And so, we say apparently good-bye to Lance Hunter and Bobbi Morse in 'Parting Shot'. What can be said about it?
It is a purposefully oppressive episode, very heavy on the Russian - language. I'm not going to go into this too much: back in 2009, 'Deadliest Warrior' aired an episode where the Soviet/Russian Spetsnaz had defeated the U.S. Green Berets fair and square, something that had haunted this show for the rest of its' existence (DW went off air in 2011 after going on for 3 seasons, cough). The Russians are as good as the Americans are, and to make them bogey-men (the ones that aren't Hydra, perhaps) for AoS is cheap, especially for the show's writers and co.
One may point out that something similar is going on in the comics of the AoS franchise, where the agents are about to lock horns with the uncanny Avengers, but the two sides of AoS franchise are different - the comic version of agents attempts/pretends to be firmly integrated into the rest of Marvel world from the start ('Perfect Bullets' story arc), while the TV version...not so much. None of the Avengers movie cast has appeared on the show since S1, and even then it were Fury and Hill, so they don't quite count. One could argue that Bobbi is the Mockingbird, and as such she is something of an Avenger herself, only she isn't. Yes, the sites, (or at least some of them) are calling her Mockingbird, but this never has happened on the show.
No, it is unlikely that this is because of the entire Kara Palamas arc of S2, where Bobbi had sold her out to Hydra, 'forgot' to rescue her, and didn't even apologize to her in the end - and then Grant killed her by accident, ha-ha, and AoS has done its best forget about her: 'Parting Shot', in the last scene, depicted Malick's daughter - the appropriate love interest for Hive or Werner von Strucker, whoever will win her in the end... if the show doesn't kill her in a future episode first. Either way, Kara's fate and death rests on Bobbi's head as much as on Grant's or Melinda and Lance's - Bobbi may not be a villain as Whitehall was, for example, but neither is she a hero as the Mockingbird is supposed to be.
...That said, the odds are coming down from the financial aspects of the real life's side of the show: last week's episode had THE LOWEST ratings yet and so far it is uncertain how the show will recover. Make no mistake, it will - sort of: there had been cases in the previous seasons when one episode or another made an overly low, or high, rating as opposed to the episodes before and after it, but never so sharply or so low, even considering that overall the ratings of S3 AoS episodes were going even lower already. The S2 two-bit finale was already low, and many of S3 episodes are lower than it was. Yes, there is a promise of an AoS S4 season in the talks, but there was also talk of a Lance-and-Bobbi spinoff in the wind, ever since S2 beginning, and so far there is nothing concrete. Now the groundwork had been laid, of course, (with a pun for a title of the episode, too), but there are no signs of a spin-off coming forth; in fact it may be that the producers have made a Grant-and-Kara thing for Lance and Bobbi, treating them differently/separately from the rest of the cast instead for the rest of S3.
This brings us to finances: with Mack and Lincoln joining the regular cast since the end of S2, the cast has expanded to 10 people as the regular cast, who need to be paid, which means less money to go around. And since the ratings are dropping, as is the show's overall popularity, means that there is less money to go around too. Odds are that Nick and Adrienne are going is because AoS cannot afford their salaries. Ouch, but last week's episode had no Mack in it (for no reason), this episode had no Lincoln (he was in Cocoon, apparently), so clearly the entire AoS team is having problems keeping everyone balanced here with 10 main characters and guest/recurring characters as well. So now they're pruning the fat, and Kara Palamas got some karma payback for her and for Grant all the same. Coulson is going to get his too - Hive and his up-and-coming new girlfriend (is she supposed to be an analogue of Sin or someone like that) are going to make certain of it...in a matter of weeks, since the second part of AoS S3 takes place in 3 months, and the month of March is almost gone, too.
As for the episode itself...it's oppressive, it's purposefully oppressive, and it is associated with Russia for that purpose. This time, the agents stopped the Prime Minister from being assassinated by a Russian InHuman general...only Russia is a funny country: it is run by a tsar (nowadays they call 'em presidents instead, as a part of suckering the West), so the Prime Minister is worth diddly-squat here. If AoS is trying to earn sponsor points by adhering to the U.S. sense of apple pie and patriotism they could go for political accuracy rather than subtlety.
And yes, this can backfire. The already mentioned 'Deadliest Warrior' had done its best to appeal to the American patriotism in the last two seasons of its show, especially in S3, with its kick-ass presidents, George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt. Guess what, it still didn't fully work: the U.S. Rangers defeated the North Korean special forces by only half a percent, (and considering the West's opinion of North Korea, talk about a double-ouch), and the show got cancelled after they did a season finale 'Vampires vs. Zombies'. That episode ran largely against the show's established M.O., and DW went out on a Halloween special that didn't even take place on Halloween. And as for AoS...
As for AoS, if 'Parting Shot' was truly the end of Hunter and Morse at least for the rest of S3, this means that the viewers who were watching the show primarily for their characters will stop watching it, likely, which means ANOTHER ratings drop, something that AoS cannot afford now more than ever. Not everyone liked Hunter and Morse, most likely, due to the Kara plotline, but replacing them with new characters (Slingshot? Manifold?) who may or may not be just recurring isn't the best idea too. Hell, they kept Grant/Hive on the show past S2 for the viewers, because honestly, it would've been more humane to have him go through T.A.H.I.T.I. and live on in Mexico or elsewhere with Kara. It would've been more humane for Kara too. But if Maya Stojan could just be easily dropped from the show, Brett not so much, so instead more character assassination and now Hive. Hail Hydra!
...And then there's the entire 'Agent Carter' situation: she and Sousa and co. are precisely dealing with the Russians/Communists/the Leviathan rather than Hydra (at least in the first 2 seasons). How will this episode mesh with the future seasons of AC? So far AoS is splitting the MCU rather than integrating it, so this again makes it less popular with its audience, which means fewer ratings - and it has nothing to do with Phil killing Grant back in 2015, however Whedon and the others are trying to pretend otherwise.
So, a tense, overwhelming, oppressive episode, complete with terrific acting from the actors - and some very incorrect political/patriotic imagery. I hope that 'Parting Shot's' ratings will be higher than the last week's episode, but am not betting on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment