Agents of Shield - Season 4

[RJDiogenes]

Well, that was an interesting revelation-- It made Mace both more pathetic and more admirable at the same time. In the end, he was a fraud, but the fraud he perpetrated was done to promote unity and fight Inhuman prejudice. It doesn't matter that he gets his powers from a serum-- lots of superheroes are like that-- what matters is that he believes in equal rights, and in the end he was willing to face down the Watchdogs with no powers at all. He earned the name Patriot.

May escaping from the virtual reality booth was hilarious. They tried to soothe her with the illusion of a day spa and they just drove her crazy. And Aida 2.0 does seem to be getting rather miffed at Radcliffe's perpetual criticisms. And I love Radcliffe's characterization. It's not clear exactly what he wants-- maybe immortality is the extent of his goal-- but he's not malevolent at all. He wasn't happy at all that the redshirt got killed. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, he just wants... whatever he wants.

And Fitz is keeping Aida 1.0's head alive. Definitely a B-Movie subplot there. Although I think having the grizzled mercenary shocked into spilling his guts by the sight of a disembodied head was stretching things a bit.

It was fun having Talbot around again. He's always good for a laugh.

And it's good to have Coulson back in the driver's seat, even if it's only behind the scenes. Poor Mack, though. He's had to suffer through a lot for this job, but I don't think they ever put him in a three-piece suit before.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Hey..i know we really don't havany Brett Dalton but he's in a new movie that opens today, "The Resurrection of Gavin Stone".

I saw a number of ads on Facebook, but somehow didn't notice he was in some of the photos.


Here's the trailer:

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I might see it on Tuesday...

 

[Turtletrekker]

It's good to see him working. I don't miss Ward, but have nothing against Brett Dalton.

 

[Captain Craig]

So the Patriot formula, could this turn into the MCU's version of the Infinity Formula with further tweaks?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I just hope that that isn't what Jeph Loeb was refering to when he said to "stay tuned" regarding an AoS/Netflix connection.

Half the time he's referring to nothing. That and "It's all connected" are stock answers. There may be connections or not, but he's not going to say anything different.

 

[bbjeg]

At first, I thought the exploding bullet was the Watch Dog (Peggy Carter) explosive gel that we've seen before, but that didn't spark. I like to think it is the super hero stopping Judas bullet from Luke Cage but Shield would know of that tech and could have easily name dropped it.

Like, "the only bullet with that kind of power is the Judas" or something.

 

[Christopher]

I like to think it is the super hero stopping Judas bullet from Luke Cage but Shield would know of that tech and could have easily name dropped it.

Like, "the only bullet with that kind of power is the Judas" or something.

But why bother? For people who've seen Luke Cage (and remember it better than I do), the effect of the bullet is enough to establish the connection, so saying the words would be extraneous. For people who haven't seen Luke Cage, the mention of the bullet's name would be meaningless, and it doesn't matter to the scene.

 

[Commander Richard]

It's good to see him working. I don't miss Ward, but have nothing against Brett Dalton.

This LMD thing would have been the perfect opportunity to bring back Ward. I'm surprised that the show runners said that the character had run its course.

 

[Christopher]

This LMD thing would have been the perfect opportunity to bring back Ward.

I keep hearing people say that, and yes, from a real-world perspective it hypothetically presents an opportunity to bring back the actor, but from an in-story perspective, I don't think it would work at all. I mean, the whole point of an LMD is to pass as an actual person. That only works if the person is actually alive, or at least not conclusively known to be dead. The characters in the show know that Ward was not only killed but vaporized in space. There's no way an LMD of Ward would fool them for a second. Not to mention that he was a bad guy, so a Ward LMD would be useless at infiltrating their base or winning their trust even if they could be convinced it was the real guy. So what would be the point of making one, from Radcliffe's or Aida's perspective?

 

[bbjeg]

But why bother? For people who've seen Luke Cage (and remember it better than I do), the effect of the bullet is enough to establish the connection, so saying the words would be extraneous. For people who haven't seen Luke Cage, the mention of the bullet's name would be meaningless, and it doesn't matter to the scene.

First, It's not like it would diminish the scene. Second, the MCU is all about name dropping names of things from other movies. It's built on continuity. They also know those who haven't seen all of their properties can still enjoy the ride, even if they name a bullet. Third, Coulson could easily explain a strong metaled drilling explosive bullet that's being used by the Watchdogs, and never even mention Luke Cake.

 

[Commander Richard]

I keep hearing people say that, and yes, from a real-world perspective it hypothetically presents an opportunity to bring back the actor, but from an in-story perspective, I don't think it would work at all. I mean, the whole point of an LMD is to pass as an actual person. That only works if the person is actually alive, or at least not conclusively known to be dead. The characters in the show know that Ward was not only killed but vaporized in space. There's no way an LMD of Ward would fool them for a second. Not to mention that he was a bad guy, so a Ward LMD would be useless at infiltrating their base or winning their trust even if they could be convinced it was the real guy. So what would be the point of making one, from Radcliffe's or Aida's perspective?

Just to bring back the actor and the character as you said. How and why? They can come up with something. It wouldn't have been his first resurrection. I thought that a good opportunity was during last season's finale. Right after we saw Ward die in space, they could have shown him alongside Coulson and the team during that "6 months later" bit when they were after Daisy. Then this season, they could have shown us how they got to that point. Maybe someone was trying to bring back the person they thought he was in season 1. I wasn't thinking about an attempt to fool anyone.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Maybe Radcliffe has LMDs of all the agents stored in his LMD basement. He built Ward before he turned into an alien monster.

 

[Reverend]

Might be useful if they ever need to infiltrate some new Hydra cell, or a Watchdog group made up of ex-Hydra goons? Not that I think they should, but from a conceptual POV the story possibilities are there.

 

[The Old Mixer]

This LMD thing would have been the perfect opportunity to bring back Ward.

Good Lord, man, don't give them any ideas!

 

[Turtletrekker]

Maybe Radcliffe has LMDs of all the agents stored in his LMD basement. He built Ward before he turned into an alien monster.

He didn't know Ward before he turned into an alien monster.

 

[nx1701g]

This LMD thing would have been the perfect opportunity to bring back Ward. I'm surprised that the show runners said that the character had run its course.

Interestingly enough Dish Network still gives Brett Dalton third billing in their episode descriptions.

 

[Christopher]

First, It's not like it would diminish the scene. Second, the MCU is all about name dropping names of things from other movies. It's built on continuity.

Anything that serves no purpose in a scene diminishes it. Doing Easter eggs well is a balance between putting something in for fun and giving it an actual function within the scene, so that it doesn't distract the audience from what really matters. All that matters in the scene is that someone shot at Mace with a special kind of exploding bullet that could endanger a superhuman. The characters in the scene are busy getting Mace and the others to safety and hunting down the sniper; they don't have time to stop and talk about what the deadly weapon was named. And afterward, once the scheme to shoot down Mace's Quinjet and hunt him down in the woods is underway, the instigating bullet no longer matters. There's just no opportunity to talk about the bullet, given the pacing of the action.

And yes, the MCU does a lot of continuity nods, but they don't all require having characters speak the names of things. That's not the only way to do an Easter egg. AoS has been using Tony Stark-style holographic computer interfaces since day one, but they never had one character turn to another and say, "Oh, is that the StarkTech 7.0 operating system?" or whatever. They just used it without comment and trusted the audience to be able to make the connection for themselves.

I mean, here we are talking plenty about the bullet and its Luke Cage connection, and so are people all over the Internet. We didn't need the bullet to be named out loud in order to get the reference. Well, I didn't get it myself, but a lot of other people did, and they've told other people, including me. So the Easter egg did its job. What more is needed?

Just to bring back the actor and the character as you said. How and why? They can come up with something.

As with the Judas bullet, "can" doesn't mean "should." Good writing is not about twisting the story to fit your arbitrary whims, it's about doing things that serve the story and characters and make sense within the narrative.

It wouldn't have been his first resurrection.

It always throws me for a loop when people online use "It's been done before" as an argument in favor of doing something. I think most writers would consider that a strong argument against doing it again.

Besides, the most common criticism I heard about Ward's arc on the show is that they kept prolonging it after it should've ended, coming up with increasingly more convoluted excuses to keep him around. It was getting to the point of becoming ridiculous. I don't think the audience or critics as a whole would've been that pleased to see them do it yet again.

Maybe someone was trying to bring back the person they thought he was in season 1. I wasn't thinking about an attempt to fool anyone.

But that doesn't fit the concept of LMDs and what they're for, either in the comics or in the show so far. That's a different kind of android-double story.

 

[Star Wolf]

Maybe as an Easter Egg something a known man of faith Mac, in his role as Secret Service like protection detail for Director Mace just yelling "Judas" when he sees the effect of the bullet.

By the way Director Mace on Crazy Cal juice stood up to Ghost Rider suggest that his blows were supernatural and not physical in nature. It had me thinking maybe android and not Super Soldier as I never bought the Inhuman story.

 

[Commander Richard]

As with the Judas bullet, "can" doesn't mean "should." Good writing is not about twisting the story to fit your arbitrary whims, it's about doing things that serve the story and characters and make sense within the narrative.

I agree but to me this wouldn't have felt forced. Quite the opposite actually. That's why I brought it up. He was their friend and teammate at one point, what if they came full circle? It's a valid direction.

It always throws me for a loop when people online use "It's been done before" as an argument in favor of doing something.

Just pointing out that it can be done.

But that doesn't fit the concept of LMDs and what they're for, either in the comics or in the show so far. That's a different kind of android-double story.

Yes.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I think it would have fit seamlessly to include it, but I also don't see any reason to be bothered that they didn't namedrop it. It's just a namedrop and nothing more.