Agents of SHIELD - Afterlife
Finally! It's been a rough few episodes, but at last one I REALLY LOVE from the show.
There's a lot of meat on the bone that I really want to get into here.
MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!!!! AT LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAST! God, I have been WAITING for you!!!! I'm still kinda cheesed off that we waited for Mike all this time for him to be just, like, idek, barely above a background player in the overall plot, but at least if you've gotta have a deus ex machina, it should be a cyborg. This really managed to surprise me (I shrieked so loud I was worried that I woke my sister), also, because the whole episode, I was like, 'Ugh, "back up" is gonna be Ward, isn't it?'
And speaking of the sudden return of recurring characters: JIAYING!!!!!!!!!!!! I had a creeping suspicion all along that she wasn't really dead; I should have known Jed & Mo wouldn't do Dichen like that. But I did NOT expect her to pop up where & when she did! This show is so damn good that apparently I am too drawn in to notice the names of the guest stars at the bottom of the screen each episode! Which is really nice, actually. It's sad that since Dollhouse, I've forgotten how good an actress Dichen Lachman is, because she brought it this episode. Outwardly, she seems to still be the calm, nurturing spirit she was before HYDRA got hold of her, but there's something edgy and creepy about her now, as well (and it's not just the scars, LOL). I am soooooo interested to see where the show is going with this, because she could be either villain or hero. Is she the mastermind behind what Cal was doing all along? If so, that explains the more childish, giddy, irrational aspect we've seen in him in his last few appearances -- at the beginning, we assumed he was autonomous, and that he was, in fact, a person of authority himself, given the way Raina treated him. But if he was just following Jiayang's orders all along, does that mean she shares his moral turpitude? Or could she possibly be ignorant of his crimes? The Afterlife does seem like a pretty sheltered existence. Also, is Jiaying one of the elders? It seems to me that she must be -- like, she has to be the literal oldest one, right? I want Skye to have a nice relationship with Jiaying SO BADLY, but, like, I also can see this going horribly awry and being an epic tragedy paced out over several seasons with killer, heartbreaking performances from both Dichen & Chloe, amirite?!
I have hopes for the Lincoln & Skye relationship, too. He seems like a cinnamon roll character, and I think Skye needs that lightness & optimism in her life right now. And that electricity scene was kind of cute. (It reminded me of Jupiter Ascending & the anti-gravity boots. XD) I really need to go back & watch the pilot again for all the parallels and to see if Lincoln is maybe the Skye to Skye's Mike!!!!!
It's no secret that I hate this weird anti-Fury SHIELD faction thing, and it wasn't much better this episode. Like, all the things SHIELDlite accuses Fury (& Coulson) of, they're also doing themselves? Like, in this episode, Gonzales says both, "No one is a prisoner," and, "You let Coulson escape." ESCAPE. :/ This faction is illogical, contradictory, and randomly arbitrary -- more so than even Fury & Coulson, those whom they accuse. I could buy it a lot more (though I still would hate it) if the writers would just touch on the fact that these guys obviously have major PTSD and are using FuryandCoulson as a scapegoat for the heinous acts that HYDRA committed. Like, apparently the spark that formed them was that Fury gave an order that would end up killing X number of SHIELD agents as well as HYDRA agents (which tactically WAS a sound thing to do since Fury had no way of knowing how many HYDRA agents were embedded on the ship or whether SHIELD agents could win it back), since they believe he died in the fight against HYDRA. Again, they think Fury was killed while fighting HYDRA. So, from SHIELDlite's point of view, Fury didn't ask anything from his agents that he wasn't willing to sacrifice himself. I hate that they wrote that it was ultimately Bobbi's choice to form this bizarre anti-Fury faction, too, and yet she clearly doesn't agree with SHIELDlite about any of their choices and is feeling conflicted herself? GAH. So irritating. I want it to be over.
Speaking of plotlines I have long wanted to be over, I was really excited to see Jemma & Fitz clasp hands at the end of last episode, because I thought, 'OH THANK GOD, DOES THIS MEAN THE FITZ/JEMMA DRAMA IS FUCKING FINALLY OVER?!' However, it was a cautious hope, because I remembered thinking that before, at the end of The Only Light in the Darkness. HA. Which means I was totally primed to receive the Jemma betrayal storyline Mo & Jed fed us up until the end of the episode. :P So I was genuinely surprised by that ending with the cube switch, and I'm really glad the writers are echoing the mole-Jemma story arc from earlier this season. Elizabeth Henstridge hasn't had a whole lot to do this season, but I was impressed with her this episode. She navigated it deftly enough for me to believe that Jemma would switch sides, but with enough wiggle room for it to be obvious as soon as we saw the bag on Fitz's lap that he was going to pull out the real cube. So maybe my thought that the Fitzsimmons drama is finally over wasn't too far off base! ::crosses fingers:: And can it be that I finally like Fitz in the back half of this season?!?! I've really liked the use of his transformation storyline as a foil to Skye's, and of course he supported my baby when she needed it and no one else would, so that wins him all the points in my book. The only lingering thing that irritated me about Fitz were his ongoing Jemma issues, and if he's truly over all that niceguy shit, there's nothing left to dislike! Except, okay, how's he gonna get with Mack like he's obviously supposed to if Mack is still in the SHIELDlite faction and Fitz is off on his own?!?! THIS IS DISTRESSING. THEY NEED TO MAKE OUT NOW.
I'm weirdly not as excited about next week's episode as everyone else? I mean. I want more May, yes, always, but I kind of like not knowing that dark mystery bit (see one of the few things Leverage pulled off 1000% re: Eliot & "the worst thing I ever did"). And also, it seems like a really bad time for a flashback episode when the plot has finally kicked up a notch. I don't want the pacing to slow down!
So. To recap, finally seen: Mike, Jiaying, Weaver, Hartley. Still waiting on: Amador, Hand, Trip, Sitwell. Sitwell.
There's a lot of meat on the bone that I really want to get into here.
MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!!!! AT LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAST! God, I have been WAITING for you!!!! I'm still kinda cheesed off that we waited for Mike all this time for him to be just, like, idek, barely above a background player in the overall plot, but at least if you've gotta have a deus ex machina, it should be a cyborg. This really managed to surprise me (I shrieked so loud I was worried that I woke my sister), also, because the whole episode, I was like, 'Ugh, "back up" is gonna be Ward, isn't it?'
And speaking of the sudden return of recurring characters: JIAYING!!!!!!!!!!!! I had a creeping suspicion all along that she wasn't really dead; I should have known Jed & Mo wouldn't do Dichen like that. But I did NOT expect her to pop up where & when she did! This show is so damn good that apparently I am too drawn in to notice the names of the guest stars at the bottom of the screen each episode! Which is really nice, actually. It's sad that since Dollhouse, I've forgotten how good an actress Dichen Lachman is, because she brought it this episode. Outwardly, she seems to still be the calm, nurturing spirit she was before HYDRA got hold of her, but there's something edgy and creepy about her now, as well (and it's not just the scars, LOL). I am soooooo interested to see where the show is going with this, because she could be either villain or hero. Is she the mastermind behind what Cal was doing all along? If so, that explains the more childish, giddy, irrational aspect we've seen in him in his last few appearances -- at the beginning, we assumed he was autonomous, and that he was, in fact, a person of authority himself, given the way Raina treated him. But if he was just following Jiayang's orders all along, does that mean she shares his moral turpitude? Or could she possibly be ignorant of his crimes? The Afterlife does seem like a pretty sheltered existence. Also, is Jiaying one of the elders? It seems to me that she must be -- like, she has to be the literal oldest one, right? I want Skye to have a nice relationship with Jiaying SO BADLY, but, like, I also can see this going horribly awry and being an epic tragedy paced out over several seasons with killer, heartbreaking performances from both Dichen & Chloe, amirite?!
I have hopes for the Lincoln & Skye relationship, too. He seems like a cinnamon roll character, and I think Skye needs that lightness & optimism in her life right now. And that electricity scene was kind of cute. (It reminded me of Jupiter Ascending & the anti-gravity boots. XD) I really need to go back & watch the pilot again for all the parallels and to see if Lincoln is maybe the Skye to Skye's Mike!!!!!
It's no secret that I hate this weird anti-Fury SHIELD faction thing, and it wasn't much better this episode. Like, all the things SHIELDlite accuses Fury (& Coulson) of, they're also doing themselves? Like, in this episode, Gonzales says both, "No one is a prisoner," and, "You let Coulson escape." ESCAPE. :/ This faction is illogical, contradictory, and randomly arbitrary -- more so than even Fury & Coulson, those whom they accuse. I could buy it a lot more (though I still would hate it) if the writers would just touch on the fact that these guys obviously have major PTSD and are using FuryandCoulson as a scapegoat for the heinous acts that HYDRA committed. Like, apparently the spark that formed them was that Fury gave an order that would end up killing X number of SHIELD agents as well as HYDRA agents (which tactically WAS a sound thing to do since Fury had no way of knowing how many HYDRA agents were embedded on the ship or whether SHIELD agents could win it back), since they believe he died in the fight against HYDRA. Again, they think Fury was killed while fighting HYDRA. So, from SHIELDlite's point of view, Fury didn't ask anything from his agents that he wasn't willing to sacrifice himself. I hate that they wrote that it was ultimately Bobbi's choice to form this bizarre anti-Fury faction, too, and yet she clearly doesn't agree with SHIELDlite about any of their choices and is feeling conflicted herself? GAH. So irritating. I want it to be over.
Speaking of plotlines I have long wanted to be over, I was really excited to see Jemma & Fitz clasp hands at the end of last episode, because I thought, 'OH THANK GOD, DOES THIS MEAN THE FITZ/JEMMA DRAMA IS FUCKING FINALLY OVER?!' However, it was a cautious hope, because I remembered thinking that before, at the end of The Only Light in the Darkness. HA. Which means I was totally primed to receive the Jemma betrayal storyline Mo & Jed fed us up until the end of the episode. :P So I was genuinely surprised by that ending with the cube switch, and I'm really glad the writers are echoing the mole-Jemma story arc from earlier this season. Elizabeth Henstridge hasn't had a whole lot to do this season, but I was impressed with her this episode. She navigated it deftly enough for me to believe that Jemma would switch sides, but with enough wiggle room for it to be obvious as soon as we saw the bag on Fitz's lap that he was going to pull out the real cube. So maybe my thought that the Fitzsimmons drama is finally over wasn't too far off base! ::crosses fingers:: And can it be that I finally like Fitz in the back half of this season?!?! I've really liked the use of his transformation storyline as a foil to Skye's, and of course he supported my baby when she needed it and no one else would, so that wins him all the points in my book. The only lingering thing that irritated me about Fitz were his ongoing Jemma issues, and if he's truly over all that niceguy shit, there's nothing left to dislike! Except, okay, how's he gonna get with Mack like he's obviously supposed to if Mack is still in the SHIELDlite faction and Fitz is off on his own?!?! THIS IS DISTRESSING. THEY NEED TO MAKE OUT NOW.
I'm weirdly not as excited about next week's episode as everyone else? I mean. I want more May, yes, always, but I kind of like not knowing that dark mystery bit (see one of the few things Leverage pulled off 1000% re: Eliot & "the worst thing I ever did"). And also, it seems like a really bad time for a flashback episode when the plot has finally kicked up a notch. I don't want the pacing to slow down!
So. To recap, finally seen: Mike, Jiaying, Weaver, Hartley. Still waiting on: Amador, Hand, Trip, Sitwell. Sitwell.