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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Frenemy of My Enemy

So how's things? Kill anyone interesting lately?
"We're making a deal... with Ward."

Dun, dun DUUUUNNNN!

Before I get started, I would like to say a gargantuan thank you to sunbunny for filling in for me for the last three weeks. You're the best, kiddo.

Coulson going to Ward for help was a surprise. I knew he was desperate, but I didn't think he was that desperate. I thought hell would freeze over or 'Uptown Funk' would stop being irresistibly catchy before Coulson would ever consider not shooting Ward dead on sight. Then again, maybe that actually is his intention. When he says he will wipe Ward's memories after the mission does he mean with a handgun? Coulson isn't dumb enough to trust Ward and Ward isn't dumb enough to trust Coulson. So the question now is who will betray who first? My guess is Ward since he's more experienced at it. Everything Ward does has a purpose. I suspect he provoked Fitz deliberately to see how he would react. Handing Mike over to HYDRA was also a clever move. He can spin it as an effort to gain List’s trust, but it is more likely he was getting rid of a potential threat. With Mike out of the way he only has to deal with Coulson and Hunter.

Now that Coulson has handed himself over to Mack and Bobbi, he's probably going to bring Ward back with him for a potential team-up to fight HYDRA, the real enemy that everyone has been ignoring while they act like squabbling kids fighting over who gets to be in charge while their parents are away. Will Simmons keep her promise and kill him? I think she should for two reasons: 1) it would be one hell of a shock, and 2) it would finally solve the problem of what to do with Grant Ward, something the show has been struggling to do all season.

Momma Johnson appears to be almost Magneto-ish in her disregard for the safety of normal people. She was just going to dump Cal in his hometown like an unwanted puppy and leave him there, not caring how many people he would most definitely kill in his rage. Bruce Banner has fewer anger management issues than that guy. Good thing for the citizens of Milwaukee (it is actually pronounced "mill-e-wah-que" which is Algonquin for "the good land." Thank you, Alice Cooper) that Skye takes after her other mother, the one who I'm pretty sure could kill someone with just a look.

Skye took it upon herself to accompany Daddy Dearest to try and soften the blow and keep Milwaukee's murder rate down. Which was a great excuse for some father and daughter bonding as he took her on a tour of his home town and lamented about the decline of ice cream parlours in America (curse you, internet). When he's not in a homicidal rage Cal really is the world's goofiest dad. Cal wanted to reconnect with his daughter and to get back what Whitehall took from him. But Skye is right, that time is gone and they are never getting it back. Unless they meet a time traveler. Anything is possible with time travel. Except for a decent Highlander sequel. No power in this universe or any other could produce a decent Highlander sequel.

With the season finale, not to mention Avengers: Age of Ultron, only weeks away, everything is starting to come together. You do have to wonder how much of an impact Age of Ultron is going to have on this series. The conflict in that film looks like it is going to be global so it is going to be hard for this series to ignore it completely. Will we see everyone drop everything, forget all about the Inhumans and this silly S.H.I.E.L.D. rivalry, so they can fight Ultron robots? Hmmm, can't see that happening. After devoting so much of season 2.1 to introducing the Inhumans and establishing the conflict with H.U.F.F.L.E.P.U.F.F., it would be too jarring to suddenly have everyone fighting a completely new and unrelated enemy for the last two episodes.

Well, that was certainly...expected.
Intel and Assets

--Simmons remains loyal to Coulson, believing that everything he has done has all been to protect Skye and there is nothing Simmons cares more about that Skye (except maybe Fitz). There are times I do wonder if Jemma's undying love for Skye is actually in the script or whether it's just Elizabeth Henstridge's undying love for Chloe Bennet refusing to be contained.

--For a professional spy, Coulson's poker face is rubbish.

--Skye now knows that her full name is Daisy Johnson.

--Cal's home town really should have been Portland.

--I hope they rescue Mike before HYDRA turns him into their weapon again. The poor guy deserves so much better than that.

--Bobbi and Mack are both having doubt about who the real enemy is. Psst, it's HYDRA ya dummies.

Hunter: "Do we trust Stepford Bakshi?"

Cal: "Bookstores – dead. Video stores – dead. Old fashioned ice cream shops – dead. The internet killed everything."
Skye: "I'm not sure the internet killed ice cream."

Jemma: “The only thing I know is that Coulson was just trying to protect Skye.”

Three out of four Mexican standoffs.
---
Mark Greig has been writing for Doux Reviews since 2011. More Mark Greig.

7 comments:

  1. Will Simmons keep her promise and kill him?

    Great callback there, Mark. I hope the writers remember that promise. I would love it if either Simmons or Fitz killed Ward (from a story and character development perspective, I like what Ward brings to the series).

    Ok, so, I’m not feeling the show right now. The first half of the season was great. The second half has been a messy combination of disjointed elements. I’m losing the will to write actual comments about this series, so I’ll just make a list of disjointed thoughts:

    - Erase Ward’s memory? Coulson is aware that that’s a terrible proposal, right? He can’t seriously think Ward would buy it.

    - Having that said, it would be a typical Whedon twist to have Ward’s memory erased so that in the following season erased Ward would slowly resurface. Then Skye would enter Ward’s head to join him for a walk on his memory lane, and there would be a fight of Evil Ward vs. Whatever Would Be Left of Ward Ward. Then S.H.I.E.L.D. would call Willow to restore Ward’s soul.

    - May is buying that Coulson is a big fat liar? Man, I hate when this show makes a character act on a way that makes no sense for them only because the plot demands.

    - Where is the tension between the two S.H.I.E.L.D.s? Seriously, this episode was just another day in the office. That particular arc has fizzled (which makes it even more unnecessary to begin with).

    - Speaking of fizzled, I was getting so excited for all the different parties coming to a confrontation and then... it was just about rearranging the many moving parts of the current story.

    - So, apparently, Hydra is the one experimenting on superpowered people, Coulson has been investigating them, and Gonzales thought Coulson was the one working on superpowered people. Gonzales should not be the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.

    - Cal was great, and so were his scenes with Skye.

    - Skye saying out loud “Daisy Johnson” was a terrific, earned moment. I’m not a comic book guy, but I sort of want to start calling her Daisy.

    - I hope Ward’s relationship with Agent 33 has more than just romance to it, because it came flying out of nowhere.

    - Ward was gone for too long, as well as Hydra.

    - All in all, I thought the episode itself was a decent watch, but filled with inconsistencies, some that became more evident after I finished watching it. Meh.

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  2. "it is actually pronounced "mill-e-wah-que" which is Algonquin for "the good land.". Thank you, Alice Cooper"

    Thanks for an excellent review, Mark. It was definitely worthy :-)

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  3. > May is buying that Coulson is a big fat liar?

    He is a spy. He is THE spy, Lamounier. His secrets have secrets.

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  4. It's why his hair's so big. It's full of secrets.

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  5. It's funny with this show, I am sooo paranoid I am not trusting anyone!! Not even Coulson!:)

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  6. Lol! Sunbunny, excellent Mean Girls reference!

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