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

“Don’t be a hater, Phil.”

At a very specific point in season one, Grant Ward was elevated from generic handsome man to the show’s most complex and polarizing character. In fact, he may be the most polarizing character in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

On one hand, you have fans who insist that Ward is a literal Nazi who murdered his own dog. On the other, you have the Ward Warriors, some of whom insist with increased feebleness that Ward was abused as a child and that his horrific actions should be overlooked because he was incapable of control. The vast majority of fans fall somewhere in the middle. This episode sought to put this sometimes vicious debate to rest.

The entire episode was about explaining Ward’s character with less and less subtlety until the appearance of Thomas Ward, who acted as a writer insert character and completely abandoned any sort of subtext, informing the team and the audience, “Just because you grow up in a family of abusive monsters, doesn’t mean you have to become one.”

If we believe Thomas (and I think we should), Ward’s entire life has been framed by the day he pushed his brother down a well, previously explored in a first season episode fittingly entitled “The Well.” After that, the boy Thomas described as his best friend became increasingly obsessed with “protecting” his little brother to the point he attempted to kill their abusive older brother Christian. Thomas describes a boy incapable of seeing shades of grey and insistent on redeeming himself, whatever the cost. He casts his family as evil and himself as the white knight, the conquering hero. Earlier in the episode, May suggests that Ward was “desperate for others to think of him as some kind of hero.” I think it was more important to Ward that he was able to think of himself as a hero, that that was the only way he could live with himself and what he’d done, starting with a relatively simple act of pushing his brother down a well. I think it’s interesting and totally believable that Thomas doesn’t appear to hold the well incident against his brother and instead focuses on the much more horrific acts of burning down the family home with Christian inside and the later murder of the entire family. I get the feeling that if Ward had been able to get over the well, to accept responsibility for a single violent impulse that he might have never gone down this path.

There was also a discussion of the tremendous impact father figures have had on Ward’s life. Daisy points out, in case the audience has forgotten, that she had a messed up childhood too and that she was completely “taken in” when her mother reappeared in her life, even being manipulated into attacking May. Ward was much younger than Daisy when Garrett appeared in his life and Daisy understands the pull that would have and is even understands his allegiance to HYDRA. But she’s not willing to forgive the horrible things he’s done, an important distinction. Understanding why a person or character does something does not necessarily mean that you can or should forgive them. An explanation is not an excuse.

An excuse is something Ward is desperate for because he is a man unwilling or unable to take responsibility for his actions. Like the newest MCU villain, he doesn’t see himself as a villain. To him, S.H.I.E.L.D. are the bad guys. He tells Thomas and I think he truly believes that they are responsible for Kara’s death when in fact he was the one who shot and killed her. That he thought he was killing May is as weak an excuse as you’ll get. Again, we see the lack of ability to see shades of grey and differing levels of responsibility. S.H.I.E.L.D. is evil. S.H.I.E.L.D. killed Kara. Ward is avenging her death by taking down S.H.I.E.L.D.

We can see in real time the draw father figures have for Ward as he lets himself be manipulated by Malick despite knowing exactly what he is doing. His desperation for approval continues to be one of his most obvious characteristics, whether that approval comes from Garrett or Daisy or Thomas or Malick, he needs someone to affirm that he is as he thinks of himself, a hero.

The episode ends with Fitz, Ward, and a bunch of HYDRA goons on Jemma’s mysterious home away from home, with Coulson nearby but unconscious. I’m not sure at all that they will make it off that planet in one piece.

Intel and Assets

--I’m going to miss Rosalind. I really liked her. Her date night with Phil was almost unbearably cute.

--Simmons mentioned laughing at Ward’s “ridiculous puns.” Ward never made puns. Brett Dalton, on the other hand…

Rosalind: “Any sensible girl would swipe left in this moment.”
Coulson: “Honestly? Don’t know what that means.”

Hunter: “Piece of advice: never trust a crooked jockey on a doped up horse.”

Hunter: “We both know common sense was never really my strong suit.”

four out of four Grant Wards
---
sunbunny, who is not Mark Greig

8 comments:

  1. > Coulson: “Honestly? Don’t know what that means.”

    Honestly? Neither do I.

    It's sad to see both Rosalind AND Banks go in one episode. I was certain that at least one of them would run with S.H.I.E.L.D. for a while.

    Mack as an acting director? Never thought of that, but it kinda suits him.

    I really enjoyed watching Coulson vehemently objecting when those goons tried to put him down. He doesn't always look good in action scenes, but that was really nice.

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  2. I feel like we are definitely entering the endgame with Ward. He can't continue to act as a recurring baddie because it would make our heroes looks ineffective and stupid and forgiveness and redemption are so not an option at this point. I'd be very surprised if he survived next week's finale.

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  3. Mark, I think redemption is NOT out of question now. Ward still might (mind you, I said "might") play Spike to Malik's Angelus.

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  4. still.... considering how many he's killed... including a plane full of people and Rosalind (damn!) .... I don't see it....

    I hope they find Will and bring him back and leave Ward there forever alone with a monster... that would be a fitting punishment... death is too easy at this point

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  5. Excellent review! You described Ward's character development perfectly. Also, thanks for explaining the puns thing; I totally didn't get that.

    Coulson should probably be dead, but I'm assuming he's not. I have a feeling that Will is the alien they're bringing back, even though that wouldn't make complete sense.

    I'm disappointed with what they've been doing with Mr. Gyera, A.K.A. lame Magneto. His torture of Simmons involved floating a hammer and a wrench toward her. He could have done that with his hands! Also Simmons didn't seem at all injured later.

    I complain, but I actually really liked the episode. Great character development all around!

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  6. "I have a feeling that Will is the alien they're bringing back, even though that wouldn't make complete sense."

    I feel like they made it pretty clear that Hydra sent Will over there (to the blue planet) as a sacrifice for the mysterious creature/alien that Will warned Jemma about after discovering her. Said mysterious creature is an Inhuman, and the Hydra folks really like the cut of its jib!

    Solid review!

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  7. Yes, this was a great episode for Ward, but was it necessary to kill Rosalind off? Did Coulson need yet another reason to go after Ward? When I saw the preview and a teaser of the scene Fitzsimmons are captured, I presumed Coulson be angry and would go after Ward to rescue S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most adorable agents.

    Then Rosalind’s death came flying out of nowhere (no pun intended). At first, I thought the scene was a dream. Everything happened so quickly, surely the writers wouldn’t be wasting such a rich character. Then the scene never cut to Coulson waking up, and slowly it sank in that Rosalind was dead. Now, it did elevate the episode, and I was really tense through most of it, but I still think it was a waste to kill Rosalind off.

    While I can believe Coulson would go after Ward to avenge the death of a person he saw as his equal (as in the good and honest leader of a fellow spy organization that was also played by Hydra), I can’t see Coulson going after Ward to avenge the death of his soul mate. And the writers seemed to be going more for the latter. It felt like there was a missing episode between the last one and this one, in which Coulson and Rosalind reconciled and deepened their affections for one another. One dinner scene of three minutes before Rosalind gets shot doesn’t cut it. Like many things on AoS, this development was one thing: rushed.

    Then Rosalind’s right hand also dies, and so ATCU was just a big red herring for Hydra. Again, a waste.

    Moving on from all the deaths, this was a very good episode. Like Marianna, I was not convinced by Simmons’ torture scenes, but Simmons’ moments were great overall. I really appreciated when she stated that trying to bring Will back would put too many lives at risk, therefore it would be selfish of her to try. She was also terrific when Ward threatened her and she quick and coldly replied “do your best”. And Fitz continued to be the king of this series. How great was Iain De Caestecker reacting to Simmons’ screams? Can this guy get an Emmy already? Also, I loved Fitzsimmons mocking Malick about Hydra’s inability of bringing people back from the Blue Planet. You go, geeks. You are the best.

    Coulson jumping right into the portal was an unbelievable, ridiculous and crazy moment. I really liked it.

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  8. While I was really unhappy with what happened to Rosalind (and like Lamounier, I thought it was a dream sequence or something at first), I liked Coulson completely losing it the way he did.

    Bringing in Ward's little brother helped make sense of stuff, too. Like many, I grew up in a bad situation, and understanding what awful things happened to an abusive parent doesn't mean that you can or should forgive them.

    Excellent review, Sunbunny.

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