Agents of SHIELD
Mar. 12th, 2014 02:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ericadawn16There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet's Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot--say Saint Paul's Churchyard for instance-literally to astonish his son's weak mind.
-Charles Dickens
For the past four or five episodes of Agents of SHIELD, I think...this is my favorite episode ever and I don't know how they could top that.
Then, the next episode does just that.
Still, Sif being badass without the others, it'd be hard to top that. She was so badass, so awesome, so much backstory that was sadly lacking from the films. It almost makes up for ending her "Journey Into Mystery".
Almost.
During the Christmas hiatus, I re-watching every episode and started to see how everything was piecing together. Every episode explains more how everything had to start just so...you had to understand that Marley was dead.
Fitz
I love Fitz, but I hope he gets more to do. I feel like I know a LOT more about Simmons now than Fitz.
Simmons
She started off timid, but as she's gained confidence and had that noble sacrifice, she's definitely transforming into awesome. They've also given her some great dramedy to work with like shooting Sitwell and the backstory she made up with Coulson and the prostitutes. I support the internet wanting her to pair up with Skye. They have a nice chemistry together.
Ward
I don't like being told I have to like somebody and he started off seeming like a Gary Stu; perfect at everything except for some bullshit flaw like bad people skills. He even had the stereotypical SHIELD backstory: orphan, horrible childhood, workaholic to fill that void in their life except for the awful older brother...that screamed Barney Barton to me. However, my mom figured it out during my re-watch.
"He's just like Coulson now."
Except he wasn't like Coulson NOW, he was Coulson in the past...the Coulson we met in Iron Man who would have done anything because SHIELD asked him to do it and without question. He's like the younger version of Coulson, complete with banging May because you can't tell me and he and May didn't get it on at some point...
I liked the difference in how each discussed their sexual relationship with Coulson: Melinda being matter of fact and how it might affect their missions while Ward acted like a fifth grader in Sex Ed. I can't wait to see his reaction to what the viewer found out at the end of the episode. Where will his allegiance ultimately lie?
May
Holy shit, that ending!!!!!!
Obviously, Melinda is one of the most talented agents they have; pilot, martial arts, foreign languages, hot wiring, there doesn't seem to be much she can't do but I'm still curious about why she's there.
Well, now we know why she's there but why did Phil pick her?
Was it a Frodo/Gollum thing where if he could save her, he could save himself? Did he feel guilty for how it turned out with her? Did he want to force her back into the land of the living? Or was it simply that he trusted her and the rest of his team was that unskilled?
Okay major spoilers now
Skye
I kind of want Skye to be part Kree, maybe sent to Earth to protect her like Miss America or Hulkling. If she is part Kree and it was a Kree that was in the Guest House, then not only does explain why the blood worked so well on her...yes, Coulson was dead for days but still, he required operation after operation and it appears she just needed bed rest. Also, there might have been something inside Coulson that recognized her and that was another reason he fought so hard for her instead of just having her fulfill that daughter he never had...and being dead for any amount of time probably would make him start thinking about all the things that his work made him miss out on...
Coulson
Dammit, the Avengers* still don't know. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the end credits to Captain America: Winter Soldier has him walking out to a room full of Avengers and then...black.
I wasn't sure because he was definitely dead in Iron Man 3 and still seemed to be dead in Thor: The Dark World but then he's threatening Randolph with telling Thor on him and calling Thor a friend and it's...so you told him about the whole not dead thing??
Then, he tells Sif NOT to tell Thor and I'm just...I'd love to see the follow-up of her going home and how good a liar she really is.
*You can't convince me that Barton and Romanov don't know because even Sitwell knows!
I did wonder what more there was to his resurrection. Obviously, when you're dead for days, it's going to take more than just state of the art medical intervention. It was also interesting to do it the way they did with Coulson suffering so much with the operations and surgeries and making us see him plead to die.
So many of us had wanted him not dead anymore but we expected a magical resurrection with no consequences. Then, we were forced to grapple with the questions of fictional character or not; was it the right thing to do? Would we still have campaigned if we'd known what kind of pain his character would endure?
Sadly, I still would have wanted him back but I like when things are complicated like when Buffy's friends tore her out of Heaven.
I still think Phil went to Valhalla.
Phil has always been portrayed as Nick's right hand man; his closest thing to a BFF. Even their comic book origins have Phil and Nick virtually inseparable but Nick destroyed that. It's so sad how quickly Nick came to chastise Phil about nearly blowing up the Bus but once Phil knows the truth, Nick won't even return his calls. Yeah, it's likely he's gone underground during or in anticipation of the Winter Soldier events but still....
May knew how to reach him still.
Phil's characterization has been a little weird at times or maybe it's just because it Jossed all my thoughts. According to the show, Phil was basically Ward except way worse. He pushed too hard and demanded excellence and they make it seem like he didn't really change until Avengers.
This is where I call bullshit. I don't buy that it was simply being involved with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts that caused this change or even more unbelievable...his death at Loki's hands.
Why do I not agree with this characterization?
Romanoff tells us in The Avengers that Barton made a different call with her. Well, Barton has "heart" so that makes since but then there's "Item 47" where Sitwell makes a different call, also directly disobeying his mission orders.
What's the common denominator in both situations? They were both close to Coulson. In fact, I'd guess he was S.O. to both of them at some point. The first scenes we even see with Sitwell shows how he's not taking Coulson's death very well at all so it makes sense that he would be that much more likely to do something Phil would have done.
I'm not saying Phil was never driven at all cost, but I think the change in him started earlier when he felt he'd failed Akela Amadour (and every time they said her name, I giggled because I was thinking of Hernandez' role in The Americans.
I do love how much character development has been done with Phil. He's a very different guy from that guy introducing himself to Pepper for the first time. He's gone from being very loyal to SHIELD to almost not believing in it anymore. It's obvious that he still loves the people in it and cares about them but he no longer seems to like how they go about things...which Steve knew SHIELD all of five minutes and already seemed to have that conclusion. I know one of the things Steve has a problem with is drones so it was kind of neat that the first episode had Fitz and Simmons admitting that the drones were their own and they were proud of that. There are so many possibilities.
Anyway, I was totally shocked and wanting the next episode IMMEDIATELY when he told Skye that they were going after Nick. Whatever you do, ALWAYS return Phil's phone call or HE WILL HUNT YOU DOWN!
So Lorelei was one of the convenient prisoners we did NOT see in Thor: The Dark World and "Odin" wanted her bought back to Asgard which makes me think "Odin" has a plan...like wanting to track down Amora.
*fingers crossed for Thor 3 although I wish Amora would be the Clairvoyant*
I have theories and thoughts on just about everything so just ask.
-Charles Dickens
For the past four or five episodes of Agents of SHIELD, I think...this is my favorite episode ever and I don't know how they could top that.
Then, the next episode does just that.
Still, Sif being badass without the others, it'd be hard to top that. She was so badass, so awesome, so much backstory that was sadly lacking from the films. It almost makes up for ending her "Journey Into Mystery".
Almost.
During the Christmas hiatus, I re-watching every episode and started to see how everything was piecing together. Every episode explains more how everything had to start just so...you had to understand that Marley was dead.
Fitz
I love Fitz, but I hope he gets more to do. I feel like I know a LOT more about Simmons now than Fitz.
Simmons
She started off timid, but as she's gained confidence and had that noble sacrifice, she's definitely transforming into awesome. They've also given her some great dramedy to work with like shooting Sitwell and the backstory she made up with Coulson and the prostitutes. I support the internet wanting her to pair up with Skye. They have a nice chemistry together.
Ward
I don't like being told I have to like somebody and he started off seeming like a Gary Stu; perfect at everything except for some bullshit flaw like bad people skills. He even had the stereotypical SHIELD backstory: orphan, horrible childhood, workaholic to fill that void in their life except for the awful older brother...that screamed Barney Barton to me. However, my mom figured it out during my re-watch.
"He's just like Coulson now."
Except he wasn't like Coulson NOW, he was Coulson in the past...the Coulson we met in Iron Man who would have done anything because SHIELD asked him to do it and without question. He's like the younger version of Coulson, complete with banging May because you can't tell me and he and May didn't get it on at some point...
I liked the difference in how each discussed their sexual relationship with Coulson: Melinda being matter of fact and how it might affect their missions while Ward acted like a fifth grader in Sex Ed. I can't wait to see his reaction to what the viewer found out at the end of the episode. Where will his allegiance ultimately lie?
May
Holy shit, that ending!!!!!!
Obviously, Melinda is one of the most talented agents they have; pilot, martial arts, foreign languages, hot wiring, there doesn't seem to be much she can't do but I'm still curious about why she's there.
Well, now we know why she's there but why did Phil pick her?
Was it a Frodo/Gollum thing where if he could save her, he could save himself? Did he feel guilty for how it turned out with her? Did he want to force her back into the land of the living? Or was it simply that he trusted her and the rest of his team was that unskilled?
Okay major spoilers now
Skye
I kind of want Skye to be part Kree, maybe sent to Earth to protect her like Miss America or Hulkling. If she is part Kree and it was a Kree that was in the Guest House, then not only does explain why the blood worked so well on her...yes, Coulson was dead for days but still, he required operation after operation and it appears she just needed bed rest. Also, there might have been something inside Coulson that recognized her and that was another reason he fought so hard for her instead of just having her fulfill that daughter he never had...and being dead for any amount of time probably would make him start thinking about all the things that his work made him miss out on...
Coulson
Dammit, the Avengers* still don't know. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the end credits to Captain America: Winter Soldier has him walking out to a room full of Avengers and then...black.
I wasn't sure because he was definitely dead in Iron Man 3 and still seemed to be dead in Thor: The Dark World but then he's threatening Randolph with telling Thor on him and calling Thor a friend and it's...so you told him about the whole not dead thing??
Then, he tells Sif NOT to tell Thor and I'm just...I'd love to see the follow-up of her going home and how good a liar she really is.
*You can't convince me that Barton and Romanov don't know because even Sitwell knows!
I did wonder what more there was to his resurrection. Obviously, when you're dead for days, it's going to take more than just state of the art medical intervention. It was also interesting to do it the way they did with Coulson suffering so much with the operations and surgeries and making us see him plead to die.
So many of us had wanted him not dead anymore but we expected a magical resurrection with no consequences. Then, we were forced to grapple with the questions of fictional character or not; was it the right thing to do? Would we still have campaigned if we'd known what kind of pain his character would endure?
Sadly, I still would have wanted him back but I like when things are complicated like when Buffy's friends tore her out of Heaven.
I still think Phil went to Valhalla.
Phil has always been portrayed as Nick's right hand man; his closest thing to a BFF. Even their comic book origins have Phil and Nick virtually inseparable but Nick destroyed that. It's so sad how quickly Nick came to chastise Phil about nearly blowing up the Bus but once Phil knows the truth, Nick won't even return his calls. Yeah, it's likely he's gone underground during or in anticipation of the Winter Soldier events but still....
May knew how to reach him still.
Phil's characterization has been a little weird at times or maybe it's just because it Jossed all my thoughts. According to the show, Phil was basically Ward except way worse. He pushed too hard and demanded excellence and they make it seem like he didn't really change until Avengers.
This is where I call bullshit. I don't buy that it was simply being involved with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts that caused this change or even more unbelievable...his death at Loki's hands.
Why do I not agree with this characterization?
Romanoff tells us in The Avengers that Barton made a different call with her. Well, Barton has "heart" so that makes since but then there's "Item 47" where Sitwell makes a different call, also directly disobeying his mission orders.
What's the common denominator in both situations? They were both close to Coulson. In fact, I'd guess he was S.O. to both of them at some point. The first scenes we even see with Sitwell shows how he's not taking Coulson's death very well at all so it makes sense that he would be that much more likely to do something Phil would have done.
I'm not saying Phil was never driven at all cost, but I think the change in him started earlier when he felt he'd failed Akela Amadour (and every time they said her name, I giggled because I was thinking of Hernandez' role in The Americans.
I do love how much character development has been done with Phil. He's a very different guy from that guy introducing himself to Pepper for the first time. He's gone from being very loyal to SHIELD to almost not believing in it anymore. It's obvious that he still loves the people in it and cares about them but he no longer seems to like how they go about things...which Steve knew SHIELD all of five minutes and already seemed to have that conclusion. I know one of the things Steve has a problem with is drones so it was kind of neat that the first episode had Fitz and Simmons admitting that the drones were their own and they were proud of that. There are so many possibilities.
Anyway, I was totally shocked and wanting the next episode IMMEDIATELY when he told Skye that they were going after Nick. Whatever you do, ALWAYS return Phil's phone call or HE WILL HUNT YOU DOWN!
So Lorelei was one of the convenient prisoners we did NOT see in Thor: The Dark World and "Odin" wanted her bought back to Asgard which makes me think "Odin" has a plan...like wanting to track down Amora.
*fingers crossed for Thor 3 although I wish Amora would be the Clairvoyant*
I have theories and thoughts on just about everything so just ask.
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no subject
Date: 2014-03-12 03:17 pm (UTC)Then, he tells Sif NOT to tell Thor and I'm just...I'd love to see the follow-up of her going home and how good a liar she really is.
I'm just wondering how all of that will go down.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-12 06:24 pm (UTC)Agreed though, this episode was awesome. I'm pretty sure I don't need anything else in my life but Sif and all the ladies being utterly badass. :D Though, it would be nice to get some sort of acknowledgement that Ward was essentially raped, in every sense of the word, but I'm not getting my hopes up, as TV generally ignores that aspect. Especially as he's a dude and Lorelei was hot so apparently it makes it okay.
And no one will convince me that Natasha and Clint don't know Coulson's alive! I'm curious what will happen in the show after Winter Soldier comes out, as that seems to be so heavily geared to SHIELD.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-13 05:14 am (UTC)I was also thinking Kree. Wasn't the dude in the post-credits scene of Avengers kind of assumed to be Kree? Is there resemblance to the half-a-dude in the Guest House?
We know Phil was alive by Thor 2 because it was several episodes in that they went to Greenwich to clean up after the elf ship kerfuffle. And I agree that Clint and Tasha have to know. They just have to. Phil's making phone calls and walking around the Hub and everything... even if they haven't met face to face yet, they KNOW. And man, I REALLY want to see that reunion.
SO MANY FEELINGS ARGH.
spoilers
Date: 2014-03-13 05:27 am (UTC)She had a line when they are gearing about about "alley or foe doesn't matter when they are being controlled"
I think someone higher up is FORCING her to report on Coulson
I think some of her reluctance to go back into the field was probably already being given the orders to do just that
no subject
Date: 2014-03-15 03:59 pm (UTC)I love how you picked up on the Buffy-Coulson parallel. I love the fallout, I don't like the explanation, but really that's just me and I probably wouldn't have liked anything they gave me. I didn't even like what fixit!fic gave me. No idea why
And I knew the slow burn of the show would culminate into something this amazing. Sure, it isn't perfect. What TV show is? I mean really perfect. None of them. I love long-term set-up shows. It has to be so precise. I loved the first two seasons of Lost before it became obvious they had no idea what they were doing. Fortunately, this is part of a much greater universe and they understand that universe and are tailoring it incredibly close to it. It's amazing. (also everyone's face when they thought Thor was coming to the Bus. 'omg!Thor!')
Maybe Lorelei was kept somewhere else, because where Loki was didn't strike too much as dark and cold. But buddy runs the Nine Realms now... can we just for a moment realize that he's been running the Nine Realms for months and nobody's figured that out yet.