S02.E15: One Door Closes

[ElectricBoogaloo]

War comes to Coulson's doorstep in a way he never anticipated as shocking revelations are brought to light, and Skye struggles to control her new abilities but will soon make a decision that irrevocably changes her life.

 

Promo:

 

 

[ottoDbusdriver]

"In the episode you never thought you'd see".   

 

Really ?  How about 'In the episode no one was asking for' ?

 

The promo monkeys are hard at work this week, ginning up up expectations that no one had in the first place.  Seriously, how many times is this show going to go to the well of ideas of having infiltrators popping up in their midst ... again ?  Since the Hydra reveal, anyone acting suspicious should be shot with an Icer immediately and dumped in the brig.

 

Good SHIELD vs. Bad SHIELD -- fight to the death !!!   Come on, no one is going to get killed, and in the end Coulson will still be in charge of the Bus, though may no longer be Director.  The SHIELDs will agree to work together and be one big happy family.  Because this is Disney show, everything is all about family.

 

All those Quinjets are circling the cabin because they are there to announce to Skye that she has gotten a sponsorship deal and she will be the new face of 'Shake'N Bake' chicken coatings.

[paigow]

All those Quinjets are circling the cabin because they are there to announce to Skye that she has gotten a sponsorship deal and she will be the new face of 'Shake'N Bake' chicken coatings...

Or a vibrator vendor...

[redfish]

Good SHIELD vs. Bad SHIELD -- fight to the death !!!   Come on, no one is going to get killed, and in the end Coulson will still be in charge of the Bus, though may no longer be Director.  The SHIELDs will agree to work together and be one big happy family.  Because this is Disney show, everything is all about family.

Worse. Nothing wrong with family, but because the "Good" SHIELD will supposedly make more or less a cameo in Avengers2, it's guaranteed that everything will fall in line. There is no sense of tension/suspense or any stakes/risks to the plot or characters.

[paigow]

One door closes...two more will open up! Hail HYDRA!!

[ottoDbusdriver]

So, were Hunter and Coulson supposed to be in Tahiti ?  How did Coulson know where Hunter would come ashore in the submersible pod ?

 

Enough with the super slo-mo specialness of Skye -- no one else gets the super slo-mo treatment, because they just aren't special enough.  And Skye's random powers are starting to remind of the suit from the Greatest American Hero -- random powers just appear that seem to be super convenient at the time.  

 

That scene with Skye and the tap water in the sink was just lame.

Edited April 1, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[Malbec]

I actually enjoyed this episode a LOT more than last week -- although that was mainly because of the flashbacks.  Bobbi/Mack/Gonzalez/Hartley had really great group chemistry.  Although intellectually I know they were betraying Coulson, emotionally as a viewer I found myself thinking "I want a show about THESE people being badasses." 

 

That said, Simmons getting the drop on Bobbi was a nice moment too.

 

Side note, am I the only one wondering if the guy who died for Mack was a lover?  The way Bobbi consoled him about that loss specifically pinged a little bit, but I freely admit the slash goggles are on a little bit.

[xqueenfrostine]

Can anyone tell me what happened in the last scene of the episode?  We're having thunderstorms here and the local news cut in for the last few minutes.  Last thing I saw was Skye leaving with Gordon.

 

Liked this episode, but I'm still not sold on New SHIELD.  They certainly did a good job making them at keast individually sympathetic, but they didn't really explain why they've been operating in secret apart from Coulson's SHIELD all this time.  It's clear that they're unhappy with Coulson's focus on alien stuff, but that shouldn't have been an issue at the very beginning of Coulson's tenure as director.  The nature of Coulson's resurrection wasn't even knwn to most of Coulson's team until Mack was already working undercover and he kept his interest in the alien writing he was producing pretty close to the vest for the first few episodes of this season.

 

Loved May's bad-assery this episode and I liked the moment between Simmons and Fitz after they had been taken by New SHIELD.  Here's hoping this new SHIELD drama will help them pull together and repair their friendship.

[Lady Calypso]

Ok, that was a really good episode. I think I can say that my favourite SHIELD episodes are when organizations are getting destroyed from the inside. Everyone got to play a part to do something (even Fitz, despite the fact that he failed). 

 

I really, really enjoyed Gordon's talk to Skye. I like how he actually talked to her and pointed out the obvious. She definitely does need the other Inhumans right now, so it's best if she stays with Gordon and company (yes, even Daddy) for a few episodes. 

 

Good for Simmons for getting the jump on Bobbi.

 

I really loved the flashbacks, and it was nice to see a different perspective for when SHIELD went down by Hydra. 

 

New SHIELD isn't great, but I like Weaver and they're not entirely wrong, so....

 

I think everyone is sympathetic in this case, even New SHIELD, so I can't hate any of them actively. 

[Sakura12]

I really enjoyed this episode. Best one they've had since the before the mid-season finale. I loved seeing Hartly, Bobbi, Mac and Admiral Adama. They did make a good team. However I have no idea what they are doing. It seems they want to control anything alien or different. But it does look like Bobbi's having second thoughts about whose side she's on. 

 

Then the best part the Bobbi and May fight. Bobbi's like an Amazon and May's a ninja, their fight was awesome almost as good as May fighting herself. 

 

Coulson is still annoying with his one track mind. That's why he's not a good director. He's like a toddler that gets mad when his favorite toys are taken from him. First he tells Lady Sif that Skye needs to be surrounded by people that care about her, then he isolates her away from everyone.

 

I'm glad Skye's with the other Inhumans, she should be with others like her so they can teach her how control her powers since that's what they've been doing for years. Coulson and team have no idea what they are doing and they are definitely not helping her. All they are doing is trying to get her to do nothing. 

[thuganomics85]

Hartley!  I'm glad they got Lucy Lawless back for the flashbacks.  Enjoyed watching how "Real SHIELD" was formed; by Bobbi, Mack, Hartley, Gonzales, going against Fury's orders, and killing the Hydra men, instead of blowing up the ship.  All the actors were really good in those scenes.

 

In modern times, it looks like Real SHIELD already has taken over, but it's not a full victory, since both Coulson and Skye escaped. Still not sure if I'm wild about the motives.  Basically, it seems like it's really boiling down to Gonzales doesn't trust Coulson due to the whole alien blood thing.  Granted, I'm not exactly a huge fan of Coulson, so I'm not outraged or anything, but I was hoping their will be more to this.  Then again, it sounds like they are just unnerved by the Inhumans in general, so I'm sure they are going to go into this, in future episodes.

 

Loved the Melinda/Bobbi fight, and how both of them got their licks in, but in the end, Melinda got the advantage, so Bobbi had to resort to EMPs, to get out.  And, then Simmons totally played her!  Ha!  Go Simmons!  I did like that Mack injured himself to prevent Fitz from getting blown up.  He may be on the opposite side, but at least he (and Bobbi), don't seem to be monsters.

 

At least this hostile takeover is making Simmons and Fitz get back to better terms.  Glad they acknowledge their history with Weaver.  Hope we get more of that.

 

I love Kirk Acevedo, but he's really just playing the complete dick of Real SHIELD, huh?

 

Don't blame Skye for taking Gordon's offer.  Clearly SHIELD can't figure her out, and now that most of them are trying to capture her, she might as well try her luck with some of her own kind.

[benteen]

I really enjoyed this episode.  Sorry, Coulson, but I'm Team EJO all the way!

 

I liked the flashbacks to what happened during The Winter Soldier with Gonzales and his team.  Still not exactly sure what their official standing is but intriguing.  Nice seeing Lucy Lawless return.

 

Really like the Gordon character too.

 

Very impressed with how Simmons took down Bobbi.

 

Great Bobbi/May fight.

 

Kirk Acevedo always plays dicks, doesn't he?

 

This show really needs to stop filming 90% of their scenes in shadows.  This is a comic book show...add some freakin color!

[sinkwriter]

 

I actually enjoyed this episode a LOT more than last week -- although that was mainly because of the flashbacks.  Bobbi/Mack/Gonzalez/Hartley had really great group chemistry.  Although intellectually I know they were betraying Coulson, emotionally as a viewer I found myself thinking "I want a show about THESE people being badasses."

 

I loved them all being badasses, I just wish they could have joined forces with other elements of SHIELD (like Coulson's team) and all been badasses together. Like Coulson said to Gonzales, "You could have talked with me about it. Instead you sent in spies to hurt my team."

 

I can appreciate Bobbi and the rest of her original team not wanting to trust anybody after the fall of SHIELD. I can appreciate them not wanting to blindly trust Fury, especially if it meant killing their own team members who were fighting for their lives on different levels of that ship. But to go in as spies, befriending and lying to the very people who'd already been betrayed by all the secret-Hydra members -- it's just the worst possible thing to do. 

 

To see Mack betray Fitz, who has been through enough... to see Bobbi betray Hunter, apparently more than once... to see them becoming friends with all of them, lying all the while... it just makes me mad at them. 

Side note: rock on, Gemma, for fooling Bobbi completely. The exasperated looks on Bobbi's face as Gemma played dumb and flustered: priceless.

[Gregg247]

Admiral Adama must be getting old, if he needed to be rescued by a fracking Cylon (aka Zena)! lol

 

I enjoyed the episode, but I'm already for these 2 SHIELDs to join forces and do good works again.  You know it's going to happen; heck, even General Talbot has come around over the past few months.  Speaking of whom, how has he been "cleaning up the remainder of SHIELD" all this time, including Coulson and his ragtag bunch, but totally missed the giant helicarrier floating around in the ocean?  Did he forget they had one of those laying around?

[tankgirl73]

I, for one, totally love the crazy slo-mo effects for Skye's powers.  It shows the magnitude of what she does and the power of it.  I hope it won't be done every time, of course, but for the first few times that she's using it, it will 'feel' bigger to everyone so it needs to be SHOCKING and WHOA HEY WHAT IS THAT sort of effect.

 

I also don't think it's merely convenient that she happens to suddenly figure out the right power exactly when she needs it.  First of all, it's a common trope.  But secondly, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for it.  It's just lie Harry Potter -- young wizards who can't yet control their powers often express them in moments of stress, fear, or danger.  Harry 'escaped' from bullies by teleporting (ie probably Apparating) to the roof of the school.  He made the snake's cage glass disappear when he was mad at Dudley.  He re-grew his hair when it was cut.  He didn't do any of these things deliberately -- they were utterly an instinctive reaction to a stimulus.

 

Similarly, now that Skye's body has had some time to accustom itself to her new powers, she is starting to manifest them *instinctively* when under threat.  She doesn't yet understand what she's doing or how she's doing it, and would be hard-pressed to do it on purpose the next time.  But at some subconscious level, her body does know how to use her powers.  So in the moment of extreme duress - a bullet coming at her - she deflected it from *pure reflex*.  She had no idea she was about to do that.

 

I also thought the water thing was cool, very pretty, and a neat way to show that Gordon was 100% right with his explanation about her powers being tied into vibrations.  Plus, it was the first time that Skye was able to consider the possibility that her powers do have the potential for good -- for beauty, for delicate operations, and with great control -- and not just huge monstrous violence. 

 

Admiral Adama's problem, I believe, is not with Coulson per se.  As someone mentioned above, he wouldn't even have known about Coulson's alien-ness until well after he'd established his New Shield 2.0.  His problem is with Fury -- he believed that Fury was a benevolent dictator, a man who would be king, and that he ept too many secrets.  He blames Fury for Shield falling.  And he sees Coulson as Fury's avatar.  The issue was never a case of "Fury gave us the orders to save Shield therefore Coulson is not the legitimate director."  Not at all.  He absolutely knows that Fury chose Coulson as the new director.  It's more like a coup against Fury's leadership, and Coulson is merely the heir of that line.

 

I think that's where the dividing lines are going to come down in the end.  Not about loyalty to Coulson or to Adama, but loyalty to Fury.  Whether one Shield or the other is 'good' or 'bad' depends entirely on what your opinion is about Fury.

 

And when he shows up again, totally alive, man is he going to pissed.

 

Re the dead guy possibly being Mac's lover -- I totally didn't get that.  I just thought they were comrades, he was just being a soldier, maybe a mentor/leader type to a younger protege.  But now that it's been suggested -- I can't unsee it.  It totally makes sense. 

 

But absolutely the best scene of the night was Simmons taking down Bobbi.  And there were some great action sequences tonight.  Simmons was better than all those.

 

ETA: omg Adama and a Cylon, I missed that!  Bahahahaaaaa....

Edited April 1, 2015 by tankgirl73

[sinkwriter]

 

But absolutely the best scene of the night was Simmons taking down Bobbi.  And there were some great action sequences tonight.  Simmons was better than all those.

 

I'm still chuckling at Gemma: "Here, hold this. Wait - take this too." And Bobbi just takes it, no idea she's being played by the geeky tech girl. Ha! So funny.

[xqueenfrostine]

Admiral Adama's problem, I believe, is not with Coulson per se.  As someone mentioned above, he wouldn't even have known about Coulson's alien-ness until well after he'd established his New Shield 2.0.  His problem is with Fury -- he believed that Fury was a benevolent dictator, a man who would be king, and that he ept too many secrets.  He blames Fury for Shield falling.  And he sees Coulson as Fury's avatar.  The issue was never a case of "Fury gave us the orders to save Shield therefore Coulson is not the legitimate director."  Not at all.  He absolutely knows that Fury chose Coulson as the new director.  It's more like a coup against Fury's leadership, and Coulson is merely the heir of that line.

 

That might have been Adama's motivation, but I'm having a hard time believing that could Bobbi's motivation.  She may have ultimately defied Fury's orders, but it seems like she only did so because Fury was "dead" and following through with them would have meant taking Mac and Hartley down with her.  I think it was clear that had they not stayed with her, she totally would have blown up the the aircraft carrier with her inside.    I suppose it's possible that Hartley, Mac and Weaver might share Adama's apparent distaste for Fury but that still seems like too weak of a motivation for them to go through with infiltrating Coulson's team the way they did especially since they apparently got unaffialiated people like Hunter involved.  So I feel like we still have no real justification for why New SHIELD starting plotting against Real SHIELD when they did.

 

Also didn't Bobbi and Hartley have some sort of relationship with Coulson before the emergence of Hydra?  Bobbi at least had to have been on pretty good terms with Coulson because he both trusted her enough to allow her to vouch for Hunter and for him to trust her enough to send her to infiltrate Hydra and look out for Simmons while she was undercover.  That further clouds what possibly could have been her motive to depose Coulson.

Edited April 1, 2015 by xqueenfrostine

[Boundary]

I like the slo-mo effects too. It's like her brain slows down and she's like "whooah, what's happening here?" I also think that in the long run the Inhumans aren't going to be a good fit for Skye but for now they are the best thing for her. 

[Emily Thrace]

Something I noticed is that Bobbi set of the tech bug/EMP by touching something in her chest. Could she have some kind of tech implant.

I'm fuzzy on the comics but in the comics Mockingbird does get powers eventually right?

 

Also I love that Hunter is alive and well he my fave right except for possibly May. Partly because Hunter is a truly flawed person who seems to genuinely want to do better. Mostly because the actor is charming and funny as hell. I awed when Bobbi gave 3/Xena the token, I really hope those two kids can work it out.

[Jediknight]

FlashbackBobbi looked fantastic, of course it's Bobbi so that's nothing new.

 

Simmons setting up Bobbi, Mack diving to protect Fitz getting injured in the process, the mention of Mack's remote controlled Lola, and that there's movie time with Skye and Fitz.  It was just a small line, but I loved Skye saying "Fitz you shouldn't have made me watch Paranormal Activity."

[VCRTracking]

I thought there was definite BSG references besides Olmos with the "Real SHIELD" being like the Pegasus.

 

"The House that Banner Built"

 

Loved the talk between Skye and Gordon.

 

Simmons taking out Bobbi was great.

 

Bobbi's special superpower is her hair looking amazing whatever the situation is!

 

Lance Hunter became my favorite with that final scene.

[silverwings]

So despite Bobbi saying to use Icers, all of the shots fired were real bullets, right? I expect some righteous anger from Bobbi next time over that, at least.

[Malbec]

I also thought Gonzales' speech to Coulson was a bit weak.  Based on the flashbacks, I can sort of rationalize a couple of different explanations of where real-SHIELD might be coming from, but Gonzales' present-day issues seemed all over the map.  Honestly, it felt a bit like the writers pulled their punches writing for Gonzales so as to keep Coulson "in the right."  The show is extremely lucky to have landed a legend like Edward James Olmos...  he has enough real charisma and gravitas to almost overcome the writing.

[Happywatcher]

Gonzales is Hydra. He was attacked by an axe. Hydra knew it was go-time and they were all armed and armored up. A loyal Shield got a good hit with a fire axe off the wall in before Gonzales killed him.

 

Bobbi was supposed to blow up the ship because it was commanded by Hydra agents already.

 

The rest of the Skye arrest team used real bullets because they are Hydra within Real Shield. B and M got false flagged. Bobbi may figure it out.

[Raja]

So despite Bobbi saying to use Icers, all of the shots fired were real bullets, right? I expect some righteous anger from Bobbi next time over that, at least.

I am not sure their weapons looked the same as the team used at the old SSR unreal SHIELD headquarters raid. Tomas for sure just had a pistol I don't think he is Hydra just will be a darker version of General Talbot. He did take a nasty looking injury I can see a one armed man in the future

[Julie23]

So, BadShield doesn't like the inhumans, and probably wants to capture them and lock them away, or kill them all. And they were apparently hiding since Coulson said he was looking for survivors for months after Hydra attacked. Coulson is the RealShield as far as I'm concerned. Plus, he has May and Hunter, so there's that. I hope Bobbi comes around to the good side eventually.. I used to like her before she became a lying liar who lies rat. Also loved Simmons take down of her. I cheered!

[DeLurker]

How does Gordon know how Skye's powers work?

 

I kinda liked the slo-mo, but agree if they use it too often it'll be trite.  Skye needs her bangs cut.

 

Gemma getting the drop on Bobbi was awesome - she's come a long way since her dismal lying in S1 (don't remember the ep, but she was trying to sneak her way into a restricted area at a SHIELD facility and lied horrendously (yet adorably) when she got caught).

 

May's rescue of Coulson was pure fantasy goodness.  His quip about "nice entrance" was nicely underplayed.  May's fight with Bobbi makes me want to mainline more fights between them and I am not usually a fan of violence for the sake of violence.

[Tryangle]

I'm just stoked that we had more Lucy Lawless, really.

 

Wonder how Coulson got to the beach after May sent him through the hidden elevator, couldn't have been Lola or a quinjet, maybe something extra in his briefcase?

[shrewd.buddha]

If NewSHIELD can install some decent lighting in the bunker HQ, then I'm all for the new regime. Seriously. How do these people work in such dimly lit conditions? 

 

I like that NewSHIELD is all about democracy, transparency, mole infiltration, and hostile takeovers.  

 

It just seems weird that Steve Rogers, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner have somewhat normal lives in the real world - but agents of SHIELD have to live in bunkers, are cut off from friends and family, are considered outlaws, do not appear to be allowed to have spouses and children and never get to go out to a nice restaurant for dinner... 

 

I do agree that Fury was not a king or dictator who had the authority to pick his own successor to run whatever remained of SHIELD. And that ship appeared to have more HYDRA agents than SHIELD agents -- which  does not make any of the former SHIELD leaders look very competent. How does anyone trust anyone else in these organizations?

 

So there was one wall in the cabin with the super containment hexagon wallpaper (and HULK fist imprint) - but there was a front door and windows. What the..?

 

... and I am still tired of Skye .. 

Edited April 1, 2015 by shrewd.buddha

[Humbugged]

There was also an 'A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer' Easter Egg .

 

Little Debbies (that he sent in Skye's care package) was what he couldn't decide about in the gas station that gets robbed

 

 

[ottoDbusdriver]

So there was one wall in the cabin with the super containment hexagon wallpaper (and HULK fist imprint) - but there was a front door and windows. What the..?

 

That made zero sense.

[paigow]

 

"The House that Banner Built"

 

WTF?? No wi-fi? Some genius...

[xqueenfrostine]

 

The rest of the Skye arrest team used real bullets because they are Hydra within Real Shield. B and M got false flagged. Bobbi may figure it out.

This seems unlikely to me and not just because another secret Hydra hiding within SHIELD would be a tired retread of last season. I thought the fact that people on Skye's arrest team did use bullets over icers was a clear sign that this wasn't Hydra as it's unlikely that with their interest in gifted and enhanced individuals that they would risk killing Skye. She's the member of Coulson's team that they'd be the most motivated to capture rather than kill. It would make no sense for a Hydra run group to use nonlethal means of force on everyone at HQ while using real guns on Skye.

[Sakura12]

I don't think Real SHIELD is Hydra. I think they are faction of SHIELD Agents that don't like working with the super powered people, they think they are dangerous with their powers and weapons. That's why they don't like Fury, He made a team of powered people and gave them free run of world. They don't want that and want to either kill or imprison them for being powerful. 

 

I think Bobbi is conflicted, she thought she was working for the right side but is learning that she's not. In the comics she's an Avenger so I can see siding with the powered people during the Civil War storyline. 

[Primetimer]

SHIELD faces off against its most unexpected foe: SHIELD itself. SHIELD doesn't do too well. Good news for SHIELD, huh?

Read the story

[Bruinsfan]

Gonzales is Hydra. He was attacked by an axe. Hydra knew it was go-time and they were all armed and armored up. A loyal Shield got a good hit with a fire axe off the wall in before Gonzales killed him.

 

Bobbi was supposed to blow up the ship because it was commanded by Hydra agents already.

 

The rest of the Skye arrest team used real bullets because they are Hydra within Real Shield. B and M got false flagged. Bobbi may figure it out.

I doubt the show will actually go this route, but it does sound like a plausible explanation for a number of things and I would LOVE for it to be true.

 

WTF?? No wi-fi? Some genius...

If I'm prone to turning into a destructive nigh-invincible monster when angry, taking away my ability to read internet comments is actually a very good idea.

[Spartan Girl]

So Coulson is hiding out in the real Tahiti now?  Nice.

 

May might hate being called The Cavalry, but time and time again she proves she IS one.

[Chicago Redshirt]

So, were Hunter and Coulson supposed to be in Tahiti ?  How did Coulson know where Hunter would come ashore in the submersible pod ?

 

Presumably, Coulson didn't know where Hunter would come ashore. It's fanwankable that on his escape, Hunter tried to reach out to Coulson to warn him about REALD, and Coulson said "Meet me here." (I missed it if they explicitly said it was Tahiti.) 

 

Can anyone tell me what happened in the last scene of the episode?  We're having thunderstorms here and the local news cut in for the last few minutes.  Last thing I saw was Skye leaving with Gordon.

 

Liked this episode, but I'm still not sold on New SHIELD.  They certainly did a good job making them at keast individually sympathetic, but they didn't really explain why they've been operating in secret apart from Coulson's SHIELD all this time.  It's clear that they're unhappy with Coulson's focus on alien stuff, but that shouldn't have been an issue at the very beginning of Coulson's tenure as director.  The nature of Coulson's resurrection wasn't even knwn to most of Coulson's team until Mack was already working undercover and he kept his interest in the alien writing he was producing pretty close to the vest for the first few episodes of this season.

 

Loved May's bad-assery this episode and I liked the moment between Simmons and Fitz after they had been taken by New SHIELD.  Here's hoping this new SHIELD drama will help them pull together and repair their friendship.

 

In the last scene, Coulson is at an island bar and has ordered a frou-frou drink with too many umbrellas for his liking. Hunter strolls up and orders a frou-frou drink with as many umbrellas as the bartender can spare. (Get it? They're the Spy Odd Couple!) Hunter jokes that he's sorry he's late but the escape pods just wash up wherever. He signs his name on a cocktail napkin to indicate he's accepted Coulson's offer of a full-time job. So he's Team Coulson all the way.

 

In modern times, it looks like Real SHIELD already has taken over, but it's not a full victory, since both Coulson and Skye escaped. Still not sure if I'm wild about the motives.  Basically, it seems like it's really boiling down to Gonzales doesn't trust Coulson due to the whole alien blood thing.  Granted, I'm not exactly a huge fan of Coulson, so I'm not outraged or anything, but I was hoping their will be more to this.  Then again, it sounds like they are just unnerved by the Inhumans in general, so I'm sure they are going to go into this, in future episodes.

Another big element is that Gonzalez and co. are distrustful of Fury, and Coulson is Fury's teacher's pet. 

[VCRTracking]

It's weird how much I like Hunter now because of that last scene.

 

Favorite line in the episode:

"Fitz! Why did you make me watch 'Paranormal Activity'?!"

[Eliza422]

I'm so on board for New Shield...I am totally in love with Bobbie and Mack and their team...I so hope they get to stick around!

[VCRTracking]

Great analysis on the two SHIELDs and Coulson and Gonzales' different reactions on the "Day SHIELD fell" at io9:

 

http://io9.com/not-all-the-agents-of-shield-drew-the-same-lessons-from-1694963044

[Joseph Finn]

Just a hell of a lot of fun of an episode and I really had to love how repressedly angry Hunter was in that last scene.

[tv echo]

After this episode, I'm on Team Coulson (May, Fitz, Simmons, Skye, Hunter, Coulson) - and I don't even like Coulson.  

 

The New/'Real' SHIELD seems to be the SHIELD of intolerance, betrayal, and murder.

 

I've lost respect for Bobbi and Mack.  I just wanted May to take them all out.

Edited April 1, 2015 by tv echo

[ChelseaNH]

I just need to get this off my chest:  ENOUGH WITH THE CARP MOUTH, CHLOE!

 

Yes, a shock wave powerful enough to knock down trees would not actually harm the human body.  It's not like concussion grenades are remotely dangerous...

 

I like how he actually talked to her

 

Amazing what happens when you have conversations with people, as opposed to bossing them around.

 

But at some subconscious level, her body does know how to use her powers.

Skye was using her powers subconsciously before she went to the cabin, and she was doing it wrong.  Now all of a sudden she's using her powers subconsciously but doing it right.

 

The way the subconscious actually works is that it learns by experience.  The change in Skye's experience level before and after the cabin?  Pretty miniscule.

[Traveller519]

I've got to side with Gonzalez's take on the whole thing. In his "re-birth" SHIELD, Coulson proclaimed that he wasn't going to go the secret route the way Fury had, but he keeps doing exactly that, by following the same format. Gonzalez is right, Hydra was the issue, but it was able to grow due to Fury's own insistence on compartmentalization. Nobody in SHIELD knew what anyone else was doing, a great place to build your parasite. FitzSimmons, and their devotion to Science and logic seem to be able to see that, May and Coulson who place a much greater emphasis on Loyalty (and anti-betrayal) are holding out. And Hunter feels to burned by everyone.

 

Skye's talk with Gordon felt genuine and made sense why she called for him at the end.

 

I liked this one a lot more than last week.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I just need to get this off my chest:  ENOUGH WITH THE CARP MOUTH, CHLOE!

 

Cannot be said enough.  You would have thought that someone would have mentioned it to her after she did it so often in Season 1.

[sinkwriter]

 

I've got to side with Gonzalez's take on the whole thing. In his "re-birth" SHIELD, Coulson proclaimed that he wasn't going to go the secret route the way Fury had, but he keeps doing exactly that, by following the same format. Gonzalez is right, Hydra was the issue, but it was able to grow due to Fury's own insistence on compartmentalization. Nobody in SHIELD knew what anyone else was doing, a great place to build your parasite. FitzSimmons, and their devotion to Science and logic seem to be able to see that, May and Coulson who place a much greater emphasis on Loyalty (and anti-betrayal) are holding out. And Hunter feels to burned by everyone.

 

I can see what you're saying, but I also think that Gonzalez did the very thing that he accused Coulson and/or Fury of doing. He created his own special secret group, rather than telling people outright that they were the New SHIELD and being more transparent like he says they are meant to be. He hid his group (just like Coulson did, which is understandable to me because after what happened with Hydra, how do any of them know who they can trust?), and even worse he sent in Bobbi and Mack to do exactly what Hydra did -- they befriended and then betrayed the very people they'd been working with side by side, day by day. People Bobbi knew to be good, even if she didn't always agree with how they managed things. She and her secret SHIELD group have lied and betrayed. So how are they any better than Coulson's group or Hydra? I think that the New SHIELD sounds pretty self-righteous.

Edited April 1, 2015 by sinkwriter

[Traveller519]

I can see what you're saying, but I also think that Gonzalez did the very thing that he accused Coulson and/or Fury of doing. He created his own special secret group, rather than telling people outright that they were the New SHIELD and being more transparent like he says they are meant to be. He hid his group (just like Coulson did, which is understandable to me because after what happened with Hydra, how do any of them know who they can trust?), and even worse he sent in Bobbi and Mack to do exactly what Hydra did -- they befriended and then betrayed the very people they'd been working with side by side, day by day. People Bobbi knew to be good, even if she didn't always agree with how they managed things. She and her secret SHIELD group have lied and betrayed. So how are they any better than Coulson's group or Hydra? I think that the New SHIELD sounds pretty self-righteous.

Nobody's clearly in the right or the wrong here, which I like. I like that the show is presenting both sides. Even if I don't buy into all of Gonzales' ideas, especially regarding "enhanceds," I think he sees the bigger picture more than Coulson does right now. Gonzales at least seems to be willing to accept that not every idea he has is the right one, and it makes sense to have those opposing viewpoints out there.

 

Their infiltration started as observation, but when that observation seemed to reveal that Coulson was pursuing personal missions using his team, at least in their eyes, they made the decision to move in.

[MisterGlass]

 

Nobody's clearly in the right or the wrong here, which I like. I like that the show is presenting both sides.

 

I am really enjoying this part.  It is remarkable to me how genuine the main characters feel right now, and yet none of the new characters feel villainous.  There are still some archetypes in the mix, but I am impressed that they've managed to hold the balance thus far.  There were such great character moments that everyone else has pointed out, but I just have to mention Simmons and Hunter too.  Anyone tricking Bobbi is genius, and Simmons did it with such skill.  Hunter signing on and asking for more drink umbrellas was great.

 

I notice that Gonzales referred to FitzSimmons collectively, as used to be the norm, and that indicated how out of touch he is with the real developments that have gone on in the past year. 

 

Gordon is becoming more interesting to me.  He really justified the decision not to take Skye when he took Cal, because Skye deserved to choose.  He made the inhumans her best choice by knocking at the door instead of teleporting through it.  And I like that he didn't say her mother was there after his transformation, because that would have been using the woman who helped him and taking advantage of Skye's isolation.  It was a great bit of deference.

 

I'm curious what cargo the ship was carrying that Fury was so intent on keeping from Hydra.  Surely planes and weapons didn't matter so much at that point when Hydra has so much already, so what else might it have been?

 

Edited for grammar.

Edited April 1, 2015 by MisterGlass

[gazebo]

I was so glad that Inhuman Eyeless Dude rescued Skye from The Other SHIELD.  I think the Inhumans are going to treat Skye better than SHIELD and actually will help her develop her powers instead of suppressing them.  Yeah, BatShitDaddy will be around too, but I think Skye knows enough to ignore/avoid him.

 

Nice to see Lucy Lawless again, even if she was in flashbacks.  I'm still mad that Hartley got killed.

 

The fight between May and Bobbi was pretty awesome!  Love the way they kicked each other's asses!

 

I'm still not sure how I feel about The Other SHIELD.  It seems that Gonzalez simply distrust Coulsen because he doesn't think Coulsen is a real human being any more and well, Gonzalez just hates Fury.  On the other hand, was SHIELD being run properly by Coulsen?  Could Gonzalez run a better SHIELD?

 

I think I love Melinda May more than ever!  Wow!  She sure got Coulsen to safety lickety split!  Had no idea of that cool escape compartment in that office!

 

I thought the ending was so strange.  Where was Coulsen?  Did he go to Tahiti after all?  How did Hunter know where to meet him?  It was so strange, after all the excitement of the fall of SHIELD by The Other SHIELD, it ends with Coulsen and Hunter having drinks at an island bar with both of them looking as calm and cool as cucumbers.