Category Archives: Marvel on Disney +

Agents of Shield S4 E13, E14, E15

Posted on by

Spoilers

“BOOM”

“The Man Behind the Shield”

“Self Control”

In season four, Agents of Shield was divided into three separate story arcs. The first arc was the “ghost Rider” arc, which incorporated the first 8 episodes. The next 7, which included these final three episodes, were under the “LMD” arc.

This arc was not my most favorite of the Agents of Shield show. Still, it was quite an enjoyable three episodes to end off this storyline and it lead perfectly into the next arc “Agents of Hydra”, which sees the Agents of Shield living their lives in the Framework, an AI-type world where their minds are inside this fake world.

The final of this arc was extremely suspenseful, especially as Simmons discovered that Fitz had also been replaced with an LMD. Not only Fitz, but Coulson, Mace and Mack were already LMDs and in the Framework. Watching Simmons stab LMD Fitz was so rough. Iain De Caestecker was great in this scene.

The scenes with Daisy and Simmons was very tense as well. This highlighted the strength of Elizabeth Henstridge as a performer.

Quake continues to be such a kick ass character. She is so great that you have to keep putting her in jeopardy to try and give some stakes for her.

Ada is becoming a sinister enemy who is programmed to protect the Framework. She killed Radcliffe and put his mind into the Framework, believing she could protect both the Framework and Radcliffe that way. Perfect thoughts from an android.

The Framework story goes into full gear next episode.

Punisher: One Last Kill

Posted on by

Spoilers

I love the Marvel Special Presentations.

After eight episodes of Daredevil, we get a special presentation featuring a character who was notably absent from Daredevil: Born Again season two: Frank Castle aka Punisher.

Jon Bernthal is an amazing actor and his take on Frank Castle is both heartbreaking and beautiful.

The special presentation shows us how much Frank Castle is still suffering the PTSD from his family’s death. It got to a point where he was sitting by his daughter’s tombstone with a gun pointed at his head. It was really heavy and hard to watch.

Frank’s outburst is horrific. He is so full of pain.

The show transitioned into a Judge Dredd/John Wick/The Raid type of violence with some of the most brutal scenes we have seen in the MCU.

The opening scene really put us into the mindset for this show as a punk killed a puppy. No better way to get yourself ready for some retribution.

Then, in the building, Frank jumps into the action, killing people, still on fire from the flames. They then ran through a series of brutality, while still doing what he could to save people.

And in the end, Frank made the choice to come back and help the people of the neighborhood instead of pursuing Ma Gnucci (played by Judith Light).

There were some remarkable shots in this special including a shot of Frank falling backwards off a roof that was just tremendous.

And it ended with Frank back in the Skull outfit, ready to keep doing damage.

Frank Castle will return in Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Agents of Shield S4 E12

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Hot Potato Soup”

We get a full family reunion of the Koenigs, Billy, Sam, Thurston and LT. They were whom Coulson trusted the Darkhold to in an attempt to keep it hidden.

Of course, Billy gets captured and Radcliffe heads into Billy’s mind to discover where it was hidden.

Patton Oswalt played three of the Koenig siblings… all except LT who was a sister.

The Darkhold winds up in Radcliffe’s possession at the end and the Shield agents finally figure out that May is also an LMD.

Radcliffe and Nadeer want the Darkhold to get rid of all the Inhumans.

Daredevil: Born Again S2 E8

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Southern Cross”

The second season of Daredevil: Born Again on Disney + had its finale tonight in a dramatic courtroom showdown that turned into a brutal desperate slugfest inside the courthouse.

Matt Murdock, after getting medically aided by Jessica Jones, had Mayor Wilson Fisk summoned to the court to testify in the trial of Karen Page. Once I discovered that Fisk was going to go through with the appearance, I knew what Murdock was planning.

Murdock got Fisk on the witness stand and was hitting him verbally with all of his crimes, which was being objected to and sustained. But Murdock kept pounding away at it, until he was able to use the video of the first mate’s testimony.

The DA said that the video could not be admitted without someone to collaborate the details, which was exactly what Murdock wanted. You could see what Matt was preparing. In fact, it seemed clear that Fisk was understanding what was about to happen too. He called Matt a fool.

In a moment that would have made Tony Stark proud, Matt Murdock turned to the packed courtroom and said “I…am… Daredevil.”

Secret identities in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are a rare thing, with, I guess, Spider-Man being one of the few remaining.

With Murdock able to testify that Fisk was bringing the arms into the city through the port, the trial began to unravel quickly. Jessica Jones and the Governor strolled in to watch the remainder of the case. I loved the court room stuff. I thought this was easily the strongest part of the finale.

With Fisk in a freefall, the charges against Karen were dropped.

The mob of Daredevil-masked individuals were on their way up to the courthouse. There was a definite Jan. 6 feel to it, making it a bit awkward. Kingpin’s brutal murder of a bunch of these mob members was hard. The giant standoff with Fisk and the mob was not my favorite moment, but the final face to face with Murdock & Fisk was potent and I liked how it was not just another DD/Kingpin fight.

It was amazing how Murdock ended up in jail and Fisk wound up on a beach, but it definitely felt as if Fisk lost and Matt won.

The end of the episode with Luke Cage returning to Jessica and Danielle was awesome. Mike Colter strolling into the Alias Investigation office made me very happy.

There were so many things that were set up for a season three including with Heather Glenn putting the Muse mask on, The Jessica/Luke stuff, Karen survived, Cole made a face turn, White Tiger appeared and was kick ass, Mr. Charles has a new guy-Bullseye, and BB got her job at the paper.

Strong work overall. Great season.

Daredevil: Born Again S2 E7

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Hateful Darkness”

Whoa. Did not see that coming.

The penultimate episode of season two of Daredevil: Born Again dropped on Disney + tonight and, oh was an ending.

Prior to that ending, I legitimately pumped my fist when Matt Murdock walked into the courtroom to be a co-defense attorney for the trial of Karen Page.

Last week when Karen was at the gunpoint of AVTF goon Officer Powell, I worried about how she was going to escape that predicament without being killed. Imagine my surprise when she is walked into the cop precinct and fingerprinted, booked and placed in jail. I actually said, “They arrested her?”

It made a lot of sense when they talked about it. Fisk wanted to do everything by the book, above board, so they could put her on trial with their vigilante court… which, again led to Matt Murdock strolling into the court displaying his gigantic balls.

When Matt spoke with Karen, I had the move figured out, especially when the “previously on” segment reminded us that Matt Murdock as a “hero” according to Wilson Fisk. Even though I had it figured out, I still popped like crazy.

I wish Matt had more to do in the court. I wanted extended scenes of Matt cross-examining Powell or any other AVTF agent on the stand ( I see you Cole). Even with the limited time we got in court, I loved the Matt Murdock stuff.

Meanwhile, Daniel was preparing to deliver BB to Buck. BB figured out what he was doing and was able to convince him to let her go. Daniel went to approach Buck without BB and Buck brutally beat him to try and get him to reveal where she was. Daniel honestly did not know and he spoke to Buck, trying to get him to turn away from Fisk. It looked like he was going to convince him of it.

And then Buck shot him.

Screen to black. I sat here with my mouth agape for a good thirty seconds. I couldn’t believe what had happened. Watching Buck coldly readjust his suit and step over Daniel’s body was shocking. I suppose Daniel might not be dead, but it sure seemed as if it were a final blow to the young Gandolfini.

RIP Daniel.

Jessica Jones approaching Mr. Charles at the beginning was awesome. It is so great to see Krysten Ritter again. She is such a perfect casting of the role. Charles also dropped the name “Luke” during this conversation. Jessica told Matt about what she discovered (and met Cherry… who looks great after his recent heart attack. Great to see Cherry). Jessica is still basically out, needing to stay with her daughter Danielle.

Bullseye was given one good deed to do from Daredevil, and he took it. Bullseye saved the Governor from being strangled to death by an assassin sent by Fisk. However, he looked as if he left the assassin alive, which might be a great thing for getting Fisk. Prior to the attack, the Governor had decided it was time to get Fisk out of the New York mayor’s office. Here is something to help with that, perhaps.

Karen and Heather’s confrontation in the prison was epic. Karen showed how much of a bad ass she really was, not succumbing to Heather’s old true or false questionnaire that she screwed the Swordsman with. Karen got under Heather’s skin big time as Heather slapped Karen multiple times as Karen laughed at her. The image of Muse peering through the window was scary and certainly seems to be foreshadowing Heather’s own mental illness.

Next week’s finale is going to be huge. I hope the people who apparently aren’t watching this show come to their senses because this is wonderful.

Daredevil: Born Again S2 E6

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Requiem”

What a way to end an episode…

That final few moments of DD vs. Kingpin and the standoff with the AVTF and Karen outside was unbelievable. When that screen went to black, I was not ready for it.

I loved the appearance of Jessica Jones. We get the first appearance of her daughter. That was cool. I assume this is more comic accurate and that the father is Luke Cage, and we’ll learn about that later in the series. It seems that Jessica has been having issues with her powers since the birth of her daughter. They come and go. Not good for someone like Jessica Jones.

Karen is going darker with every episode. The conflict between Karen and Matt over Bullseye in this episode was one of the most intense ones in the series so far. It was a stunning moment of acting from Deborah Ann Woll. It makes me wonder if this is leading toward the death of Karen, who is one of those characters from the comics who has had an iconic death.

Daniel sets up B.B. to see if she is the leak. He gave her info that was fake, to see if she would release it. B.B. nearly does it, but she ends up deleting the message.

Matthew Lillard has some great scenes in this episode too, including one with the mayor. It feels as if there will be some big stuff with Mr. Charles moving forward.

The death of Vanessa devastated Fisk, and I was never sure what he was going to do. I did know that the doctor should not have come in to speak to Fisk. That giant Kingpin bearhug snapped the poor doctor’s back was brutal. Then the big Daredevil/Kingpin fight at the end of the episode was awesome.

There are two more episodes to go. I am not sure what else there can be. This season has been so great so far. I can not imaging where this is heading.

Daredevil: Born Again S2 E5

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Grand Design”

Daredevil: Born Again S2 E5 is a rough one. Vanessa survived the initial injury at the hands of Bullseye last episode, but eventually succumbs at the end of the episode. The episode played like a “life-flashing-before-here eyes” for Vanessa as she flashed back to the art gallery and the night she met Wilson Fisk.

The episode had a bunch of flashbacks because this is the long awaited episode that saw the return of Foggy Nelson, albeit in flashback only. I know there were a lot of people who were in the “Foggy faked his own death” camp, but this sure feels like an end to those wishes. I do have to say that I am not sure what the purpose of the flashback was for Foggy, outside of getting Foggy back on screen. Foggy’s acquaintance from his youth who they got off the charges he was facing was a strange situation too. I feel like this guy is coming back in the story at some point.

We also got some appearances from Wesley from the original series during these flashbacks. Of course, Karen killed Wesley back during that original run on Netflix.

Daredevil and Bullseye are on the run from the AVTF after the confrontation at the gym. Bullseye seemed ready to die and tried to get Matt to leave him behind, but Matt was not having any of it. When he brought Bullseye into the hideout where Karen was staying, she gave Matt a look like she was ready to rip his throat out before she killed Bullseye. This might be a spot where the relationship between Matt and Karen is tested.

Daredevil dropped a hint about a “nurse” he knew that could help Bullseye. Could this be an allusion to Night Nurse aka Claire?

Speaking of being tested, what will Wilson Fisk do now that Vanessa is gone. When the doctor walked in to talk to Fisk, I joked that he was going to be killed if Vanessa did not make it. I am now worried about that doctor.

The doctor is just one step. The Kingpin is going to bring the fire to New York City. This is going to lead to the arrival of Jessica Jones, I bet.

I was also very worried that BB was in the trunk of that car that Buck and Daniel drove to Albany. I was concerned for Daniel too, as Buck seemed to be preparing to kill him as the leak. I have heard the online speculation that Daniel might be the MCU’s Rose, and I wondered if this was going to be proven untrue today.

This was a great episode highlighting Vincent D’Onofrio’s performance as Wilson Fisk when Vanessa came to for a short time. He is absolutely stunning as this character and having what has been Wilson’s heart ripped away from him. He deserves an Emmy nomination for this work.

Amazing episode that was tricky, but it hit every beat.

Agents of Shield S4 E7-E11

Posted on by

Spoilers

I jumped back into Agents of Shield last night and watched five episodes of the fourth season.

“Deals with our Devils”

Episode seven: Coulson, Fitz and Robbie are stuck between dimensions after last episode’s explosion. They can see and hear the others, but they could not interact with them.

May is desperate to save them, and she thinks the answer is inside the Darkhold and she gave it to Radcliffe. The idea of having Aida read the Darkhold in order to save Coulson and Fitz came up.

Meanwhile, the Ghost Rider spirit possesses Mack and he heads out to extract some vengeance. Robbie makes yet a second deal with Ghost Rider if he comes back to him. He would swear to keep working with the Rider to find vengeance. It agreed.

Aida ended the episode creating an artificial brain.

“The Laws of Inferno Dynamics”

This brought the mini-season arc of Ghost Rider to an end, as Robbie and the Rider are trapped in the other dimension with Robbie’s uncle Morrow.

Aida was in the heart of the attempt to stop Morrow’s bomb, and because of her action, she was allowed to remain active by Mace.

Daisy is seen by the press, but Mace stepped up and cleared her name. He reinstated her as an Agent of Shield.

However, we discover that Aida has replaced May with a LMD, and she is holding may prisoner.

“Broken Promises”

This kicked off the LMD story arc for season four for the next seven episodes.

Aida turned on Fitz and the Shield agents when they came to reprogram her brain to rid it of any remnants of the Darkhold.

Aida attacks the Shield base in search of the Darkhold. She gets her hands on it, but she gets beheaded by Mack.

Mack and Yo-Yo are fabulous this episode as they are going on about robots and how they are always turning on humans in the movies. Their banter about robot movies was my favorite part of this episode. When Mack cuts Aida’s head off , he says “Roll credits.”

We discover that Radcliffe had been working to get his hands on the Darkhold this whole time. He is quite the rat bastard.

Senator Nadeer’s brother is revealed to be Inhuman and she ends up shooting him in the gut. She has the Watchdog dispose of the body and they dump it in the water. We see a new cocoon form around him.

“The Patriot”

We get the background on Mace and the truth behind him. Turns out, Mace is not Inhuman. Instead, he has been taking a shot that gives him temporary super strength. He always has one of his men nearby with a briefcase containing the shots for any emergency situation.

However, he gets caught in the woods, with Coulson and Mack, by some rogue Hydra agents hired by the Watchdogs. His shots are destroyed and his secret comes out.

They are saved by Daisy and May (the LMD). Coulson convinces Mace to stay as the face of Shield, doing the political stuff, while Coulson takes the head of operations.

“Wake Up”

May is trying to escape, but we find out that she is not actually escaping. She is in the Framework and she is repeating everything in her “attempt to escape.” The Framework will become one of the major arcs this season in Agents of Shield.

There is a Senate hearing that does not go well.

The May LMD realized that she was the leak that caused Coulson and Yo-Yo to get caught breaking into the Senator’s office. She confronted Radcliffe and realized that her programming prevented her from telling the truth to Coulson or from hitting him.

Radcliffe is captured by Shield at this point, but Fitz figured out that this Radcliffe is also an LMD.

We learn of some tragic back story for Mack, whose daughter died days after she was born. mack and Yo-Yo grow closer.

Daredevil: Born Again S2 E4

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Gloves Off”

Wow, what an episode.

We get so much Bullseye in this episode and a huge shock at the end.

Wilson Fisk’s big boxing match is up next, and I know I do not want to be the opponent facing him. The giant monster can pound away.

It does seem as if the whole thing is a plan to try and lure Daredevil and/or Bullseye out. And in that case, it did work. Just not exactly how Fisk had planned.

He had sent Vanessa away. Off to see the Governor. She did so and seemingly swayed her over to their side. However, she made it back for the conclusion of the fight, watching Wilson pummel some poor schmuck ( who was like 30-2 record wise) into oblivion.

Bullseye shows up, killing members of the AVTF members with knives and all kinds of other projectiles, marching his way toward the Fisks. He threw a crystal figure of Fisk in NYC, which was shattered and one of the pieces went into Vanessa’s skull. The imagery of the red blood pouring from her skull across her white dress as she laid on the boxing ring mat was unbelievable.

If Vanessa is dead, I don’t know what Wilson Fisk is going to do. he is barely stable as is and losing her would absolutely send him over the edge.

He’s going to blame Daredevil as well, as DD deflected a bullet that was going to kill Bullseye when Fisk picked up the gun that Venessa had and measured an already injured Bullseye. This led to Bullseye escaping from the boxing venue before anyone could catch him.

Even if Vanessa survived, Fisk is going to even more unhinged. I have a feeling that this is where we get Jessica Jones from very soon.

Things are going to be wild from now on.

Daredevil: Born Again S2 E2, E3

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Shoot the Moon”

“The Scale & the Sword”

This week, Disney + dropped episode two and three of Daredevil: Born Again tonight.

There are some amazing things happening in this series. The highlights of these two episodes include:

  • Trial of the Swordsman. Spoiler… it was fairly rigged and he was found guilty.
  • Reveal of the Mayor Kingpin online person: It’s Bebe.
  • Matt and Karen lead an attack on the AVTF base in Red Hook.
  • Daredevil got all the caged individuals out.
  • White Tiger returns… kind of…
  • Bullseye is running around. He killed two AVTF agents in the elevator- brutally.
  • Heather continues to slip into darkness.
  • Fisk was preparing to box, killed his trainer.
  • Daniel is concerned that the leaks were coming from his laptop. He warns Bebe.
  • Gallo’s death is covered up as a car wreck.
  • Karen and Matt are roused out of the bar where they are hiding out.
  • Cherry is safe, gotten out of the hospital before the AVTF got him.
  • Vanessa has weird dreams
  • Kingpin had the ship blown up, killing the workmen on the ship.
  • Karen captured a AVTF agent who wants to help them stop Fisk.
  • Karen and Matt take up residence in Frank’s place.

The Daredevil fight scene at Red Hook was awesome, with DD and Jack fighting brutally.

I am anxious for Jessica Jones, who has yet to appear. I am excited to get her into the show.

Episode two was a little slower, but I thought the characterization is great. This show has done a really great job including the story of the ensemble cast around Matt and Karen.

It did feel a little easy for DD to get into the cages and to get the people out of the prison.

However, I did not want episode three to end. When it went to black screen, I literally yelled out. I wanted it to continue. I am excited to see next Tuesday.

Daredevil: Born Again S2 E1

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Northern Star”

Daredevil: Born Again premiered its first episode of season two tonight on Disney + and I am all in already.

This was a great first episode which featured some exciting action, some intriguing characters, and enough suspense to build on moving ahead.

Matt Murdock is missing. Or at least, he is not showing his face around New York. Meanwhile, the Mayor of New York, Wilson Fisk, has armed up the battle against vigilantes and has empowered his brutal strike force to be able to do whatever they want. It is kind of close to home these days.

Matt and Karen Page are working together, in the shadows, trying to bring Fisk down. Daredevil (with the awesome DD on his costume chest plate) kicked off the episode by boarding a ship that was smuggling weapons into New York. When the captain realized that Daredevil was there, he sank the ship. He said it was his orders.

Fisk was involved in the arms smuggling, of course, so he is anxious to salvage what had sunk. When the attorney general came to see him, it seemed as if Fisk was in some trouble, with words like oversight being bandied around.

However, into the office strolled Matthew Lillard, suddenly taking over the scene completely. Lillard is playing someone named Mr. Charles, and he apparently has some big time connections in the MCU. While he was grandstanding in the Mayor’s office, the attorney general received a phone call after which he immediately folded. During the one-sided conversation, we heard him say the name Ms. de Fontaine.

What??????

Obviously, this is a reference to Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the character played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Falcon & the Winter Soldier, Thunderbolts and Wakanda Forever. Last we saw Val, she was head of the CIA and putting together the New Avengers, in a backhanded, manipulative manner. I did not expect that name drop to come, but it only added to the curiosity and intrigue that I felt for Mr. Charles. I look forward to seeing this guy moving forward.

Heather Glenn is back and being a horrendous person. She is on the hook in the Kingpin’s organization doing dirty work, such as falsifying the psych report on Swordsman to make it look like he is not a balanced individual. Yet, it seemed that Heather may be the one who is less than balanced as she is hallucinating images of Muse. I hope this use of Muse will be able to rebuild him from the character assassination that took place in season one. The way Muse was written and the lack of development of Muse was easily the worst part of season one. Maybe this will be a fascinating way to bring the specter of Muse back in a scary way. Plus, who deserved it more than Heather?

The episode ended with the AVTF beating up Cherry at the end, but not before he was able to signal Matt to come help him. Matt showed up in his Daredevil outfit, but Cherry was having a heart attack, which distracted Matt. The AVTF agents were able to get down the distracted DD and peeled off his mask, finding out that Daredevil was Matt Murdock. Before they were about to put a bullet in Matt’s head, several sniper-like bullets came through the window and killed the agents.

It was a shocking end to the episode and I, like I am sure everyone, thought this was Frank Castle. However, when the knife came flying into the room with the symbol on it, with the words “You’re welcome” written on it as well, I realized it was not Frank Castle who saved Matt’s life.

It was Bullseye.  Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter himself. The man who shot and killed Foggy in season one. It certainly appeared as if Bullseye could be part of Daredevil’s team to oppose Mayor Fisk, proving the old adage that the “enemy of my enemy is my friend”… well, maybe not friend. Reluctant ally? Blood feud enemy?

This was a great kick off to the new season. I loved Matthew Lillard and just how brutal Daredevil is. I am excited about seeing the return of Jessica Jones, who is not in this episode. Can’t wait for Krysten Ritter to reprise her Netflix role. Jessica Jones is actually one of my favorite comic characters and I loved season one of her show. Season two was okay, and I never saw the third one, but I am so pleased that Jessica Jones is back in the MCU.

Agents of Shield S4 E1-6

Posted on by

Spoilers

I started season four of Agents of Shield that featured quite a few changes and one massive guest star…Ghost Rider!

Gabriel Luna appeared on the show as Robbie Reyes, the Ghost Rider. The addition of the Ghost Rider to Agents of Shield may not have seemed to work on paper, but the execution of the character in the show is extra special. The flaming skull of Ghost Rider was just sensational looking for the TV show.

The show also gave us a new director, an inhuman named Jeffrey Mace (who would be the Patriot in the comics). Mace stepped up after Coulson rejected the director position because he did not want to be the face of Shield. Mace has super strength and got in an awesome fight with Ghost Rider.

Daisy was out of Shield again, running around on her own. This gets a touch boring because she seems to always be running away from the team. We know she was always going to come back and I wish her character would have something new.

Fitz and Simmons seem happy as a couple even though their new positions in the rebranded Shield makes things difficult for them.

We get an introduction to the Darkhold in this season, even if it seems to be a different book from the one that would appear in WandaVision and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. It is just as much trouble as that book though.

We get more details on Ada and the Life Model Decoy that will become more important later int he season.

This was an exciting six episodes and I am looking forward to the wrap up of the first “pod” of eight episodes for season 4.

Agents of Shield S3 E18, E19, E20, E21, E22

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Singularity”

This episode saw the final dismantling of Hydra… offscreen. Amazing that an organization that had such a huge impact on the MCU and this series was dealt with finally as Coulson watched on screens.

We get the debut of Holden Radcliffe, who would become more of a important character in the next season dealing with LMDs. Radcliffe is quite the snake as he is willing to switch sides without blinking an eye.

Fitz and Simmons have sex at the end of the episode, finally consummating a relationship that has been “cursed” from day one, seemingly.

“Failed Experiments”

The Kree appear in this episode as Hive lured them to earth in order to get their blood. Hive’s plan to turn the human race into Inhumans means he had to recreate the original experiment where he had been turned into an Inhuman.

Mac and Daisy faced off and she beat him silly. Mac kept saying that he wasn’t going to fight her. Mac is able to survive because Daisy does not really want to kill him. Mac ruins the experiment with the Kree too.

Daisy offers her own blood to continue the experiement.

“Emancipation”

The Sovokia Accords show their rotten faces in this episode as Talbot comes to Shield headquarters looking for answers. Talbot wants the Inhumans in Shield to be registered, but Coulson said that this is not what they need, they need to keep them secret.

Lincoln has been contacted by Daisy. It’s so funny how Daisy just pushes a few keys and she is throughout the Shield HQ. Daisy wants to help Lincoln to escape and come join her and Hive. Lincoln agrees, but it is part of the plan. Daisy manually brings in a Quinjet, that she believed had Lincoln inside. Instead, it was Lash.

Lash used his power to cure Daisy of the control of Hive, but ends up getting killed by James. Daisy returned to Shield with the Quinjet and the dead body of Lash.

“Absolution”

Daisy is struggling. Like she is addicted to Hive, she is having trouble dealing with things that she had done.

The team launched an assault on Hive, and they end up capturing him. They brought him aboard the Zephyr One, but it turned out that is exactly what Hive wanted. Hive had a bomb that had a virus connected to it and he needed a way to get high enough in the atmosphere to spread it across the earth, changing humans into Inhumans.

Daisy confronted Hive at the end of the episode and begged him to take her back. I was not a fan of this, because it made Daisy look pretty weak.

“Ascension”

The Hive storyline came to a satisfying conclusion as Coulson came up with a new plan, to load the bomb onto a Quinjet and send it into space. When the explosion went off, the virus would be in space and would not cause any trouble for the earth.

Of course, there are all kinds of trouble with the execution of this. Yo Yo gets shot trying to protect Mac. Lincoln gets injured by James. Hive is still running around causing trouble.

Daisy, who had had visions of the future where a Shield agent died, wanted to sacrifice herself in the Quinjet to make sure the bomb is safe for the planet. However, Lincoln beats her to it and he and Hive are trapped in the Quinjet as it leaves earth’s atmosphere.

I was never a big fan of Lincoln, but I appreciated his sacrifice and his last few moments with Hive in the Quinjet, knowing that their deaths were imminent, was very strong.

I did feel bad for Daisy, who sure went through it this season. Her grief over Lincoln’s death was tough.

The end of the episode restarted things for the next season, with Life Model Decoys, a vigilante Quake and Coulson no longer director being major hints dropped.

Agents of Shield S3 E13, E14, E15, E16, E17

Posted on by

Spoilers

I got a chunk of episodes from season three watched tonight as I continue to try and fight my way through this cold that is kicking my butt.

“Parting Shot”

Starting off with the end of Bobbi and Hunter. They were originally written off the show to star in their own spin off Marvel’s Most Wanted, but it never got past the planning stages. It was a shame because I really liked these two…even though, technically, Bobbi Morse was not Mockingbird in the MCU. They were awesome members of the team and the story that wrote them out was strong.

The bar scene with the “Spy’s Goodbye” was one of the best scenes of the series.

“Watchdogs”

We get a little background on Mack as we are introduced to his brother and discover the lies that he has been telling him about his career. The Watchdogs are a new hate group formed to go after Inhumans… very much “mutant-esque.” In fact, they could easily have been the Friends of Humanity from the X-Men group.

“Spacetime”

We get an Inhuman who can glimpse into the future and show another person whom he touched the future. As with all futures, you only get a glimpse and so it is difficult to understand exactly what the images mean.

The team discovered that Ward is back during this episode, which really threw their plans out the window. Of course, it is not Grant Ward, but the Hydra “god” from the other planet, but with the face he showed, the buttons were drastically pushed.

“Paradise Lost”

This gives us a background episode for Malick as we see how he betrayed his brother in the traveler contest.

This led to Ward, or Hive- as he would become known, killing Malick’s daughter as a sacrifice. It also led to the Agents of Shield (non-Inhumans) to be captured.

“The Team”

Because of the team being captured, Daisy called in the Secret Warriors to help. Unfortunately, it also turned out to be a huge mistake, as we discover that Hive is able to mind control Inhumans. The mission of the Secret Warriors to rescue everyone is now in question as Malick indicated that Hive may have compromised that team.

The paranoia is rampant and led to a lot of mistrust to be spread. Turned out it was Daisy herself who was turned by Hive, and she and Lincoln left the base together as Daisy was ripping it down with the others inside.

This is a great stretch of the series, but my memory is that I was ready to be done with Ward. There are still several episodes of the season to go.

Agents of Shield S3 E11, E12

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Bouncing Back”

“The Inside Man”

A sick day allowed me to watch a couple more Agents of Shield in season three. The ongoing Inhumans story continued through these two.

President Ellis named General Talbot the new head of the ATCU, but promises Coulson that Talbot would follow Coulson’s lead. Not necessarily how this was going to turn out.

We meet “Yo-Yo” Elena Rodriguez, who is a new Inhuman with super speed, and she will become a regular later on in the series. They started the relationship between her and Mac, which becomes more important later on.

They brought back Crusher Creel, the Absorbing Man, and put him with Talbot. It created uncertainty about what Creel’s plans were.

Hydra blackmailed Talbot by grabbing his son. It was a way to make Talbot turn away from Coulson without making him the bad guy.