Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Many Heads, One Tale
November 18, 2015 5:54 AM - Season 3, Episode 8 - Subscribe

Dangerous facts about the ATCU are discovered by the team; Ward's plans to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. do not go as expected.
posted by 2ht (34 comments total)
 
Alternative description: wherein all of the season's plot lines are inexplicably tied together in one broad narrative.

This show moves so breathtakingly fast at times. I'm relieved that they don't always drag out big reveals to the end of the season. Rosalind is (most likely) not Hydra and simply in over her head. Simmon's astronaut boyfriend is (probably) Hydra - which would seemingly clear the air for Fitz and Simmons. So there's probably more there to be explored.

Hydra is part of a much older secret society determined to bring back their master, the alien being on the prison world. Any theories here? It seems that only the Hydra elite are in on this secret. The boots on the ground guys (Ward, Garrett, et al) are Hydra, but they're not secret society.

Also, if we rewatch any of the movies or previous seasons are we going to see hints at this bigger purpose? Or is it completely out of nowhere?

Despite some low budget CGI and some forced dialogue, Bobbi's boomerang batons are awesome. Boometons? Batarang? Wait...

I didn't fully understand why Hydra was constantly sending people through the portal? Was it some sort of test to figure out how it works? To feed the being? To let it know they're trying to bring him back?

Also hoping for a flashback wherein we see how the creature was banished.
posted by 2ht at 6:15 AM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


I love the concept of a NASA occult sacrifice mission. It has a pleasing echo to another Joss Whedon-connected project that I wouldn't want to spoil.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 6:33 AM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


I liked the way we saw the Hydra Secret Society history lesson given for both Ward and the SHIELD team simultaneously. I think the writers use the technique fairly often. (Ward and his brother's versions of the incident at the well comes to mind.) It's a nice, tight, efficient reveal and I think it's one of the reasons the plot can advance so quickly on this show.
posted by klarck at 6:57 AM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


I didn't fully understand why Hydra was constantly sending people through the portal? Was it some sort of test to figure out how it works? To feed the being? To let it know they're trying to bring him back?

They were trying to figure out how to bring someone back. No one has managed to do that, except Fitz, who did it for Simmons.

Love will destroy the world!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:09 AM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


I wondered why the monolith had those 5 or 6 peculiar square holes cut into it. Now I know!

Boometons? Batarang?

Clearly, they are boomsticks.

(With due reverence to Ash.)
posted by tempestuoso at 7:56 AM on November 18, 2015 [3 favorites]


"Thousands of years ago, an Inhuman was born on this planet that was destined to rule it. So powerful, so fearsome, that others were consumed with dread, so they banished it from earth. Sent it through the portal to a distant planet. Hydra was founded with the sole purpose of engineering it's return. Over generations, Hydra has taken different shapes. The entity has been given different names. But every generation has sent men through the portal, hoping to save or at least serve our leader on the other side. Now we're building an army for it to command when it returns. And you and I will rule beside it."

So, are we getting the JV Inhuman version of Apocalypse here, or something new? Or did Simmons already eat it? (Tentacles! Hydra! geddit?)

FYI, Reddit has christened the new big bad in monolith blue land as Darude, which I think we should adopt as well.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:29 AM on November 18, 2015


Hydra is a subsidiary of Wolfram & Hart?
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:09 AM on November 18, 2015 [4 favorites]


I really don't care if Fitz and Simmons get together or not, but it seems really cruel to keep throwing plot contrivances at two people pretty deep in their ptsd

...so I guess props to the actors for making their characters feel more real than the world they live in
posted by elr at 9:17 AM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


So, are we getting the JV Inhuman version of Apocalypse here, or something new? Or did Simmons already eat it? (Tentacles! Hydra! geddit?)

Or perhaps it's Thanos. I'm assuming that they're not including the Eternals in the cinematic universe, so up till now I've been assuming Thanos was going to turn out to be an Inhuman. Since they're still calling him "The Mad Titan" I was guessing that they were going to move Attilan to Titan and make Thanos Black Bolt's brother instead of Maximus. But perhaps this is how they're doing his origin instead.

Unless they do introduce the Eternals at some point, in which case: never mind.
posted by homunculus at 9:36 AM on November 18, 2015


I suspected HYDRA was going to start recruiting Inhumans, but I wasn't expecting the Chairman from Iron Chef America to be one of them.
posted by homunculus at 9:46 AM on November 18, 2015 [5 favorites]


Despite some low budget CGI and some forced dialogue, Bobbi's boomerang batons are awesome.

Doesn't this mean that everyone on the team can't use anywhere on themselves?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:55 AM on November 18, 2015


Today's secret ingredient is: fish oil! Allez cuisine!
posted by tempestuoso at 9:56 AM on November 18, 2015 [7 favorites]


Thanos is an Eternal and he was in GotG. Unless they change his backstory, the Eternals are already part of the MCU.
posted by zarq at 10:03 AM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


The thing on the other side of the portal is an Inhuman born on Earth thousands of years ago? Darn. I thought they were setting it up to be Death. In the comics, Thanos is in love with Death and acting to please her. Looking at the movie schedule, obviously they're setting up Civil War directly, and I imagined they were expanding the foundation for Thanos in Guardians 2 and the next Avengers movies.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 10:06 AM on November 18, 2015


Thanos is an Eternal and he was in GotG yt . Unless they change his backstory, the Eternals are already part of the MCU.

That's just it: they never identified him as an Eternal, so at this point he could be anything. I'm guessing that they're not going to include the Eternals in the cinematic universe (I have a hazy memory of reading that somewhere, but I might have just made it up) in order to keep it simple and to put more emphasis on the Inhumans.
posted by homunculus at 10:33 AM on November 18, 2015


I hope Daisy and Lincoln are careful if they hook up. With their respective powers, they could do a lot of damage whilst in the throes of passion.
posted by homunculus at 10:50 AM on November 18, 2015


BTW, I hope they do include the Eternals and Thanos's original backstory, and as much of the comic book universe as possible (it'd be nice if Marvel could get the Skrulls back too.) I also think it's more likely that the entity on the planet is the Inhuman who was banished.
posted by homunculus at 11:42 AM on November 18, 2015


I'm torn between (my) two interpretations of Rosalind's apparent surprise that Malik is running the Inhuman experiments as a transformation effort instead of finding a cure. On the surface, the head of a large organization just believing what her subordinate/colleague says without demonstration of progress seems grossly incompetent. I'll be horribly disappointed if that's the case. I like to believe Rosalind was waiting to see what Coulson knew and responded in a way that played into what had been exposed by the raid. It would be nice to see her remain a competent leader rather than a bumbling, naive person who never dug deeper into her peers and protects.
posted by toomanycurls at 4:33 PM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


The eternals may or may not show up, but they definitely showed a Celestial (diving suit mecha god when the Collector [himself an Elder of the Universe] explained the infinity stones). At another point in the movie they show a mural that confirms Death is a person. I wouldn't be surprised by any amount of weirdness here.

Malick says the threat is inhuman, but remember that was passed down through thousands of years of oral tradition. The thing on the planet could've just fought inhumans and then been bundled up with them in later, simplified retellings.

I think if it is an inhuman it could be Thanos, who later escaped and just dumped one or more random monsters on the planet later to mess with anyone from Earth, but I don't think it's likely. At this point I'd even put more stock in the theories about it being Maximus the Mad. I put the most stock in theories of it being the Unspoken, an exiled former king of Attilan with the powers of ultimate terrigenises/plot convenience (basically he just has all of them I guess?). They could also put in a reference to Attilan and make everyone think it was long ago blown up until the movie comes out.
posted by sandswipe at 6:50 PM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


Let me get this straight: the HYDRA (I typed HIVE at first, wrong comic universe) bad guys, who are mostly non-powered, but power-hungry want to bring back an alien/Inhuman that was so powerful that he was a threat to all of the earlier aliens. And these guys, who end up fighting each other all the time in order to gain top dog status, just want to serve as lap dogs for somebody stronger than they are. Okay, I know villains often get saddled with dumb motivation, but this one takes the cake. Somehow I can't see Ward thinking that this sounds like a solid plan. I don't think envisions a world where he plays second fiddle to anybody.

That said, I feel like the show is finally coming together and finding its footing. It has a real sense of purpose now.
posted by sardonyx at 7:39 PM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


I hope we're going to find out that most of HYDRA's leaders over the ages have just been paying lip service to that idea -- or secretly harboring a plan to enslave the Inhuman when he returns -- while milking the organization for every bit of alien tech and earthly power they can get their hands on. Everybody we've ever met in HYDRA has been out for self-interest at their core.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:06 PM on November 18, 2015 [4 favorites]


How does Malick know that SHIELD brought someone back, anyway? I doubt Coulson told Rosalind about Jemma, so either HYDRA has a way of monitoring portal usage remotely, or they must have someone inside SHIELD.
posted by homunculus at 11:06 AM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


It
posted by homunculus at 11:07 AM on November 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


Then how the hell is Will still alive against this incredibly powerful inhuman?

OR IS HE.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:24 AM on November 19, 2015


Incredibly powerful and almost certainly completely bonkers after at least centuries of isolation, even assuming HYDRA's story is wildly exaggerated. It may very well have decided on rules for when and how it hunts the people sent to the desert world, or it might even be afraid of them.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:35 AM on November 19, 2015


As much as I want Rosalind not to be HYDRA, I agree with toomanycurls upthread that her justification for having no visibility into what goes on downstairs in her own building feels like either horrible writing/characterization, or a lie. Not sure which version would annoy me least.

Also not sure how I feel about ATCU/Hydra!Lash. Or AncientCult!Hydra. Or YetMoreComplications!FitzSimmons. Huh.
posted by Alterscape at 7:03 PM on November 19, 2015


It seems pretty clearly telegraphed as the truth. I'd be very surprised if Rosalind was HYDRA.
posted by Justinian at 8:19 PM on November 19, 2015


On the surface, the head of a large organization just believing what her subordinate/colleague says without demonstration of progress seems grossly incompetent. I'll be horribly disappointed if that's the case.

How hard is it to gin up fake reports on a biological process if a powerful resource you rely on for access and patronage is in on the con? I don't have a problem believing Rosalind was being suckered by someone answering to her who had Malick to back them up in the con. If anything, the ATCU's willingness to farm out their IT problems to an external agency supports the idea that she'd accept the input to her section of the bureaucracy.
posted by phearlez at 7:48 PM on November 20, 2015


This episode reflects why I like Agents of SHIELD so much better than Heroes or Lost or other genre TV. It's because the writers have a plot, an overarchign narrative, and lots of comic book chops writing themselves to that goal. Every reveal this season has felt well planned, in some places telegraphed, and then it all ties in to a deeper mythology you comic nerds all know about and can debate. I don't know any of that stuff (except Death! She's the perky goth chick, right? Oh wait, wrong company.) but the comic book back story still strengthens the whole show.

And yeah, totally weird to see The Chairman show up on Agents. He's so identified with Iron Chef America, despite doing basically nothing at all on that show other than kabuki parody. I see from Wikipedia he's done a variety of low-rent action roles. Seems like perfect casting for this show.

How do you cut pieces out of the Monolith?
posted by Nelson at 8:40 AM on November 21, 2015


Death! She's the perky goth chick, right? Oh wait, wrong company.

Not necessarily.
posted by homunculus at 10:17 AM on November 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


I suppose I buy that Rosalind's concerned with field operations, and just assumes her underlings handle what happens to the Inhumans after capture -- if Malick has control of that whole side of the operation, I can imagine she's being fed fake information. Then again she seems to have a fairly close working relationship with the upper level of her field forces (as demonstrated by the fact that she can call her field commander and have him help out Bobbi and Hunter). Going to be interesting to see who's trustworthy there, even if Rosalind is found to not be HYDRA.
posted by Alterscape at 10:59 AM on November 21, 2015


totally weird to see The Chairman show up on Agents. He's so identified with Iron Chef America, despite doing basically nothing at all on that show other than kabuki parody. I see from Wikipedia he's done a variety of low-rent action roles.

He was in Brotherhood of the Wolf, one of my favorite kung-fu films. It's deliciously ridiculous.
posted by homunculus at 11:04 AM on November 21, 2015


now I feel like the odd one out, for always having a soft spot for Mark Dacascos because of his action credentials, and not having seen a single episode of Iron Chef America (like, in my part of the world, he is a minor Big Deal, but not many would know about his ICA stuff). I am super-bummed that his presence was just as an extra, it seemed like. I perked right up when he showed up, expecting more.
posted by cendawanita at 9:32 AM on November 22, 2015


No SHIELD tonight. This is further evidence for my theory that the pilgrims were HYDRA agents.
posted by homunculus at 2:37 PM on November 24, 2015


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