S.H.I.E.L.D., Failed Experiments - May 3

And so, as the clock continues to tick down to the season finale, AoS tries to wrap up the stakes, especially considering that Civil War movie is hitting the big screens – or rather, HAS hit the big screens, and MCU’s other assets (well, primarily AoS at this point) are trying to catch up. What can be said about “Failed Experiments”?

The title is supposed to be dramatically ironic, one supposes. Hive was a failed experiment of the Kree; his, and Daisy’s, and Radcliffe’s experiment with the Kree had failed; S.H.I.E.L.D.’s experiments to free Daisy (and any other InHumans) from Hive’s control had failed; and Mack’s attempts to get to Daisy have failed. The only question is why Mack isn’t dead? AoS is toying with its’ audience, trying to rack up as much drama as possible before the big finish, when the good guys win…to a point. Lately, in S3, AoS seemed to have picked up BtVS’ earlier method, to finish an episode with a twist from the dark side, to hint at what the Scooby gang, (or nowadays the Agents’ gang), will be up against next. Well, it works.

And the actors do too – the acting between Henry (Mack) and Chloe (Daisy) was amazing; the other actors slash agents delivered too, but…now what? Yes, the question is rhetorical, for obviously the conflict will be escalating – S.H.I.E.L.D. vs. InHumans with Watchdogs and similar entities thrown in for the spice of it. From now on, AoS will be fairly straightforward, for Hydra has been destroyed and isn’t coming back…well, probably not. At the beginning of S3, all it took Grant is a gang of thugs and some Hydra™ stencils on walls to bring Hydra back. Who has to say that someone, like Baron Zemo, will not hit on the same idea, hm? However, this is theory, and in practice, Hydra seems to be finished, all that’s left is Hive, and either he will be destroyed…or not, since AoS S4, (if there will be one) will need some sort of a designated villain…and apparently Brett is the man to play them all. Even Lash had been taken out of equation for now, (and Andrew had been redeemed, sort of, so why the writers could not have done this for Grant?).

Otherwise, AoS has become a fairly straightforward TV series, which isn’t a bad thing, not considering how S2 had gone down (in part because of the integration of Blood/Hunter and Palicki/Morse, who are gone, and their spinoff is going to be quite separate from AoS, it seems), and so, as the nerves are getting racked up, (and the audience numbers/ratings keep going up, hopefully for AoS), the S3 finale is approaching. Let’s see what’ll happen next!

Captain America: Civil War - May 1

And so, Captain America: Civil War has finally became available to the masses. What can be said about it?

Great movie, great action sequences, the actors themselves pushed each other to the limit in order to depict their characters’ inner struggles. What else?

Per se, there are no ‘bad guys’ (something that lately has been played out in Marvel TV shows, especially AoS and AC). Well, no, there is Brock Rumlow/Crossbones from Winter Soldier film, but he is killed fairly early in the film, he is less of a character and more of a plot device, in the overall film. This is not a problem; Brian Jacques did this with his villains on a regular basis, but-

However, who is Brian Jacques? He was, during his life, a fairly popular author for children, writing faux-medieval novels about anthropomorphic animals: ‘Redwall’ and the like. As far as books went, Brian Jacques’ were straightforward: there were ‘good’ animals, such as badgers, mice, squirrels and hares, and ‘bad’ animals – rats, foxes, mustelids, etc. In any given Brian Jacques’ novel, all ‘bad’ characters would die by the end, and almost all ‘good’ characters, would survive, save for one or two, who would die for greater drama… Right. Any coincidences with AoS, especially the current season, are just that – coincidental, which is good, for nowadays, with Brian Jacques being, sadly, gone, so are his books: they had no staying power and were quickly forgotten once he was no longer around to write them; hopefully, this won’t happen to AoS (though every hiatus, at the end of the season, or the middle of the season, of AoS results in the decrease of viewers, cough).

However, AoS aside, what about the current movie? Not unlike the comics, Civil War film was about superheroes fighting each other, over the UN decision of registry and the issue of Barns: is he redeemable or not? Of course, there is also the thorny issue of what is redemption and how does one ‘eat’ it, but anyhow. The point is that the Avengers did not need any bad people/villains to have problems, and neither did the rest of the world, not when it had to wonder did it need the Avengers in the first place, and how do they fit in? Even Baron Zemo (he is called Helmut here; his name has changed over the ages) is not exactly a villain: he is just obsessed with revenge for what Hydra did in Sokovia back in Avengers: Age of Ultron movie.

This is actually a fairly notable deviation: in the comics, Baron Zemo is Hydra/Nazi, something that is not really depicted in MCU, and-

Last week’s episode of AoS had Hydra destroyed, perhaps for good, by the heroic U.S. military, cough. Between this, and Crossbones’ own demise in Civil War, Hydra is not likely to appear in any future MCU features. 

On one hand, this is to be expected. Hydra is causing quite a bit of controversy on the Web these days: whether or not it is Nazi or just fascist? In the comics, Hydra is depicted as predominantly Nazi, ((just as Leviathan is implied to be communist), but to be honest? It is the same type of argument as whether or not Adam and Eve (the book of Genesis), had bellybuttons, or not. To those who do not care, the entire issue is uninteresting, or worse, but to those who DO care, they care. A lot. In addition, they argue. Even more so. Creating arguments, controversies, etc. Moreover, odds are that neither Marvel nor Disney want it.

Few years back, back when MLP: FIM cartoon was in its second/third season, a background character was given a role and a voice: Ditzy/Derpy Hooves. Immediately, her debut produced many arguments between the fans – whether or not the character had a mental disability, whether or not the show was depicting her ‘correctly’, whether or not the show was depicting mentally disabled characters properly or not, etc. The result? Ditzy/Derpy vanished back into background – no speaking roles, no nothing, and has re-emerged only recently. Hasbro did not need the controversial hassle, and neither do Marvel and Disney in regards to Hydra, one supposes: they are moving MCU into a next phase, anyhow, so they can leave Hydra behind, only-

Only Hydra is a major part of the Marvel comic universe. Getting rid of it will cause problems at least for some people – not even because they were fans of it, but because it was a part of Hydra: ‘I hate you, but I will defend your right for freedom of speech because it is the right thing to do,’ cough. Odds are, this will hit the AoS show the hardest, because most other Marvel TV series do not deal with Hydra as much: AC is more concerned about Leviathan, ‘Daredevil’ and ‘Jessica Jones’ are more concerned with more down-to-Earth threats, (relatively, since the Hand would certainly try to take over the world if given an opportunity), and ‘Power Man’, as well as ‘Punisher’ haven’t really been unveiled yet (‘Marvel’s Most Wanted’ isn’t likely to be dealing with Hydra too, but this is a separate topic), so who knows what they will be about?

But then again, stepping away from Hydra for a moment, there is also the matter of Captain America himself: in the movie, he does not die, and actually takes his share of the ex-Avengers to Wakanda. Make no mistake, this is a good thing, (at least in the short term), but the death of Captain America was a landmark, a milestone in Marvel comics; a feature that was a key element in Marvel for issues and months to come. Captain America isn’t dead; there is no Hydra or Red Skull (and WTF with that?), where will MCU go from here?

In the comics, the death of Captain America caused Tony Stark to take over S.H.I.E.L.D., which then, eventually, enabled Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin) to take over – and in the process, there was the attempt of the aliens named Skrulls to take over Earth, but the Earthlings defeated them, with Deadpool, (yes, the same bloke, whose film also appeared ins still not distant past) killed the Skrulls’ Queen – and then Osborn stole the glory for himself, founded HAMMER, and initiated a stage in Marvel comics called ‘The Dark Age’. Here, the Captain is alive; Norman Osborn…ok, Spider-Man was also in Civil War, and he is getting his own film too, so Green Goblin, (his archnemesis), may not be far behind; and instead of Skrulls we got Kree and InHumans. Only InHumans’ movie was cancelled, (for now at least), so who knows what happens next?

The same thing goes for Spider-Man, at least to a point. Yes, both Captain America and Iron Man will appear in his film, but he had been ‘reset’ at least twice now in the Marvel-related films, so with him anything can go too – but this is beyond THIS particular film, eh?

So. Captain America: Civil War, is a very impressive and marvelous movie, (pun intended), which, however, still raises more questions than answers, and shows a further divide between MCU and Marvel comics. What will be next? No one knows.

S.H.I.E.L.D., The Singularity - April 26

And so, ‘The Singularity’ was aired. What can be said about it? Alisha, the redhead from Li Shi, finally gets to shine – she has been on and off since the finale of S2, and apparently she has become evil once more – or maybe the Hive have brainwashed her into doing this – whatever. The point is that the Hive is not Grant Ward, all Ward haters are wrong, and one has to give the actors their due: their job was done marvellously! The writers, on the other hand…

Well, to be more precise, the cast – it just cannot get itself together: Elena and Joey are absent altogether, Lincoln is absent from the second half of the episode and Mack is playing a background character, period. How did he defeat James?

…James, apparently, is the new Hellfire. Ok, no, just no. Hellfire – back in the comics – was the first love of Daisy, who betrayed her and the rest of the Secret Warriors to Hydra, so Fury killed him (without anyone knowing, for Daisy’s sake) on the sly – wait. Doesn’t this sound like Ward, especially in S1?

Yes, much more so than some Li Shi reject, who lives in either Australia or in South Dakota, (it depends on which episode you are watching). Yes, the comics and MCU are two very different…universes, but still, if the movies are borrowing from the comics, surely some similarities must be made in plot, aside from everything else? Instead, all goes helter-skelter, and we do not even know how his battle with Mack had went. Yes, some cut-outs must be made, but they should not diminish the plot SO much.

Speaking of the plot… ‘The Singularity’ introduces Dr. Radcliff, who isn’t Hydra or S.H.I.E.L.D., just some sort of an alien fan, who either is going to die by the end of S3, or he will be the next super-villain, for Hydra has fallen.

Yes, that is right, Hydra has fallen. The Hell? Coulson is correct to feel dissatisfied by Talbot’s achievement: Captain America: Civil War movie is coming to the screens on May 6, and its villains include baron Zemo and Crossbones. Baron Zemo is a complex figure; actually, there are several baron Zemos’ in the comics, so it is for the best to wait for the movie to be aired to learn which one is appearing in it, but Crossbones? He is Brock Rumlow, who was Hydra back in Captain America: The Winter Soldier film, so either MCU is taking a lot of liberties with the Marvel canon (the odds are that the fans are going to hate that), or Hydra is not as dead as Coulson and Talbot and the others think.

So: liberties with characters, liberties with canon, possibly forced interaction with ‘the rest’ of the MCU – Kree are coming, so Guardians of the Galaxy, anyone – (the sort of forced interaction that went down like a lead balloon in the S3 premiere, BTW) and the issue with the InHumans: there almost aren’t any.

No, seriously, the MCU is having problems with InHumans in general – their own film was cancelled for the moment – and AoS has problems depicting them on screen. Most of the time it were just Lincoln and Daisy, with Joey starring on occasion and Slingshot appearing in just two episodes for the moment. Now there are Alisha and James, plus Hive, (he is not Grant), and Daisy and Lincoln…who appeared in just the first half of ‘The Singularity’. For some reason, MCU has problems in depicting them, in finding actors to play them, so yeah, it is a mystery.

Of course, it does not mean that MCU is having problems, unlike AoS. Agent Carter preformed wonderfully on its second season, Hunter and Morse’s appearance on their own show is now a guarantee (and people will watch it, at least at first, to see where they are going), and a lot hinges on the upcoming Captain movie. This is not AoS, this is the big leagues. Of course, ‘Dawn of Justice’ of DCEU was something of a flop, so perhaps Cap and Tony can do better? There are some concerns, especially about Pepper not appearing in the film, (which does suck), but maybe Tony can team up with Maria Hill? Either way, it this movie flops, then AoS will have new problems, much bigger and badder ones than they do now…

Thus, let us wait and see how the Captain movie goes first, before making any bets regarding AoS. Until next time!

S.H.I.E.L.D., The Team - April 19

And so, lo and behold – the revenge of Grant Ward from beyond the grave, bitches! Coulson had killed him – and Hive took over from where he had left off and delivered in style. Last episode, he had Guyerra beat the shite out of everyone, including Mack and May and Coulson; in this episode, he uses Daisy/Skye to do the same thing to S.H.I.E.L.D. Go Hive! The next promo shows him alongside Daisy, while Lincoln is intent on getting her back, so odds are that within the last four episodes of S3 Lincoln will do this – just in time. He has already showed quite a bit of character growth, staying with S.H.I.E.L.D. (though he had zapped the shite out of Coulson, so the two of them may be good because of that too) despite Daisy’s seductions, and-

Moreover, the problem is not that the writers (or so some people think) are trying to assassinate Grant’s character, or to make him into someone like Killgrave from JJ…well, actually, that is the problem. They are unoriginal and are constantly rehashing the material from the first two seasons – anyone who had seen the last few episodes of S1 in particular will recognize the parallels (and John Garrett is laughing his ass off in Hell as he is enjoying the view of Daisy quaking S.H.I.E.L.D.’s HQ from his personal rack or cauldron of tar or whatever), but it doesn’t mean that they’ll enjoy it. They just may want original material, not more rehash of the same old. (Including the Clairvoyance/the sight of the future bit after 2-3 seasons it is getting old, if AoS will return for a 4^th season they will have to come with something original…hopefully).

On the other hand…there is little to no other hand. The show is still limited by the matters of cast (and cash): yes, the Secret Warriors kick ass, but, apparently, their tenure as regulars on the show is still not established: Joey wants officially out of it all, and Elena has her own doubts. Malick, speaking of outs, is dead at last, so Coulson had just shot his mouth to the deceased head of Hydra for nothing.

Well, maybe not for ‘nothing’ – maybe Malick had told him about Hive, something important (and how does Coulson know about Hive to begin with? Randolph from 3x02?), but he was the head of Hydra: WTF Coulson trusted him in the first place? The man believes anyone, it seems, except for Grant Ward – at least he has manned up enough to admit that Hive is the one enemy we had made, but he still gives speeches, like the one that he had given to Daisy in the last quarter of this episode…only Daisy was under Hive’s ‘sway’ this entire time, Coulson’s speech was wasted, just as his time with Malick had been, most likely: here he was, trying to trick Malick into selling Hive out for revenge – and along comes Daisy and kills Malick dead. And then she also blows him up to confuse her teammates, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Secret Warriors. Coulson and his people seem to be reminiscent of Kerensky and his failed democratic regime in the pre-U.S.S.R. Russia.

To elaborate, after the Romanov royal family had resigned from their rule (no, seriously, this is what they have done) and before the Bolsheviks had seized power, the Russian elite, aristocracy and intelligentsia tried to establish a democratic government in Russia. The result was not unlike what happed about 70 years later, during the Perestroika and Yeltsin’s regime: anarchy, but for a shorter chronological period. That democratic regime in Russia lasted for a very short chronological period, and it remains a sign of incompetence, political and otherwise, in the Russian culture to this day. S.H.I.E.L.D., in ‘The Team’ and ‘Spacetime’ seems to have become just as incompetent, with its members liable to turn upon each other easily: the InHuman Secret Warriors may be infected by Hive, according to a Hydra head? Let us hide it from them, make it an unnecessary mess, and turn upon them – with sleeping gas and whatnot. Great teamwork, DC; I hope that Hive beats the shite out of you in Grant’s body the next time you meet.

So: S.H.I.E.L.D.’s feud with Hive (in Grant’s body) seems to be reaching its’ peak, and right now the agents appear to be incompetent hypocrites, and with 4 episodes to go, it gives plenty of time for the writers and similar staff to further assassinate their characters. I can hardly wait. Not.

Sunja

A skinwalker sorcerer with a particular bloodline:

Sunja

Fanglord sorcerer 1

LN Medium humanoid (human, shapechange, skinwalker)

Init +2; Senses Perception +3, See in Darkness

DEFENSE

AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)

hp 8 (1d6+2)

Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +3

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.

Melee quarterstaff +0 (1d6) or

Melee bite +0 (1d6) and

Melee 2 claws (1d4)

Ranged dart +2 (1d4)

Spell-Like Ability

       1/day - jump

Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +4)

1st (4/day)—color spray (DC 14), magic missile

0 (at will)—daze (DC 13), detect magic, ray of frost, read magic

Bloodline div

STATISTICS

Str 10, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 17 (19)

Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 12

Feats Alertness, Blind-Fight, Eschew Materials, Iron Will

Skills Acrobatics +2, Bluff +7 (9), Intimidate +7 (9), Knowledge (planes) +5, Perception +5, Sense Motive +1, Spellcraft +5

Languages Common, Draconic

SQ bloodline arcana (+1 DC for spells that deal damage to more than 1 creature in an affected area), change shape, spoiling touch (DC 13)

Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds, scrolls of disguise self (2), scrolls of shield (2), wand of sleep (11 charges), alchemist's fire (2); Other Gear darts (5), quarterstaff, 33 gp

S.H.I.E.L.D., Paradise Lost - April 12

Once more, AoS continues to astonish – the show’s dynamic seems to be as tight as before, the show’s script seems to be as tight as before, the plot twists seem to be as tight as before, yet the show’s ratings keep falling. Dramatically. “Spacetime”, last week’s episode, had the lowest ratings yet, and this trend does not seem to be bucking.

Yes, all shows tend to have their ratings decrease – just look at ‘Blindspot’ for example. Actually, ‘Blindspot’ is particular: not only it had stolen Jamie Alexander from Marvel™ (she played lady Sif in AoS and ‘Thor’ movies of MCU), but it had stolen AoS’ ideas and depicts them right. A mystery, not unlike what the agents had undergone in S1? Check. A mystery girl, not unlike Skye/Daisy (especially in the first seasons)? Check. A very complicated relationship(s)? Check. A FitzSimmons-like tragic relationship? Check, and ‘Blindspot’ has all done it better, without resorting to too many plot twists, and no moral ambiguity, not like what AoS had done to Kara Palamas in S2. Put otherwise, ‘Blindspot’ treats its’ characters proper, while AoS does not. (Moreover, in one of the ‘Blindspot’ episodes, the show’s team investigates a death of some poor Latin-American woman named Palamas. Clearly, ‘Blindspot’ is in some polemics with AoS and does not even try to deny it too hard.)

Take a look at ‘Paradise Lost’, this week’s episode. (Who lost the paradise? Maybe Daisy and Lincoln, I do not know.) Plot twists abound – unnecessarily, too, as do unnecessary deaths. Hive is not Grant Ward, but Gideon Malick’s brother, who just looks like Grant, whenever he is not looking like his comic book self? Ok, possibly AoS could not afford to replace Brett with another actor. So why did Stephanie Malick had to die. She did not look much of a likable character, but she died because of empty drama… and to explain further, perhaps, why Hive is going to kill Malick? Maybe, but ever since the demise of S2, quite a few viewers have stopped watching AoS because of the unnecessary deaths that began at its finale, “S.O.S”, something that had been avoided in AoS S1, BTW.

Another sticky/sore point of AoS is the matter of team and trust. ‘Blindspot’ handles it quite well, without any moral limbo, (just look at Weller and Mayweather, for example); ‘Agent Carter’ did not have too many issues with it either; AoS tends to drive it constantly all over episodes and seasons – whom do you trust and why?

But then again, AoS tends NOT to come up with any original material any longer – tonight’s episode about brothers was SO adapted/taken forth from Grant’s conflict with Christian back in S2; Lincoln’s little revelation was not unlike what Grant could and would tell Daisy if he had been given the chance in the past – the hypocrisy and prejudice of the show’s script writers can be overwhelming. That said, they did rather ‘redeem’ themselves with Guyterra beat – single-handedly – the crap out of almost the entire AoS crew, including Coulson, May and Mackenzie, and captured them all for Hydra. Sieg Hail!

…And yes, Hydra is another problematic point. AoS crew cannot decide if it is supposed to be a Nazi death cult or not. Sometimes the emphasis is on the Nazi part, other time on the death part, etc. Again, quite a few of fans are not impressed with this indecisiveness on this hotly debated topic, and have stopped watching AoS for that reason too.

Now, this does not diminish the fact that the show does seem to get its continuity together, at last, but it may be too late - this is the second part of S3, not S1 or 2 – by now a core group of fans had been established, the viewers know what they view – or don’t view, if they don’t like AoS. Judging by the shrinking ratings of the show so far, it is becoming obvious where the majority lies.

Until next week, then!

S.H.I.E.L.D., Spacetime - April 5

Regrettably, no episode review this time due to unforeseen circumstances.