I still haven't picked my rewatch back up since episode 3 and I'm most likely going to end up delaying the rewatch while I catch up on Netflix Marvel stuff (which I hope to sneak in before Netflix potentially paywalls off HDR content).
I'm delayed myself by 10 or so episodes. I was further back, but watched 4 or 5 episodes a week ago to get me a little closer. Right now I'm trying to get through all the MCU films (minus Hulk) before Infinity War hits home media. At that point I'll have to try catching back up with this as well as watch Luke Cage season 2.
This week we are watching Season 1, Episodes 18-19.
With Colonel Glenn Talbot now on their trail, Coulson and his team seek refuge in the last place anyone would look, where they begin to uncover S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most dangerous secrets. Secrets that could destroy them all.
With their world turned upside down, Coulson races to save the life of his one true love.
Garrett the villain is just so damn charismatic. And Ward's growth as a villain is just something else. "Providence" also has the benefit of having one of what I feel is Coulson's defining speeches. His belief in SHIELD not only as an organization, but as a concept is so unwavering that he still holds it even after the entire collapse, but as soon as he drops it, he finds what he needs. Honestly, that along with "Don't ever tell me there's no way" are two of my favorite Coulson moments in not only this season, but the series as a whole.
"The Only Light in the Darkness" on the other hand, is mixed for me. The A plot of protecting Coulson's girlfriend played by Amy Acker is fine. Emotional for Coulson, plus we get introduced to the Dark Force, which will continue to play a role not only in this series (though on a smaller level), but also Agent Carter S2 as well. The B plot, with Skye and Ward however, is absolutely chilling and makes this one of my favorite episodes this season. It's chilling and creepy on so many levels. The tension is overwhelming.
"The Only Light in the Darkness" B plot of Coulson and the cellist is kinda trite and cheap but it works well enough because the A plot is super thrilling.
This was the first mention of the Darkforce in the MCU, right? Which goes on to play a huge part in Agent Carter and (presumably) Cloak & Dagger (I need to actually see that on Hulu...)
"The Only Light in the Darkness" B plot of Coulson and the cellist is kinda trite and cheap but it works well enough because the A plot is super thrilling.
This was the first mention of the Darkforce in the MCU, right? Which goes on to play a huge part in Agent Carter and (presumably) Cloak & Dagger (I need to actually see that on Hulu...)
Hoping we're going to see more activity as the suggested schedule moves into season 2 next week. I remember feeling that season 2 had a bit of a slow start after its introductory episode (especially compared to the breakneck pace of later seasons) and looking forward to seeing how it works in a binge.
"Nothing Personal" is a good episode. We get to see the return of May to the crew as well as Maria Hill coming on to the show, if only for just this episode and no more. A solid episode that certainly continues the plot, though not much else. Seeing Hill take it so personally that Ward betrayed them, though at the same time coming at Coulson and crew with Talbot, is an interesting play. For those watching ahead, this is the first time we really get to see Talbot and Coulson interact, a relationship that will develop and change all the way up until S5's final episode, "The End".
"Ragtag" is easily one of the best episodes of S1. Ward's backstory is heartbreaking and really attaches you to the character, despite his betrayal. We also get to see the final endgame of Garrett's plan, how all the pieces of this season's plot come together, and why Ward is so dedicated to his cause. The mission that the crew goes on is great and really embodies the spy vibe that the show started with and will sadly diminish slowly as they become less of a spy organization and more of a preternatural and extraterrestrial response team. "Large file transfer" is still a great joke.
"Beginning of the End" is a fantastic finale, though not my favorite (that's reserved for "World's End" and "The End". Delivering a ton of action and strong emotional beats. FitzSimmons in the ocean is still incredibly powerful, and the beginning of easily the best romantic relationship in this damn show (and anyone who says otherwise isn't worth a damn). The May vs. Ward fight is great, as well as Skye outsmarting the entire system. We just really get to see everyone's skills and abilities come together in a great way. Coulson blasting the hell out of Garrett and bantering back and forth with Fury is great as well.
Now we get a lot of set-up in this finale, which is the case for all of them (save for S5 which, while it does set some stuff up, largely closes the book), but alas this one has a lot. First, we have the alien writing, something that will permeate through close to half of S2, a season that focuses heavily on alien artifacts and even where the blood came from. We then have Raina visiting a person whom we can only assume is Skye's father, another very prominent figure in S2. S2 is going to have a heavy focus on Skye, so those of you who don't care for the character might have a difficult time with S2, as I recall a lot of complaints when it was airing about Skye becoming a Mary Sue and the like. Gravitonium won't show up again until S5, where it plays a major role. Fitz's brain damage will play a major part in his character through S2 .
Now, I really want to talk about the conversation between Ward and Raina, and how that ends up becoming a massive foreshadowing all of the way through to the end of S3:
Ward and Raina have a conversation involving Ward not understanding his place, as well as not only Skye's future, but his as well. She refers to Skye becoming a monster like her parents, which could mean a lot of things. Her transformation into an inhuman, much like her mother and her enhanced (though not inhuman) father. It could also refer to the fact that throughout the series, she will be seen as a weapon and incredibly destructive force, a force that she will demonstrate repeatedly all the way through S5 and most likely even further into S6 (and possibly further beyond that). We then have Raina stating that the world is changing, obviously referring to the increased amount of enhanced individuals, but also to the mass terrigenesis that will happen between S2 and S3. This massive influx of inhumans and powered people (even those outside of AoS' storyline) in the MCU as a whole is going to cause some massive upheavals. Such as the Sokovia Accords, the rise of the Watchdogs, and various global powers recruiting as many powered individuals as they can.
Now, Raina also mentions Ward and Skye's destiny being intertwined, and them becoming monsters together and even ruling. Ward even says something along these lines to Skye directly, and what causes his dedication to her well in to S2. This actually does come to pass, with Ward becoming Hive, having given in to the idea of destiny, something Gideon Malick convinces him to do. As Hive, an inhuman, he recruits Skye (as Daisy) as his most powerful and most useful soldier. If there was a ranking, she'd be top dog. Using her blood to synthesize the formula that turns humans into Alpha Primitives, programming the launch missiles, and doing serious damage to SHIELD's infrastructure.
It's honestly very interesting how Raina displays clairvoyant abilities even without her inhuman powers.
S1 top 10 episodes (in order of airing):
"Pilot"
"FZZT"
"The Bridge"
"The Magical Place"
"T.R.A.C.K.S."
"T.A.H.I.T.I."
"Turn, Turn, Turn"
"The Only Light in the Darkness"
"Ragtag"
"Beginning of the End"
Main characters in order from most to least favorite.
1. John Garrett
2. Ian Quinn
3. Mike Peterson/Dethlok
4. Nick Fury
5. Raina
Can't wait for S2 discussion, because we're going to have some really interesting discourse (and hopefully more people to have it with), particularly with Ward and certain conflicts between certain factions.
Hoping we're going to see more activity as the suggested schedule moves into season 2 next week. I remember feeling that season 2 had a bit of a slow start after its introductory episode (especially compared to the breakneck pace of later seasons) and looking forward to seeing how it works in a binge.
Honestly I'm almost completely finished with S5, but I keep coming back for the discussion because I really enjoy talking about this show. It's got so much worth talking about. I wish more people were at the very least participating in the discussion, if not watching alongside.
Coulson and his team are now wanted fugitives with limited resources, but that's not stopping them from keeping the world safe from powerful and unseen threats everywhere. However, with new members they hardly know, will S.H.I.E.L.D. ever be trusted again?
Hunted and running out of solutions, Phil Coulson puts his team right in the line of fire in the hopes of saving them all. But with General Glenn Talbot, HYDRA, and Carl Creel all on the attack, can they possibly survive? Meanwhile, a mysterious Doctor harbors some dangerous secrets that could destroy one of our core team members.
Coulson and his team race against HYDRA to get to Donnie Gill – a dangerous gifted with the ability to freeze objects – while Simmons is caught in the crossfire.
Heyyyyyy the thread finally caught up to me, I just watched S2E1 the other day. I can't believe I got got by the plot twist at the end of the episode again, I completely forgot that
Jemma left for a bit and was just in Fitz's head.
Not too often a twist takes you by surprise a 2nd time.
It really is what alters Fitz. A lot of the characters are very different from how they were in S1, but Fitz is the one who is altered the most. He goes from being the lighthearted genius of S1 to being much more dour, though much more pragmatic and hardened. S2E11, "Aftershocks" is the episode that really made him my favorite character in the series. He and Skye have a very powerful moment that shows how changed he is and how far he is willing to go, without question, to help his friends.
Also, I know a lot of people saw FitzSimmons as the same person last season, both being lighthearted emotional supergeniuses. These first few episodes really change them more than any other characters, save for perhaps Ward. Whom by the way, we haven't even begun to dig into.
While on a mission to learn more about the secrets of the mysterious writing, Coulson finds himself attacked by the only person he can trust: Agent Melinda May. Meanwhile, the rest of the team is trapped in an explosive situation, and it's up to Fitz to save them – but is he up to it?
Coulson's team is up against the beautiful and deadly Bobbi Morse – Security Chief for HYDRA. Meanwhile, Skye's father forces Raina to reunite him with his daughter at any cost.
We get what is widely lauded as one of the best fights in the series (even made a Watch Mojo Top 10 as an Honorable Mention) and Bobbi Morse a.k.a. Mockingbird (probably the biggest superhero this series manages to get at this point) as a major character. Pretty great week, yeah?
Oh, also Agent 33 who is a surprisingly interesting and cool character.
This thread is meant to be both a way for those of us who have watched from the beginning to pass the time until season 6 (not scheduled to air until after Avengers 4) and to serve as a convenient way for people who haven't checked the show out to jump in and discuss with others on a somewhat synchronized schedule. (Yes, a lot of people are watching ahead and choosing to hold their comments until the thread catches up, and that's fine too.)
If you have a couple hours a week to spare and are ready for some quality entertainment, come on in!
I stopped watching about half way through the Ghost Rider season. (Whenever that was) how did the series turn out? Did it get better? I'm basically asking if I should go back and watch this series.
I stopped watching about half way through the Ghost Rider season. (Whenever that was) how did the series turn out? Did it get better? I'm basically asking if I should go back and watch this series.
The entirety of Season 4 was not only the best season of the show, but one of the best comic book seasons period. The whole splitting it into three pods was a brillant idea.
Season 5 was also really good, #2 after S4, particularly due to how well it tied everything back to previous seasons, including the first one, as well as an amazing finale.
The entirety of Season 4 was not only the best season of the show, but one of the best comic book seasons period. The whole splitting it into three pods was a brillant idea.
Season 5 was also really good, #2 after S4, particularly due to how well it tied everything back to previous seasons, including the first one, as well as an amazing finale.
Ok I just finished rewatching s1-4. Show is so fast paced and seems so much quicker with the 42 mins episodes compared to Netflix marvel shows 55 mins. Easy to watch 2-3 at once. All of the seasons great, even season 1.
s5 really is too recent for me to watch now though I'll maybe do that next year.
The world turns against S.H.I.E.L.D. when HYDRA impersonates them to attack The United Nations, and an unexpected enemy leads the charge to bring about their downfall.
The team discovers murder victims with the alien glyphs on them that Coulson's been etching. All of Coulson's secrets and lies come to a head.
"A Fractured House" is a really strong episode in that we have a breaking point of sorts. We have Skye finally learning things about her past from Ward — something that's never really made clear as to how he came to know — and then chucking him to his brother, which works out as well as you'd expect. What's especially intriguing is us learning about Ward's relationship with his family a little bit more. Christian talks about how Ward lies and blamed others for why he does what he does, which isn't untrue. We've seen him do this with Garrett and his family, so it's not unbelievable. We also have Christian put in a particularly manipulative and dual-natured light, which makes it hard to believe what he's even saying in regards to their history.
Then of course we have the other thread involving SHIELD and the world's response to it. Despite this episode cleaning much of that storyline up — complete with a beautiful scene where Talbot acknowledges Coulson as essentially being equal in what it means to be a leader with fallen soldiers — SHIELD is still going to be perceived as an ambiguous force throughout the series, and is something that they as an organization are going to struggle with.
Plus some real badass action, particularly the safehouse fight.
The end of the episode isn't exactly unique, but it shares a trait with only one other episode (maybe two) by showing what may as well be a direct scene from the next episode as its stinger. A lot of episodes use the stinger as set-up, but few straight up use what feels like a cut scene
"The Writing on the Wall" is a solid episode, though not my favorite. The big payoff here is we finally get to see the culmination of literally the very first major mystery of the show and Coulson's primary story arc. That TAHITI's director was Coulson was something we already knew, but what we didn't know was how deep the experiments went. Seeing Coulson go this far is something we'll witness again later on, and we'll come in to major question throughout this season in particular. We also see a really interesting side of Mack in his paranoia of aliens and the firm belief that nothing good can come of dealing with such unknown territories. This will lead to him very much becoming the heart of the team, keeping them to as close to a moral center as they could get.
On the other side, we get Ward on the run. While there isn't much depth to this, we get to see how good Ward really is. Now, you're probably thinking, "Wait we've seen how good he is. Right?" Well, yes and no. We've seen his skill as a specialist, but in S1 he was consistently in scenarios where he was only a part of the solution. We never got to see his skills fully realized, but here we do. We get to hear all these claims about him being as good as Romanov early on, but never see them. This is the full demonstration of those abilities and boy is it wild.
Just letting you guys know I'm personally dropping my rewatch, and possibly the entire show, in light of recent events. If you all still want to continue, I consider this thread a prior commitment and can keep it updated even though I'll no longer be following along. After that, I'm out.
Just letting you guys know I'm personally dropping my rewatch, and possibly the entire show, in light of recent events. If you all still want to continue, I consider this thread a prior commitment and can keep it updated even though I'll no longer be following along. After that, I'm out.
I just finished S2, I liked this season even more than I remembered. There were a few funny contradictions as far as team values from that season to later ones (spoilers for Season 5):
They have killed a LOT of Hydra. I was #TeamMack/TeamDaisy as far as not killing Ruby at first but... It's actually pretty hypocritical to be mad about that after all the other Hydra agents they've killed in the same situations.
Very surprising from Mack when he meets Gordon:
"You must be Gordon."
"Who are you?"
"The guy who kills Gordon."
*Mack swings axe wildly at Gordon's head*
Bobbi straight up tells Agent 33 she gave up her location to save "a dozen" other SHIELD agents, it was the right thing to do, and "that's what you signed up for" when you join SHIELD. I don't think she's wrong, but again it's funny to compare to Season 5 being about everyone being unwilling to sacrifice one person to save the entire world if necessary.
None of those are actual complaints, just things I thought were funny. How attitudes have changed.
I just finished S2, I liked this season even more than I remembered. There were a few funny contradictions as far as team values from that season to later ones (spoilers for Season 5):
They have killed a LOT of Hydra. I was #TeamMack/TeamDaisy as far as not killing Ruby at first but... It's actually pretty hypocritical to be mad about that after all the other Hydra agents they've killed in the same situations.
Very surprising from Mack when he meets Gordon:
"You must be Gordon."
"Who are you?"
"The guy who kills Gordon."
*Mack swings axe wildly at Gordon's head*
Bobbi straight up tells Agent 33 she gave up her location to save "a dozen" other SHIELD agents, it was the right thing to do, and "that's what you signed up for" when you join SHIELD. I don't think she's wrong, but again it's funny to compare to Season 5 being about everyone being unwilling to sacrifice one person to save the entire world if necessary.
None of those are actual complaints, just things I thought were funny. How attitudes have changed.
Ruby ain't the same situation though. Mack's stance was never a no-kill rule. It was no unnecessary kills. Murder is different from a necessary kill, and in Mack's eyes killing Ruby was murder. Daisy didn't want to kill Ruby because her and Ruby were so similar
Also I'd be happy to continue posting episodes and updating on Monday.
Sorry for vanishing on the thread. Aside from needing to detox from the entire situation for a while, a lot of my time had been taken up elsewhere and I just never got a chance to get to a computer to do the episode preview images. (I ran out of prepared images by week 3 and have been making them the morning of every week since, oops)
I'm still not sure what the ultimate fate of the thread should be yet. I'm honestly still kind of loath to actively promote anything Disney for a while, and there is only one reliably active participant. Might be best to just call it and let LTTP threads form naturally.
