Agents of SHIELD: Season 6

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by OCD Geek, Jul 18, 2018.

  1. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2000
    Location:
    Lost in a temporal and spatial anomaly
    Er, right. Brain fart there. :o

    Still, why did they need to go to a high-end jewelry shop for basic crystals?
     
  2. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Enoch was talking about finding a way to get back into cryosleep so they could meet Jemma in the future. So maybe that's what happened in the original loop.


    Several of the alternates of Harrison Wells in The Flash. Also the Earth-2 Barry Allen from same, and the Earth-X Leonard Snart. Mirror Universe Brunt from DS9 was a sweetheart. Surely quite a few of the lead characters' doppelgangers in Sliders would count.


    Because piezoelectric gems are precious in the worlds they come from. They power that device Sarge was trying to get working, so they have a practical use that makes them valuable, rather than just being pretty. It's like how dilithium crystals were a precious commodity in 23rd-century Star Trek.
     
    SolarisOne likes this.
  3. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2003
    Location:
    Norfolk, VA
    The very first episode, they explain that the Confederacy split his ship in half. That seemed to happen when they were driven off the Earth, which happened because the Earth wasn't cracked in two.
     
  4. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2001
    Location:
    Mr. Adventure
    Good call on the CW shows (though of course one of those Wells alternates is pretty nasty). I typically like seeing the badass alternate take on the characters and I suspect they're generally fun for the audience and the actors which is why they so often go in that direction.
     
  5. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    Location:
    Arizona, USA
    So we did more or less get confirmation that Sarge is an alternate universe version of Coulson, but some of the references to reincarnation and past lives makes me wonder if there's more to it than. They seemed like the kind of thing that seems unimportant, but ends up being a bigger deal later. They didn't seem to totally brush off Snowflake's comments, like when Pax told her they don't always come back as butterflies. I guess it could have just been him playing along for her sake, but it felt like more than that to me. We also got Sarge hesitating when he saw May last week, and now this week he admits he recognizes the word Coulson.

    I knew once I saw Kevin Tancheroen that we were done some good fight scenes, and the one on the truck did not disappoint. The stuff with the portal on the metal slab was especially fun.

    Fitz's story wasn't as good as the stuff we got on Earth, but I still enjoyed it. I'm glad to see Enoch is still around, I like him.
     
    SolarisOne likes this.
  6. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    That just sounded to me like they were used to humoring her eccentricity/madness. The problem with the idea of Sarge being Coulson reincarnated is that he's more than a year old. Also that reincarnation is of the soul, not the body.


    I don't recall him hesitating, or for that matter, even seeing May last week. She saw him, but he was just looking around without spotting her, as far as I recall. He hesitated here when she said "Coulson."
     
  7. FreezeC77

    FreezeC77 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2002
    Wonder if Coulson travelling through that alien transporter Hydra had could have had his "transporter image" flagged because of traces of Kree Blood still somewhere in his system that they could detect and it was then transmitted to a facility to be duplicated and then interrogated. So we got us a Thomas Riker who was then Captain Marveled(recent movie) into brainwashed/memory blocked. Weaponized to think he's some kind of shock troop(hence the Sarge)
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2019
  8. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    It's already established that Sarge is from an alternate universe. That seems like all the explanation we need. Maybe it would be clearer if he had a goatee?
     
    Forbin, DEWLine and SolarisOne like this.
  9. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2003
    Location:
    Norfolk, VA
    It's clear that Sarge was in an alternate universe. It is not yet clear he is from that alternate universe. What his deal is will become clearer with more episodes.
     
    Reverend likes this.
  10. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    I think we've been given a pretty clear impression that this is a seasoned crew that's been jumping (sliding?) between universes for a long time. They have their routines down pat, they have a ragtag bunch assembled from multiple different worlds (some with different atmospheric needs), and they seem hardened and world-weary. They've probably been at it for far longer than the year since Coulson's death. I just don't see any realistic reason to suspect that this is some kind of reincarnation or clone of our Coulson, when the Occam's Razor answer is staring us in the face. (Shaving us in the face? Try Occam's Brand Razors! The cleanest shave is always the best!)
     
    DEWLine and SolarisOne like this.
  11. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2002
    Location:
    UK
    Occam's Razor: 1) is the first resort of the chronically unimaginative, and 2) was not intended to be applied to made-up stories.
    Indeed, it's about the worst tool one could use to deduce the solution to a constructed mystery since there's a mind (or minds) behind said story, and they are well aware what the obvious answers would be and how to misdirect.

    Clearly they're establishing some deeper connection beyond "Coulson from Earth-199991". What that is and how it'll play out, we'll just have to wait and see. From what little Gregg has said, it seems unlikely that he's simply an evil doppelganger.
     
    The Nth Doctor likes this.
  12. DEWLine

    DEWLine Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2003
    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Tragic doppelganger, rather than evil...
     
    Reverend and OCD Geek like this.
  13. SolarisOne

    SolarisOne Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Seriously?
     
  14. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2002
    Location:
    UK
    When applied to works of fiction, yeah. 100%.
     
  15. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    Location:
    Arizona, USA
    Yeah, I really think there is going to be some kind of a direct connection to our Coulson, so that way they can use Sarge as a way to bring back 616/199999 Coulson.
    When they killed off Coulson at the end of last season, they thought the show wasn't going to come back, and now that they have they are back they've brought Clark Gregg back as a character who seems to be connected to our Coulson. So I think there's plenty of evidence right now to point to Sarge as our way of getting Coulson back.
    I just can't see them continuing the show for even another season without Coulson, he's just. Now yes there have been a few shows that have killed off their main character, like The Walking Dead, and Vikings, but once the character was dead, they also go rid of the actor.
     
    SolarisOne likes this.
  16. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    I give them more credit than that. I don't think they'd be so creatively lazy as to just find some way to reverse Coulson's death a second time. Five years ago, they made sure they brought him back in a way that wasn't just a casual reset, they made sure it had lasting consequences, and then they brought his story to a respectful close. I'd like to think that what they're doing now is telling a story that gives Clark Gregg a new character to play and doesn't undermine the impact of the story they told before.


    They can connect the character to Coulson without him actually being Coulson. Look at Penny-23 on The Magicians and Laurel-2/Black Siren on Arrow. They're both very different people from the deceased doppelgangers they replaced, and the writing in both shows has leaned into that change and to the fact that the duplicate characters can never be the people that the other characters wish they could be. In both cases, the purpose of the storyline was to keep the actors around and give them new challenges and character directions to keep it interesting, which is so much better than just reversing a meaningful story change. I'd like to think the AoS writers are good enough to take a similar approach rather than falling back on the cozy cliche.


    The fact that past shows have done things a certain way is the best argument for not doing it the same way. What's wrong with trying something new? AoS has always been an ensemble show anyway.
     
    OCD Geek and DEWLine like this.
  17. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    There's clearly something more going on with him vaguely recognizing the name Coulson. They didn't play that beat for no reason. Exactly what the connection is remains to be seen.
     
    Reverend likes this.
  18. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Yeah, but if he's a parallel-world doppelganger, it logically follows that he's the son of Mr. and Mrs. Coulson of Earth-Whatever. Maybe he was orphaned so young that he barely remembers his birth name.
     
    SolarisOne likes this.
  19. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    But if it were something that basic, they wouldn't have bothered making it a vague recollection. He'd know his name and his reaction would have been more along the lines of "Yeah, what's it to you?"
     
  20. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2003
    Location:
    Tacoma, Washington
    "WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?!?"
     
    David cgc likes this.