Agents of SHIELD - Season 2 Discussion Threads. (Spoilers Likely)

[Jolaris]

Wow, I can't believe how much I loved tonight's episode. Everything just seemed to click and flow perfectly, despite Simmons seeming so out of character. (I hope she didn't drink too much of the Hydra Koolaid while she was undercover.)

Naaah, if there is one thing SHIELD and HYDRA has in common is that they would never just destroy something like that when there could be some use for it.

They are really channeling the X-Men with the Inhumans now, especially Raina feeling like a freak of nature and Skye being feared by Homo Sapiens.

 

[Reverend]

Interesting. I thought it was Fitz who was acting out of character by making Skye feel like a complete freak when he found out she had transformed into something entirely different. It was bad enough Skye felt like crap for thinking she was responsible for Trip's death. "Your heart rate was 300 bpm. The whole tunnel collapsed, but you survived, which makes me think you were the one who caused the quake." Then he did a turnaround and declared Skye normal in front of Simmons and May.

I think he was proving it to himself, making her react to be sure but then not wanting anyone to put her down as a threat.

Personally I just think Fitz is still having trouble controlling his inside voice. He was basically just vocalising his train of thought, not his conclusion.

My idea is essentially having it start as a government financed think tank prioritizing research. Although Killian is a crucial player, it's evolved beyond that point to achieving scientific advancement in all fields whatever the cost. That, and yellow bee keeper suits

Pretty sure kidnapping POTUS is an excellent way to get your government funding cut off. A more likely scenario would be a chunk of Killian's apparatus grabs whatever assets they can and start taking underworld contracts through contacts they'd already made through fake Ten Rings set-up. I'm sure there's a huge demand now for advanced tech expertise on the black market and Hydra aren't generally the sharing type.

Not sure how best to handle Modok. Maybe something like Zola in TWS, but with a 21st century twist?

 

[Christopher]

Given that Raina was always "The Girl in the Flower Dress" or "Flowers" before, I think her nickname should be Thorn. That is what they were calling them in dialogue -- thorns, rather than spines or quills. Although there doesn't seem to be a Marvel character named Thorn, while there is a DC character of that name.

I hope we get more flashbacks with Dichen Lachman. Great that she finally gets some English dialogue. And it's interesting that they chose to gave their eyeless teleporter the same "bamfing" effect as Nightcrawler in the X-Men movies, essentially. It kind of helps support the idea that all these different continuities are equally "real" dimensions within the multiverse (Earth-199999 for this show and the rest of the MCU, Earth-10005 for the X-films). Using the same effect suggests that, while they have different histories, the cinematic Earths obey equivalent physics.

I'm a little disappointed that the support group thing turned out to be a fib. That could've been nice to explore, a support group for traumatized ex-SHIELD agents.

 

[bbjeg]

Great episode. I was hoping Skye would just immediately become the first superpowered team member (as well as Mac) but I don't mind seeing where they're going with this. I also expected something bad to happen when they went after Hydra heads, but they did it. It seems Hydra is about to be placed on the back burner.

The end is making me think that Bobbi and Mack are working for Fury. They seemed to trying to make you think they were going to steal it, but I think they are actually trying to retrieve it for him.

I don't think it's Fury - he gave it to Coulson, he could just ask for it back. If they're working for anyone we already know, I think it's either Tony Stark or Maria Hill (who's working for Stark and knows Coulson is alive). Of those two, I'd lean towards Hill - she has the SHIELD connection, probably knows Bobbi, and might know that Fury gave something to Coulson. And Cobie Smulders is far more likely to return to the show than Robert Downey, Jr. is to guest star.

Maybe S.T.R.I.K.E. or S.W.O.R.D.?

 

[FPAlpha]

A very good episode with few flaws.

I especially liked the ruthlessness and deviousness of Coulson in dealing with Hydra and the graphic violence when Hunter shot the Hydra guy (didn't watch Shield so this reference passed me by until i read about it).
For a mainstream show showing a direct headshot assassination by a good guy is not something you see everyday which is why it took me by surprise.

I liked the scene with Fitz and how he pierced together the pieces and came to the conclusion that Skye was the center of it all and how it upset him. This made his turn somewhat unbelievable.

For me it was more jarring than the extreme reaction of Simmons because she underwent some pretty bad stuff recently and just snapped and focused on one issue (which of course has a connection to another character for future dramatic purposes).

What's really cool is the official introduction of the Inhumans even if for now it's not officially spoken out apart from some dialogue.
I'm curious what the long term plan is going to be with the Inhumans. As has been mentioned their movie is more than 4 years away and likely in the early stages of development though i think they have the cornerstone of the story and how it will figure into the larger MCU.

Stretching Inhumans for 4 seasons is not something i believe to be a good idea unless they retool the show to Shield & The Inhumans which is not a good idea. However it's a cool way to circumvent Marvel's problem with Mutant keyword as they can show all kinds of "mutations" with Inhumans and not call them Mutants (and i have zero faith that both studios will ever resolve this issue for the benefit of the audience).

In fact when that guy teleported around the room i immediately thought of Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler.. the SFX looked very similar.

Well.. the show is on a good run and i am looking forward what will happen, they sure have enough balls in the air.

 

[kirk55555]

I really liked this episode, I'm so glad that Agents of SHIELD is back. Gemma's attitude was a bit extreme and weird, but besides that I didn't have any real problems. It was cool to see the prisoner transfer stuff not go in the direction I thought it would. I am wondering who Mockingbird and Mack are working for. I'm betting its not Fury. I dohope its not an evil organization, though. I mean, I'm sure whoever they're working for isn't exactly on SHIELD's side, but that doesn't mean a group like Hydra or AIM. Maybe they work for Talbot, or even an international group from the Marvel Universe like MI-13.

The teleporting mutant kind of reminded me of Reader, mostly because they're both blind and can teleport (and he's fresh in my mind since he's in the current Inhuman comic), but that's probably not who they're going for (they admittedly aren't very similar, its just what came to mind when I saw him). I hope we get to eventually see Skye learn to use her powers and use them on missions, although that will probably not happen for awhile. Overall, this was a great return and I can't wait to see what happens next.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

^ And MODOK!

In the interest of brevity, I skipped my explanation for MODOK, but, yes, my idea would have MODOK as the big bad.

Pretty sure kidnapping POTUS is an excellent way to get your government funding cut off. A more likely scenario would be a chunk of Killian's apparatus grabs whatever assets they can and start taking underworld contracts through contacts they'd already made through fake Ten Rings set-up. I'm sure there's a huge demand now for advanced tech expertise on the black market and Hydra aren't generally the sharing type.

Sorry, government funding is past tense. It's how they got started. Obviously, now, they aren't going to be getting government funding. Essentially, they moved from thinking to acting and developing new technology that they sell on the black market.

 

[Velocity]

Gemma was concerned about contagion which is within her area of expertise, so it isn't surprising that she would focus on that. She wanted to keep everyone safe. I was surprised that Fitz would lie to allow Skye to be free when he knew that she was changed, which could indicate that she could be dangerous to them all. Did he identify with her being changed like he was, too much? Maybe he was reacting to Gemma's behavior and feeling the hurt/pain all over again, and wanted to spare Skye from that but he isn't thinking clearly. I want to see Fitz and Simmons close again, but sooner or later everyone is going to find out that Fitz lied and will they be able to trust him after that?

 

[Christopher]

^Fitz stood by his friend. That's a pretty trustworthy thing to do. As he said to Mack earlier, he understands what it feels like to lose control of himself and be afraid of hurting people -- or, in his case, letting them down. So he doesn't look at Skye and see the danger from her powers, he looks at her and sees a friend who's frightened by the change she's undergone and doesn't deserve to be persecuted for something that's out of her control. He's reacting more reasonably than anyone else.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I'll bet that Bobbi and Mack are spying for Stark/The Avengers via Maria Hill, and that this is set-up for the show's tie-in angle with AoU.

 

[Velocity]

^Fitz stood by his friend. That's a pretty trustworthy thing to do. As he said to Mack earlier, he understands what it feels like to lose control of himself and be afraid of hurting people -- or, in his case, letting them down. So he doesn't look at Skye and see the danger from her powers, he looks at her and sees a friend who's frightened by the change she's undergone and doesn't deserve to be persecuted for something that's out of her control. He's reacting more reasonably than anyone else.

But neither of them know for certain that she won't bring the building down around them.

 

[Christopher]

But neither of them know for certain that she won't bring the building down around them.

Which is true but also irrelevant. It's no excuse for forgetting that she's a human being, a friend, and a teammate. Being afraid of someone is no excuse for treating them as less than a person. She's still Skye; they know, or will once they think about it clearly, that she doesn't want to bring the building down around them. It's just a matter of helping her learn to control it. Fitz has already figured that out. He felt fear initially, but he got over it and started reacting appropriately. The others just haven't caught up with him yet.

 

[Neroon]

I am really wishing I had kept the previous episode of S.H.I.E.L.D., just to have a firmer footing for tonight. And was that Fred Dryer on the Hydra "board" ? If it is I find it fun that he once worked for "The Shield" and now is playing a character on "S.H.I.E.L.D."

Guy who played on Hunter was killed by a character named Hunter.

(facepalm) - why didn't I think of that one?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

^Fitz stood by his friend. That's a pretty trustworthy thing to do. As he said to Mack earlier, he understands what it feels like to lose control of himself and be afraid of hurting people -- or, in his case, letting them down. So he doesn't look at Skye and see the danger from her powers, he looks at her and sees a friend who's frightened by the change she's undergone and doesn't deserve to be persecuted for something that's out of her control. He's reacting more reasonably than anyone else.

But neither of them know for certain that she won't bring the building down around them.

But not knowing for certain is not excuse to lock someone up and worse. Fitz believes (probably rightfully) that, right now, tensions are so high that they will overreact to Skye's situation. Later on, cooler heads might prevail and it'll be better for everyone. This is the better option considering that.

 

[DEWLine]

Wondering if Fitz and Skye might decide to tell Coulson and May first and try to work things out from there. Might that be a helpful course?

(No guarantee that the scriptwriting team has any such plans in the works, but...)

 

[JD]

The teleporting mutant kind of reminded me of Reader, mostly because they're both blind and can teleport (and he's fresh in my mind since he's in the current Inhuman comic), but that's probably not who they're going for (they admittedly aren't very similar, its just what came to mind when I saw him). I hope we get to eventually see Skye learn to use her powers and use them on missions, although that will probably not happen for awhile. Overall, this was a great return and I can't wait to see what happens next.

I know it's not the most reliable source, but IMDB does credit Jaime Harris as Reader. I tried to find a cast list on a more reliable site, but didn't have any luck.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Gemma was concerned about contagion which is within her area of expertise, so it isn't surprising that she would focus on that. She wanted to keep everyone safe. I was surprised that Fitz would lie to allow Skye to be free when he knew that she was changed, which could indicate that she could be dangerous to them all. Did he identify with her being changed like he was, too much? Maybe he was reacting to Gemma's behavior and feeling the hurt/pain all over again, and wanted to spare Skye from that but he isn't thinking clearly. I want to see Fitz and Simmons close again, but sooner or later everyone is going to find out that Fitz lied and will they be able to trust him after that?

This is pretty much the way I see it and the way it came across to me. Given what happened to Trip, Jemma is concerned about contagion and that concern would seem to be entirely legitimate. The quarantine and examination to confirm that Skye is not contagious are rational and prudent measures, and Fitz seems to have interfered with that protocol.

However, that said, it also struck me that Jemma might have been prepared to take steps to handle Skye extra cautiously, if not with draconian measures, out of guilt over what happened to Trip, rather than out of any rational suspicion of actual contagion. This certainly at least affects the decision of whether Fitz did the right thing in faking data.

It will probably become clear that Inhumans have been living among humans for a long time, resulting in no ill-effects to humans, and hence, there is no contagion. Plus, frankly, this is a comic-book universe in which there would be no future for drama were mere contact with Inhumans generally fatal to regular people, so we basically know a priori that Skye is (probably) safe to be around from the standpoint of possible infection.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

One of the upcoming episodes is entitled "Love in the Time of Hydra." I am entirely too amused by this fact.

Cheap Gabriel García Márquez references earn my viewing loyalty.

I can't wait for the Skye-centric "One Hundred Years of Attitude."

Hmm. What else?

"The Director in His Triskelion."

"The Autumn of the Supreme Hydra."

"No One Writes to the Level Eight Agent."

"The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Grant and His Heartless Brother."

"The Story of Two Shipwrecked Science Babies."

"Memories of My Melancholy Mutants."

...

You should see the episode titles for this old TV show:

Breaking Point (1963 TV series)

 

[RJDiogenes]

Well, that was a nice little smackdown that Coulson delivered to HYDRA. I wonder if this signals another change in the focus of the show. And I got a kick out of the dialogue after the fake HYDRA attack: "You'll never take us alive!" "If I let you write the dialogue, nobody would say anything."

No sign of Ward or Agent 33, which is fine with me.

Fitz was definitely the star of this episode, both in his scene with Mack and his rescue of Skye. They seem to be setting up a conflict between Fitz and Simmons over the "Inhuman issue." I wonder if Simmons will decide that she loves Fitz after all, but at that point he'll be put off by her bigotry.

It was nice that they devoted so much time to Tripp. I especially liked Coulson visiting his mom personally and the scene where everyone is sitting around talking about him. I was kind of hoping that there would be a last minute save....

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I'll bet that Bobbi and Mack are spying for Stark/The Avengers via Maria Hill, and that this is set-up for the show's tie-in angle with AoU.

That makes a lot of sense and I would much prefer that over another new antagonistic organization.