Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Chaos Theory
November 11, 2015 4:31 PM - Season 3, Episode 7 - Subscribe
In which May confronts Andrew, Joey takes up sculpture, Lincoln helps clear up a mystery, and Coulson bonds with Rosalyn, who in turn is revealed to have a disturbing association.
GhostintheMachine - I've added some recap links; I don't think the starting post needs to include all the significant plot points when it's being recapped by multiple sites.
I was so annoyed when Andrew/Lash appeared to have killed Joey, thinking "Whedons, did you really just kill off the first and only openly gay character of the MCU?!", was very relieved when it turned out to be just a psych-out.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:39 PM on November 11, 2015
I was so annoyed when Andrew/Lash appeared to have killed Joey, thinking "Whedons, did you really just kill off the first and only openly gay character of the MCU?!", was very relieved when it turned out to be just a psych-out.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:39 PM on November 11, 2015
I don't think the starting post needs to include all the significant plot points when it's being recapped by multiple sites.
Yeah, I was just getting the ball rolling.
posted by homunculus at 5:45 PM on November 11, 2015
Yeah, I was just getting the ball rolling.
posted by homunculus at 5:45 PM on November 11, 2015
Oh, I didn't mean to imply the recap was lacking in detail; I was more expressing amazement at everything that was going on this episode. Two episodes ago was 90% one character in one location, and this one was the polar opposite... but both episodes worked well.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 5:52 PM on November 11, 2015
posted by GhostintheMachine at 5:52 PM on November 11, 2015
What is it with this show and pacific island getaways?
posted by idb at 6:19 PM on November 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by idb at 6:19 PM on November 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Mac wanting his axe (I swear, if someone doesn't make one for him by the end of the season I'll be disappointed)
Concept art.
posted by homunculus at 6:27 PM on November 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
Concept art.
posted by homunculus at 6:27 PM on November 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
From TMS's recap:
posted by homunculus at 6:42 PM on November 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
a tip of the hat to Coulson and Rosalind, who not only hooked up but did so in the most understated “well, duh, of course this was gonna happen” way possible, and in a moment that was all but buried in the sting’s reveal that Rosalind is working with Gideon Malick (although I suspect Ros has been mostly on the level with us and doesn’t realize how nefarious her boss really is).I hope that's true about Rosalyn and Malick. I'm getting kind of sick of HYDRA at this point, so it's going to be disappointing if Rosalyn turns out to be just another HYDRA villain.
posted by homunculus at 6:42 PM on November 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
Rosalind, that is.
posted by homunculus at 6:49 PM on November 11, 2015
posted by homunculus at 6:49 PM on November 11, 2015
That was an entertaining/compelling hour of teevee.
Agree that it would be nice for HYDRA to be playing ATCU/Rosalind too -- we've got enough generic awful Hydra bad guys as it is.
Curious what the next phase of the season will bring in terms of MacGuffin, now that Lash is, for the time being, out of the picture as an active player. I guess we'll meet the guys wot sent people through the portal, and have yet more Fitz/Simmons will-they-won't-they.
posted by Alterscape at 7:49 PM on November 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Agree that it would be nice for HYDRA to be playing ATCU/Rosalind too -- we've got enough generic awful Hydra bad guys as it is.
Curious what the next phase of the season will bring in terms of MacGuffin, now that Lash is, for the time being, out of the picture as an active player. I guess we'll meet the guys wot sent people through the portal, and have yet more Fitz/Simmons will-they-won't-they.
posted by Alterscape at 7:49 PM on November 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
(Also, I am happy that the post was late this week, since it means I actually get to discuss along, in my position as an Amazon viewer + working stiff who can only get the eps around 2am the day after their shown, and only has time to watch them the next night. Of course I realize asking for that as a somewhat regular thing is unfair to all the realtime viewers, but hey, I'll take the serendipity this week!)
posted by Alterscape at 7:50 PM on November 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Alterscape at 7:50 PM on November 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Curious what the next phase of the season will bring in terms of MacGuffin, now that Lash is, for the time being, out of the picture as an active player. I guess we'll meet the guys wot sent people through the portal, and have yet more Fitz/Simmons will-they-won't-they.
Oh god, THOSE TWO. Just fucking kiss her Fizz, that sunset was the perfect time. Or SImmons, quit taking the dude for granted and make up your own mind.
Or Brandon, just find something on tv to whinge/obsess about.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:15 AM on November 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
Oh god, THOSE TWO. Just fucking kiss her Fizz, that sunset was the perfect time. Or SImmons, quit taking the dude for granted and make up your own mind.
Or Brandon, just find something on tv to whinge/obsess about.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:15 AM on November 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
Now that Lincoln's come in from the cold, I'm wondering if he has a Big Secret. Lash as Andrew seemed to sense something really "dark" about him.
posted by klarck at 5:31 AM on November 12, 2015
posted by klarck at 5:31 AM on November 12, 2015
Lash as Andrew seemed to sense something really "dark" about him.
I think that's more of a self-justification for nuking him, though. You could see it when he was probing Joey; he was just fishing for a reason to go Lash.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:03 AM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think that's more of a self-justification for nuking him, though. You could see it when he was probing Joey; he was just fishing for a reason to go Lash.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:03 AM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Dammit, Roslind and Coulson were so cute together!
JUST LET ME HAVE THIS ONE THING, SHOW!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:44 AM on November 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
JUST LET ME HAVE THIS ONE THING, SHOW!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:44 AM on November 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
did any one else get the recycled feeling of May putting down Andrew as they did for Buffy putting down Angel into his Hell dimension in Becoming? Same general feel to the fight, same heart wrenching speech before making the final call - maybe Buffy's decision was slightly harder since Angel wasn't Angelus anymore - but I had extreme deja vu watching that scene.
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 9:49 AM on November 12, 2015
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 9:49 AM on November 12, 2015
I was extremely disappointed that Landrew was not outright killed. Because by the show's own admission, he's killed dozens of people, so what are the expecting even if they cure him? There's still the question of all those deaths and who answers for me.
Perhaps this can be used to drive Fitz and Simmons apart just when they're getting together in the 4th season?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:07 AM on November 12, 2015
Perhaps this can be used to drive Fitz and Simmons apart just when they're getting together in the 4th season?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:07 AM on November 12, 2015
so what are the expecting even if they cure him? There's still the question of all those deaths and who answers for me.
The reason he killed them was because his Inhuman reprogramming compelled him too. You could easily argue that Andrew wasn't responsible for his actions, and if they can purge his Inhuman DNA, then the compulsion should be gone.
But if the ATCU is associated with HYDRA, then those warehoused Inhumans probably aren't going to get cured. I think we can expect to see Inhuman HYDRA assets at some point in the future, possibly including Lash.
posted by homunculus at 11:52 AM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
The reason he killed them was because his Inhuman reprogramming compelled him too. You could easily argue that Andrew wasn't responsible for his actions, and if they can purge his Inhuman DNA, then the compulsion should be gone.
But if the ATCU is associated with HYDRA, then those warehoused Inhumans probably aren't going to get cured. I think we can expect to see Inhuman HYDRA assets at some point in the future, possibly including Lash.
posted by homunculus at 11:52 AM on November 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
You could easily argue that Andrew wasn't responsible for his actions, and if they can purge his Inhuman DNA, then the compulsion should be gone.
I would strongly disagree, as Andrew's own words demonstrate that he had knowledge of what he was doing and made no attempt to seek help. He did the exact opposite and knowingly lied and deceived those who could have potentially helped him, in order to gain access to their records and find more Inhumans to kill.
And he's black? The US court system would fry his ass so quickly...
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:16 PM on November 12, 2015
I would strongly disagree, as Andrew's own words demonstrate that he had knowledge of what he was doing and made no attempt to seek help. He did the exact opposite and knowingly lied and deceived those who could have potentially helped him, in order to gain access to their records and find more Inhumans to kill.
And he's black? The US court system would fry his ass so quickly...
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:16 PM on November 12, 2015
I would strongly disagree, as Andrew's own words demonstrate that he had knowledge of what he was doing and made no attempt to seek help.
I don't think he really did understand of what he was doing. He was rationalizing after the fact what his new instincts were driving him to do, trying to make sense of how it must be right because he knew with every fiber of his being that it was necessary, even though we know it really wasn't. I don't think he was capable of understanding the morality of his actions anymore.
posted by homunculus at 3:11 PM on November 12, 2015
I don't think he really did understand of what he was doing. He was rationalizing after the fact what his new instincts were driving him to do, trying to make sense of how it must be right because he knew with every fiber of his being that it was necessary, even though we know it really wasn't. I don't think he was capable of understanding the morality of his actions anymore.
posted by homunculus at 3:11 PM on November 12, 2015
did any one else get the recycled feeling of May putting down Andrew as they did for Buffy putting down Angel into his Hell dimension in Becoming?
I'd call this more nuanced but that may have a lot to do with the fact that I'm older now. Buffy's S2 "victory" was something she did at a (supposed) age about decade younger than me and in a kind of love affair that I had already at that time sort of gone past. May and Andrew, on the other hand, are supposedly around my age or a hint older (if we use the actors' actual ages, though they look better over 50 than I do at 45. Or did at 30. Or ever.). So their relationship has the implications not only of the complexity of adult love but of rekindling something that they couldn't work out before.
So to have that taken away resonates better for me as a romantic failure and the pain that implies. What Buffy had to do I always felt empathy for her more about what she had to personally shoulder, responsibility-wise. What May does here I felt more for her in her personal loss.
posted by phearlez at 8:29 PM on November 12, 2015
I'd call this more nuanced but that may have a lot to do with the fact that I'm older now. Buffy's S2 "victory" was something she did at a (supposed) age about decade younger than me and in a kind of love affair that I had already at that time sort of gone past. May and Andrew, on the other hand, are supposedly around my age or a hint older (if we use the actors' actual ages, though they look better over 50 than I do at 45. Or did at 30. Or ever.). So their relationship has the implications not only of the complexity of adult love but of rekindling something that they couldn't work out before.
So to have that taken away resonates better for me as a romantic failure and the pain that implies. What Buffy had to do I always felt empathy for her more about what she had to personally shoulder, responsibility-wise. What May does here I felt more for her in her personal loss.
posted by phearlez at 8:29 PM on November 12, 2015
Hey that was a great episode, and the teaser / closer was delicious. All that was missing was more torrid romance scenes of Rosalind and Coulson. I feel short-changed.
posted by Nelson at 9:46 PM on November 12, 2015
posted by Nelson at 9:46 PM on November 12, 2015
Speaking of Coulson's romantic life, I hope they turn the Cellist into an Inhuman so Amy Acker can join the cast.
posted by homunculus at 11:21 AM on November 13, 2015
posted by homunculus at 11:21 AM on November 13, 2015
Isn't she on some other show at the moment? That might be a conflict, time or network wise.
But yeah, Amy Acker would be a great addition to the show.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:36 PM on November 13, 2015
But yeah, Amy Acker would be a great addition to the show.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:36 PM on November 13, 2015
Lash is like Black Widow in that he was changed by forces beyond his control. In Black Widow's case, the cause was brainwashing, and for Lash it was disease (or arguably, poisoning). Contrast with Tony Stark who gets a pass for poor decisions and is driven by his own ego.
Most Marvel heroes seem to have "red in their ledger" but seem to find ways to redeem themselves, or at least seem to find a home within SHIELD, or the Avengers. I think there is hope for Lash, though my guess is his redemption will be tragic and at the very least will take time.
posted by tempestuoso at 2:19 PM on November 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Most Marvel heroes seem to have "red in their ledger" but seem to find ways to redeem themselves, or at least seem to find a home within SHIELD, or the Avengers. I think there is hope for Lash, though my guess is his redemption will be tragic and at the very least will take time.
posted by tempestuoso at 2:19 PM on November 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Acker's slated for a 13 episode (rumoured to be final) season of Person of Interest. Apologies if this is off topic but apparently Shahi is coming back. ❤️ Shaw x Root 5eva.
posted by juv3nal at 10:09 PM on November 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by juv3nal at 10:09 PM on November 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I really hope Rosalind isn't actually a baddie. I mean, if she is it's more of a "no shit!" thing. Having her be on the side (kinda, sorta) of the angels is more interesting, if only because of her organization's methods.
posted by brundlefly at 10:17 PM on November 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by brundlefly at 10:17 PM on November 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Acker's slated for a 13 episode (rumoured to be final) season of Person of Interest.
Yeah, so if it is the last season, she'll be free next year.
posted by homunculus at 9:27 AM on November 14, 2015
Yeah, so if it is the last season, she'll be free next year.
posted by homunculus at 9:27 AM on November 14, 2015
Adult Swim's take on Agents of Shield.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:33 AM on November 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:33 AM on November 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
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I mean, that's a lot of development to cram into one hour, but they're handling it well. Everything is moving forward, every character is getting legitimate attention. Is Coulson being played, or is he playing a longer game? Great season.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 5:14 PM on November 11, 2015 [2 favorites]