I'm not sure Coulson is so much grabbing power from Mace as he is sharing it with him. Partners, not rivals, as it were. Mace is good at the public stuff, the politics. Coulson is the shadow-master. I didn't get the sense from the ending of the last episode that this wasn't an outcome both were theoretically happy with. Future developments could change that reading, obviously, but it very much felt like Coulson was bringing Mace onto the team, not pushing him out of it.
Agents of Shield - Season 4
- Thread starter MarsWeeps
- Start date
Especially considering Mace was ready to resign before Coulson talked him out of it specifically for this power arrangement.
I like the arrangement- it plays to each man's strengths
No, it's not going to happen. I'm just thinking in terms of how it could if they wanted to give Bret Dalton more work. And I feel kind of sorry for him getting stuck in a religious propaganda film.
I just saw Resurrection of Gavin Stone... it wasn't too bad. Though Brett & the leading lady seemed to be far better actors than most other sin the cast (kinda paralleling the movie storyline itself). It definitely gave him waaay more range (and making him likeable) far faster than his time on Agents of SHIELD.
Also, WWE Films is a co-producer, and has Shawn Michaels in a supporting role...
There was also some Chicago connections which I appreciated
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May didn't just hate the spa, she was living the same moment over and over. No wonder she went nuts.
Raise your hand if you knew that May's escape attempt was going to be the simulation. (I guessed that when I saw the preview last week.)
Heck, I saw that coming even sooner. As soon as Radcliffe said last week that a peaceful simulation wasn't working and she needed a challenge, I knew the next simulation would involve giving her someone to fight. That seemed obvious to me based on her character.
I'm a bit surprised that the past several episodes have spanned only five days of story time.
How did Fitz figure out that the Radcliffe they'd captured was an LMD? And what if he'd been wrong?
I'm thrilled we didn't get stuck with "guess who the other LMD is". I was about to pull what little hair I have left off my head when Radcliff dropped "... there is another". How is Coulson going to keep the fact that he's alive from the remaining 5 people on the planet that don't know he isn't dead??! 
Those photos from the hearing have got to be plastered all over the web. Maybe Supergirl can cross universes and give him some tips on keeping everyone from finding out secrets...
Still not thrilled on how Insta-May bot was just popped out. He couldn't have used a spare Aida since May's height and weight aren't the same as hers.
Those photos from the hearing have got to be plastered all over the web. Maybe Supergirl can cross universes and give him some tips on keeping everyone from finding out secrets...Still not thrilled on how Insta-May bot was just popped out. He couldn't have used a spare Aida since May's height and weight aren't the same as hers.
I saw that too, but it wasn't until the preview that we saw what she'd be fighting.
I wonder if the "Superior" who Nadeer speaks of is yet another leader of Hydra since I wouldn't be surprised if Hydra shows up again as running the watchdogs, even though all of Hydra was supposedly wiped out after Gideon Malick gave shield valuable intel about the location of Hydra bases in Season 3?
Are you kidding? Of course that was "Tex", actor John Pyper-Ferguson.
Don't tell us you don't recognize Tex from The Last Ship! Oh, Tex, who have you gotten yourself mixed up with?!
Oh, for sure, but the MCU was only a year old when Salvation came out. Surely things have diverged since then that Genis*** doesn't exist in this world.
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Oh, yeah, I posted that on another forum (not here, though, I guess). It would be the best way to keep her mind occupied.
I thought it was going to turn out to be Mack. He was acting suspiciously when he went off for "personal time," and Elena had had that line earlier about how his body seemed unreal, which could've been foreshadowing. But those were probably deliberate red herrings.
How is Coulson going to keep the fact that he's alive from the remaining 5 people on the planet that don't know he isn't dead??!
I assume the Avengers know he's alive by now, but it's just not something that's going to be addressed in the movies. It's something they would've learned about and dealt with offscreen, and that just won't come up during the movies because they're focused on more immediate problems.
Maybe Supergirl can cross universes and give him some tips on keeping everyone from finding out secrets...
Like wearing glasses...?
We saw here that he called Aida and told her to initiate the "Sunset Protocol." If he had that protocol already worked out and programmed into Aida, that means he'd planned all this well in advance, and it follows that he'd built the LMayD in advance too. It probably started when she was in his lab dying from the ghost-madness thing -- that gave him an opportunity to take physical scans of her, so maybe that's why he chose her as the one to replace.
Oh, please, no. The Hydra thing has run its course. Time for a new source of villainy.
Are you kidding? Of course that was "Tex", actor John Pyper-Ferguson.
Don't tell us you don't recognize Tex from The Last Ship! Oh, Tex, who have you gotten yourself mixed up with?!
Of course I recognize John Pyper-Ferguson, but I never watched The Last Ship. To me, he'll always be Pete Hutter from The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. Also Stanton Parish from Alphas and Tomas Vergis from Caprica.
Anyway, his Aos character, the Watchdog leader, is named Terrence Shockley, according to the credits.
I think the "weakest" film is individually determined by all. I don't regard any of the "Terminator" films as the best or worst. I only view them as favorite or least favorite.
I really don't know what to make of this episode. It seemed to be all over the map. It wasn't terrible, but . . . why put SHIELD in trouble so soon after it become "legit" again? And what exactly did Talbot say about his role in SHIELD again? Was he taking credit for something? And the subplot regarding Mack's background and Elena's jealousy seemed a bit weal to me. The show runners could have done a better job - like they had done with Mack's relationship with his younger brother.
In fact, this whole episode reminded me of what I believe to be one of the series' biggest weaknesses since Season Two - too much stuff going on in one episode.
I would have agreed with you if the HYDRA story arc had ended in a manner that I would have found enjoyable. But I was disappointed by how the series dealt with it . . . having Coulson and Talbot blow up their bases after Malick gave them the locations. It was lame and a sign of bad and lazy writing to me. Marvel could have done a better job either on the show in the last Captain America movie.
The problem, though, is that it's ended more than once. Hydra's been resurrected and brought down more times than it needed to be. I know that's their thing from the comics -- "Cut off one head and two more take its place" -- but I would've been content if it had stayed defunct after the events of Age of Ultron, if Malick's group had been something separate unconnected to Hydra.
I don't like stories about pervasive, all-encompassing conspiracies, because they don't make any sense. If the group is that large and that ensconced everywhere, why is it even a conspiracy? The only reason to hide is if you don't already have power, if you're in a position of disadvantage. Sure, people in power can try to pull off conspiracies in secret, like Watergate or Iran-Contra, but they don't hide the basic fact that they are in power, and because they're in power, they carry out the bulk of their agendas openly.
Plus, of course, as those examples show, real conspiracies tend to get discovered. Leaks happen, investigations happen, conspirators have pangs of conscience or make mistakes or get better offers. The larger and more pervasive a conspiracy, the more impossible it becomes to keep it secret indefinitely. So it's silly when fiction insists on having vast, far-reaching conspiracies that have managed to remain viable for hundreds or thousands of years.
I'm hoping the "superior" is Thanos. I can hope, right?
The President put Talbot in charge of the ATCU after Ward killed Rosalind Price. SHIELD answered to him during this period.
And the superior should be former SHIELD agent Felix Blake, as it was revealed he was leading the Watchdogs in the episode where Mac went home to deal with his brother. But with Titus Welliver the lead on Amazon Prime's Bosch, they may have someone else turn out to be his superior.
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Another solid episode. I'm glad they didn't drag out "who is the second LMD?" question, but something was tingling my Spidey-Sense during Radcliffe's conversation with Fitz so I wasn't surprised that it was himself. Something about the way he was talking to Fitz. Clearly it alerted Fitz, too. That being said, I am getting tired of shows going for the shocking "Let's shoot the imposter!" as the reveal that they're a fake. In real life, someone wouldn't be so violent to make such a revelation, certainly not a scientist like Fitz.
Poor, poor May. I knew she was going to still be in a simulation. That must be truly hellish. And now Radcliffe is making her go through Bahrain all over again, albeit differently? If and when May truly escapes, I'm not sure if even Coulson can stop her from killing Radcliffe.
I'm glad the possibility of Mack being the LMD (thus putting the nature of his relationship with Yo-Yo into question) turned out to be a red herring. But not only that, the show added some nice depth to his character and helped better develop his relationship with Yo-Yo instead of overly complicating it.
Poor, poor May. I knew she was going to still be in a simulation. That must be truly hellish. And now Radcliffe is making her go through Bahrain all over again, albeit differently? If and when May truly escapes, I'm not sure if even Coulson can stop her from killing Radcliffe.
I'm glad the possibility of Mack being the LMD (thus putting the nature of his relationship with Yo-Yo into question) turned out to be a red herring. But not only that, the show added some nice depth to his character and helped better develop his relationship with Yo-Yo instead of overly complicating it.
You know what? That explanation works for me.Oh, for sure, but the MCU was only a year old when Salvation came out. Surely things have diverged since then that Genis*** doesn't exist in this world.
That's what I've been assuming from the get go and wasn't clear on why the show was being elusive regarding the name of the Watchdogs leader. Hell, I'm surprised Blake's name hasn't come up at all this season, from at least Coulson.
I'm thrilled we didn't get stuck with "guess who the other LMD is". I was about to pull what little hair I have left off my head when Radcliff dropped "... there is another". How is Coulson going to keep the fact that he's alive from the remaining 5 people on the planet that don't know he isn't dead??!
Still not thrilled on how Insta-May bot was just popped out. He couldn't have used a spare Aida since May's height and weight aren't the same as hers.
I may very likely be completely wrong, but I'm not convinced Radcliffe is 'the second LMD'. I thought the conversation that revealed that was between Aida and Radcliffe in his lab, and the conversation with Senator Nadeer implied he replaced himself with an LMD quite some time ago. So it should've been the LMD who said that line, not actually Radcliffe (presumably he once agained programmed it not to know for extra power of conviction). Plus, the second LMD was referred to as a backup plan for May's mission. How does robo-Radcliffe have any hope of getting the Darkhold? Seems to me he's really only good for keeping the real Radcliffe out of jail.
I didn't even pick up on that one, but they certainly tilted heavily with Talbot, acting like he might be a spy and having him try to co-opt Shield's assets (perhaps including the Darkhold?). Then there was also the conversation between May and Coulson which tried hard to make it seem like they were so alike, which almost made me think it could be him, except that he had a wound on his head, so should've already noticed if it were him (and if Radcliffe could replace Coulson, the mission would be complete in less than an hour, anyway).
Given the organization's Inhuman obsession, maybe the superior has some Kree connection?
Called it!
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