumans, and she used the tech guy and his virus to nail down their locations.
It does seem that Lash’s human form might be someone we’ve already seen, that’s why they showed us the transformation, but not his/her actuall identity.
@53 – Aeryl: Good point on Strucker’s attitude there, too freakead out. And I like “Ginger Ninja”, it has a nice ring to it.
@55 – hdvane: “Hell dimension”? Are you an Angel fan? :)
@56 – Sophist: Ah, I wasn’t the only one!
I’m not sure I buy into the Andrew as Inhuman explanation for his survival if he is, indeed, alive. May told Coulson Andrew was in danger and Coulson needed to get him out NOW. I don’t think that was a throwaway. I think Coulson had somebody on Andrew, probably without his knowledge, just in case something like this happened. Andrew is a friend, and maybe more importantly, an critical asset. It seems unlikely Coulson would let Andrew wander around out in the world without someone keeping an eye on him. He knows too much. May could have known about it, or maybe she just knows Coulson well enough to assume all of this. I think Von Strucker’s reaction comes from the fact that he just saw his entire team wiped out in a matter of seconds and he barely made it out alive. He may have all of the sociopathic genes a villain could ask for, but he’s still new to this. Freaking out seems like a perfectly normal reaction when your first “mission” blows up in your face.
That’s a great point you’re making there. There’s no way Andrew is not under SHIELD protection… or even ATCU surveillance.
Quick Recap – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D – Season 3, Episode 5, “4,722 Hours”
This episode finally answered the questions regarding Agent Jemma Simmons’ time after she was swallowed by the Kree monolith, and transported to a far-away planet for six months. And it was worth the wait. When she emerges from the monolith, she quickly figures out she is on another planet, and goes through various stages of panic and adaptation. At first, she reacts like a scientist, starting by dictating notes. The she finds water, finds a creature in the water, which attacks her, but she tears off a tentacle and eats it. Then she makes a spear, and goes hunting. All along, she has a running conversation with Fitz, speculating about their dinner date, keeping her hope up. She builds a fire, and cooks her tentacle beast. But then she falls into a hole, and finds she is not alone. She is in a cage in the middle of a cave, with a bearded man who speaks English. His name is Will and he is the last survivor of a NASA expedition, which used the monolith in 2001 as a low-budget space exploration program. But he is the only one who is left—the others are all dead, killed by some madness he attributes to a malevolent force that lurks in the desert in an area he calls the “no fly zone.” Jemma speaks of Fitz constantly, and Will is amazed by her smart phone. She goes exploring, and finds an area full of equipment and skeletons from previous expeditions, including a sextant, which she takes with her, running from a shadowy figure that appears and pursues her. She uses the power from her super smart phone to reanimate his NASA equipment, and with the sextant, is able to calculate when the next portal will appear. They set out to find the portal, but it appears on the other side of a canyon. They try to fire a message bottle throught it, but the portal closes first. They return to the cave, and Jemma collapses. She and Will kiss, and when the show comes back from commercial break, it is clear that they are a couple. They are heading out to find the portal again, when they see the flare Fitz fired when SHIELD first opened the monolith. They run toward it, but the shadowy figure appears again. Will stays to fight it, and there is a gunshot. Jemma runs to the portal, hears Fitz calling, and he pulls her back to the real world. The show cuts to the present, and you can see Fitz is hurt. But he is determined to help Jemma, and shows her science stuff that demonstrates his understanding of how the portal works. “We’re going to get him back,” Fitz says. In the stinger, we see Will standing in the sunlight. His pistol is empty, he throws it away, and night returns to the alien world.
There was no alternating “A” plot and “B” plot in this episode, just one linear story. Elizabeth Henstridge gave us a bravura performance, solo for the first quarter of the show. The interactions between her and Will were very well paced and believable. There is still a good deal of mystery surrounding Will. The sunlight in the end hints that he has more control over his situation than he was willing to admit. It doesn’t look like this story will get an immediate resolution, though, as the preview of the next show returns to the normal SHIELD versus Hydra adventures. But this diversion from the normal format and pace of the show was well worth it, and gripping from beginning to end.
The One In Which We Learn Why Cell Phones Make Jemma Jumpy, and Why Red Wine Makes Her Cry
SUCH A GOOD EPISODE
When I saw Dillon Casey in the credits I knew she would meet somebody on Planet Blue. But I didn’t expect this.
I’ll be the first to admit, that despite Jemma and Fitz’s obvious chemistry, I don’t enjoy the idea of them getting together, because it seems as if after Jemma’s initial rejection, it seemed as if Fitz would be rewarded for saving their lives and his persistence with Jemma’s affection, which is an idea that’s pretty entrenched in our romantic stories that I despise. So I definitely approve of this. In addition, Will is a CUTIE!
So was IT an Inhuman? Why did the Inhumans think the monolith specifically targeted them, because as Will points out, IT kills everything.
Next week’s preview shows that they are sticking with their “Andrew died” plot, but I’m still not buying it.
But Bobbi’s back in the field! With all that action, I hope they can get Tancharoen for this one!
I also liked the adapted spacey-font for the credits!
I loved this episode!!! The sunlight at the end was not under his control – Gemma had calculated sunrise would be that day and that is why they were outside to see the flare – they were planning to watch the sunrise. She also made a comment that there would be another one in 18 years if they missed it. My only quibble is that if all the stuff NASA sent with him was solar powered and they knew there would be sunlight that day why didn’t they have everything out to charge while they could? That was the only thing that felt off to me about the whole hour – it was so well done!
@69, They may have, we just didn’t see that part. They went elsewhere to enjoy the sunrise, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t put out the solar collectors the night before.
I had missed the fact that Will and Jemma were going outside to watch a rare sunrise, so I was left wondering why the sun was out after she left the planet. But now that I realize that they were expecting the sun, I agree with you, teel77, putting out solar panels would have made sense. If that is the worse flaw we can find in the episode, though, it was a pretty good one!
I was proud of Fitz, even though he was obviously in pain, doing the right thing, and pledging to bring Will back from the mystery planet. And I’m beginning to wonder if Fitz and Simmons are going to be like Bates and Anna on Downton Abbey, the couple everyone is rooting for, who instead get treated by the writers like a dog treats a chew toy, with obstacle after obstacle thrown in the way of their love.
And I am still not sure I fully trust Will, even though Jemma has fallen for him. Don’t know why, just not ready to trust him. But maybe that is because I have been rooting for Fitz for so long…
@Aeryl, I so hope you’re right – Jemma is too smart to pass up an opportunity like that! I guess we’ll find out when FitzSimmons inevitably figure out how to get back there. :)
Will was concerned that Jemma might be corrupted by the evil thing that lives in the sand storm. We saw Will fight try to fight it off near the end of the episode. Could he be corrupted by it now?
Whether or not he’s himself anymore, FitzSimmons is almost certainly going to accidentally bring the evil to earth.
Very cool episode. Will struck me as an interesting new character. Bit of a jock, at least slightly religious, has the out-of-time thing going on, and a romance with Simmons. Lots of new stuff there I’d like to see bounce off the gang. Hope he (and Joey from ep 1) become occasional guest stars as SHIELD assets of some sort (presuming they go back and save him, of course).
I’m dying to know what’s going on with Andrew/May/Hunter/Ward plot though. If we have a whole ep about that I’ll probably be desperate to know what’s going on with portal rescue though. Gah!
Ok, my guess.
The Blue Planet is a prison. The Kree used the portal to send dangerous prisoners there. Whatever IT is, be it Inhuman or something else, has no physical form. It rides the forms of others. It can ride the sandstorm, and use it to appear in the minds of people when they are in contact with the storm. It is now riding Will. When they rescue Will, they will be freeing this entity from its Kree prison and bringing it back to Earth.
Any guesses what IT is? Is it something from the comics, or something new?
That’s probably exactly how it will be handled. Crew #2 shot this episode at the same time Crew#1 was shooting next week’s episode. Its a cost saving move by the production team.
I really liked the last episode. It was different, with almost no contact with our normal gang, and Elizabeth Henstridge did a good job. I liked the change of pace, though I’m excited for MadMay next week! Hunter is going to reeeally regret unleashing that side of her, as the voiceover (and her actions in the teaser for next week) imply that if Andrew is still alive, May does not know this.
I’d love if she could actually manage to finish Ward off, as I’m getting a little tired of him. But I think he’s probably around for a while. *sigh*
Anyway, the planet set up an interesting thread to follow up on, and like @73, I think they’re going to accidentally unleash the…whatever it is on earth when they go back for Will. Maybe that’s what the exiled/expat Asgardian was afraid of? I can’t remember if he knew more about this particular portal or not.
@64 Lordmagnusen, I am an Angel fan (though I still like Buffy more!), which I’m sure is why I called it a hell dimension. :)
I’m hearing that the planet may be Ego, the Living Planet.
I have a theory similar to yours, Anthony Pero
And after this week’s psuedo bottle episode, I imagine all the stories will happen concurrently now.
Aeryl@78: And after this week’s psuedo bottle episode, I imagine all the stories will happen concurrently now.
True, but I’m guessing that Simmons won’t be in the next episode, or will only appear in one scene.
@79, Why?
@75, Anthony, While mysterious planets on the other side of portals are a common thing in the Marvel comics, I don’t think Agents of SHIELD is referencing a specific one.
@78, Aeryl, the mystery planet doesn’t feel like Ego to me. Ego is a planet with a giant face on the side of it, that has conversations with people in its vicinity. Which, at least to me, feels a bit too goofy and comical for use in the MCU. As I recollect, it is also a wandering planet, not part of any specific solar system, which would make Simmons’ calculations kind of irrelevant. But who knows? It could be some MCU variant on the “planet as living organism” theme.
But the mystery planet is dangerous–just remember, our expat Asgardian, Doctor Randall, was emphatic on the need to destroy the portal as soon as Simmons was rescued–so I suspect he has some idea of what evil lurks on the mystery planet. It appears that by recreating the portal, our scientists are meddling with things that man was not meant to meddle with (dun dun DUN!!!!).
@AlanBrown
our scientists are meddling with things that man was not meant to meddle with
I think that idea is antithetical to the Marvel universe. Plus, it’s not one I personally agree with. People say that about science ALL the time, and if we listened to them, we may still think that washing our hands wouldn’t help prevent the spread of disease.
@80:
Production reasons. Generally, when a show shoots an episode like this one, they don’t give the rest of the cast the week off. Crew A shoots the main cast in one episode, while Crew B shoots the the solo episode with guest star(s) at the same time on a different set. It saves money.
@anthony Pero,
Sure, but we’ve already HAD two episodes without Simmons, they probably filmed this episode while they were filming episodes one and two.
That’s quite possible. You’re probably right. I hadn’t considered that.
The Bobbi/Hunter/May story will probably be primary though, based on the preview
NASA sent an expedition through the monolith in… 2001. It was a great episode, yup. As for the solar collectors, they may have been victims of the axe-wielding scientist Will talked about.
@78 – Aeryl: I thought about Ego while watching the episode, too. I don’t think they’re going there, but I thought about it too.
Is there a disembodied villain who can ride sandstorms and inhabit/control people’s minds in the comics?
Yes, The Disembodied-Rides-Sandstorms-Controls-People’s-Minds Man. :)
#82, Aeryl, I agree with you completely. Because it is hard to see facial expressions over the internet, I think you missed the fact that I had my tongue pressed firmly in my cheek when I made that statement.
Could the planet be Ego?
Is it possible that Will is the evil thing on the planet? So when they “rescue” him, they’ll be bringing the evil to earth (as suggested above)?
@92 – Sophist – That is a very possible direction the plot could take. Another I had considered while watching the episode was that Gemma had killed Will (either because she went bonkers, or because he was evil), and that’s why she was so PSTDed after returning. Reminded me of the Star Trek DS9 episode where Chief O’Brien has years of prison implanted into his mind, and his big secret was that he had killed his cellmate in the fabricated memories.
@92, It’s certainly possible, but let’s just say I’ll be disappointed if the solution to this “hiccup” on the road to FitzSimmons(a rail I’m not riding anyway) is for Will to be evil.
I almost swore off Bones when they introduced Hannah, because if they’d fridged her or made her out to be a terrible person Booth should never be with(thankfully, their relationship had a nice organic resolution that didn’t make Hannah out to be the bad guy), and I’d hate to have to do that to SHIELD for doing the same thing to Will.
When its introduced in the same episode, its not exactly the same thing. I don’t see the relationship as the blip. So it doesn’t matter if the Will relationship is wrapped up that quickly or not. And it won’t be because Will is a terrible person anyway. If he’s being ridden, he’s hardly at fault.
In fact, it could be Simmons obsession with ridding him of the spirit/demon/possession, whereas Fitz just wants to “eliminate” the problem tormenting Earth that causes the disruption.
EDIT: Yeah, this may be the least articulate thing I’ve ever posted. I’ll come back and clean this up when I get the chance, but this is directed @94 regarding Will being used as a way to break up FitzSimmons by the writers.
It occurs to me that if the planet is Ego (not sure), then the name “Will” might be suggestive.
Good point there.
Huh, so I was wrong. I’ll still admit that Andrew being Lash seems too easy, but I did see him being an Inhuman. But I guess we get more drama.
Anyone else get the sense that Hunter’s attempts at “logic” worked on Fitz?
I can’t even be as mad at Rosalind as Daisy wants me to be. While I don’t think Inhumans need to be cured, if the subjects are agreeing(something we don’t know yet) to her procedure, what exactly is wrong here? The new Inhumans should be offered the opportunity to keep their powers, but the ACTU isn’t capable of offering that help, and Daisy going off all half-cocked about this could cause more problems, she may never get access to those people and a chance to talk them out of a cure if she can’t keep her own issues under control.
Quick Recap – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D – Season 3, Episode 6, “Among Us Hide…”
As one would expect, we barely see Fitz and Simmons in this episode, mostly working behind the scenes. While Fitz says he will do everything he can to help bring Will back from the blue mystery planet, we also see that he is doing research on his rival for Jemma’s affections.
We quickly learn that May’s ex, Andrew is alive, although barely. We get a rather mundane explanation for his survival: a SHIELD agent had been following him, and gave his life giving Andrew a chance to escape. May has a confrontation with Hunter, who took a shot at Ward even though it put Andrew in danger, and then seeks out Bobbi, and picks a fight with her. She is testing Bobbi to see if she is ready to go into the field again. Off they go in the new jet. They quickly realize that Andrew’s new student is the son of Hydra’s late Baron Von Strucker, and trace him to an offshore bank. May and Bobbi try to find leads in a bank safe deposit box but set off alarms and get caught, and after trying to talk out of the situation, fight their way out.
Since the failure of his first mission (to kill Andrew), young Von Strucker is on the run, and Ward sends his deputy out to find him. We find Von Strucker with a new character, a big player from old Hydra, and while he is not named in the episode, he is Gideon Malick (played by Powers Boothe). After telling Von Strucker he will help, Gideon reveals his location to Ward, telling Ward to remember that he took sides.
Meanwhile Daisy has a theory, that the monstrous Inhuman, Lash, must be connected to ATCU, as he knows too much about their operations. Andrew and Daisy talk. She wonders why Lash didn’t kill her. Mack thinks Rosalind’s henchman Banks might be connected to Lash, and off they go, with a chastened Hunter volunteering to help. They are watching Banks when Hunter goes rogue, shoots Banks with an icer, and drags him back to their van. He gets a blood sample by punching Banks, which they send back to base to see if he is an Inhuman (he is not). They follow a clue from his wallet to a mysterious lab with high security, and send in one of Fitz’s dwarf drones to see what is there.
Rosalind meets Coulson and they bicker—she gets a call and Coulson insists that he go back to her base with her. She instead brings him to what she says is her house. But he is suspicious of it and everything she does, and insists again that she bring him to her base. Which she does.
Through their drone, Daisy, Mack and Hunter see men unloading a box from a truck, which turns out to be an Inhuman in a big glass box, in some form of suspended animation. Daisy is horrified, and even more horrified to see that Coulson is standing there with Rosalind, watching the box being unloaded. She pulls the drone back just in time to miss Coulson arguing with Rosalind, complaining about her methods. Rosalind tells him she sees the suspended animation boxes as a good thing, that she lost her husband to cancer, and wished she could have put him to sleep until someone could help. Coulson had earlier said that he was trying to cut himself off from his emotions, while Rosalind says she is trying to keep in touch with hers.
Then we see May and Bobbi move in on Von Strucker, who is being tortured by Ward’s goons. They stab Von Strucker, and May battles goons indoors while Bobbi pursues others outside. Bobbi overcomes doubts about being back in the field and defeats her opponents. May tends to the dying Von Strucker, who tells her a different version of his encounter with Andrew. Andrew had changed into Lash during the encounter, and May is completely unnerved by the news.
In the stinger, we find that Daisy has been keeping in touch with Lincoln behind everyone’s back. As she hangs up the phone, she turns and finds Andrew behind her. He asks her if she knows where Lincoln is, but she denies any knowledge.
This episode at first seemed kind of unfocused with all of the various plot threads going in different directions, but everything came together for an exciting conclusion. We find Coulson warming to Rosalind, while at the same time Daisy trusts him less and less. We see a new Hydra threat, and find young Von Strucker disposed of rather quickly (the family had great staying powers in the comics, but in the MCU, apparently not so much). There was some comic relief, with Mack now referring to Daisy as “Tremors,” and Hunter’s over-the-top methods at espionage. But the big reveal, that May’s ex is the monster they have been hunting, was something that will blow SHIELD’s status quo to pieces. And from the previews, it looks like that explosion is coming soon.
@98 It seemed that Fitz did listen to Hunter, which probably won’t turn out well, as Hunter spent most of the episode being a complete idiot. And I agree with you that Daisy is going off half-cocked, which probably won’t turn out well either.
We find Von Strucker with a new character,
Marvel doesn’t reuse actors, and Powers Booth has been in a Marvel movie, he was one of the Council members overseeing SHIELD in The Avengers. So, that makes him an old character.
Mack’s been calling Daisy Tremors all season, FYI.
I’m not sure it’s quite right to say that Daisy “doesn’t trust” Coulson. At this point I think it’s more that she has a strong view that Inhumans need to be treated as people and isn’t sure he shares that view.
I’m sure we’ll see distrust pretty soon, though: Andrew will certainly betray Daisy about her contacts with Lincoln.
@101 I hadn’t picked up on the fact that Gideon Malick had already appeared in “The Avengers” as a World Security Council member. And from his interactions with Ward, he was obviously part of the Hydra infiltration of that organization. But he didn’t appear in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” Which leaves a couple of possibilities open. Was he discovered when the rest of Hydra was flushed out, and is now a fugitive? Or was he not discovered, and remains a member of the WSC with nefarious motives? Either way, that WSC membership indicates that he was very high up in the Hydra hierarchy, and is a powerful player in the world of espionage. We will soon see!
@103, Looking at him on IMDb to see if his info from Avengers had been updated(it hasn’t) I saw how long his commitment will last this season. Yeah, he’s high up in HYDRA.
Am I crazy, or was the second cop in Rosalind’s apartment – the one who didn’t speak – played by Joss Whedon? IMDb only has an acting credit for one policeman….
I knew Von Strucker was too shaken for it to be a simple shootout and explosion.
@98 – Aeryl: We’re being asked to take Rosalind and the ATCU as a reasonable option, and I agree it’s not as bad as Daisy wants to see it… but we’re not Inhumans, and she is. I do think Daisy is being unreasonable by getting mad at Coulson. What was Coulson supposed to do? Pull out his gun and start shooting ATCU personnel?
As for Andrew before they reveal what I already knew (:>), I thought it was weird that they were only showing his head and neck; I kept thinking they would reveal he was horribly maimed from the explosion.
Bobbi’s fight with Ward’s main goon was badass!
The differences between ATCU and SHIELD aren’t as significant as Daisy wants to think, IMO. ATCU has the newly discovered Inhumans in stasis, SHIELD has Joey in a locked room. I’d personally prefer the locked room, but I can’t say that either is exactly an exercise of free will.
@108, Well I can see Daisy seeing shades of Tuskegee with keeping them in stasis.
Precisely my point. In addition to being inhuman herself, she does have a background in social activism.
Quick Recap – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D – Season 3, Episode 7, “Chaos Theory”
This episode follows the same pattern as the last show, giving us a number of disparate threads that all come together in a slam-bang conclusion. We start with island music, and May and Andrew on a beach. She talks about not going back to S.H.I.E.L.D., and they decide to make their relationship work this time. But soon after their return to civilization, Andrew is reading Jiaying’s diary, and is exposed to Terrigen mist. A cocoon forms, from which Andrew emerges, and starts his Inhuman killing spree. We see Andrew meeting with (long-overlooked) Joey, the Inhuman S.H.I.E.L.D. captured in the first episode. Joey is learning to control his powers, is excited to be a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. Andrew is fighting his urge to transform into Lash and murder Joey. May does research and puts all this together, and interrupts the meeting. Andrew shoots her with an Icer, and she wakes up chained to a hot water heater in an abandoned building. Andrew is increasingly unhinged, but absolutely sure of the rightness of his cause, of the need to exterminate Inhumans who do not meet his standards. It is clear that he has a compulsion to kill, and the only thing that relieves this compulsion is to give in to it. But he is fighting the compulsion, and admits he needs help.
While all this is going on, Phil and Daisy argue about ATCU putting people in suspended animation. Phil is meeting with President and world leaders at NORAD—he is going undercover as ATCU advisor. They bring Rosalind aboard the Zephyr aircraft, and Daisy shows her around. Daisy and Rosalind argue, with Rosalind pointing out that Daisy could kill her on a whim, and that for every Daisy, there is a Lash. Phil is trying to put on a tie for the meeting, and he and Rosalind have a tender moment as she helps him, and he talks about losing his hand. Another Quinjet asks to dock, with Mac and Lincoln onboard (it was a surprise to find that these two were cooperating behind the scenes). They reveal that Jiaying’s diary is the key to the Inhuman murders, that Andrew has the diary, and that he must be Lash.
Somewhere among all this, Bobbi is looking at scars, when Hunter comes in. He wants to go after Ward again, but she doesn’t. She tells him he was reckless and stupid and needs to stop. She says she doesn’t want to lose him, and for the two of them to become obsessed with revenge.
May and Andrew talk, and he tries to convince her that he is just like her, and just like she did in Bahrain, he is taking out threats. May says she doesn’t know what to do; they obviously still love each other. Then Coulson comes in. Mack, Daisy and Linc are moving into position, along with ATCU assault teams. Andrew talks about sorting the good from the bad, talks about moral responsibility, and how he has only killed those who deserved it. Linc loses his temper at this, comes in and hits Lash with everything he’s got. The plan is to get Lash into a containment module, but things aren’t going well. Mack tries to stop him, and laments that he never carried through with his combination shotgun/ax idea. Phil tries to stop him, until his mechanical hand shorts out. Lash roars through a plethora of ATCU soldiers, grabs Rosalind, and throws her off a balcony. Daisy uses her powers in a new way to cushion Rosalind’s fall. May interposes herself between Andrew and Linc, talks Andrew down, and he reverts to his human form. She shoots him repeatedly, and he falls into the containment unit. She didn’t know that he could survive that, but did what she had to. Even Daisy admits that putting Andrew in suspended animation is the best thing they can do. After it is all over, Rosalind offers to buy Phil a drink and he agrees.
Throughout the episode, Fitz is working on the portal to the blue planet. Jemma gives him her phone, and he restores its chip, and reads what is recorded on it. He sees a picture of her snuggling with Will, and almost gives up. But then he starts seeing her recordings, and realizing that she cares about him very deeply. He realizes that a carving in the castle where they opened the portal matches the mission patch on Will’s NASA gear, and speculates that there is possibly a secret/ancient order behind all of this. He and Jemma meet in front of a window to watch the sun rise, and she tells him that her thinking was perfectly clear when she made her recordings. She asks him what he intends to do about that, and he says for now, let’s just watch the sunrise together. And echoing this scene, May is watching the sun rise from an aircraft, and remembering being happy on the beach with Andrew.
In the stinger, we find Ward talking to Gideon Malick about beheading S.H.I.E.L.D. by taking out Coulson. Malick tells him he needs to think about more than just revenge, and turns to take a call. It is Rosalind, calling from where she and Phil have spent the night together, and she promises him that next time she will deliver.
All in all, an exciting episode from beginning to end. The show is not teasing out plot threads at a slow pace; instead it barrels from one to the next. It is finally the show we have been waiting for!
The show is not teasing out plot threads at a slow pace; instead it barrels from one to the next. It is finally the show we have been waiting for!
While I am greatly enjoying the show as it is right now, I do have to ask how long they can keep up this pace. We’re only six episodes(?) into the season, and we’ve introduced and concluded like 9 plots! This is a great pace for action packed plots, but something like Phil’s sideplot with Rosalind, that needs time to simmer, IMO, but by introducing her work for Gideon in the denouement has prevented us from figuring out how we feel about this on it’s own, with the new character beats given to us for Rosalind this episode.
Onto the greatness!
1. JOEY!!!
2. Blair Underwood is having a blast!
3. Adorable Cubs wanting to be heroes!
4. Looking at Blair Underwood’s face in shadow, you can see where they used his face for the Lash mold.
5. Quake Qushion!
6. The docking Quinjets on the Zephyr reminds me of the shuttles docking with the Serenity
I honestly thought they killed Joey, but nope, they were just trolling us(certain parts of fandom are peeved at the erasure of the LGBT characters Hand and Hartley). Blair Underwood IS having a blast, he’s the Kyle McLachlan dynamite find of the season. The stories sometime feel straight out of a soap opera(I specifically remember one on Days of Our Lives YEARS AGO) but with the better production values and better stakes, it really heightens the performances, and Underwood is KILLING it.
I suggested last week that the show introduce an ethical conundrum with Rosalind’s work, and it delivered hardcore this week, forcing Daisy to recognize that Rosalind’s work can help some people. But contrasting that with Daisy’s statement that this isn’t a permanent solution, and Rosalind being forced to realize that people like Daisy can help as well as hurt is great writing, keeping the story in the grey area and forcing the audience to recognize that everyone has a perspective on this that should be listened to.
Did it really take a genius like Fitz to notice that there’s an ancient order behind all the portal thing, and that they probably manipulated the NASA mission into being?
Regarding Rosalind and Gideon, its quite possible that Gideon is a legitimate Council member who has oversight of the ATCU. In other words, Rosalind can legitimately be calling and reporting on the meeting they missed at NORAD the previous night, unaware that he is HYDRA. After all, sinc ethe meeting was taking place at NORAD, and Coulson was “driving”, it confirms that Gideon was not exposed during the events of Winter Soldier. I don’t know if I would rather she know or not know. I think I could like it either way.
I adored the scene where Fitz is restoring Simmons datacard. The actors are doing just a fantastic job with this subplot. It helps that the weight of their relationship has been fully developed already. I felt very strongly for Fitz as he discovered the photo. I love the way they handled it. But I disagree that Fitz almost quit. He would have continued trying to recover Will even if he hadn’t heard/seen Simmons recordings. His motivation for helping Will isn’t to impress Simmons. He heard Simmons say she wouldn’t have survived without Will. Fitz is trying to save Will because he’s grateful to him, regardless of how complicated and painful it might make things. Fitz’s motivation (or at least, my interpretation of it) makes me respect him greatly, and makes me able to empathize with his very human frustration at the picture. It was my favorite scene in the whole episode.
I enjoyed the contrast of the relationships at three different places thoughout the episode as well. Rosalind and Coulson, just getting started. Fitz and Simmons, best friends who haven’t quite taken the plunge, and the flashbacks to May and Andrew, former lovers rekindling the flame.
Nice, yes, Gideon might still have his cover intact, and Rosalind is not evil. Good red herring, if so.
@116:
The way events unfolded made it clear that Gideon was going to be at the meeting at NORAD. They were on Coulson’s plane, on their way there. NORAD is the single most secure military installation in North America. Maybe in the world. The only way Gideon is getting in to that meeting is if his cover is still intact. To me, that question is answered.
It also explains why Gideon was willing to hand Von Strucker over to Ward–Von Strucker knows Gideon’s secret. Von Strucker was a liability to Gideon. It wasn’t clear to me… Did Von Strucker die?
To me, the remaining questions are: 1) Is Gideon directly in control of the ATCU in his position as a member of the World Security Council. 2) If so, Does Rosalind know he’s (former) Hydra, and is she on board with him knowingly? 3) Does he control the ATCU indirectly through Rosalind as his henchwoman?
Any of these three possibilities are still open.
@112 I agree with your assessment. Lots of good stuff going on, and we are moving from great moment to great moment. And lots of shade of grey, which keeps things compelling.
@113/115 The Fitz and Simmons story is being handled very well, and while it doesn’t take a genius to discover a secret conspiracy behind things, there is nothing like another secret conspiracy to keep things interesting!
@114/116 I agree that it looks more and more likely that Gideon was not rolled up with the rest of Hydra during “Captain America: Winter Solder.” But he also didn’t appear as a member of the World Security Council during that movie, and it does not appear the World Security Council even exists any more. Perhaps before the events of “Winter Soldier,” he left the organization, and moved to another position of power. Certainly, you aren’t granted access to POTUS, and to NORAD, if you aren’t heavily vetted. So we can assume he still exercises a lot of power, both in the above board world of national security, and in the shadowy remnants of Hydra. The fact that he is taking Ward under his wing means that Ward’s assets will probably no longer limited to a bunch of thugs and stolen weapons in a warehouse. And Rosalind’s loyalties are still in question.
(I think it would have been more accurate to for everyone to refer to NORTHCOM rather than NORAD. NORAD is responsible for continental air defense, while NORTHCOM has the broader charter of homeland defense, which would fit with a threat like Inhumans. But that is just a quibble.)
Von Strucker is alive, he’s in a coma, this was made clear at the start of the previous episode.
The picture of Gemma and Will is from before their sexual relationship started, as she killed her battery to get the portal opening data for the return mission that failed, sparking their intimate relationship.
I think it’s very clear that Malick was not exposed by the events of Winter Soldier, but that doesn’t mean Rosalind is in the clear yet.
I’m pretty sure the ATCU is a US only agency, not something that would be under the purview of the World Security Council.
@118:I think the NORAD reference was by way of referring to Cheyenne Mountain, which seems a sensible place to take POTUS and other dignitaries for a secret meeting about responses to people of unknown capabilities.
@120, We don’t know that Malick is still on the Council. By Winter Solider, the US representative was someone else. They could rotate out, it could be an appointed position, or elected. Malick could have been the appointed representative for the previous White House administration and was replaced when Ellis was elected(Avengers doesn’t tell us who was president, IIRC, only IM3). People who work in government tend to stay there, Malick could be working within the Pentagon now, or at the State Dept. or he would even be within the President’s cabinet.
Yeah, I know that. I just meant that the ATCU is most likely not an international agency. Whatever USGOV department Malick works for could be in charge of ATCU and also in charge of the US’s representation to the WSC.
@121:
That’s correct. NorthCom and NORAD are both housed in Cheyenne Mountain, but most people watching the show don’t know that. The place is referred to in the media as NORAD all the time. So, they were refering to it as a place, not an organization.
@123:
MCU plays pretty fast and loose with national vs international agencies and their authority. The ATCU certainly SHOULDN’T be an international agency, detaining citizens of the United States. But then, neither should SHIELD. But they did establish SHIELD to have lots of international treaties, and a World Security Council to oversee them.
The WSC may have been disbanded and replaced, but I would imagine the need and pressure for such an organization would be much, much greater after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. And with these Inhumans popping up all over the globe, I could see an international organization taking point on this short of thing. But, they are reporting to the American president, so you are most likely right, its an American organization. But, I’m not sure I trust the MCUs track record for such things. They could easily change their mind as the story demands without batting an eye.
President Ellis said that ATCU was chartered by him in his TV speech that appeared in the first episode, which would make ATCU an agency of the US government. While I agree that there would be advantages to international cooperation, I would imagine that after the collapse of the World Security Council and SHIELD in “Winter Soldier,” the US and other nations would be a bit more paranoid, and less willing to participate in international ventures. And since we know that even the Avengers themselves are going to be at odds with each other soon (i.e. “Civil War”), I would imagine that trust will be in short supply as the rest of this season unfurls.
The MCU? I don’t trust Marvel at all with this things. SHIELD in the comics has gone from US to international to US to international and so forth many times during its decades of existence.
Quick Recap – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D – Season 3, Episode 8, “Many Heads, One Tale”
This is another episode that moved at breakneck speed. It contains a much-anticipated kiss between Fitz and Simmons, but starts with Malik and Ward talking. Ward wants to know the secret of the Von Strucker family vault, which contains secrets of Hydra’s greatest power. Malik walks out and his goons attempt to kill Ward, who tortures them for information after a flashy fight scene. They reveal its location, and Ward flies in a commercial jet, and parachutes out in midair, not caring that he endangers everyone on the jet as he leaves. He finds Malik already at the vault, and they talk.
Andrew is being moved to an ATCU facility, and Coulson agrees to let Rosalind visit his base. Mack has concerns about her, but learns that Coulson wants to use her visit to have his team penetrate her HQ, and find out what is really going on. The SHIELD team uses the containment unit Andrew is in, and cell phone signals from Rosalind’s phone, to hack the ATCU facility. When Rosalind arrives, she and Coulson bond as she examines his collection of old SHIELD analog spy devices. Bobbi and Hunter go into the ATCU facility as FBI “help” to assist them with their IT issues, with Hunter playing an eccentric hacker (Daisy is on his earbud feeding him intelligent computer comments).
Fitz and Simmons are looking through history books for the Ram’s head symbol that was used by the NASA team that sent Will to the blue planet. It is apparently tied to an ancient society that is obsessed with human sacrifices, death and ritualistic killing. An argument breaks out, and Jemma can’t believe how noble Fitz is acting, working to get his romantic rival, Will, back from the blue planet. Jemma admits that she loves Will, and Fitz finally admits how hurt and angry he is. He give her an intense kiss, and she kisses him back more tenderly. Then she notices something in the books they have been looking at. Romance will have to wait.
All hell breaks loose with Hunter and Bobbi. Their cover is blown and they are fighting minions in the ATCU facility. Meanwhile, Coulson locks himself into a containment room with Rosalind. They begin to argue. He doesn’t trust her. She is appalled by his mistrust, and replies angrily. We see Malik visiting Andrew in his mobile cell. Rosalind admits that Malik, a Presidential advisor, is one of her main patrons, and source of intelligence. But it is quickly becoming apparent that Rosalind is a dupe. She had no idea Malik was connected to Hydra. May and Lincoln are in a quinjet on their way to extract Bobbi and Hunter, but the agents are in deep trouble. It turns out that ATCU has been creating Inhumans, and have at least one who works for them, who attacks with telekinetic powers. Bobbi uses some sort of technological device to mimic the Inhuman’s power, and they battle, until Hunter sneaks up behind him and neutralizes him with an old fashioned blunt object to the head. Rosalind begs Coulson to trust her, and let her call her people, and it is apparent he does, as her head goon, Banks, comes in and tells Bobbi and Hunter to follow him, and he leads them to the extraction point. Rosalind has come through for Coulson.
In the Von Strucker vault, Malik shows Ward a fragment of the Kree monolith, and tells him that Hydra is much, much older than the Red Skull and Nazis in WWII. He tells him that Hydra serves a ruler on the other side of the portal, and wants to bring this ruler back to our world. He offers Ward a chance to help this ruler control the world. Back at SHIELD HQ, Fitz and Simmons show the returned SHIELD team (with Rosalind by their side) that the ram’s head logo is actually a variant of the Hydra logo, and they all figure out the same thing that has been revealed to Ward.
In the stinger, Ward walks in and confronts Andrew in his containment cell. He tells him they don’t want to suppress the monster, they want to learn to bring the monster out of him.
This was a great episode, with a lot of action, a lot of great interpersonal moments, and some big reveals. The scenes with Fitz and Simmons were very compelling, and felt very real, with lots of jangly and unresolved emotions. The interactions of Coulson and Rosalind were also very well played, as the information being revealed put both of them through the ringer. And the reveal of the secret history of Hydra tipped everything on its head, and brings together the blue planet and Hydra storylines. I can’t wait till next week!
(And we also got a bit of lagniappe in the form of an Agent Carter trailer. Can’t wait for that show to start!)
AGENT CARTER
Mark Dacascos! I hope he comes back!
This was a great episode, and the tension in the Lincoln/May scene was great. Ming-Na Wen elevates every character in her sphere.
So, to answer the question some in fandom have been asking, is SHIELD going to move away from HYDRA? NO
They’ve also added some stakes to the mission to rescue Will, we now know what is waiting for them on the other side.
I’m still MEH on the FitzSimmsons front, but at least the characters agree with me, lol
Lincoln’s all “We gonna kiss some more?”***
Bobbi’s got Bango-staves? Stav-arangs? IDK
So, you’re convinced Rosalind was on the up and up here?
***How exactly ARE liaisons arranged at SHIELD HQ? There are at least 4 relationships in some phase of development here, with the complications of Will(maybe) and I’m still holding out for Mack/Joey
I’m with Aeryl: it’s way too early to trust Rosalind.
Ward is SO much better evil than he was as putative “good guy” in S1.
Good ep.
@129 I loved that May/Lincoln scene, too. I didn’t cover it in my recap because there were just too many good things, and pivotal moments, to mention!
@129 and @130 Perhaps you are right–it may be too soon for me to begin trusting Rosalind, without at least some reservations. But we at least know that she sent Banks in to extract Bobbi and Hunter, and that certainly counts for something.
I loved the twist that Hydra had a history that extended back past Red Skull and WWII. I didn’t see that coming–I certainly don’t remember anything like that from the comics. Although at one point, they did a series that revealed a “secret history” of SHIELD that went back for generations, and claimed that DaVinci and Galileo were both secret agents. But the Hydra twist tied a lot of plot threads together, as we now see the connections between Hydra, the Kree, the Inhumans and the blue planet. Maybe the season arc is going to be plotted like the last few episodes–bunches of seemingly unconnected threads that all come together at the end.
Why can’t we get this kind of analysis out of Tor.com? Failing, Tor.com. Failing hard.
Aside from the fact that Anders missed that the Terrigen Fish oil doesn’t kill people, that was a good write up.
While watching “Many Heads…” I felt like this could have been the mid-season finale — the pace of this show has gotten so good (although I hope that doesn’t mean they’re burning out).
I love the snarky asides: Mack about his axe-shotgun, and Hunter’s comment: “I’ll just say what we’re all thinking: he has a hog face.”
@132 That was a great review you linked. Ms. Anders has such wonderful insights on what makes a story good.
I don’t know anything about the Inhumans, so do you think the guy on the other side of the portal is an expy for En Sabah Nur, or is it a real character from the Inhuman comic? Anders’ review suggests Maximus and Agon (and MODOK): any thoughts on that?
I think Bobbi’s batons have been augmented with the same Stark technology that is in Captain America’s shield. So nothing to do with the Inhumans, but it still makes her even more badass.
It was obvious to me that that organisation would be linked to Hydra in some way, from the first scene in the castle in fact (because why would they uselessly multiply the shadowy cabals?). But the reveal was well done. I like how the show has added layers to Hydra’s plan in a way that makes sense. In season 1, Hydra is extending its influence on S.H.I.E.L.D. and collecting powerful technology; since Hydra barely exists anymore and S.H.I.E.L.D. is basically back to its former power, that didn’t went well. In season 2, they were hoping to get the Obelisk to work for them; now they can make as many Inhumans as they want, so it’s mostly a win for them, even if they are not the only ones in that position. Season 3 reveals that their end-game is to bring back that Inhuman and hand the world over to it, and S.H.I.E.L.D. just showed them that it’s possible. We’ll see how it goes, but it’s likely this confrontation will happen at some point, at latest during the Inhuman movie.
Whatever Roz’s deal turns out to be, I enjoyed how that episode showed that Coulson just can’t trust anyone anymore. After being betrayed by most of S.H.I.E.L.D., and even by some of the team he hand-picked last season, it’s understandable.
@136 Captain America’s shield was forged by Stark, but other than that, has no special tech involved. It is all in how you throw it! But I agree with you, those new “smart batons” of Bobbi’s are pretty cool!
Coulson has certainly been kicked around these past few years, and not the least by people he thought he could trust.
@137, Cap wear some sort of gauntlets in Age of Ultron that summon his shield. He used it in the opening fight scene against Strucker’s fortress, and again while facing off against Ultron in Seoul, he lost it and Tasha brought it to him on the cycle. @136 thinks Bobbi’s new technology is related to that technology.
@138 I am going to have to watch that movie again–I missed that. Perhaps my mind is clouded by the fact that the shield in the comics has been portrayed so often as a simple disk, animated only by Cap’s skill. Thanks for keeping me honest–you have such a great eye for detail!
No episode tonight, by the way–Agents of SHIELD will return on 1 December.
Week off is KILLING me!
But Peggy’s coming SOON! Now if only season one will get to Netflix.
Cap still bounces the shield around like usual in that opening scene. It’s just expanded the ways he can use it, and share it. It’s implied Tony invented them(“make everybody look cool”)
I liked the episode, but I found Ward endangering the airplane passengers like that a bit cartoony. I loved how the Ram’s head becase the HYDRA symbol. And I like that Rosalind was actually fooled by Malik, and a good person at heart. I wonder if the banished Inhuman is the MCU’s version of The Unspoken.
As for Bobby’s magnetic-returning batons, I like how she struggles to catch them, like they come in hard, and she doesn’t enhanced physical abilities like Cap. Maybe they need a bit of fine-tuning.
@131 – AlanBrown: Yes, I think they’ve mentioned in the comics that HYDRA is also way older than WWII.
@136 – Athreeren: I too thoguht the castle cabal would have something to do with HYDRA.
@139 – AlanBrown: Cap’s shield returning is still about his skill; what we’re talking about here is that it has some sort of magnetic attachment, and there’s a counterpart on his glove; he fastens it to his arm without straps, and when it’s on the floor, he just pulls it up automatically to its position on his arm. Same tech as Bobby’s.
Quick Recap – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D – Season 3, Episode 9, “Closure”
If you thought the show couldn’t get more action packed than it was during the last two episodes, somehow it does. It’s Coulson versus Ward tonight, with no holds barred.
The episode starts with candlelight. Coulson and Rosalind have patched things up–they are finally having burgers. They are researching Malick, who has removed all Inhumans from the ATCU facility. Rosalind wants to go back to work, despite the dangers. But just that quick, a hole appears in the window, and she is dead, killed by a sniper. The camera pans into the distance, and we see that Ward pulled the trigger. Ward calls Coulson, and said this is personal. Coulson fights and beats an evil minion, two evil minions, then three and four, five, and jumps out the window. We lose count of dead minions, and finally a black SUV arrives, and Coulson gets extracted by Mack. Back at HQ, the team gives Coulson some alone time in his office, and listen sadly as he smashes things.
Coulson and May talk about how they can get Ward. Coulson wants every detail about Ward that he can get from the original team. There is a lot of uncomfortable recapping of history. Banks and Mack bond over their common goal, to get Rosalind’s killer. Daisy said that Ward never lied to her, just never revealed everything about himself, but she will never forgive him for everything he did. She says Ward kills not because he is without feeling, but because he feels too much. Banks puts clues together with the team–Malick is the link between ACTU and the NASA portal project.
Malick and Ward talk, Malick is mad at Ward for putting Coulson at risk with all those attacking minions. Malick has five mini-monoliths, which are the key to Hydra’s long game; to get the evil monster from the blue planet back to Earth. Malick doesn’t like Ward’s focus on S.H.I.E.L.D., but Ward tells Malick to trust him.
Coulson wants Hunter to come on a mission with him, and Bobbi to pilot. He leaves Mack in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D., even though Mack is hesitant, and won’t accept anyone else, because everyone except Mack has an ax to grind with Ward. Coulson is going off book, and won’t tell Mack what he is doing.
Fitz and Simmons are in an old NASA portal mission facility with Banks, arguing about the ethics of opening the portal, and uncomfortably discussing astronaut Will’s fate, when Banks kills two guards, and then the gun turns on him. It is not Banks controlling the gun, it is the telekinetic Inhuman, who kills Banks, and then tells Fitz and Simmons to follow him, because Mr. Malick is waiting.
Coulson is on a quinjet with Hunter and Bobbi. Fitz and Simmons meet Malick. He needs help with the portals from Fitz and Simmons. Ward splits them up. Mack knows that Fitz and Simmons are captured. He and Daisy argue about what to do next, and they call Coulson, who is going to stick with his original plan. Coulson and Hunter kidnap someone from a store. Simmons and Ward talk, she is tougher than she remembers. He turns her over to telekinetic Inhuman, who levitates torture tools. Ward moves on to Fitz, and taunts him about Simmons, while she screams in the background. In the quinjet, it turns out that Coulson has captured Ward’s little brother.
Fitz and Ward talk, when Ward gets a call from Coulson. Ward gets to see Hunter rough up the brother, Thomas. Thomas tells the S.H.I.E.L.D. team that their childhood was a nightmare, and offers to help. Ward calls back, and Coulson puts Thomas on the phone. Thomas keeps him talking so they can trace the call. All the dirty secrets of Ward’s family come out. Thomas tells Ward that he is worse than anyone in the family. Ward knows that they traced the call, and they are coming. Ward attacks Simmons in desperation.
It turns out Hydra is in the portal castle in England. Coulson lets Ward’s brother go free, and Bobbi offers him a security detail in return for helping them. Back at HQ, Mack and May talk, and decide Coulson needs backup. At the castle, they drag Simmons into the portal room. Fitz has volunteered to help if they leave Simmons alone.
We see that the Secret Warriors are going into action, with Mack leading Inhumans Daisy, Lincoln and Joey. He gives them a pep talk that has even May impressed. Meanwhile, on the quinjet, Bobbi tries to get Coulson to be less emotional. At the castle, Ward wants to face S.H.I.E.L.D., while Malick wants him to lead the team to the blue planet. Simmons argues with Fitz, tells him to let them kill her, he says no. She says to come back to her, but don’t bring the monster back. Ward does go through the portal with Fitz and some Hydra minions.
The quinjet comes in, and they see on their sensors that Ward went through the portal. Coulson straps on a parachute, and jumps from the plane. But instead of pulling his chute, he dives straight through the portal.
In the stinger scene, the Hydra team walks through a dust storm on the blue planet, searching. Coulson tumbles down a steep slope, and hits his head. And in the preview for the next episode, we see hints that the Hydra team finds what it wants, while the S.H.I.E.L.D. team struggles to save our world from whatever Hydra has found, and get their teammates back safely.
This episode was action packed, and moved a lot of plot threads forward simultaneously. It was sad to see Rosalind die, especially so suddenly. ACTU has been gutted, and it will be interesting to see what happens next with that organization. It looks like Malick has blown his cover in his eagerness to get to Hydra’s end game. The clash between Ward and Coulson has exploded to a whole new level. And now we have Coulson and Fitz versus Ward and Hydra on the blue planet, while the Secret Warriors get launched on their first mission back on Earth. I can’t wait for next week’s show!
Wow, the death toll this episode was incredible I am not OVER any of this.
DAMMIT FITZ
YAY JOEY
Lincoln get that damned smirk off your face
I’m pretty sure this is going to get cliffhangered, leaving Mack in charge of SHIELD for awhile. But yeah next week is going to be explosive.
I always knew Ward’s other brother would come back in play.
It seems to me that the plot logic here requires that some evil be brought back and the only thing in doubt is the mechanism for doing that. So, will Fitz be the show’s Illyria?
@144, You have forgotten the Whedon Way. Give the audience exactly what they want, and make them hate they ever asked for it.
The fandom wants Ward dead. So they are going to get it. Only for Ward’s body to be inhabited by the Inhuman.
Heh. Excellent idea.
@144, 145 I agree that the evil monster will probably be coming back to the Earth, although what form it will take is anyone’s guess at this point. I would hate to see its vessel be Fitz, who has been the writers’ human punching bag for far too long. (Disclosure: I had to ask my daughter-in-law who Illyria was, as I only have the sketchiest idea of the history of the Buffyverse.) The Ward idea is intriguing, and fits with the old monster movie trope that evil humans make the best vessels for evil spirits. I am still trying to wrap my head around how Coulson had even a hint that he could dive through the portal and survive. But, while implausible, it was such a badass move, and great comic book type moment, that I am willing to buy it. Maybe having Kree blood in his veins had more impact on his abilities than we thought.
@AlanBrown
But, while implausible, it was such a badass move, and great comic book type moment, that I am willing to buy it.
My partner, who hates comic book type moments, actually liked that moment too, despite how implausible
I guess Coulson is still a candidate to come back “wrong”.
@149 Please don’t even think that. The poor man has suffered enough.
I think Coulson’s pretty unlikely just for that reason, but I figured we should at least list the candidates.
I was hoping that Roz would be used for more than fridging… Banks’ death just after that shows that the ATCU’s entire purpose was to go back to Hydra, so now the organisation gets taken out of the story: the whole thing is quite anti-climactic.
I think the recap of everyone’s relationship to Ward means it’s finally the end for him. Which means the entity will possess it, and Brett Dalton will play the big bad for the second half of the season.
@145: You have forgotten the REAL Whedon way: Fitz and Simmons are getting together, so one of them has to die. Fitz would make sense, but then Simmons would still have Will (they can’t stay on the Maveth plotline for too long, so if Will doesn’t come back this time, he will die there). So I think Will and Fitz will work together to stop the monster, fail, and they will both die.
I love Ward as a villain, I hope he doesn’t get taken away from us… even as vessel for the evil Inhuman.
@153, Well, sorry about that.
I’m still ticked about the Will deception, but I recognize that my assumption on how It’s powers worked was wrong. It doesn’t shapeshift, it takes over dead bodies and decomposes with them. That explains why It looked like Will in the stinger of 4722, because it had already taken Will’s dead body. Still, BOO I liked Will. Hopefully that will somewhat stifle the people who are complaining about Ros’s death.
Plus, Ros’s death was the catalyst for Coulson killing Ward. Now some people will probably say that Ward’s death “belonged’ to other members of the group, he’s betrayed them all, but some worse than others. Coulson was actually at the bottom of that list until her death. And the thing is, I don’t WANT my precious cinnamon rolls Fitz, Simmons, or Daisy to have to kill in cold blood like that. And I think there is a point to be made, by the narrative even, that what Coulson did was wrong, very wrong. This was the purpose behind Hunter and May’s Ward hunt, to show that getting consumed by vengeance is the wrong choice. Coulson didn’t learn it and now will pay the price.
And I’d rather that it be Coulson that suffers for it than anyone else. Honestly, I feel like Coulson doesn’t have much longer on the show. The other characters are far more interesting, Mack was more dynamic as Director than Coulson has been for two seasons. When the show tried to be “all about Coulson” because of his fan fave status, it struggled.
For all you folks who have been dropping by this thread to comment on the episodes, I just wanted to let you know that there will be a new post appearing soon that covers the mid-season finale in detail. So keep your eyes peeled!