...One of the more important issues in AoS, now, is pacing
and proportions. In S1 it was simple – first the team had to discover who the
Clairvoyant is, and then they had to stop him and the rest of Hydra...well, his
cell of Hydra, because we never really learned just how high up John Garrett
was in the Hydra hierarchy.
In S2, the situation was somewhat different: the first part
of the season was dominated largely by Hydra, the second half – by the
InHumans. It also marked a change in the roles’ proportions: in S1 Ward was an
equal part of the cast; from S2 onwards, his role began to diminish, or rather –
his screen time did. His importance was something else, especially in the S2
finale, and its out-of-proportion hack/gore-fest.
In S3 this sort of situation continued: as Ward did receive proportionally
less screen time than Hunter or May did, for example, let alone Mack, Coulson
or Daisy. That is not to say that his importance became any smaller: through
his sheer presence and taunting words alone he brought Hunter down to his
level, and now Andrew Garner has paid the price (presumably). May will have an
even bigger axe to grind with Ward nowadays, but she and Hunter have to resolve
her issues too, and given how the Cavalry carries her grudges...well, Grant is
going to die, eventually, probably by the season’s end, but Hunter is going to
grovel, he has to – otherwise it’ll be even worse for him.
Back to the proportions and pacing? The Hydra and the
InHumans plotlines are being pointedly kept apart, almost as if they were two
different episodes or something along those lines – and perhaps they are. In
S2, Hydra and InHumans took turns, so to speak – in the first half S.H.I.E.L.D.
had to tackle Hydra, in the second – the InHumans. Now, in S3 the series apparently
had S.H.I.E.L.D. tackle Hydra and InHumans at the same time, with rather mixed
results. No, it is not about Andrew Garner being dead because Hunter was
obsessed with the need for revenge; it is about the screen time. Try as they
like, the series’ writers and co. just do not seem to mix the Hydra and the
InHuman plot lines in the equal proportions; maybe they have to or they don’t
have to (let’s not forget – the actors themselves are people with opinions and
ideas, who may or may not get along with each other and other people, this
probably plays a role in S.H.I.E.L.D. episode scripts), but this is what they
do. The result – an unbalanced episode, such as the ep. 3x02 for example. If
Grant Ward is to be an opponent to S.H.I.E.L.D. he just has to be more
impressive, because otherwise, he just will not cut it. (On the other hand,
there are rumors of yet another new character coming forth – one that is even
more formidable than Ward is which frankly sucks, especially for Coulson.)
Also, speaking of villains, though not of proportions and pacing,
Lash is even more formidable than how he has first appeared in ‘Laws’; (in
fact, I think that the entire series team is doing its best to bury the
embarrassing, cliché-ridden episode as much as they can): he is a shape-shifter
as well, making him twice as tricky to capture. (Maybe it is a she, cough,
but would not Lash have breasts too if this was the case?)
This brings us to Daisy, or rather – to Alisha. Once a
minion of Jiaying, she has acquired some sort of a role in Coulson’s crew –
fancy that. Maybe Daisy’s team of powered people just got its first new member –
and a competent one, too.
So: Ward is largely a villain/plot device to move the series
forwards; Hunter is on the outs with the rest of the crew; Coulson appears to
have acquired a new friend, BTW; and Daisy continues to bond with Mack – and maybe
she will bond with Alisha, too. Oh, and Simmons has to go back from wherever
she came, too – but that is the topic for the next week’s episode. Until then –
see you.
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