Agents of SHIELD: Season 3 - Discussion (SPOILERS LIKELY)

[FPAlpha]

"I'll be damned. Tatooine!"



I actually laughed out loud and clapped at that one, that was so brilliant and unexpected. The Son of Coul - Master of the One Liner

Goddammit.. how could this Meh show from season 1 turn into such an amazing one? The last one was brilliant and this one may have even topped it, how will they be able to keep this level?

Best parts:

- New Shield Inhuman jumping in front of Skye and finding out he is essentially bulletproof.. heroism and dorkyness all rolled into one. I want to see more of him.. everybody is such a pro at Shield with extensive knowledge and vast experience or talent so it's refreshing to see a regular guy thrown into the mix who is totally out of his depths.. he's basically us, the viewer, thrown into such a situation.

- Fitz is getting more badass by the episode.. trying to disarm Ward takes guts but tackling that Hydra thing and actually coming out on top and taking it out? Awesome.

- The Shield assault on the castle.. balls to wall Spec Op action with some supernatural thrown in. This is what Shield should have always been, glad they own up to it and roll with it.

- Coulson.. the most motherfuckingist badass of them all! As much as you can love such a gruesome scene i cheered when Coulson actually crushed the chest of Ward.. goodbye asshole (though it was quite clear what would happen but still). And when he returned in slow mo.. goddamn, the Avengers have nothing on Phil

Concerning the love triangle i've long suspected that astronaut boy will be the one to die to resolve this but i didn't expect him to have already died, that was a nice twist. After a period of mourning (if the show gives Simmons the time, they don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon currently) the path should be clear for FitzSimmons as it should be.

It was also nice that they found a way to deal with Ward and still keep the actor around. I came to like the actor (i'm so horrible with names) and his journey even though at times his motives seem a little too campy but what the hell. Now that he's gone i'm curious to see what Hydra god can and will do, they set this up well to have enough material for the rest of the season and maybe even beyond.

While the MCU is done with Hydra it is well and alive in Shield so everybody has their toys to play with and nobody steps on any toes.

Great time to be watching Shield!

 

[Reverend]

I thought Monster!Will said nine cities?

You're probably right. I stand corrected.

I thought I remembered Malick saying that the other ancient Inhumans sent the Monster to Maveth, not the Kree. But if it was the Kree, then Maveth and the native Mavethians need not have been anyone notable from comics lore -- it could have just been a rival planet the Kree knew would end up devastated by the Monster.

Unless I misunderstood things, the monolith was a Kree device and it was them that used it to sent this crazyily powerful Inhuman away. May even be the very reason they abandoned the project.

The question is, why send it *there* specifically? The portal between that planet and earth is semi-stable, so it's not like they just dumped it *anywhere* in the arse end of the cosmos, so it must have been targeted and deliberate. Inhumans were made to be be weapons, so was this a world controlled by the Kree's enemy?

The curious part here is if there is no special significance to what that world was, why hint at a more complicated story? Why specify the number of cities and mention that they had some kind of chance to unite but squandered it (according to it's interpretation of events, anyway.)
It also seems to indicate that the creature's power may be way more subtle than we might think. Instead of single handedly obliterating the civilization with some crazy psychokinetics or something, maybe it's something similar to Kilgrave, only an order magnitude more powerful, or at least, more insidious.

The idea that they had some kind of "choice" would appear to hint that maybe it basically talked them into annihilating each other? After all, according to Will, it drove his other team mates to suicide. Maybe that's what it does on a large scale too?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Malick seemed to know something about it's capabilities as he said the only thing coming back is...whatever that thing is. Not "that thing and my team". He fully expected them all to die and for the creature to come back alone.

Or he expected exactly what happened to happen - in other words, one would be sacrificed as a host.

My point was this, he didn't know that it already had a host. That's why he needed to send someone to be that host. Leaving the portal open wouldn't necessarily bring it back without that.

ETA: Sorry, maybe we agree. It's been a long day and my reading comprehension skills are low right now.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Me: <<When Fitz pulls open Will's pants, what was he seeing? It was hard to make out with the weird blue light. Was that supposed to be his bone with no flesh around it?>>

I just realized how dirty that sounds

I realized it at the time that I read it, but I wouldn't touch that comment with a ten-foot p...

Nevermind...

 

[The Old Mixer]

As for why Malick's still around...whoever he's playing, Brett Dalton can still use somebody with a little more gravitas to bounce off of.

After a period of mourning (if the show gives Simmons the time, they don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon currently)

She's got until March...the show's on hiatus.

While the MCU is done with Hydra

I wouldn't be so sure of that after Ant-Man used them so casually.

 

[kitik]

but I'm not on the edge on my seat like at the mid-season finale of season 2. Seemed kinda complete with the big hugs, and just a little tease at the end for next year. I like it.

Yeah, we've got SuperWard and Lash on the loose, but this really felt like it completed a lot of stories. Which is good, since we have to wait until March.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a decent on-show timegap before the next episode. Joey and Lincoln might be more fully trained and integrated into Shield when the show gets back. Lash might be fully Lash all of the time now, so I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see much of Blair Underwood anymore.

This was definitely more of a midseason finale than a midseason cliffhanger.

I wouldn't be so sure of that after Ant-Man used them so casually.

Yeah, Hydra has been made out to be such a vast organization with so many heads that we'll never be done with them.

 

[DEWLine]

Dirty, alright...as in rotting, zombified corpses.

Brrr.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Quiite an interesting little episode. Coulson actually killed Ward (gotta hand it to him-- haha), but now the entity seems to have possessed Ward. Judging from Will's condition, the entity can't heal a dead body or restore it to life, so Ward's undead days are probably numbered. Good way to kill the character but keep the actor working. No problem there. I have nothing against the actor.

So Will was a real person when Gemma was there, which means she wasn't shacking up with an evil entity. That's good. But he's dead now, which may be a complication in her relationship with Fitz. Now he will never know who she would have ultimately chosen. I do, but he will never be sure.

Mack makes a great boss-- and he knows how to pull off an escape by the skin of his teeth. But, since Zombie Ward returned to Earth, they must have had to leave the mini-Monoliths behind, which may turn out to be a tactical error. They should go back for them as quickly as possible, because HYDRA sure will. I hope we revisit that planet soon, because the ruins and the planet's history are both very interesting.

And Andrew is on the loose. I think Gemma will be harboring some guilt over letting him go free.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

Why would anyone need the monoliths anymore? The ancient inhuman is already back, there are no people left on the planet to save. The monolith bits are essentially useless now, (unless the inhuman can't be killed and the ultimate storyline is how to trick/force it back through the portal?).

Although, I suppose it's true SHIELD doesn't know that it escaped yet, but that can't last for very long, I assume.

I'm betting the rest of the season is one big recruiting drive - Hydra and Maveth need to replace the Inhuman army that Lash killed. SHIELD needs Daisy's secret warriors up and running asap in order to stop that inhuman army. And Lash will be running all over the place trying to kill every inhuman before they can be recruited by anyone. I suspect at this point, we'll start to see Lash in a situation where his arguments start to look almost reasonable (although still morally repugnant), because it will probably be very difficult for the inhumans to resist the influence of the monster, but the monster itself may be at least partially reliant on using inhumans to help accomplish its goals - ergo, get rid of the inhumans, hamstring the monster.

 

[Star Wolf]

Did anyone catch the two names on the ATCU containment pods they focused on? I am thinking Rodriguez and maybe Gray before my re-watch. I am thinking some may have survived Lash's assault along with the SHIELDs missile strike

 

[Yanks]

Tatooine!!!

My 12 year old even caught that one.

Highly enjoyable hour of TV this 'Maveth' was.

Coulson just kicking ass is something to behold. Especially when he finally gives it to Ward.

So, why does he leave his hand there? I'm not sure I understand that one.

With all the hugs at the end, you'd think this was a series ender or something.

Love this series.

 

[Captain Craig]

Some predictable moments that were floated here. It was probably the least satisfying mid season break in some regards.

The Good:
Ward died
Coulson exacted justice(I have no issue with him as judge/jury/executioner Ward had it coming)
Team Daisy starting to look like proto Secret Warriors
Joey melting the bullets
Finding out about 9 cities on planet Maveth(maybe what they called the planet?), surely there is more to learn on that front

The Bad
Ward is a walking host(surely his time is limited, surely the entity will not "heal" him)
Malick is still around
Lash is loose


I'm hoping Ward's time on the show is coming to a close now. I just don't see him as the shows "Spike", if you will.
Depending on what happens via tie-ins with CA:CW I'd like to see the Hydra angle take a back seat. We need to have our team up against something new and somewhat different. I'm not against circling back to Hydra, after all Buffy always circled back to vampires.

Looking forward to Agent Carter in the interim.

 

[kitik]

I hope we revisit that planet soon, because the ruins and the planet's history are both very interesting.

I wouldn't be surprised if we never see that planet again.


Sure, an alien planet is interesting as heck (especially the ancient civilizations), but this is Agents of Shield, not the Discovery Channel.

So, why does he leave his hand there? I'm not sure I understand that one.

He wasn't very proud of the way he killed Ward in cold blood (regardless of whether Ward deserved it or not), so he pretty much never wants to see that hand again.

I'm hoping Ward's time on the show is coming to a close now. I just don't see him as the shows "Spike", if you will.

Spoiler alert: he just merged with an entity that's thousands of years old.

He was actually killed this episode, and even that couldn't keep him away for more than 3 minutes.

He's not going anywhere.

 

[Richard Baker]

It hope this Monster/Ward combo just shuts up and does things- I am so weary of Ward talking about why he does what he does and how he feels about it.

 

[kitik]

I hope he talks in a growly Christian Bale/Batman voice.

That said, Monster Will seemed to be pretty chatty when Fitz found him this week, even bragging about the ancient civilizations he wiped out, so no reason to expect Ward to act like he's in a library for the rest of the season.

 

[sojourner]

they must have had to leave the mini-Monoliths behind, which may turn out to be a tactical error. They should go back for them as quickly as possible, because HYDRA sure will.

Ward monster makes it out just before the warp closed. Missiles fly in. Castle go BOOM!. Nothing to recover there but dust.

 

[Yanks]

It hope this Monster/Ward combo just shuts up and does things- I am so weary of Ward talking about why he does what he does and how he feels about it.

That's part of what makes Ward Ward though.

I loved it when he started "Ward talking" to Coulson walking back to the extraction point in cuffs. "Shut up!!"

 

[Yanks]

Looking forward to Agent Carter in the interim.

Most certainly!!

 

[DEWLine]

Did anyone catch the two names on the ATCU containment pods they focused on? I am thinking Rodriguez and maybe Gray before my re-watch. I am thinking some may have survived Lash's assault along with the SHIELDs missile strike

More than two. I saw "T. Nguyen" and "B. Robinson" on another pair of pods.

 

[Ethros]

Just watched it, excellent episode and in particular the last couple of minutes. This show has improved a hundred fold over the last two years and here's to it getting better.

As other's have said I hope "Alien-Ward" isn't just Ward-with-superpowers but in fact a totally different character (kinda like Fred/Illyria on Angel) and that depending on what they do with him maybe even kill him off once and for all by the end of the season.


oh and Chloe Bennet's hotness never ceases