Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. V: You Joined the Cavalry.

[comicshorse]

What Simmons did was take two blood samples of Daisy's from before the temple and subject one to the crystals and the other to Creel's blood and then the crystals. The first goes through terrigenesis and the second remains the same. That's a straightforward scientific experiment for supporting the theoretical viability of a vaccine ala Fleming's experiment (replace Daish's blood with bacteria culture and AbsorbingMan's stuff with moldy peels).

In real life this would be a first theoretical step and then require years of testing and (in)human trials to establish but we're talking about a vaccine to prevent people from turning to stone and developing superpowers here.

Somebody get that blood sample a cape and cool code name

[Reddish Mage]

Oh great so that means the people given the vaccine will experience terrigenesis AND THEN REVERT. So they'll know they're Inhumans, and denied their powers.

Sounds peachy.

Did someone suggest this is like a teenager deciding on an abortion? Bracketing everything specific about that individual example, this is deciding to have a baby, to abort it, and to get to see the baby get to grow up in a little compressed video all rolled into a package...oh and it could be forced on you because the gov't puts something in the water.

[Dragonus45]

Forced on you? Kind of but I'll be honest as much a dislike the idea on several levels I do also see why just putting the nobody randomly gets super powers stuff into the water supply and cutting that entire list of problems off at the root. Because really, Inhumans as a culture is kind of an odd idea and one that I feel does not resonate well with the serious can of worms that random people getting super powers in a preventable way would be. Also any real "Inhuman Culture" kind of died with Sanctuary. At least until we get Black Bolt and Attilan showing up. Well, if they show up as they were in the comics.

[Reddish Mage]

I know there's a political ban in the forum but I'm standing up:

I'm pro-superpower and against gov't putting drugs in the water.

Thought that one of those was a non-controversial position, but I guess both of these are now controversial.

[LaZodiac]

New Episode!

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I like the sort of framing story of Bobby and Hunter being interrogated.

This episode is HEAVY on the intense spy thriller stuff and I quite like it. Feels super different from normal but I do like it a lot. Gideon wanted to make an Inhuman coup of Russia, which is...HILARIOUS actually. And it turns out the Inhuman villain in this episode is...Tokoyami from My Hero Academia! Not that he lasted long, sadly.

Speaking of not lasting...jeez. Bobbi and Hunter are out of the crew. I suppose this is how that spin off will happen if it happen, but I think they deserve the vacation...and that they'll be back one day. But for now, it's time to head off. A sad goodbye.

And then we get to see that Gideon's got a daughter, so even when Gideon DOES bite it, we'll still have a villain around to **** with us and hang out with Hive.

[Dragonus45]

I know there's a political ban in the forum but I'm standing up:

I'm pro-superpower and against gov't putting drugs in the water.

Thought that one of those was a non-controversial position, but I guess both of these are now controversial.

Oh I'm totally pro super powers I just think those super powers need to be given out responsibly, although now that I think about it the govt mandating an inhuman vaccine for people wouldn't be all that different from most govt requiring people get vaccinated.

[Palanan]

Excellent episode, but wow.

Spoiler: Best Lines

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Umm…all of them?

Really, more than the usual snappiness this time around. Although Daisy describing Д as "New Hampshire with legs" probably takes the prize.

Spoiler: Fighting Dark Energy Muppet

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For a trained elite superhuman-fighting crew, they were really slow on the uptake when it came to taking out the General's dark-energy eidolon.

About the time Mac whiffed on his first swing, I was almost yelling, "Get the General!" Stands to reason that if he's controlling it, take him out first, rather than wasting effort on the untouchable energy field.

Spoiler: Da, Tovarisch

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Loved the banter about languages, and especially Mac's "Rosetta Stone" crack to Bobbi. Also some very funny moments with the guards speaking in Russian and Bobbi answering.

Sadly, the linguistic nuance was lost once the Prime Minister arrived. I can understand the Russian ringleader speaking English to Gideon Malick…but once Malick left, what possible reason was there for the Prime Minister and everyone else to continue speaking English?

Spoiler: Because Hot Blondes Always Fit Right In

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So, it's a secret Russian military installation (or something), apparently populated exclusively by bored, lonely male guards and occasional high-ranking male politicians.

And a tall, striking blonde just walks around as part of the scenery?

No. There is no overcoat and furry hat which could render Bobbi non-noticeable. Not ever. Hunter could just about pull it off…but not tall, gorgeous, statuesque Bobbi.

Sorry. Not happening.

Spoiler: --Wait, What?!?

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About halfway through the episode I started seriously worrying about Hunter. The interrogator gave Bobbi a no-win choice, and she's enough of a professional to make me concerned.

Another ten minutes and I was seriously worrying about them both. Even after Coulson somehow arranged for them to get out (I couldn't really follow the logic) I was still in mild shock that they were off the team.

As written, the situation was incredibly contrived, and I'm half-saddened, half-numbed that Bobbi and Hunter are so suddenly gone. I can't fathom the reason for it; they were a fantastic pair, they brought experience and fighting competence to the team, and as discussed last week they were by far the most believable couple in the cast.

Why, why, why boot them off? And why so soon after the mid-season break? I'm more stunned than if they'd both been shot.

Now, if Ward can come back from the recently dead as an alien collective consciousness, anyone can be written back in; but that was a long, soulful goodbye they had in the bar, and I expect there was some real emotion filming that scene. I'm just left with a sad disbelief.

[russdm]

Though it's comic book science here we're dealing with, so I think it should be presumed a vaccine is already a possibility.

Considering how all over the place comic book science is, and how much it runs on You fail science forever and Did not do the Research, I wouldn't put any hopes up that the vaccine works without either creating another Red Skull or Doctor Doom, because Comic books are just like that.

Radiation gave superpowers in the 1950s/1960s, now we know that Radiation just poisons you and kills you.

[huttj509]

Spoiler: Mood music

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5hXtGkzZ9k

[russdm]

I think you need to start considering mutants and Inhumans as being what they should have been seen all along with none of that "Being like blacks/Indians/gays/etc." that Marvel tried to use, because frankly, it's complete bull. Mutants and Inhumans are Reusable nukes, period. They get powers that are capable of inflicting huge amounts of damage, and, in the case of Inhumans, the Kree never seemed to have any concern for the later effects of having made reusable nukes and dumping them in the world.

This isn't a kid girl discovering one day that happens to be Gay, this is a kid girl who discovers she is capable of accidently blowing up her room and that she has to learn how to control it so she doesn't hurt people or herself when she doesn't want to. Mutants were always called, "the Children of the Atom", an atomic bomb; so they are just as dangerous as nukes. Inhumans are 100 times more dangerous than Mutants, because they have their change activated by alien technology, and without Jiaying's testing methods, any crazy person can get transformed.

Coulson has the idea of treating them like humans, when he is dealing with nuke warheads that could just go off again and again. The government would be required to get involved somehow.

Ever single changed Inhuman gets to the roll the dice as to whether their powers end up good, and roll dice as to whether they also stay sane or go completely crazy. With the crystals in the water, it will be completely random.

The crystals should have been collected immediately as that was the most safe option. When are the rest of the Kree going to show up to see about what happened? Was that one kree who did with the hammer the only one who actually knew? Or are there others who find out as well?

[Giggling Ghast]

Well, I'd said a page or so back that the cast could use some trimming, as they had a lot of spare muscle standing around.

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And I guess the writers felt the same.

That was a really good ending. A spy's goodbye.

[Pex]

Spoiler: ABC Spoiled The Show

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It absolutely SUCKED that just before the show began the off camera announcer asked who would be leaving SHIELD forever. Way to spoil the show! All the way through I was expecting one of our Heroes to die. That's the usual take when saying someone's leaving. Turns out they're just losing their spy credentials and the actors leaving the show, but the suspense was lost before the show even began.

[BWR]

Bugger.
With Hunter gone the second best thing about this show is gone and Fitz has had very little screen time recently.

Touching goodbye, even if their tail was the most useless thing ever - so damn obvious and not noticing everyone throwing loving glances at each other across the room.

[3SecondCultist]

Bugger.
With Hunter gone the second best thing about this show is gone and Fitz has had very little screen time recently.

Touching goodbye, even if their tail was the most useless thing ever - so damn obvious and not noticing everyone throwing loving glances at each other across the room.

And thank you for spoiling that little tidbit for those of us who haven't seen the episode (such as myself).

[LordRahl6]

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Yeah, this episode was sort of a downer. However I think between the fact that there was excess baggage in terms of characters, and Bobbi and Hunter's character arcs that it was probably for the best. Beside's they get a WAAAAAYYY BETTER ENDING than Tripplett. Also in regards to the General's death I take the attitude that he needed killing. Remember, Simmons theorized that he was manipulating DARKFORCE, which as SHIELD's founders knew too well can manipulate back.

[JadedDM]

Spoiler: --Wait, What?!?

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Why, why, why boot them off? And why so soon after the mid-season break? I'm more stunned than if they'd both been shot.

Now, if Ward can come back from the recently dead as an alien collective consciousness, anyone can be written back in; but that was a long, soulful goodbye they had in the bar, and I expect there was some real emotion filming that scene. I'm just left with a sad disbelief.

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Because they are going to get a spin-off show of their own.

[archon_huskie]

I'd heard that was canned, but either that was wrong or this scene was filmed before then.

In related news, Wooo!!! I finally caught up on AoS. My DVR is Empty!

[Bulldog Psion]

Not my favorite episode by a long shot.

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And not just because they're getting rid of Bobbi and Hunter, two of the best characters on the show. Though that's a good part of it, goldurn it!

There was something about it that made it feel sketchy. Almost phoned-in. Maybe it was just the back-and-forth in time setup, which really didn't work for me this time, but the whole thing seemed kind of meh.

(Side note without any intention to go political: though the death penalty is still on Russia's law books, it's almost never used any more. Of course, they may well stick you in a decaying, poorly ventilated prison full of other prisoners with untreated tuberculosis for 30 years, but they're really very unlikely to execute you outright regardless of the accusation. So I guess that kind of took me out of the story a little, too, though it likely would go under the radar of people who aren't married to a Russian.)

[JadedDM]

I'd heard that was canned, but either that was wrong or this scene was filmed before then.

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Nope, it's on. In fact, that's why they had to leave in this episode. The actors had to physically go and film the pilot for the spin-off, called Marvel's Most Wanted.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Spoiler: ABC Spoiled The Show

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It absolutely SUCKED that just before the show began the off camera announcer asked who would be leaving SHIELD forever. Way to spoil the show! All the way through I was expecting one of our Heroes to die. That's the usual take when saying someone's leaving. Turns out they're just losing their spy credentials and the actors leaving the show, but the suspense was lost before the show even began.

The suspense was lost two weeks ago when the episode description went up; everyone could guess who was leaving due to Marvel's Most Wanted being a thing.

[Kitten Champion]

Not my favorite episode by a long shot.

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And not just because they're getting rid of Bobbi and Hunter, two of the best characters on the show. Though that's a good part of it, goldurn it!

There was something about it that made it feel sketchy. Almost phoned-in. Maybe it was just the back-and-forth in time setup, which really didn't work for me this time, but the whole thing seemed kind of meh.

(Side note without any intention to go political: though the death penalty is still on Russia's law books, it's almost never used any more. Of course, they may well stick you in a decaying, poorly ventilated prison full of other prisoners with untreated tuberculosis for 30 years, but they're really very unlikely to execute you outright regardless of the accusation. So I guess that kind of took me out of the story a little, too, though it likely would go under the radar of people who aren't married to a Russian.)

I tend to agree - It did some nice things with the Bobbi/Lance characters - but I was hoping from the advertisements to have more of an.., under siege-type story with the heroes trapped with a phase-shifting Inhuman assassin on the loose in more of a suspense/horror kind of episode. Rather that was mostly shoved aside because the overt purpose of the episode was setting the stage for the spin-off. This means the two characters that are leaving got most of the spot-light, and unlike with Hyde in the last season who got a great end to his pretty tragic tale, their character arcs can't end given their role in the spin-off.

So, I guess it was a good story premise they could have saved for another episode that they kind of threw on the grenade of studio demands to largely work out to an okay episode.

[LaZodiac]

I tend to agree - It did some nice things with the Bobbi/Lance characters - but I was hoping from the advertisements to have more of an.., under siege-type story with the heroes trapped with a phase-shifting Inhuman assassin on the loose in more of a suspense/horror kind of episode. Rather that was mostly shoved aside because the overt purpose of the episode was setting the stage for the spin-off. This means the two characters that are leaving got most of the spot-light, and unlike with Hyde in the last season who got a great end to his pretty tragic tale, their character arcs can't end given their role in the spin-off.

So, I guess it was a good story premise they could have saved for another episode that they kind of threw on the grenade of studio demands to largely work out to an okay episode.

A shame too because the villain was awesome, shadow powers like that rule.

[Kitten Champion]

A shame too because the villain was awesome, shadow powers like that rule.

Yeah. Plus, it has the benefit of potentially providing Jaws-like horror, as in interesting and skilled camerawork/direction could make it really effective for visceral horror where the budget restraints of network television wouldn't be an issue. Not showing the actual CGI-figure much of the time, or having fleeting glances at the edge of the camera, using the lighting cleverly, following its POV - ya'know the stuff. You could have the characters jumping at shadows, only to have the shadows jump out at them.

If you wanted to add extra suspense, have the plot begin with bringing in a bunch of Inhumans for whatever reason - there are plenty of plausible ones this season - but one of them is actually plant from Hydra (or take Hydra out of the equation and give him/her their own motives) and is generating the killer shadow but we don't know which. Bring in a few supporting actors - ones that come from Talbot's office - that can die to build the horror or add to the tension by being paranoid about the Inhumans. It could actually be a pretty cheap bottle episode using the sets they already have, built up with skilled film-making and writing.

[hustlertwo]

The suspense was lost two weeks ago when the episode description went up; everyone could guess who was leaving due to Marvel's Most Wanted being a thing.

Yeah. The episode title alone said this was the setup for the spinoff. The only surprise is that the others were in it as much as they were; I thought it might be just the two of them all episode to serve as more of a backdoor pilot.

[Spacewolf]

I haven't heard of this Most wanted thing but it seems like they might be spreading their talent abit to thin considering they don't seem to know what to do with half the cast now, especially for some of the light-hearted moments the series needs that really only came from Hunter at this point. Maybe they are planning to get Fritz and Simmons back on to lighthearted duty but that seems like it would be stretching it abit, even if I did like the bit between Fritz and Hunter on the Amazon documentary. (Where they referencing anything in particular there as was it just to tie in with Hunter apparently being a keen forager.)

Hell to be honest I think most of the memorable acting has been done by Coulson, Mac, Bobbie and Hunter for most of this season, I mean look at the Bar scene and the others may as well have been cardboard cut outs. Plus they are kind of locked in their roles at this point, May has to be a Stoic hardass, Skye has to be be increasingly unlike able, Fitz and Simmons are supposed to be going through some pretty rough stuff so I don't really see what they can do that will keep my interest in the characters from this point on.

Overall I liked the Episode but not really sure what it means for the series as a whole. Perhaps it's going to be another dip similar to what we saw before Winter Soldier with a Rise afterwards thanks to a whole new playing field but I dunno I'll have to wait and see.

[LordRahl6]

Hell to be honest I think most of the memorable acting has been done by Coulson, Mac, Bobbie and Hunter for most of this season.

Let's not forget 4,722 Hours, while Elizabeth Henstridge's performance isn't perfect, the handling and reaction within and because of the events of that episode make it believable.

[Bulldog Psion]

Let's not forget 4,722 Hours, while Elizabeth Henstridge's performance isn't perfect, the handling and reaction within and because of the events of that episode make it believable.

Agreed.

I think most of them have been decent to good, with some excellent; though I've never much liked Agent May and probably never will, so I can't speak to the acting there, other than "business as usual."

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But, yes, Hunter and Bobbie (or Bobbi or Bobby or whatever) departing is really going knock a lot of spirit and color out of the team. I hope someone else can step up.

[Calemyr]

Spoiler: Parting Shot

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Too bad Triplett is beyond recovery. We're losing much of the show's "charm" factor with Bobbi and Hunter, and Triplett was a major source of charm to my mind. Daisy is losing charm quickly with her attitude and Lincoln never had any. Mac is okay, and May is great when she can snark but poor otherwise. Coulson is and always has been the headliner here, but now too much of the burden has been placed on a character that is not center stage all that often now.

All told, this opens up a lot of room for new characters. We'll be seeing a lot more of Talbot and Creel, I imagine. And possibly more room for a rotating roster. More's the pity that the only Inhumans sticking around at the moment are Ms. Activist and the Little Stormcloud. Yoyo and Melty Joe are much more interesting.

[LaZodiac]

Spoiler: Parting Shot

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Too bad Triplett is beyond recovery. We're losing much of the show's "charm" factor with Bobbi and Hunter, and Triplett was a major source of charm to my mind. Daisy is losing charm quickly with her attitude and Lincoln never had any. Mac is okay, and May is great when she can snark but poor otherwise. Coulson is and always has been the headliner here, but now too much of the burden has been placed on a character that is not center stage all that often now.

All told, this opens up a lot of room for new characters. We'll be seeing a lot more of Talbot and Creel, I imagine. And possibly more room for a rotating roster. More's the pity that the only Inhumans sticking around at the moment are Ms. Activist and the Little Stormcloud. Yoyo and Melty Joe are much more interesting.

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The plus side is that this opens up more room for Yoyo and Melty Joe to hang out, plus any other Inhumans that join up. And as you said Creel could team up with our heroes. Imagine him absorbing some metal and then Joe turning his arms into blades or hammers or something.

[themaque]

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The plus side is that this opens up more room for Yoyo and Melty Joe to hang out, plus any other Inhumans that join up. And as you said Creel could team up with our heroes. Imagine him absorbing some metal and then Joe turning his arms into blades or hammers or something.

ouch... I'm not sure that's a great idea

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What happens when he changes back?

I agree that I LOVED Hunter & Bobbie. With so little Fitz-Simmons these days It feels like I'm watching Game of Thrones. All my favorites are leaving or dead and I'm not sure who is going to pick up the slack.