Agents of SHIELD 3x04, "Devils You Know"
Nov. 1st, 2015 07:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ladybusinessI love this show, but when it disappoints me it really does a bang up job of disappointing me. I haven't seen the next episode yet (in which I assume the events of this episode are resolved/revealed), because I've been wondering if the show is about the take a turn for the "OH GOD NO". See: Make Outs of Unfortunate Timing. There's only one couple I want to see make out, show! MAKE BETTER CHOICES. Although, everyone has said 3x05 is great, so who knows! I am, predictably, behind. I remain terrible at serial television. :D
Lash continues his Inhuman culling, this time with some Inhumans living peacefully and just trying to have a nice dinner. Seeing that Alisha is already working with the new SHIELD is very, very weird (how did she get there? What's her relationship with the others like? I want this show to give me more context about cool ladies!). On plus side, more women with powers! Lash manages to fry her via killing her pals and the projection of herself, leaving her super messed up. Still, I'm hopeful she gets to become part of Daisy's team. I want to see Daisy leading this team, even though I enjoy the roadblocks the show has tossed in front of her preventing its development. How does she handle the complications to what was a huge promotion? Daisy: not known for her thoughtful and considered patience.
This episode explicitly remembered that Daisy has computer skills, and puts her on the trail of a virus sent to other Inhumans. I loved that in this case, when she shares her information with the ATCU, they have no clue how to do the things with technology that she manages easily. Daisy has weaknesses; she's reckless at times, she's often over-confident, and she sometimes doesn't take the clues on when it's appropriate to defer to superiors, but on the skill track, she continues to be the most awesome and talented, even beyond professionals in organized political groups. Thank you, show.
Between Mack and Daisy, Mack is the huge guy logically scared of the terrifying murderers, the one chasing after Daisy when she goes rushing into danger, the voice of reason in tense moments, and super protective of Daisy whenever she's being threatened or extends herself too far. When the ATCU shows up with Phil, Mack immediately goes on the defensive. I am super into this, show! Give me a partnership where Daisy and Mack are super protective of each other. This is shaping up to be one of my favorite relationships on the show, which I never saw coming after Mack's behavior in Season 2. Daisy/Mack BFF.
I expect the obvious condescension that the ATCU leader, Random Neo-Nazi lookalike, has for Daisy is eventually going to come to a head. It's very obvious he and Daisy have similar levels of contempt for the deal that Rosalind and Phil made for SHIELD and the ATCU to work together. Phil has a point that fighting over who gets to fight is a waste of time and resources, but given that we're building up to a showdown between the government and superheroes, I'm curious how it will resolve. Are they going to act as the parallel? The ATCU has the political power, but SHIELD has the secrecy and ability to move quietly, as well as several powered individuals. I suspect an eventual showdown! (I also expect that Random Neo-Nazi lookalike will not fair well.)
The other excellent relationship is Rosalind and Phil, who banter like a high stakes tennis match. And it's amazing how often Phil doesn't gain ground from her, and ends up backed into a corner. Listen, show, there's two people I definitely want to eventually make out, and it's not Daisy and Lincoln. Please aim your Unresolved Sexual Tension cannons at Rosalind and Phil. It's perfect: opposing agency leaders! Conflicting goals! Divided loyalties! Forbidden romance! I would not say no to a midseason finale make out session followed by weeks of uncertainty about how they'll handle it going forward.
I probably should have expected the Lance/Ward confrontation to resolve, but I thought they'd stretch it out a bit longer. Unfortunately, Lance is compromised and not thinking strategically. He rushes in and leaves May with no choice but to seek backup with Phil and SHIELD. I had been turning over the reasons that Andrew and May might not have worked out, but I never expected it to be Andrew running off on May the same way she did with him. Why? Where did he go? Why can't they resolve the problem? Of course, my first thought upon finishing this episode was: did they create this problem between May and Andrew in order to create this infuriating cliffhanger??
Whatever villainy Ward and his minions are cooking up isn't obvious yet. Unfortunately, Hydra 2.0 is not yet that scary. They can get the jump on Lance and May, who are both distracted: Lance by his determination to kill Ward and May's outstanding issues with Andrew, which come back to bite her when Ward paints a target on him via his new protege. I'm surprised this came to a head so quickly; I expected Lance to have to spend more time proving himself before getting face time with Ward. I shouldn't be glad Lance and May failed and possibly lost an ally in the process (it's not clear what happened to Andrew at the end of the episode and I'm behind now), but I am. Because it was Bobbi who Ward tortured; I really want her to get better and be the one to be in charge of tracking him down after Lance rushed in before she was better. Lance's white knight act, even with May to help out, was always potentially a one way trip, even if he did succeed.
The other big mystery is the fact that Lash is a shapeshifter; once he attacks the Inhuman that Daisy and the ATCU track down and kills him (Daisy gets to be awesome here again; she's stunned not 100% but everyone else i.e. dudes are firmly unconscious) she sees him change back. Now we're inevitably going to begin the "it could be anyone!" game, which I sort of had enough of back when Hydra came out of the shadows in the first season. I feel a little lulled into a false sense of security. Rosalind takes everyone to the hospital, including Mack and Daisy. She does take care of her people and her allies. But her ATCU team leader doesn't like having Daisy running around, so I'm convinced it's going to become an issue soon. Meanwhile, more scenes where she gets to banter with Phil, please.
The Fitz and Simmons thread seems like it will come to a head next week: this week is Jemma secretly working on a portal project and Fitz walking around, vaguely worried and feeling shut out by Jemma's failure to tell him what's up. It's wonderful that Bobbi keeps Jemma's confidence when Fitz discovers what Jemma's been working on. WOMEN BEING FRIENDS and loyal to each other! Yes, please. I admit that I'm pretty stoked that there's something more going on with the portal and Jemma's time there than, "Got rescued, back to normal." because I keep hoping they'll continue looking into more Kree technology as they build up to the Captain Marvel film and the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy, to prime viewers for it. Provided we get a Captain Marvel film. I'm sure I'm not the only one dubious at this point.
The big end of the episode I had spoiled for me because I saw too much commentary on Twitter similar to the S2 midseason finale when the writers decided to randomly get rid of Tripp for emotional reasons that were immediately dropped and never really came up again for Daisy. They hit Jemma harder, but with this new direction for her, Tripp's death was completely useless and it still makes me angry.owlmoose told me what was up and I flailed around, infuriated, because this show's habit of putting the black men who are sympathetic and well-liked in harm's way for minor amounts of emotional payoff is disappointing. There's a few different ways to look at it, of course, but I am really over character death or perceived character death. It's boring and they use it too much. I don't know the resolution yet, but if Andrew is gone then Mack better be 1000% untouchable. Every dire situation he gets into Daisy better be there to rescue him. They can hug it out and then play restorative video games.
More thoughts:
Lash continues his Inhuman culling, this time with some Inhumans living peacefully and just trying to have a nice dinner. Seeing that Alisha is already working with the new SHIELD is very, very weird (how did she get there? What's her relationship with the others like? I want this show to give me more context about cool ladies!). On plus side, more women with powers! Lash manages to fry her via killing her pals and the projection of herself, leaving her super messed up. Still, I'm hopeful she gets to become part of Daisy's team. I want to see Daisy leading this team, even though I enjoy the roadblocks the show has tossed in front of her preventing its development. How does she handle the complications to what was a huge promotion? Daisy: not known for her thoughtful and considered patience.
This episode explicitly remembered that Daisy has computer skills, and puts her on the trail of a virus sent to other Inhumans. I loved that in this case, when she shares her information with the ATCU, they have no clue how to do the things with technology that she manages easily. Daisy has weaknesses; she's reckless at times, she's often over-confident, and she sometimes doesn't take the clues on when it's appropriate to defer to superiors, but on the skill track, she continues to be the most awesome and talented, even beyond professionals in organized political groups. Thank you, show.
Between Mack and Daisy, Mack is the huge guy logically scared of the terrifying murderers, the one chasing after Daisy when she goes rushing into danger, the voice of reason in tense moments, and super protective of Daisy whenever she's being threatened or extends herself too far. When the ATCU shows up with Phil, Mack immediately goes on the defensive. I am super into this, show! Give me a partnership where Daisy and Mack are super protective of each other. This is shaping up to be one of my favorite relationships on the show, which I never saw coming after Mack's behavior in Season 2. Daisy/Mack BFF.
I expect the obvious condescension that the ATCU leader, Random Neo-Nazi lookalike, has for Daisy is eventually going to come to a head. It's very obvious he and Daisy have similar levels of contempt for the deal that Rosalind and Phil made for SHIELD and the ATCU to work together. Phil has a point that fighting over who gets to fight is a waste of time and resources, but given that we're building up to a showdown between the government and superheroes, I'm curious how it will resolve. Are they going to act as the parallel? The ATCU has the political power, but SHIELD has the secrecy and ability to move quietly, as well as several powered individuals. I suspect an eventual showdown! (I also expect that Random Neo-Nazi lookalike will not fair well.)
The other excellent relationship is Rosalind and Phil, who banter like a high stakes tennis match. And it's amazing how often Phil doesn't gain ground from her, and ends up backed into a corner. Listen, show, there's two people I definitely want to eventually make out, and it's not Daisy and Lincoln. Please aim your Unresolved Sexual Tension cannons at Rosalind and Phil. It's perfect: opposing agency leaders! Conflicting goals! Divided loyalties! Forbidden romance! I would not say no to a midseason finale make out session followed by weeks of uncertainty about how they'll handle it going forward.
I probably should have expected the Lance/Ward confrontation to resolve, but I thought they'd stretch it out a bit longer. Unfortunately, Lance is compromised and not thinking strategically. He rushes in and leaves May with no choice but to seek backup with Phil and SHIELD. I had been turning over the reasons that Andrew and May might not have worked out, but I never expected it to be Andrew running off on May the same way she did with him. Why? Where did he go? Why can't they resolve the problem? Of course, my first thought upon finishing this episode was: did they create this problem between May and Andrew in order to create this infuriating cliffhanger??
Whatever villainy Ward and his minions are cooking up isn't obvious yet. Unfortunately, Hydra 2.0 is not yet that scary. They can get the jump on Lance and May, who are both distracted: Lance by his determination to kill Ward and May's outstanding issues with Andrew, which come back to bite her when Ward paints a target on him via his new protege. I'm surprised this came to a head so quickly; I expected Lance to have to spend more time proving himself before getting face time with Ward. I shouldn't be glad Lance and May failed and possibly lost an ally in the process (it's not clear what happened to Andrew at the end of the episode and I'm behind now), but I am. Because it was Bobbi who Ward tortured; I really want her to get better and be the one to be in charge of tracking him down after Lance rushed in before she was better. Lance's white knight act, even with May to help out, was always potentially a one way trip, even if he did succeed.
The other big mystery is the fact that Lash is a shapeshifter; once he attacks the Inhuman that Daisy and the ATCU track down and kills him (Daisy gets to be awesome here again; she's stunned not 100% but everyone else i.e. dudes are firmly unconscious) she sees him change back. Now we're inevitably going to begin the "it could be anyone!" game, which I sort of had enough of back when Hydra came out of the shadows in the first season. I feel a little lulled into a false sense of security. Rosalind takes everyone to the hospital, including Mack and Daisy. She does take care of her people and her allies. But her ATCU team leader doesn't like having Daisy running around, so I'm convinced it's going to become an issue soon. Meanwhile, more scenes where she gets to banter with Phil, please.
The Fitz and Simmons thread seems like it will come to a head next week: this week is Jemma secretly working on a portal project and Fitz walking around, vaguely worried and feeling shut out by Jemma's failure to tell him what's up. It's wonderful that Bobbi keeps Jemma's confidence when Fitz discovers what Jemma's been working on. WOMEN BEING FRIENDS and loyal to each other! Yes, please. I admit that I'm pretty stoked that there's something more going on with the portal and Jemma's time there than, "Got rescued, back to normal." because I keep hoping they'll continue looking into more Kree technology as they build up to the Captain Marvel film and the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy, to prime viewers for it. Provided we get a Captain Marvel film. I'm sure I'm not the only one dubious at this point.
The big end of the episode I had spoiled for me because I saw too much commentary on Twitter similar to the S2 midseason finale when the writers decided to randomly get rid of Tripp for emotional reasons that were immediately dropped and never really came up again for Daisy. They hit Jemma harder, but with this new direction for her, Tripp's death was completely useless and it still makes me angry.
owlmoose told me what was up and I flailed around, infuriated, because this show's habit of putting the black men who are sympathetic and well-liked in harm's way for minor amounts of emotional payoff is disappointing. There's a few different ways to look at it, of course, but I am really over character death or perceived character death. It's boring and they use it too much. I don't know the resolution yet, but if Andrew is gone then Mack better be 1000% untouchable. Every dire situation he gets into Daisy better be there to rescue him. They can hug it out and then play restorative video games.More thoughts:
- Mack has an espresso machine! THIS IS ADORABLE.
- Jemma and Fitz have a system for samples that is impenetrable to everyone else! ♥_♥
- "Does it really have a laser finger?" and "That's classified." OMG PLEASE DATE.
- Out of all of New Hydra, Kebo is my favorite. He's so nonchalant but looms so effectively!
- I hope we start getting to keep new Inhumans, even if they don't become regular characters. I would love for them to be side characters and manage to survive our evil Inhuman-killing shapeshifter. I want more cool superpowers!
- When Andrew says three months of evaluation, he's not kidding: we haven't seen Joey since the first episode.
- Mack and Daisy at the hospital and Mack going, "You holding something back, D?" LISTEN SHOW I ONLY HAVE ONE HEART. The nicknames are going to kill me. I welcome my utterly adorable death.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-02 09:00 am (UTC)They are dating. It's just everyone else thinks of it as missions.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-02 07:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-02 08:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-02 08:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-02 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-02 08:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-02 01:40 pm (UTC)Ana (Smuggler and Fangirl)
no subject
Date: 2015-11-02 08:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-03 02:23 pm (UTC)I'll be happy to be wrong, I like Andrew. He's so warm and fuzzy!
I also like Kebo, so maybe I'm not the best judge of character. ;)
no subject
Date: 2015-11-16 05:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-04 10:35 am (UTC)With you on Rosalind and Phil!
no subject
Date: 2015-11-16 05:39 am (UTC)