Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Purpose in the Machine
October 7, 2015 10:26 AM - Season 3, Episode 2 - Subscribe

Fitz and the team enlist the aid of an Asgardian to unlock the secrets of the ancient monolith that swallowed Simmons; Agent May is at a crossroads in her personal and professional life and we catch with Ward's rebuilding of Hydra
posted by Brandon Blatcher (23 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Wasn't expecting to get Simmons back. Whedon primes me for tragedy and suffering.

Ward being a charming dick is still super fun, but I'm still not clear what his goals are. What is Ward's Hydra trying to accomplish, exactly? Just general nefariousness?
posted by leotrotsky at 12:15 PM on October 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wasn't expecting to get Simmons back.

I'm looking forward to her debriefing. "So, tell us more about this 'blue area'..."
posted by The Tensor at 12:47 PM on October 7, 2015


While one might think that Ward recruiting a younger, hipper, hotter Hydra has something to do with real life television executives, it's totally something a dick like Ward would prioritize.

I'm hoping that Simmons recovery from her outer space trauma plays out well; Henstridge has certainly seemed like she'd be up for the task, acting-wise.

And as long as Marvel is taking over the television landscape with more and more new shows, can I suggest "Agent Melinda May And Her Dad Play Golf" because I'd totally watch that.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:50 PM on October 7, 2015 [6 favorites]


So how long did she survive in the blue area without food or water? Could more of the portal travellers have survived or taken up residence there? Lots of potential storylines this year.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 12:53 PM on October 7, 2015


Wasn't expecting to get Simmons back. Whedon primes me for tragedy and suffering.

Well, it's not as though there's no precedent for people coming back from the dead (or a Hell dimension, etc.) in the Whedon canon.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:05 PM on October 7, 2015


I definitely wasn't expecting Simmons back so soon, even when it was happening, because those scenes were so awkwardly edited.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:25 PM on October 7, 2015 [3 favorites]


I definitely wasn't expecting Simmons back so soon, even when it was happening, because those scenes were so awkwardly edited.

I thought for sure that Fitz would just end up stuck with her for awhile.
posted by mordax at 10:38 PM on October 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


I had this image in my head of Fitz clutching Simmons SEVERED hand!!
posted by Pendragon at 12:43 AM on October 8, 2015 [3 favorites]


I had this image in my head of Fitz clutching Simmons SEVERED hand!!

My first thought reading that - ignoring that that would have doubtless killed her under the scene's actual circumstances - is that she and Coulson could've gone robot hand shopping together.
posted by mordax at 1:57 AM on October 8, 2015 [3 favorites]


And as long as Marvel is taking over the television landscape with more and more new shows, can I suggest "Agent Melinda May And Her Dad Play Golf" because I'd totally watch that.

I was just complaining about how watching comic shows is starting to suck up more of my time than I have, and now this! I'm already watching Agents of Shield on Wednesdays and Arrow on Thursdays to make it work, and Supergirl hasn't even started yet! What I am going to do, not watch a show where normal clean up after asshole superheroes? That's obviously not an option.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:38 AM on October 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


There was something deeply satisfying watching Fitz go through the portal after the story lead us to believe a probe would be sent. It was one of those "Oh, OF COURSE he would" moments.

So how long did she survive in the blue area without food or water?

We don't know if she didn't have water or food, but I assume we're going to be finding out.

There will be an interesting dynamic with those two now, one in contrast to the more naive and bubbley way they started. They've both been through hell and have the scars to show it now.

As to Hunter and May tracking down Ward to kill him: Lot of dicey and gray areas there. Outright assassination is a different level. Love that Ward and Hydra (Wydra? Hyard?) are playing the exact same game with SHIELD.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:12 AM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


I think at some point they do need to have the conversation about killing Ward, but I think May is the person who would have that conversation with Coulson and since she's on board...

I did love Hunter's reaction to finding out that Simmons was okay. Something about AWESOME! Let's have beers! for someone he's not been especially close to, (has he?) was weirdly moving for me.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 6:22 AM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


As to Hunter and May tracking down Ward to kill him: Lot of dicey and gray areas there. Outright assassination is a different level.

You do remember that they offed all of Hydra leadership last season, right? And Hunter shot the last survivor in the head?

The same Hunter whose ex-wife Ward repeatedly tortured?

Hunter would pop Ward and go out for sandwiches afterward, with nary a second thought. So would May.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:39 AM on October 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


Hydra agents are DOA with concern to SHIELD. Hunt them down, wipe them out. That they're targeting Ward now isn't super surprising or a change in their methods. Though, I get the feeling that Hunter's mission isn't so much official as Coulson is approving it by lack of doing anything to interfere with it.

I was also shocked that they brought Simmons back so quickly. I was expecting a trip to whatever waste world that she was stuck on, not a quick yank. I did appreciate the writers realizing how completely random and against the odds it would have been for her to simply be near the portal (saying it has a regular opening area and doesn't randomly drop people in different places), and had Fitz fire the flare into it.

That said, would carbon dating actually work on material from a different planet? Is it based entirely on the half-life or what not of the particular type of carbon, or is it adjusted by other factors conditional to the environment?

Ward and his new Hydra. I agree, I'm not one hundred percent sure what Ward's motivations are other than to gather power. We knew that he never bought into the Hydra myth of order by control, he was involved entirely out of his personal loyalty to Bill Paxton's character. I don't think he's had some kind of evil religious experience where he's seen the light. Is it entirely to create an organization with which to inflict his revenge on SHIELD/Daisy for rejecting him? Is it to simply create an Anti-SHIELD, a place for him to belong?

Also, Asgardians...they walk among us.
posted by Atreides at 6:54 AM on October 8, 2015


How can you carbon date silicon?
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:57 AM on October 8, 2015 [6 favorites]


I was sort of wondering, it looks like you sometimes can, if there's organic material or coating in it, but I don't think that made sense given that they were purporting to date it to the date the rock formed, not the date of any carbon on the rock. There's other types of radiometric dating, though, and they might just have been using "carbon dating" as script shorthand for that.

It also may be that this show is not very good at science.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:04 AM on October 8, 2015 [4 favorites]


Though, I get the feeling that Hunter's mission isn't so much official as Coulson is approving it by lack of doing anything to interfere with it.

Yeah, I think this clarifies things better. It's no longer professional, it's personal. Which is understandable (hell, even Simmons pointedly said she'd kill him), but starts venturing into grey areas, which can be narratively wonderful.

Hunter would pop Ward and go out for sandwiches afterward, with nary a second thought.

Nah, Hunter would grab several beers, then call Bobbie and tell her and then have to listen to her rightly complain about not getting a shot.

Here's hoping Bobbie can join in eventually.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:04 AM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


Bulgaroktonos: It also may be that this show is not very good at science.

One one hand, gravitational lens(ing), zero-point energy (fields) and quantum-harmonic oscillation (theory) are real things, but this in-show universe with people who have alien DNA, super powers, and also features a monolith that can liquefy and turn into a portal through space (and time?*), you have to let go of traditional science at some point.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:07 AM on October 8, 2015


GhostintheMachine: So how long did she survive in the blue area without food or water? Could more of the portal travellers have survived or taken up residence there? Lots of potential storylines this year.

It's been months (and now I see she was there six months), at least in earth time (* I'm not sure if the portal bends time, or the planet where she landed bends time). She had time and resources to fashion a shiv out of wood or stone or something, to protect her from someone/thing, so may have found some food and water somewhere. (Also, why the hell does the portal dump people on that desert planet, or that desert portion of a planet? MCU says the Monolith was designed by the Kree to kill Inhumans and "could transport certain individuals or objects across space," which is pretty vague.)


Bulgaroktonos: I did love Hunter's reaction to finding out that Simmons was okay. Something about AWESOME! Let's have beers! for someone he's not been especially close to, (has he?) was weirdly moving for me.

I agree - he seemed genuinely stoked that she was OK.

May: Simmons is back. She's okay.
Hunter: Are you serious? She's alive? Fitz, you absolute beauty! Come on, beers?! Let's get a beer on it! Come on May, smile for once in your life.
(The last line was originally transcribed as "Come on May, small for once in your eye," so these lines may not be 100% accurate)
posted by filthy light thief at 11:19 AM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


I think at some point they do need to have the conversation about killing Ward, but I think May is the person who would have that conversation with Coulson and since she's on board...
posted by Bulgaroktonos

No conversation needed. Coulson okayed the action in this episode.

Bobbi (to Hunter after kissing him): "Don't die out there."
Coulson (to Hunter): "And Hunter, make sure he does."

Death warrant signed.

So my only question is when did Jaguar become an official sponsor? I mean that was almost as blatant a commercial as the ones Burn Notice used to run for Hyundai and White Collar used to do for Ford.
posted by sardonyx at 2:38 PM on October 8, 2015


I'm ridiculously happy that Team Sandwich is back together again.

Also, I'm putting a fiver on them revealing Eric Koenig's true identity/origin this season, only because I love him so hard and want to see more of him on SHIELD.

I can't stand Ward, but prefer Evil!Ward to Milquetoast!Ward. Here's hoping he actually gets taken out by Inhumans instead of facing off once more against May, Coulson and company.

Mack looks like he's done nothing but eat chicken breasts and lift weights between seasons, and I'm... well, I'm very okay with that.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 3:45 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


That said, would carbon dating actually work on material from a different planet? Is it based entirely on the half-life or what not of the particular type of carbon, or is it adjusted by other factors conditional to the environment?

Well, carbon dating would work on organic materials - i.e. not sand, that are 50,000 years old or newer.
So, not over billions of years, no. Those are the two big problems with this that made me yell at the screen.
Sure, maybe some organics in the sand, but considering the talk about it being regular silica sand...

There's also a more nitpicky problem which is that, yes, carbon dating something from another planet would be iffy because part of how we use the ratio of carbon 12 to carbon 14 to date things does depend on what the default ratio is and that can vary on earth by time and could certainly vary by planet.

They should have just dug a little deeper and said they were using something like Samarium-neodymium dating.
posted by ursus_comiter at 10:33 PM on October 20, 2015


This episode was terrible. The 19th century English ritual, the castle, the mysterious monolith suddenly blown to smithereens. I guess I should just enjoy it as high camp but oh god the stupid is painful. I guess we're in for a few episodes of Simmons suffering The Trauma, much like Fitz did last season. Let's hope it's not as tedious.

The highlight for me was James Hong playing May's father. He's an old-school Chinese-American TV actor, like Green Hornet era, and a really great character actor. You may remember him as the You Nexus, huh? I design your eyes. guy from Blade Runner. I hope we see more of him.
posted by Nelson at 9:12 PM on October 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


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