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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Scars

"I hope your mother is everything you wanted her to be."

This episode goes to show that just because someone is a manipulative schemer with a long history of betrayal doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to them.

Who would've thought that Raina of all people would actually be telling the truth? I honestly thought that she was making a power play by manipulating Gordon into going against Jiaying. I never would've guessed that she really did have everyone’s best interests at heart. Okay, maybe she only had her own interests at heart. After all, if S.H.I.E.L.D. attacks Afterlife (and odds are they will) she could easily get caught in the crossfire.

Poor Skye. Seems the crazy in her family isn't limited to Daddy Dearest. What was Jiaying thinking killing Jan Brady Adama like that, just when he was starting to show that there was more to him than xenophobia and Coulson envy and after he gave her that nice gift too. That’s gratitude for ya. So it looks like it is going to be war (huh, what is it good for?)! Well, we were hardly going to have a two hour finale about index negotiations. How dull would that be? Still, I would've preferred if the events that led to this conflict felt more organic.

I get that she is suspicious of S.H.I.E.L.D. (it does not have the best reputation) and that Gonzales' limp is in no way comparable with what Whitehall did to her, but Jiaying has to know that starting a war with S.H.I.E.L.D. (and Diet S.H.I.E.L.D.) is only going to get her people killed. Does she think her side will win because some of them have superpowers? Is she forgetting that H.U.F.F.L.E.P.U.F.F. have an Inhuman doomsday weapon in the hold of their ship? Or that Phil pretty much has the Avengers on speed dial?

So Ward's whole "look after Kara for me" speech last week was a load of baloney. He left her there deliberately so they could kidnap Bobbi. Was it always the plan to grab Bobbi? If yes, then what for? I seriously doubt that it has anything to do with giving Kara "closure." The way these two are together makes it clear that Kara has swapped one manipulator for another. I honestly don’t think that Ward really cares about her, or maybe he does but only in that unique Grant Ward way where caring for someone doesn’t stop you from dropping them in the ocean.

So what are we to make of the hula doll scene? Simmons was really nervous when she gave the doll to Skye, like unbelievably nervous. Far more nervous than a friend giving another friend a nice gift should be. There are two possible explanations for this. The first is that Coulson had Simmons hid something in the doll so they could track her moments. This doesn't exactly scan because they knew where Skye was going and if they wanted to keep track of her a doll she is unlikely to keep on her person at all times is not the ideal tool. The second is that Jemma has realised that her feelings for Skye may not be entirely platonic and she was worried about how Skye would react to this, somewhat romantic, gesture. That's the more likely explanation, right? Gods, when did I become such a pathetic Skimmons shipper? I've clearly been spending too much time on Tumblr.

It looks like Age of Ultron isn’t going to have the same kind of impact on the series that The Winter Soldier had. Which is a good thing. The writers had plenty of time to deal with the fallout from that movie and the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. in season one. There are only three episodes left this season and as I said in one of my earlier reviews, switching the focus to an all new threat at this late stage would just not work. You do have to wonder, though, what exactly have these guys been doing while all of this was going down? Have they just been hanging around the office playing a tense game of Monopoly while Ultron plotted the extermination of all life on Earth?


Intel and Assets

--They really didn't do a very good job hiding how seriously pregnant Dichen Lachman obviously was when they filmed this.

– Hunter drawing spikes on the photo of Raina was just perfect.

--I don't know what was cuter – Koenig’s socks or his box of lanyards?

--As you've probably heard by now we're getting a third season as well as a second season of Agent Carter ("Yay" – Me). Meanwhile, the Bobbi/Hunter spin-off has been shelved ("Fucking yay!" – Paul Kelly)

--I loved that Simmons showed no regret whatsoever for trying to kill Ward, only that she failed.

Coulson: "What can I say? I'm a company man."

Two and a half out of four Star Wars bedsheets.
---
Mark Greig has been writing for Doux Reviews since 2011. More Mark Greig.

10 comments:

  1. The moment Jiaying killed Gonzalez made me yell WTF at the TV, though in retrospect it's easy to see how they'd refuse permanent surveillance, and that war is an eventuality. Though the series has given us a enough clues to think Jiaying has other motives / plans in mind. What if the "death stone" doesn't kill inhumans but is something else entirely? (global terrigen bomb? Too early?)

    Anyone else confused by how Bobbi was kidnapped? No one at SHIELD realized May was in two places at the same time? "I thought you were scouting ahead with Bobbi, never mind who's actually with her, come pilot for us, Bobbi can take care of herself."

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  2. Mark,

    Always a pleasure to read your reviews.

    And yay for season 3's green light !

    J Paul M

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  3. I knew something bad was going to happen the moment Coulson let Gonzalez go instead of him. Why would he give up something so important so easily? Because you can't kill one of your main characters in the penultimate episode of the season. (That's what season finales are for...)

    Is it weird that I'd rather not have Ward die next week? I just so enjoy watching girls beat him up.

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  4. "Because you can't kill one of your main characters in the penultimate episode of the season. (That's what season finales are for...)"

    Unless you're Game of Thrones then you absolutely kill every main character that you can in the penultimate episode of the season.

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  5. Rebecca - that's exactly what I was thinking.

    I thought Simmons' awkwardness was her trying to patch up her friendship with Skye after all her talk about eliminating the threat of super-powered people before she realized Skye had super powers, but that may be me being naive.

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  6. I'm with Marianna on this one. I don't see any Skimmons going on at all. But I am known to be a very naive person.:)

    Jiaying! Didn't you just know it! I knew there was something about her. Unfortunately, as much as I love Dichen Lachman, I'm afraid she will be killed off in some kinda way in the season finale. (But how will they do it? They would have to blow her up and scatter all the pieces around the world?)

    Loved this ep. MAOS just get better and better.

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  7. Great episode. The last ten minutes were terrific. I loved how it played with our perception of the characters and beautifully twisted everything for the season finale.

    While Jiaying’s decision to go to war is abrupt, her character development, which has been nuanced and very well done, backs it up. When we first heard of Skye’s parents, we were told they were monsters who destroyed the village Skye was found in. Jiaying also stated she could care less about regular humans, she devotes her entire existence to the Inhumans community.

    I’ve got to admit, though, I totally bought Jiaying and Cal’s act. When they talked about what to do and Cal offered to surrender himself to S.H.I.E.L.D. I thought that they were good people and good parents after all, and we, at Doux Reviews, were all paranoid a few of episodes ago. But, nope, they are quite the crazy couple and I just love it. It’s always a delight when a TV show manages to create good villains, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Powers That Be have created a terrific couple of villains. I’m getting this Spike/Drusilla vibe from Cal and Jiaying. They are like a version of Spike and Drusilla, if Drusilla were less crazy and Buffy their daughter.

    - Gonzales was starting to win me over and Jiaying killed him. I have to say that, even thought I mostly couldn’t stand Gonzales, I appreciated having Edward James Olmos on this show. Also, he tweeted a lot of nice things about his time on the series, what a lovely man. :)

    - Coulson is such a good sport, isn’t he? The way he handled Mack’s quitting was the best.

    They really didn't do a very good job hiding how seriously pregnant Dichen Lachman obviously was when they filmed this.

    I had no idea she was pregnant! I did notice that Dichen is larger (and even more gorgeous, by the way) and she was sitting for most of her scenes. Now it makes sense, haha.

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  8. Maybe something is wrong with me, or I'm just blinded by my fondness for Dichen Lachman, but I can't help siding with Jiaying a bit here. (Or maybe I just can't work up the any sadness over the death of the guy who had the nerve to compare his HYDRA damage to hers. Are you kidding me?) I would not want my people subjected to SHIELD and its indexing under any circumstances, and like Rebecca said, I suspect Jiaying thinks that war is inevitable. Running and hiding will only work for so long. Especially since her daughter is a SHIELD agent. So she opted to meet the threat head on in a way that will (probably) ensure that her people are ready to throw down with her. Whether she's got some aim beyond that, I'm not sure, but I'll bet the weird melty rock in SHIELD's possession will factor in somehow.

    Whatever happens in the season finale, I hope Jiaying and Cal continue to remain players on the board. I like them as counterpoints to the Coulson-May surrogate parent team.

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  9. I'll bet the weird melty rock in SHIELD's possession will factor in somehow.

    I agree, and I think that rebecca is right: the stone could be the Terrigen Bomb. Raina never said the store was dangerous to inhumans, Jyaying was the one that implied that. And when Raina and Gordon found the stone, Gordon’s face was filled with joy and Raina impulsively started to walk towards the stone. So, yes, I think it is the device that could “awaken” every inhuman on the planet.

    I would also guess that the little detail of Skye’s true birth date is going to be relevant. Maybe that’s the slip that will make her realize her parents are lying to her. I wonder if she’ll stand by their side anyway or switch to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s.

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  10. Just a reminder: Willow became a thread exactly three episodes before the end of season 6, and it worked out magnificently.

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