S03.E11: Bouncing Back

[DeepPoet117]

I never really thought about Mack's orientation either way, which is probably why his interest in Elena seemed a bit out of left field for me.  I mean, it sort of hinted that it was romantic--or it could just be that it was more of a "kindred spirit" thing.  I'm fine with the latter, but I hope they don't develop the former.  Nothing against the two characters, but there is already too much of the romantic-ish relationships in this show.  I'm all down with Fitz/Simmons (providing they can deliver on this supposed reset), Hunter and Bobbi have comedy going for them, and I think that they handled Melinda and Andrew well, but that's it.  I'm already annoyed I have to watch Daisy and Lincoln pretend they have something like emotions for each other.

 

Out of left field is a good way to put it. They've mentioned exes, but on the show, Mack has never shown any romantic or sexual attraction toward anyone. I hope it's more of kindred spirits/good friends thing like you said.

[TVSpectator]

I never liked FitzSimmons as a romantic couple, so I'm hopeful that this reset takes them back to the friendship they had in season 1. This episode had some nice moments but I felt like it dragged a bit for a first episode back from hiatus. Hopefully the pace picks up next week.

 

Personally, I am in the camp of having them as close caring friends. The whole Fitz's "I love Jemma so much I would do anything and that missing her drives me so crazy that I'll start to hallucinate her"  and Jemma giving Fitz the awkward glances and stumbling is so, IMO, played out. Maybe this break of having a restart on their friendship is a good thing for them. Overall, if I have to choose, I would choose them as close friends (like they were in Season 1). I believe that version  was fun to watch and I think they worked best as a team that way. IMo, right now they have so much baggage and I can't figure out why they should have this baggage.

 

Also, the dumbest thing I have seen on this show has to be Fitz feeling guilty over killing "Will". That better stop or we better learn that something is not right with Fitz (and just to add some more venting about this issue, Fitz isn't dumb and he realized that Will died trying to save Jemma and that he was talking to that Inhuman that Hydra wanted back on Earth). 

 

 

I never really thought about Mack's orientation either way, which is probably why his interest in Elena seemed a bit out of left field for me.  I mean, it sort of hinted that it was romantic--or it could just be that it was more of a "kindred spirit" thing.  I'm fine with the latter, but I hope they don't develop the former.  Nothing against the two characters, but there is already too much of the romantic-ish relationships in this show.  I'm all down with Fitz/Simmons (providing they can deliver on this supposed reset), Hunter and Bobbi have comedy going for them, and I think that they handled Melinda and Andrew well, but that's it.  I'm already annoyed I have to watch Daisy and Lincoln pretend they have something like emotions for each other.

 

I am not really bothered by Mack having some kind of feelings towards YoYo and I have always took the fact that he never mentions his past relationships as a sign that he views himself as a professional  SHIELD agent and/or he doesn't want to date co-workers (and there are lots of people who do not want to date co-workers for very good reasons). 

Edited March 10, 2016 by TVSpectator

[AKA...CJ86]

Frequent lurker here, and finally caught up with Season 3 after a few day binge watch session...

 

          -Loving ZombieWard...I guess I'll say it...I'm one of the few who liked the Ward character since season one....

 

          -Really loved YoYo...so, if she does pop up later in the season...can we please not kill, most of the other newbies I liked this season ended up dead...I'm done with that.

 

          -Mack/YoYo...no need for more romance...the romance elements are what drags the show down, no need for another one.

[bikebrh]

**************What do we have to do to get Agent Carter to be the main ABC/Disney/Marvel series and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D as the winter filler series?************

First of all, you would have to get people to watch Agent Carter. Agent Carter hasn't come remotely close to holding AoS's audience. AC will be lucky to get renewed after that turd of a season finale.

[Jeezaloo]

I have to give the makeup people props, Ward looks creepy as hell. The purple, hand shaped bruise in his sternum is a nice touch.

Yes please! The second I saw Coulson's death-blow hand-print STILL on Hive's chest, I thought, "Oh boy, Phil. Hope you're ready for one hell of a tussle with him; he REMEMBERS."

 

Lash is gonna be the cure for what ails Coulson -- but when HiveWard strikes, can Coulson be sure that Lash is there and is ready to party?

[thuganomics85]

Fun return, even if it seemed to dial things back a bit and had basically a "Inhuman of the week" feel to it.  But, hey, at least the Inhuman was awesome.  Really enjoyed Elena/Yo-Yo, and I do hope she pops up again.  Glad to see Joey is still around, although it looks like he's going back home too, now that they're letting the Inhumans back into the world.  And a decent amount of Bobbi and Hunter, which is only overshadowed by Mack and Daisy.  Mack and Daisy continue to be one of the best pairings, which I never predicted, but I guess that happens when you've got Mack, who is great with everyone, and Daisy, who has really improved ever since the name change.

 

Coulson at least got a minor victory by making Gideon have to shut down some of his companies.  And he's even got unofficial support from President William Sadler.  And, of course, the President was totally going to make Talbot the new head of the A.T.C.U.  Even he knows how entertaining it is when Coulson and Talbot start bickering with each other.

 

Not enough May; too much Lincoln.

 

Still love Fitz and Simmons, but they need to move past them always having relationship issues.  Just let them be awesome again.  I know, I know: it's not realistic to expect that since they've both been through hell, but I'm just getting tired of it.

 

So, new, improved Grant Ward is basically a guy who raided the make-up from iZombie and showing off his six-pack.  Eh... still not as fun as Powers Boothe chewing the scenery and Inhuman Wo Fat.

 

Welcome back, SHIELD!

[Raja]

**************What do we have to do to get Agent Carter to be the main ABC/Disney/Marvel series and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D as the winter filler series?************

First of all, you would have to get people to watch Agent Carter. Agent Carter hasn't come remotely close to holding AoS's audience. AC will be lucky to get renewed after that turd of a season finale.

Second forget about Mr. Carter and build SHIELD take the MCU history seriously and tie in as it is all connected

[Izeinwinter]

I just want Dottie Underwood to show up and flirt with Quake. Because that would imply that the age immunity of the black widows from the comics is canon and would most likely work much better than Lincoln. 

[DeLurker]

 

Also, the dumbest thing I have seen on this show has to be Fitz feeling guilty over killing "Will". That better stop or we better learn that something is not right with Fitz (and just to add some more venting about this issue, Fitz isn't dumb and he realized that Will died trying to save Jemma and that he was talking to that Inhuman that Hydra wanted back on Earth).

 

I am not really bothered by Mack having some kind of feelings towards YoYo and I have always took the fact that he never mentions his past relationships as a sign that he views himself as a professional  SHIELD agent and/or he doesn't want to date co-workers (and there are lots of people who do not want to date co-workers for very good reasons). 

I'm glad they addressed Fitz' guilt, deserved or not.  Hopefully this will be the last we see of it.

 

I like Mack and his interactions with everyone so far.  I don't care if he checks the box straight, gay, both, other....I don't want another romance on the show.  Sides, that means either he or the one he falls in lurve with will die horribly or go bad.  I just thought there was a little extra cuteness with him and YoYo.

 

And speaking of loved ones that died horribly - I miss you Rosalind!  You and Coulson weren't at the love stage, but I still miss you and need Unreal to come back.

 

Can someone fill me in one the backstory with Talbot and Coulson?  Is it just from AoS (which I have seen all of but probably have to rewatch a few to refresh my leaky memory) or from the movies (which I have only seen 1 1/2 of)?

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Agents Of SHIELD Has A Soft Reboot
There are new Inhumans and a new role for SHIELD. And Ward is sort of still around, but he doesn't look at all well.

[Raja]

I'm glad they addressed Fitz' guilt, deserved or not. Hopefully this will be the last we see of it.

I like Mack and his interactions with everyone so far. I don't care if he checks the box straight, gay, both, other....I don't want another romance on the show. Sides, that means either he or the one he falls in lurve with will die horribly or go bad. I just thought there was a little extra cuteness with him and YoYo.

And speaking of loved ones that died horribly - I miss you Rosalind! You and Coulson weren't at the love stage, but I still miss you and need Unreal to come back.

Can someone fill me in one the backstory with Talbot and Coulson? Is it just from AoS (which I have seen all of but probably have to rewatch a few to refresh my leaky memory) or from the movies (which I have only seen 1 1/2 of)?

As far as I know it is just from AOS. He was the officer in charge of getting all the SHIELD/Hydra assets under government control after The Winter Soldier

[Tarasme]

I'm flummoxed by the opening scene. Three months ahead places it right on top of CA:CW. At the beginning of the season, I read Jemma and Mack as being anti- powered folk and altogether willing to rein them all in however necessary. Coulson, May, Bobbi, being ambivalent and/or having higher priorities with Daisy and Fitz being dedicated to protecting typical and a-typical persons alike. It looked as though tPtB were drawing their grid lines against those of the movie. 

 

Now though, it looks like Jemma's warmed to powered people, Mack is fully on board with the Secret Warriors, and I have no idea how they're going to integrate the end of the season into the greater MCU.

 

Did anyone else feel like this episode delivered about five minutes of actual content? 

 

Maybe the Coulson- President (HI William Sadler!!! You're always welcome on my TV!!!) meeting was a *big* *deal* in plot terms but it didn't read that way at all dramatically. Then again, maybe Coulson juggling heads of state is supposed to be considered ho hum just another Tuesday.

 

Chasing the stolen guns, getting Mack back, brain frying Von Strucker, reading Yo Yo in, raiding the Colombian Policia, etc. all felt dry. Was that the point? That the exploits are all part of the daily grind?

 

I did LURVE Hunter and Bobbi- trying a little fish oil... just in case. And Mack's short hand Spanish figuring out that it was a joint partnership of fish and God that blessed Yo. 

 

It was good to see everyone again, but I'm ready for something to HAPPEN.

[Traveller519]

Pretty standard premiere for the show setting up a lot of what was going to happen from here on out.

 

Lincoln is the only weak part of the cast in my opinion at the moment. I can't take him seriously when he gets worked up about things and he's just so bland otherwise.

 

I'm interested to see if any Ward traits stick around with this new form. Worm Will at least gave off the appearance of Will and knowing who Fitz was. Worm Ward appears to be in pretty bad shape though.

[TVSpectator]

I'm glad they addressed Fitz' guilt, deserved or not.  Hopefully this will be the last we see of it.

 

 

And speaking of loved ones that died horribly - I miss you Rosalind!  You and Coulson weren't at the love stage, but I still miss you and need Unreal to come back.

 

I still think that it was stupid to have Fitz feel guilty over killing Will's body (and I would argue that that has to be the dumbest line of dialogue in this episode, even more, stupid than hearing Lincoln explain how Inhumans powers are gained) I mean  Fitz knew that Will was dead so why would he assume he "killed" Will (really, Fitz actually saw Will's rotting leg! There was absolutely nothing left  inside of the body) when IT/Hive flat out told him that he killed Will way back when he attacked Jemma? Personally, I just thought that the writers just added that line so they can continue that stupid angst with the Fitz/Simmons relationship. I could see him feeling sad because of Jemma feeling sad, but his dialogue made it seem that he was sad/angsting over killing the actual Will. Like you I do hope that was the last of it. 

[Terrafamilia]

Until they give eye-guy a handle I'm calling him Basilisk.

[MisterGlass]

I agree the romance notes in this just felt shunted in.  Daisy and Lincoln still don't convince me as a couple.  I hope this will let Fitz and Simmons reach equilibrium.  They need a break.

 

Mack is the low-drama character this show needs.  If he has a relationship on the show, I plead for it to be equally low drama with a plain, ordinary person.  No secret twin, no double agent, no subordinate, no one with six months to live.  They can pull a Hawkeye - a secret house all their own off somewhere way away from SHIELD, where the biggest argument is about remodeling.

 

 

The purple, hand shaped bruise in his sternum is a nice touch.

 

Yes, that was good.

[Raja]

I will disagree about Fritz and guilt. Agents of SHIELD started with Agent May on the bench because she killed what we now know was an Inhuman in a do or die situation. While serving as Skye's SO a very big deal was made about putting someone down. Besides Hunter and Hydra/SHIELD types killing was not a thing for Agents, they even quickly gave us Icers so heroes could carry guns without killing like Oliver Queen's Arrow did in his first season. It is refreshing to have characters react to the act of killing without the very special episode given to the topic when Internal Affairs finally says you did the right thing.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Raja

[TVSpectator]

I will disagree about Fritz and guilt. Agents of SHIELD started with Agent May on the bench because she killed what we now know was an Inhuman in a do or die situation. While serving as Skye's SO a very big deal was made about putting someone down. Besides Hunter and Hydra/SHIELD types killing was not a thing for Agents, they even quickly gave us Icers so heroes could carry guns without killing like Oliver Queen's Arrow did in his first season. It is refreshing to have characters react to the act of killing without the very special episode given to the topic when Internal Affairs finally says you did the right thing.

May killed a kid, which is pretty horrible and its understandable why she would emotionally close herself (which led to her and Andrew's breakup), but Fitz at least understood that he was dealing with something that killed Will. It's not really the fact that he killed IT and/or never killed before but he thinks he killed Will.

Edited March 11, 2016 by TVSpectator

[OtterMommy]

May killed a kid, which is pretty horrible and its understandable why she would emotionally close herself (which led to her and Andrew's breakup), but Fitz at least understood that he was dealing with something that killed Will. It's not really the fact that he killed IT and/or never killed before but he thinks he killed Will.

 

Also, at the time that she had to kill the girl, May had no concept of what she was working with--they didn't yet know about inhumans.  To her, this was just a child--a dangerous child--but a child, nonetheless. 

 

Fitz, on the other hand, did know what was going on...he knew that Will was already dead and whatever had Will's body would do him, and everyone else, great harm.  I don't know--I do think that Fitz's guilt is,well, misplaced--but it isn't bothering me much.  To me it is almost a clunky excuse for other angsty thoughts going on with him.

[frenchtoast]

I would think that for someone like Fitz, who has some field experience but not a lot, that was a hard thing to do. While he may logically know those things, the emotions are still hard to deal with. He killed someone, even if they were infected, and I can understand how that would be difficult to deal with. Add to that he was trying to save Will and he ended up having to destroy the body. It's a crappy place to be and I don't mind being shown that it's something that he's struggling a little with. 

 

The episode did feel to drag a bit, but I still enjoyed it. When we saw Ward/whatever that is chest I initially thought it was a mark of the parasite and then a second later I realized it was a hand print. That was quite the touch. At least we saw Coulson get a new hand.

 

I do love seeing the team of Daisy, Mack, Hunter and Bobbi working together. 

[TVSpectator]

Also, at the time that she had to kill the girl, May had no concept of what she was working with--they didn't yet know about inhumans.  To her, this was just a child--a dangerous child--but a child, nonetheless. 

 

Fitz, on the other hand, did know what was going on...he knew that Will was already dead and whatever had Will's body would do him, and everyone else, great harm.  I don't know--I do think that Fitz's guilt is,well, misplaced--but it isn't bothering me much.  To me it is almost a clunky excuse for other angsty thoughts going on with him.

 

He also knew that Hydra wanted this thing (IT/Hive) back on Earth and he must have at least read something about IT/Hive in all of those old books that he gathered. 

Edited March 12, 2016 by TVSpectator

[HunterHunted]

I dunno about the Elena/Mack thing they were hinting at though. I'd kinda always head-canoned Mack as gay, though I guess he could be bi.

I've always thought that Mac was gay based on the season 2 episode, One Door Closes. It flashes back to Winter Soldier and the day that Shield fell. In the episode, Mac and his engineering team are being held hostage. His engineer, Tim, tells Mac that he can't feel his arm. Mac tells him to hold on. Hydra asks who the chief engineer is. Tim lies and says it's him. Hydra kills Tim. They're later rescued by Bobbi. Mac lingers over Tim's body. Later as all of the remaining SHIELD agents are trying to retake the ship, Bobbi offers her condolences about Tim, whose death she didn't witness.

I know it's not a ton to go on, but it always felt like a weird choice to give the Tim character a name and to have Bobbi mention him if he wasn't going to be more significant to Mac.

[blueray]

In season two there's a part where they are talking about there ex's. And Hunter say's that he recalls him pretending to like quawa (sp) for her, but maybe they didn't say the gender.

[RustbeltWriter]

I wish they would deal with SHIELD's status better than that plan the president and Coulson worked out. Figuring out the group's status and funding keeps taking me out of the show.

[KirkB]

I'd have to go back and watch the scene again, but I'm not sure Fitz actually knew Will was dead at that point. He was aware the thing he was talking to wasn't Will, but he didn't have any way of knowing whether or not it was just something in control of Will's body. Will himself could still have been in there somewhere. And Fitz is a very emotional person. I would expect him to be disturbed by the fact he killed a living thing, even if that thing was an inhuman who would just as soon bite his face off as look at him.

[TVSpectator]

I wish they would deal with SHIELD's status better than that plan the president and Coulson worked out. Figuring out the group's status and funding keeps taking me out of the show.

 

I personally like to think that Maria Hill (who is currently working at Stark, INC...) has been secretly funneling money to Coulson's SHIELD (of course under Fury's orders) from some Stark accounts (a la Office Space). 

[Raja]

I personally like to think that Maria Hill (who is currently working at Stark, INC...) has been secretly funneling money to Coulson's SHIELD (of course under Fury's orders) from some Stark accounts (a la Office Space). 

It was in the second season that Commander Gonzales was trying to get the code box for "The Real SHIELD" which gave Director Coulson access to  the hidden SHIELD assets. And with Fury and some sort of SHIELD working as an Avengers support group in Age of Ultron and Ant-Man it should be relatively easy to send resources to the Avengers covert intelligience gatherers.

[TVSpectator]

It was in the second season that Commander Gonzales was trying to get the code box for "The Real SHIELD" which gave Director Coulson access to  the hidden SHIELD assets. And with Fury and some sort of SHIELD working as an Avengers support group in Age of Ultron and Ant-Man it should be relatively easy to send resources to the Avengers covert intelligience gatherers.

 

I know, I know but that was just me sharing my own little head fandom theory. 

[John Potts]

Definitely a mixed episode, with a few good points, a few bad points and a whole lot of Meh.

 

I did like the way the President was played. Too often Presidents fall into either "Sure, do whatever you like - I'll back you!" or "I will throw the entire weight of the US government into stopping you!" with very little in between. So for once, it was nice to see a President who was going, "Politically I can't be seen to back you, but you've got my unofficial support" because that seems much more realistic (I'll just have to get over thinking of him as the slippery Arvin Sloane* of Section 31!). Coulson even made use of his inability to NOT announce his intentions by phoning Gideon and forcing him to burn some of his assets. Also liked Yo-Yo: again, somebody who saw her new powers as a gift but wasn't trying to change the world, just make things a little better (the conversations between her and Mack were well done, too: it's probably unlikely that somebody living in the modern world would have zero exposure to English, so the fact that they could sporadically communicate was good), though in term of disposing of weapons "Throwing them off a bridge" is not going to be very effective. Unlike Melty Man:

 

MisterGlass  I love that he didn't just melt the guns - he made a sculpture.

 

 

...who made sure they couldn't be used. And hey, while you're about it, why not introduce Columbia to the latest in Modern Sculpture!

 

On the Bad side though, we had Daisy "Why would you not want to tell the police?" Even if you depict her as somebody who is unaware that the cops are frequently corrupt in many countries, she's a former Hacktivist. Her first instinct toward the government should be suspicion, even if she thinks that's not always warranted, what with her being part of Big Brother these days. Gideon also showed the sort of bone headed thinking when he started questioning NOW whether it was such a good idea to bring an alien with unknown powers into your base. If it's a doubt, then maybe don't go into the same room as him so he can do some sort of mind whammy on you?

 

For the Meh: I found Ward (or SquidWard!) mostly just dull. Curious that he prefers his meat raw (unless HYDRA just lacks a kitchen). I'm also not a fan of endless relationship angst so I'd prefer FitzSimmonds to either couple up or break up. Also I agree with this:

 

Monty Ashley (Recap) This scene is nothing more than a warning that drama might eventually occur.

 

 

...it wasn't even clear what was happening (beyond "Something bad IN SPACE!"). If it had been a ship BLOWING UP a satellite (or space ship) it would at least be more sinister - from what we saw, it might as well have been an astronaut had just popped out for a couple of minutes (OK, I know astronauts don't "just pop out", EVAs are a biggish deal). If maybe there had been some reference to other stuff happening in space it might have meant something, but otherwise it was an entirely pointless scene.

 

*ETA: That should be Luther Sloane (DS9) not Arvin Sloane (Alias)

Edited March 27, 2016 by John Potts

[romantic idiot]

I think the main shocker was just that it was in space, which AoS has;t done before. Well in this part of the galaxy at least. 

[TVSpectator]

So, are we to assume that "present day" means March and that "three months from now" means June? I am a bit confused about that because I thought that they will have the time jump (which kinds of sucks since we didn't see the immediate reactions from Maveth) and not have this other time jump (the other one being the scene in space). 

[John Potts]

romantic idiot I think the main shocker was just that it was in space

 

 

True, but it's not as if we don't have ships I orbit (and given the generally higher Tech in the MCU, it's probably more common there). At least show a spacesuited figure drifting through the void so I know I can see there's somebody in peril (potentially). Imagining the audience will be blown away by mere effects is what made Star Trek: The Motion Picture the "classic" it was.