S02.E13: One Of Us

[Cranberry]

Cal seeks revenge on Coulson by assembling a team of Super Villains to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. Meanwhile, May calls on renowned Dr. Andrew Garner, her charismatic ex-husband, with a crisis that threatens to tear the team apart.

 

[ottoDbusdriver]

That was a particularly stupid episode of AoS.  Skyedaddy's motley crew of stupid villains was pretty stupid -- from Drea de Matteo's poor woman's Wolverine (that she did to herself -- WTF ? Why wouldn't they just remove the scalpels from the end of her fingers. That was ridiculous !!) to steroid rage-boy to the sleep yeller to sociopathic hacker.

 

Why didn't they just get sleep yeller to put everyone to sleep ?  Problem solved, easy peasy, SHIELD defeated.

 

Why didn't May just ice rage-boy ?

 

If SHIELD is a renegade organization, why were the cops helping Bobbi and Coulson at the sanitarium ?

 

Oh noes .... Skye fall down !!  And she fractured her arms in 75 places, but I predict super-fast healing.  I'd hate to see what happens when she rubs one out.

 

What the hell is "the real" SHIELD ?

 

Did anyone bother to check and see if the football players and cheerleaders were all right ?  Because I'm pretty sure all those birds are dead, so no one will notice a couple of injured cheerleaders.  How long were they going to be catatonic for -- hours, days ?

 

Teleporter guy kidnaps Skyedaddy.  Yawn.  Whatever.

Edited March 18, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[Jediknight]

2 SHIELDs, that was a shock.  I was thinking Mack and Bobbi were SWORD.

 

Fitz continues to be a badass with defending Skye.

[Lantern7]

Lots of stuff going on this week. . .  and all I can think of is how they used Angarr the Screamer. It's official . . . any character can be used to great effect on this show. ANY character.

[xqueenfrostine]

This was definitely one of the weaker episodes this season.  Aside from the cuteness of the interaction between May and her ex and seeing Crazy Cal again, this episode just felt like a dud.  Too much Skye, and the showdown in Wisconsin felt rather pointless.  I can't even get excited by Mack reveal that he and Bobbi seem to be working for a separate SHIELD splinter group because that part of the plot just felt horribly written.  

[Pepper the Cat]

So all these cheer leaders and football players laid there for hours and no one found them? No parents cames looking for them? Or is the entire town comatose?

[Malbec]

Drea de Matteo's character -- how the heck does that warrant SHIELD monitoring?  The SVU squad could have dealt with her, frankly.

 

I honestly found 90% of this episode fell in the "unintentionally funny" category, with the exception of May and her ex.  Ming-Na and Blair Underwood worked really well together.  Wish they'd gotten a better episode.

[ajsnaves]

So all these cheer leaders and football players laid there for hours and no one found them? No parents cames looking for them? Or is the entire town comatose?

I live in Manitowoc.  Like much of Wisconsin, we're pretty drunk most of them time.  Bunch of kids passed out, nothing unusual.

 

While I understand not coming here to film, they could have at least gotten the team name right.  They're the Ship Builders, or the Ships.  And there should have been a lot more snow.

[thuganomics85]

I really do love Cal.  Kyle MacLachlan is just so damn fun in this role.  Even if the stories aren't the best, he makes me interested in them.

 

That said, yeah, I was kind of disappointed in the SHIELD vs. "The Gifted" scenario.  None of the gifted grabbed me; they all felt like lesser version of the X-Men, Justice League, etc.  Claw lady only left an impression because she was randomly played by Drea de Matteo, who really didn't get to do much besides react to Cal.  And, Cal's whole big plan really didn't excite me.  Just knock out a bunch of teen, and make Coulson come back to his hometown?  Come on, Cal!  No half measures!  I want you crazy with a capital C!!

 

So, Melinda used to be married to Blair Underwood, and he shows up to try and help Skye.  He, of course, doesn't think she should hang around with them anymore, but of course, they ain't going for that.  We'll see who ends up being right.  And, we never did see the photo behind the frame.  Have a feeling there was more to that when that meets the eye.

 

At least Fitz and Simmons had a brief moment of bonding, before the craziness went down.  But, I still suspect their will be issues.  Fitz is supportive of Skye, while Simmons still is cautious.  And, I'm sure Coulson assigning to keep at this and not let anyone else know, is bound to bite her in the ass.

 

So... Mack and Bobbi are working for another SHIELD? The "real" SHIELD?  OK, then, this has come out of nowhere.  I guess it is kind of funny that a bunch of people were so freaked out over Coulson in charge, they decided to branch out.

Edited March 18, 2015 by thuganomics85

[redfish]

So... Mack and Bobbi are working for another SHIELD? The "real" SHIELD?  OK, then, this has come out of nowhere.  I guess it is kind of funny that a bunch of people were so freaked out over Coulson in charge, they decided to branch out.

 

The new SHIELD? Are they going to call it SWORD now?

So this is how they're setting up CA:Civil War. Yeesh, is this show's only use for Marvel Studio is to showcase/promote their Marvel movies?

[ottoDbusdriver]

The new SHIELD? Are they going to call it SWORD now?

So this is how they're setting up CA:Civil War. Yeesh, is this show's only use for Marvel Studio is to showcase/promote their Marvel movies?

 

Is the "Real SHIELD" also evil ?  Infested with HYDRA ?

[redfish]

Is the "Real SHIELD" also evil ?  Infested with HYDRA ?

Didn't they do that last season? Or is this a more hard core uncompromising SHIELD that could be the precursor to HAMMER?

[missbonnie]

WTF was that mess? Dear show writers can you please make a clear cut decision and go with it??

[CMH1981]

So there is another SHIELD?  I like the guess upthread that this is the equivalent of HAMMER setting up for the CA3:Civil War.  Part of me was hoping it was more that Fury didn't fully trust Coulson and his rag tag team of agents, hell we already know Fury is a man of many, many secrets.

 

I couldn't figure out the Adrianna character on here, why couldn't they just I don't know...unscrew the blades from her fingers...yeah it would hurt like hell but still...

[benteen]

2 SHIELDs, that was a shock.  I was thinking Mack and Bobbi were SWORD.

 

Fitz continues to be a badass with defending Skye.

 

I thought the same exact thing.  Thinking SWORD but shocked when it turned out to be another Shield.

 

KM continues to absolutely rock it as Cal, hilariously unhinged.  Thank God because his team was underwhelming in every way.

 

I liked Blair Underwood's character and he had good chemistry with Ming Na.  Glad to see he's not drinking Coulson's Kool-Aid either.

 

I enjoyed the episode.

[Chicago Redshirt]

That was a particularly stupid episode of AoS.  Skyedaddy's motley crew of stupid villains was pretty stupid -- from Drea de Matteo's poor woman's Wolverine (that she did to herself -- WTF ? Why wouldn't they just remove the scalpels from the end of her fingers. That was ridiculous !!) to steroid rage-boy to the sleep yeller to sociopathic hacker.

 

Why didn't they just get sleep yeller to put everyone to sleep ?  Problem solved, easy peasy, SHIELD defeated.

 

Why didn't May just ice rage-boy ?

 

If SHIELD is a renegade organization, why were the cops helping Bobbi and Coulson at the sanitarium ?

 

Oh noes .... Skye fall down !!  And she fractured her arms in 75 places, but I predict super-fast healing.  I'd hate to see what happens when she rubs one out.

 

What the hell is "the real" SHIELD ?

 

Did anyone bother to check and see if the football players and cheerleaders were all right ?  Because I'm pretty sure all those birds are dead, so no one will notice a couple of injured cheerleaders.  How long were they going to be catatonic for -- hours, days ?

 

Teleporter guy kidnaps Skyedaddy.  Yawn.  Whatever.

As to why Angar didn't put everyone to sleep, as Cal said, Phil's a smart guy; he would have taken precautions. It would have been better if we got to see the effects of the precautions first-hand, such as "I put my Bat...er SHIELD earplugs in" but what can you do?

 

The fact that Coulson personally went to his hometown AND Melinda brought Skye both struck me as idiot plotting. Even with SHIELD being a shadow of its former self, there must be hundreds of redshirts he could send, not to mention the local and federal authorities. Coulson needs to be less Captain Kirk and more Captain Picard.

 

Yep, it was stupid that the SHIELD folks didn't use icers, real guns, their planes, stun grenades, or any of the infinite tools still at their disposal. The notion of May fighting people with super-strength in hand-to-hand combat is unnecessary.

 

It would be nice if the writers did something akin to Indy shooting the buff swordfighter and had SHIELD actually outthink their opponents instead of just resorting to a dumb fistfight. But that's TV.

 

As to SHIELD being a renegade organization, I do not think it is any longer. Christian Ward made his deal to clear SHIELD's name in exchange for getting his brother. The only other authority that was against them was Talbot, and he has apparently come to a detente with SHIELD.

 

As to the teleporter taking Cal but not Skye, it too doesn't make sense. One would think he knows that Skye is also an Inhuman. 

 

Lots of stuff going on this week. . .  and all I can think of is how they used Angarr the Screamer. It's official . . . any character can be used to great effect on this show. ANY character.

 

I don't know if I'd go that far. Angarr wasn't all that impressive.

[Sakura12]

I enjoyed this episode, it wasn't as good as the previous two but it was decent. I liked seeing May's husband, they had good chemistry and he's a good guy. I loved Skye trying to get inside information about May from him and that May gave him permission to reveal bits because she knew it would get Skye to talk. 

 

I figured Bobbi and Mac were working for another SHIELD. I just thought it would be the Maria Hill run one. Coulson's a horrible Director I've said that many times. So the categorizing starts here. Enhanced people and born and/or alien people. 

 

Also no eyes guy, you are a science experiment too, just a science experiment from an Alien race. I think Skye's mom is still alive and she's going to be the one to decide what to do with Cal. 

[Sarahastro]

I liked this one, but it wasn't as good as I had hoped.

 

Cal was delightful. The rest of his team was kind of meh. I did like that he was driving around in an Evil RV on a road trip to Wisconsin to eat pancakes at a diner with his Evil League of Evil. Kyle Maclachlan is just so much fun.

 

I liked seeing May interact with Andrew and learning a little bit more about her. They have good chemistry together. And it's always nice to see Ming-Na smiling and laughing.

 

But the stuff with Andrew and Skye didn't really go anywhere. They talked a couple of times. He didn't help her with her powers at all. So that subplot felt like treading water.

 

I also thought that Cal getting whisked away by Gordon was anti-climactic, although I liked hearing Gordon dismiss Cal as not one of them. Interesting. Not sure what Cal's going to be doing now though.

 

The stuff with Bobbi and Mack interests me a lot. I'm guessing the central conflict will be over what exactly should be done with alien tech and gifted individuals. I'm looking forward to seeing Edward James Olmos. The guy oozes gravitas.

[DeLurker]

I was waiting for Cal to say "damn fine cup of coffee" in the diner. I love Crazy Cal.

I'm guessing we see Blair Underwood again to find out who he has a picture of on his desk.

[sinkwriter]

 

Drea de Matteo's poor woman's Wolverine (that she did to herself -- WTF ? Why wouldn't they just remove the scalpels from the end of her fingers. That was ridiculous !!)

 

That's what I wondered! I mean, I imagine it wouldn't be pretty, but they must be able to work wonders with their technology. 

 

 

I was waiting for Cal to say "damn fine cup of coffee" in the diner. I love Crazy Cal.

 

Golden opportunity right there, that's what that was. Sad.

 

I'm not sure I understand the point of having a second SHIELD group, when Fury put Coulson in charge of keeping everything together in his absence (didn't he?). Of course, there could be fringe groups of former SHIELD who don't like Coulson or want him in charge and decide to go up against him in order to take over. But if Bobbie and Mack are part of that, I think they're assholes for pretending to be friends with everyone in Coulson's group, when they're really plotting to take him down. I guess we'll see what happens next week, but right now I am not liking either of them for their seeming betrayal of all their friends. (And I don't blame Hunter for being really pissed off.)

[Jediknight]

I'm looking forward to seeing Edward James Olmos. The guy oozes gravitas.

"How do I reach these agents?"

 

I'm so sorry, but I had to do it.

[AD35]

Was I the only one who shouted "Ghostbusters!" in their head when Coulson asked "who you're gonna call?" when he spoke to May about her ex?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

What a waste of Adriana!

[shrewd.buddha]

That was a particularly stupid episode of AoS.  

So much was wrong with this episode :

• Super agent Hunter can't manage an escape from being handcuffed to toilet plumbing. 
• Let's learn more about Skye through psychoanalysis!! .. Or just rehash the stuff we already know..
• Coulson, Director of Shield, calls May for backup - because there's only one agent available for backup.
• May takes the only one plane available to Shield -- conveniently bringing along Skye and her issues..
•  Coulson knows he will be dealing with a guy who has a power related to sound - but no one mentions ear protection. This happens twice.
• Bobbi, who recently fought a Kree, has a tough time taking down a human with tiny fingernail knives. 
• Everyone must engage in hand-to-hand combat, because icers are only used when Skye needs to shoot herself. 
• Coulson tells Simmons to keep her research a secret -- because this group is  more like a family than a team.

 

The whole episode was exhausting because of all the distracting thoughts of "Why don't they just ...? ". 

[Glory]

I will bet you one million Shrute bucks that the picture on Blair Underwood's desk is of Melinda May. No! TWO MILLION! 

 

C'mon show. 

 

I was confused by the second SHIELD as well. At first, I thought the symbol was supposed to represent Captain America and I was like, "Oh. What's Steve got to do with this?" But that seems not to be the case. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

Also no eyes guy, you are a science experiment too, just a science experiment from an Alien race. I think Skye's mom is still alive and she's going to be the one to decide what to do with Cal. 

I thought about him being a science experiment too. But I could see that no-eyes guy doesn't think of himself as such, either because they don't know about the Kree seeding people with the Inhuman gene millenia ago, or because they've developed an ideology/religion about their specialness. Hypothetically, you can give anyone the drugs Calvin took and they'd get his abilities. Not anyone can become an Inhuman through exposure to the Mist, and not every person who survives would get the same abilities.

 

But the stuff with Andrew and Skye didn't really go anywhere. They talked a couple of times. He didn't help her with her powers at all. So that subplot felt like treading water.

Well, Skye learned that she is damaging herself physically and emotionally by repressing her feelings. And perhaps by proxy, Melinda learned that repressing emotions is not healthy as well.

I will bet you one million Shrute bucks that the picture on Blair Underwood's desk is of Melinda May. No! TWO MILLION! 

I think that May saw the picture in Andrew's office and would have reacted differently if it was her. 

[Sarahastro]

I will bet you one million Shrute bucks that the picture on Blair Underwood's desk is of Melinda May. No! TWO MILLION! 

 

I'm not sure if you get a good look at the picture in the episode, but you can see it in one of the promo stills, and it doesn't look like May. Of course they could decide to change it later, but I got the impression that he had really moved on. Plus we already have one divorced couple who are sort of back together. I think adding a second would be repetitive.

[APSimpson]

I really enjoy the scenes with Bobbi and Coulson together. Heck, I enjoy any scene with Coulson together with someone; I like that one-on-one time an agent might get with Coulson. I just wish we'd see more of Coulson and Fitz bonding. Coulson seems to take him for granted a little bit, I don't know.

 

Speaking of Fitz, I hope he and Simmons can just get over it and get back to being friends. I have my problems with Simmons (I think she sent him signals) but it's over and done with. The two still have wonderful chemistry together, and if it's meant to be friends, and if that's what's best for the team then so be it. I'm just tired of all the drawn-out tension between the two. When they're together and talking they actually are lighthearted like in the microwave scene last night. And Fitz please get rid of the cardigans! You're a young man not a university professor.

 

I like Hunter so much better when he is vulnerable and not cocky. Loved the scenes with him and Mack. Loved it when Hunter ranted at Bobbi when mack was talking to her on the phone and Bobbi flippantly said "get him a beer" or something like that. Poor Hunter. LOL I can't wait for him and Bobbi to have their next exchange.

 

Really enjoy Kyle MacLachlan. I like how upset he still is with Coulson because he killed Whitehall and took that revenge away from Cal. I also like when he talks about his daughter Daisy: "They took my little girl" and how he becomes softer when he sees her. He is crazy but he loves his daughter.

 

BUT... in the preview for next week, we saw WARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY BOY!!!!!!! I am hoping with this "new Shield" that somehow Ward is brought back into the fold; maybe Ward is with Olmos and this new Shield, who knows. I will keep my fingers crossed :)

[Glory]

I'm not sure if you get a good look at the picture in the episode, but you can see it in one of the promo stills, and it doesn't look like May. Of course they could decide to change it later, but I got the impression that he had really moved on. Plus we already have one divorced couple who are sort of back together. I think adding a second would be repetitive.

You definitely do NOT see the picture in the episode. I didn't see it in the promo, but those go by so fast I could have missed it.

[Primetimer]

With Hydra sidelined and the double agents not doing anything yet, it's up to Skye's father to drum up some drama. Mission accomplished!

Read the story

[Sakura12]

How long have Andrew and May been divorced? He could have a wife and child now and that is who are in the picture. 

[FurryFury]

I dunno, I liked it more than the previous one. Cal made the episode for me, or rather Kyle McLachlan did. Such a delightful character - I just can't get enough of him, even if his Avengers were kinda meh (Drea di Matteo didn't even have any powers, wtf?)

 

I didn't mind how Skye was handled, too, and May finally got something to do except kick ass. I even liked the FitzSimmons scenes, and usually this relationship doesn't do anything for me. 

 

I think I miss Ward and his brand of crazy. Cal is terrific, but he isn't enough.

[FineWashables]

Anything that puts Blair Underwood on my screen is a good thing.  I wish he'd become part of the regular ensemble.  Also cheered seeing Adrianna again.  Kept hoping someone would offer Kyle McLaughlan a piece of cherry pie.

 

The plot holes were bigger than the plot itself, and way deeper.  Writing fantasy doesn't mean it's ok to go with stupid.  And everything about the Wisconsin trip was deeply and profoundly stupid.

[Raja]

I thought about him being a science experiment too. But I could see that no-eyes guy doesn't think of himself as such, either because they don't know about the Kree seeding people with the Inhuman gene millenia ago, or because they've developed an ideology/religion about their specialness. Hypothetically, you can give anyone the drugs Calvin took and they'd get his abilities. Not anyone can become an Inhuman through exposure to the Mist, and not every person who survives would get the same abilities.

I think that the set up is that not everyone who goes bump in the night is an Inhuman. Some like Cal are Hulk s. There still stands the question of how he survived the deviner.

The other point of a pointless episode was to introduce the real SHIELD which seems to have an international council and not Nick Fury as its patrons

Edited March 18, 2015 by Raja

[KirkB]

Random thoughts.

How did Cal even know Coulson was from Wisconsin, let along the specific town?

I too was wondering why Bobbi seemed to be having a harder time fighting the woman with finger blades (who she should have been able to just knock out) than she did the Kree warrior.

Speaking of the finger blades, who does that? Oh, I really like killing people with slashy things. Well, mankind does too and for a long time we've had things designed for that very purpose. They're called swords. Knives. But if that's not comic booky enough for you, why not full on Wolverine claws or at least Freddy Krueger gloves. And while we're on the subject, SHIELD sucks as their threat resolving. She has attached finger blades. Let's just leave them on and cover them up. How can that go wrong?

Icers. Come on, Phil. Simmons has explicitly made them stronger. One of your targets has a paralyzing (or whatever) voice and another is super strong. You have guns. At least two of you are expert marksmen. Cal and his squad might take a higher dose but they could have been knocked out without even knowing you're there.

The real SHIELD? Seriously?

[Malbec]

•  Coulson knows he will be dealing with a guy who has a power related to sound - but no one mentions ear protection. This happens twice.

 

Yeah, that was noteworthily stupid.  Where is Agent Sousa when you need him?

[Tarasme]

As per most everyone else- I was disappointed.

 

The whole ep was treading water. Last three scenes provided everything needed to set up last- what- seven eps? Coulson and Simmons on the down low figuring out a final solution for the gifted, Mac and Bobbi UC for REAL SHIELD (Questions!!! Taking it to the comics thread), and Gordon unceremoniously dismissing Cal's crazy pants.

 

Woeful use of Blair Underwood. Golly, I hope that character gets to come back soon and stay awhile.

Woeful use of great Kyle MacLachlan. Scenery- consider yourself chewed.

Woeful use of misfit band of crazy- though- the scenes of them just hangin' out crazy together were golden.

Woeful reveal to Bobbi & Mac's treachery- though- I did like Hunter "taking it all back." Hee.

Woeful psych eval- lame excuse to provide us with Melinda May exposition. 

 

I'm hoping next week is much much better but I have a bad feeling our arms are going to get tired before the fireworks go off as precursor to the May 1st premiere.

[ottoDbusdriver]

The real SHIELD? Seriously?

 

Did this "real SHIELD" exist before the events of CA:TWS ?  Kind of a 'Section 31 from Star Trek' organization within an organization hidden within SHIELD that even Fury didn't know about.  Or did it form after CA:TWS, which seems even more ludicrous ?

[sinkwriter]

 

 

Super agent Hunter can't manage an escape from being handcuffed to toilet plumbing.

Coulson knows he will be dealing with a guy who has a power related to sound - but no one mentions ear protection. This happens twice.

Bobbi, who recently fought a Kree, has a tough time taking down a human with tiny fingernail knives.

 

These were big ones for me too. I was surprised we never saw Hunter finish breaking that pipe. He seemed to be pretty focused on it, and then that was it. Then again, I suppose there's always next week! Coulson was a little busy with Crazy Cal and his posse; next week he would have more time to listen to Hunter.

 

Bobbi not being able to fight that woman with the knives for nails was bizarre. I mean, just because they have these unusual abilities like knives for nails or a crazy screaming voice doesn't mean they're all suddenly combat warriors too, does it? That seems ridiculous.

 

 

Speaking of Fitz, I hope he and Simmons can just get over it and get back to being friends.

 

I hope so too. I thought they inched their way to forgiveness a little bit in this episode, when they bonded over talking about May laughing and actually smiling. That seemed in keeping with their earlier friendship, so I hope they keep bonding in little ways like that and start to forgive each other and become friends again. I thought it was really cute when Fitz was all, "Apparently May can't cook. And he teased her about it..." like Fitz was expecting to see May flatten the guy instead. LOL.

Edited March 18, 2015 by sinkwriter

[paigow]

Kind of a 'Section 31 from Star Trek' organization within an organization hidden within SHIELD that even Fury didn't know about. 

Or like the "Timecops" in Voyager

[paigow]

These were big ones for me too. I was surprised we never saw Hunter finish breaking that pipe. He seemed to be pretty focused on it, and then that was it...

He was probably hungover during Spy Academy / Assassin College escape classes...

[mybabyaidan]

As to the teleporter taking Cal but not Skye, it too doesn't make sense. One would think he knows that Skye is also an Inhuman. 

 

This episode was indeed a little messy, but I understood this part. Cal was a bigger priority here, he was broadcasting the "enhanced" in a terrible light. It would have been very messy indeed for any one with special powers.

Captain Adama! Oh how I've missed you. Looking forward to seeing where Wards crazy levels are at after his great "love" shot him. Don't let me down next week Shield

[Sandman]

I don't know from Angarr the Screamer, but I thought from the events of the episode that his victims weren't so much asleep or comatose as, well, dead as doornails. Didn't Crazy Cal say they had "limited their potential"? I presume he meant permanently.

Yeah, not that impressed with "the real S.H.I.E.L.D."

[Tarasme]

 

I don't know from Angarr the Screamer, but I thought from the events of the episode that his victims weren't so much asleep or comatose as, well, dead as doornails.

 

I thought Coulson mentioned Angar's ability put people into a catatonic state. As others have mentioned, the duration of said catatonia was not clearly defined. And, though the birds may have survived catatonia- they probably didn't survive the smashing into the ground.

[Traveller519]

Well Coulson is certainly learning the hard way that well he may not have liked Fury's ultimate methods some of them are necessary in your Spy Organization dealing with forces never before encountered. There's a lot of, "Keep this between us," conversations lately.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Random thoughts.

How did Cal even know Coulson was from Wisconsin, let along the specific town?

I too was wondering why Bobbi seemed to be having a harder time fighting the woman with finger blades (who she should have been able to just knock out) than she did the Kree warrior.

Speaking of the finger blades, who does that? Oh, I really like killing people with slashy things. Well, mankind does too and for a long time we've had things designed for that very purpose. They're called swords. Knives. But if that's not comic booky enough for you, why not full on Wolverine claws or at least Freddy Krueger gloves. And while we're on the subject, SHIELD sucks as their threat resolving. She has attached finger blades. Let's just leave them on and cover them up. How can that go wrong?

Icers. Come on, Phil. Simmons has explicitly made them stronger. One of your targets has a paralyzing (or whatever) voice and another is super strong. You have guns. At least two of you are expert marksmen. Cal and his squad might take a higher dose but they could have been knocked out without even knowing you're there.

The real SHIELD? Seriously?

 

Cal could have found out that Coulson was from Wisconsin in at least a couple ways. The first is that to the world at large, Coulson died after the Battle of New York. So there presumably is an obituary for him that says where he was from. The second is a member of his cutrate Masters of Evil is a hacker who as the show stated allowed him to decrypt SHIELD's Index and find where other Indexites?/Indexed?/Indexy's Midnight Runners? were. It seems safe to assume that the same person could have hacked Phil's personnel file and gotten his hometown.

 

Fingerblades might have given herself additional enhancements beyond the fingerblades that made her more of a threat than it would appear on the surface. (And yes, they really should have cast any random actress. As much as I might want Drea De Matteo to get work, her appearing to have 10 years on Bobbi doesn't make that seem like a fair fight.) I at least assume so because it seems removing the fingerblades by itself should be easy enough.

 

Did this "real SHIELD" exist before the events of CA:TWS ?  Kind of a 'Section 31 from Star Trek' organization within an organization hidden within SHIELD that even Fury didn't know about.  Or did it form after CA:TWS, which seems even more ludicrous ?

 

I don't have a problem conceptually with there having been a hardcore inner circle of SHIELD prior to CA:TWS, or with one forming afterwards.

Fury was a guy who had secrets wrapped in mysteries and enigmas, so I could see him having a separate structure of deep cover ops not known to the rest of SHIELD. I suppose that raises questions about why he didn't call them in during CA:TWS, but there's that. And the fact that Fury did not pick up on Hydra having grown to be roughly half of SHIELD also means that a Section 31-esque faction could have been created under his nose as well.

In terms of after, I could see a core group of folks either not knowing that Fury had appointed Coulson as director (or for that matter, not knowing that Fury is still alive), or not thinking that Coulson was up to snuff, either because he's reanimated or because up till now he had been a middle management kind of guy.

 

I don't know from Angarr the Screamer, but I thought from the events of the episode that his victims weren't so much asleep or comatose as, well, dead as doornails. Didn't Crazy Cal say they had "limited their potential"? I presume he meant permanently. Yeah, not that impressed with "the real S.H.I.E.L.D."

The idea behind the trap was to get Coulson to come try to rescue the people and then attack him and his backup people. Dead people are poor bait.

[azathoth]

Maybe the "Real Shield" is run by David Hasselhoff.

 

Fingerblades was just sad. She reminded me of Family Guy when the Griffins all got super-powers and Meg's was the ability to grow her fingernails an inch. Those knives look like something a middle-schooler would whip up in shop class.

[Sandman]

Well, "hostages who might be killed" certainly make better bait, but if Phil & Co. only learn once they are on the scene that hostages are already dead, isn't that the ultimate form of "bait & switch"? Why else would Phil exclaim "What have you done to them?"

[KirkB]

Because this is a comic book world where metal can be bonded to someone's skeleton I'm okay with the blades being permanently attached to her fingers (Coulson's words) but even if SHIELD was unable to take them off her fingers completely they could at the very least have cut or sanded the blades themselves down so they were just nubs. A pair of metal cutting pliers would do the trick.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Because this is a comic book world where metal can be bonded to someone's skeleton I'm okay with the blades being permanently attached to her fingers (Coulson's words) but even if SHIELD was unable to take them off her fingers completely they could at the very least have cut or sanded the blades themselves down so they were just nubs. A pair of metal cutting pliers would do the trick.

 

Especially since the blades weren't made of adamantium and bonded to her bones -- she installed them herself.  No magic, no powers, no nothing.