Welcome to the last official installment of our Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Brainstorm Sessions, at least until March! Of course this isn’t the last you’ll see of me or my S.H.I.E.L.D. articles, but you won’t be getting this same format in the weeks to come.
This week’s episode, “What They Become,” raised a lot of questions, opened a lot of doors, and did a lot of stuff in general. Honestly, most of the things you’re curious about will be in separate pieces because they’ll take too much space here.
Overarching Questions
1. Will Ward still be blinded by his love for Skye?
In a very telling scene, Whitehall points out why everyone in his ragtag group is there and comments on how he does not have a grasp on Ward; Raina fills in the blanks and tells him that it’s his love for Skye and his promises to her that keep him in line.
Now that he has delivered on his promise to bring her to her father and even freed her from Whitehall’s grasp, his reward from the woman he loves is multiple shots to the torso and left for dead.
I can’t imagine he’s going to be very much in love anymore. Usually getting shot does that. But with how unhinged Grant Ward is, who even knows? I wouldn’t put it past the writers to keep Ward trying after Skye.
2. What is Bobbi Morse’s deal?
She’s acting awfully cagey in these last few episodes. Mack dropped a comment about letting Hunter in on the secret and Bobbi put a firm no down on that one. And in this episode, with the “demise” of Mack, she snagged a flash drive out of his stuff, which Hunter noticed and decided just to trust her on.
It’s not Hydra, at least not who she’s working for. But I have no idea what it might be. Simmons’ hard drive from Hydra that has valuable information she doesn’t want anyone else to see? The secrets of everything she did while undercover? Some embarrassing photos from a Christmas party?
3. And what of Mack’s fate?
Glimpses of him showed that he seemed to recover after the Terrigen crystals came out of the Diviner, but it was such a brief moment that even I almost missed it. Is everyone’s conclusion the truth: that the city was using Mack as its security system/guard and then showing the way to the Temple? Seems to look that way.
Does that leave him unscathed and without any side effects? Is he possibly special as well? He seemed to have a lot of phobias around aliens this season, especially with Coulson nearly going off the deep end, so that would be an interesting twist on his character, having to come to terms with that. Even still, he was not exposed to the crystals, so we may not know for a while.
4. Will we see Skye’s father again?
He told her that he will be waiting for after her transformation because no one else will understand. He’s a man that will not break his promise to his daughter, of that you can be sure. Especially since he has been able to interact with her and make some sort of impact.
Is Kyle MacLachlan just a short-stint guest star, like Bill Paxton’s Garrett? With a role like his, and the reveal that he is Mr. Hyde, they can’t just drop him so easily. I can’t see him being absent for more than two or three episodes. We’re getting into legitimate superhero territory, people.
5. Why haven’t I mentioned Skye’s name, Raina’s transformation, Skye’s dad’s name (minus the comment up above), or even tried to explain Inhumans/Terrigen Crystals/Mist/etc.?
Because these are loaded questions. If I write a 3000-word-long article, you’ll get bored halfway through. And you will be getting your answers very soon in other articles that will give you both the 30,000-foot view and the panel-by-panel read. Because you’re not alone in feeling a little lost. In the words of Red Green, “We’re all in this together.”
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This week’s honor goes to Thor. With all of the alien technology going on (not to mention Lady Sif name-dropped the Kree dozens of episodes ago), one would wonder if Thor might pick up on this somehow. Or Heimdall.
Thor is back on Midgard, having been giving Odin’s/(spoiler alert!)Loki’s blessing to return. When Jane Foster’s instruments start going haywire, Thor takes matters into his own hands and travels to the source of the disruption: the temple in Puerto Rico. He shows up outside the closed temple, next to Coulson.
“What sort of dark magic is this?” Thor utters, echoing Lady Sif from months before.
“I was hoping you might have an answer to that,” Coulson replies. “Also, I’m not dead anymore.”
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Fun Theory I’m Making Up Right Now
Trip isn’t dead. I choose to live in denial that the cast made a farewell video for BJ Britt/Agent Triplett and that our own Nick didn’t write an ode to him, and instead will regale you with how he’s totally not dead even after we saw him crumbling to dust.
Instead, I present you with two unlikely options on how to keep Triplett alive:
1. With all his confusion and interation with the Koenigs, there is an life model decoy of Triplett waiting to go.
2. Getting stabbed with the crystals and being exposed to the Terrigen Mist, he has now become Sandman. He may be gone for a few episodes while he figures out how to pull himself back together out of that sand form, though. I don’t care that Sony has the rights to the Spider-Man character. In my mind, he’s Sandman now, and it is glorious.
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“Creepy Bonding Time with Grant Ward and Agent 33”
Just scenes of them sitting around and talking about whatever crosses their minds. It doesn’t even have to be about their mentors going crazy and/or dying on them. Past familial troubles. Favorite ways to kill enemies. Favorite late-night snacks. What’s the best guilty pleasure television show? What’s the right name: soda or pop? It’s a sleepover!
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In the upcoming weeks, I will be working on recaps of the first half of season two with regards to each main character. Ninety-five percent of them have made drastic strides since the season premiere, and it will be a good way to keep everyone refreshed while Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. disappears for three months.
Don’t fear! I’m here to lead you through the Marvel-packed mythos that this show is finally bringing to us. It’s going to be great.