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

[NowhereMan]

I'm actually keen to see what happens with Ward. The character reads as purely psychopathic and is narcissistically delusional. Everything he's done is perfectly justified by him and remembered in the most positive terms possible. Torturing his brother and burning his whole family to death? That was everyone having a sit down, confronting their history and resolving their issues.

I'd agree though that it's frustrating from an audience perspective that there's no indication what the pay off might be. Ward is probably being totally honest, as he sees it, in his explanation of what he's done with Agent 33. That doesn't discount there being more at play there though. I'd say it's kind of unsatisfying just because when there's zero indication given of how a plot will resolve there's a worry that whatever happens is going to feel super Deus Ex Machina. Now I am willing to believe that the total lack of indication is deliberate but it's not clear if the writers have the chops to not make it feel cheap and artifcial. And in some ways if it's actually a twist 'He really was being honest the whole time' it's going to feel almost equally cheap. Maybe its goal is just to get Agent 33 back into SHIELD with divided loyalties, setting her up as a possible plot point and tension source.

[HaemishM]

I'm not sure where they are going with Ward. They clearly have plans for him because he's continued as a semi-regular cast member but his character is so untrustworthy, NOTHING he says can be believed. In some ways, they may have written the character too well because he's so utterly inscrutable. The actor has played the character with such dramatic shifts between modes that he truly has become a kind of chameleon/blank slate that you are forced to assign motives to him based purely on your own assumptions about his character.

As for the cast bloat, if they do the spinoff with Bobbi and Hunter, the cast will be smaller.

[Tannhauser]

I really like where Ward's at, a total cipher.  If any of them trust them though it would seem foolish even if he's on the level.  I think the actor's doing a good job with him.

Bobbi's a wonder woman, but I'm not totally on board with Hunter yet.  Maybe if he gets more screen time I'll like him better.  I also like how they made big, tough Mack the tech support, that's fun.

[Velorath]

At this point it's possible even Ward doesn't know what his current motives and objectives really are at the moment. He doesn't have Garrett around anymore to attach himself to, he's "resolved" his family issues, and he understands that he's obviously burned his bridges with Coulson and team. It's quite possible he has no ulterior motive behind getting Agent 33 back with Shield. She saved his life and we've seen with Garrett to what extent Ward can feel like he owes someone.

[jgsugden]

...

This was Whedon's choice.  He wanted audience members that watch the movies and not the show to not be confused by any reference to Coulson.  Thus, he has chosen to keep Coulson dead in the eyes of the main characters (except Hill/Fury).  I'm guessing that as of now, the leash is off and they'll feel free to reference and/or use the show's characters more freely (directly or referentially).  For example, I would not be surprised to see Coulson appear in Cap III beside Hill and Fury.

[Tannhauser]

I didn't say Coulson, I said Shield.  "Looks like that Shield team knows its business." or some such line would have sufficed for me.  Very minor nitpick though. 

As for Coulson, either Hill/Fury are hiding his existence from the Avengers or they were told off camera and it's just not relevant to bring up in  the movie.

[HaemishM]

If you've seen Age of Ulton, you know there IS a character from Agents of SHIELD that shows up in the movie, who will likely be in future Agents episodes. It just doesn't happen to be a SHIELD agent.

[Tannhauser]

Nice little twist there at the end.  They did a decent job linking up to AoU I thought.  Not much of tonight's episode went how I was expecting though!

[Fordel]

I did enjoy the twist with the porcupine. She may be manipulating everyone to further her own delusions of grandeur and power, but she ain't wrong. 

[kaid]

I have redubbed Raina as quillsandra she can see the future but nobody will believe her.

[Raguel]

We're totally going to make Quillsandra a thing. 

[jgsugden]

Interesting note on one filming location for Cap III potentially related to the show -  

[Evildrider]

Renewed for next season, no surprise there really.

[jgsugden]

Mockingbird is not being spun off - I hope they keep her on this show.  I think it is better for the brand to keep her here - she is a good addition.  The proposed spinoff was to focus on Bobbi and Hunter.

[Threash]

There really was zero point in having a "shield 2" show when this one ain't doing all that great to begin with.  Diluting the show even further would have hurt both shows pretty badly.

[jgsugden]

I didn't say Coulson, I said Shield.  "Looks like that Shield team knows its business." or some such line would have sufficed for me.  Very minor nitpick though. 
...

Whedon wanted audiences that had seen just the Avengers flicks to not see anything strange, audiences that had just seen all the Marvel movies, and audiences that had seen everything to feel like things made sense. 

[Lakov_Sanite]

I don't get why you still think this show is some whedon master plan, does that make it better somehow? His name was on it to get people watching but I see nothing of his style in the current episodes.

[jgsugden]

He wrote the outline for the first two seasons. It has been tweaked, but all the major beats, including how it interacts with the movies, was his. We don't know how much of this tail end of the season was part of his outline, but he and his family had a working script for AoU in hand when he was making the show Bible and they were plotting episode 2 of the series. That has been noted over and over...

[Fordel]

Did everyone get two hours tonight?

[Evildrider]

Yeah it was a 2 hour finale.

[Fordel]

This has been kinda weird, in that they spent two seasons to setup the show I was expecting from the start.

[Abagadro]

That was a damn good two hours of TV.

[Evildrider]

That was a damn good two hours of TV.

Seriously, it's like everything you've wanted out of the SHIELD show in 2 hours.   

[Abagadro]

[Fordel]

[Tannhauser]

That was a slam bang season ender.

[kaid]

That was a damn good two hours of TV.

Seriously, it's like everything you've wanted out of the SHIELD show in 2 hours.   

And things you didn't know you wanted like ginger ninjas.

[jgsugden]

This was my thought process over a roughly 4 second span as that scene played out:


As for the end...

[Threash]

Cal was so fucking awesome that whole episode.

[Evildrider]

Cal was so fucking awesome that whole episode.

Yeah he totally stole the scenes he was in.

[Surlyboi]

It's fucking Kyle McLachlan. When properly motivated, he owns the show.

[Soln]

It's fucking Kyle McLachlan. When properly motivated, he owns the show.

He really is scene stealing.  Gold.

[eldaec]

We've only just reached the Bahrain episode. When I saw they were going to actually show the Bahrain op my immediate thought was "OH GOD NO THIS CAN'T POSSIBLY BE A GOOD IDEA".

But it really worked.

Skye/Quake/whoever is eating way to much screen time for a training montage, but that aside, decent stuff.

[Surlyboi]

The training session pays off.

[jgsugden]