Discuss Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3x13 "The Inside Man" - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Oh, for crying out loud. This primary night is going to mess with the show (and the US) tonight. Where is it that elected guy from Canada is from? I'm moving there.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 17:56 CET

Trudeau? Montreal, I think. The election returns are all over my tv too, sadly.

Sunfire | March 15, 18:00 CET

Not Trudeau. The one who loves Buffy.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:01 CET

Breaking news should only be for imminent danger, IMO. The rest use a scroll.

Buy SHIELD! On now! Yay.

NYPinTA | March 15, 18:02 CET

Gord Perks. Toronto.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:02 CET

Oh yes, I meant the scroll. We hates the scroll.

Sunfire | March 15, 18:02 CET

WTF?

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:03 CET

Huh. That was... interesting...

NYPinTA | March 15, 18:03 CET

Toronto and Montreal, no wrong choices there. Both wonderful cities.

Sunfire | March 15, 18:04 CET

Hive-Ward has very creepy Borg powers.

Sunfire | March 15, 18:05 CET

Shake and bake.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:05 CET

Shake and Bake! Ha.

NYPinTA | March 15, 18:06 CET

Twist.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:10 CET

I have a feeling that he was, like Lincoln, there as back up for Talbot. Guess this is their first lesson in how not communicating is bad.

NYPinTA | March 15, 18:11 CET

I was wondering how Creel got loose.

JDL | March 15, 18:11 CET

How'd Creel get out of the stone?

Gloves Fitz? Power dampeners?

Dusk | March 15, 18:11 CET

Hey all, checking in and catching up. I'm 15 min behind.

hann23 | March 15, 18:17 CET

Oh, May. You're so mean.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:18 CET

Hey, hann23.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:19 CET

That mustache has got to go.

NYPinTA | March 15, 18:19 CET

Talbot and Coulson are hilarious together here.

Sunfire | March 15, 18:22 CET

I didn't realize that Talbot was an idiot...

NYPinTA | March 15, 18:22 CET

May sniping at Hunter seems out of nowhere...trying to isolate him and Bobbi for the other show?

Dusk | March 15, 18:22 CET

Wardra is so creepy.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:23 CET

Talbot isn't an idiot, he just has a very particular (flawed) perspective and all of the stuff happening right now is outside of it.

Sunfire | March 15, 18:23 CET

Ming-Na Wen said May was going to "harden up" again this season after what happened with Andrew, etc.

AndrewCrossett | March 15, 18:24 CET

Lincoln's gonna die.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:28 CET

Ok maybe he IS an idiot. :(

Sunfire | March 15, 18:28 CET

What?!

NYPinTA | March 15, 18:35 CET

Uh-Oh! Tallbot's not dumb, just corrupt!

Dusk | March 15, 18:36 CET

Talbot IS an idiot.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:36 CET

Is Talbot even Talbot?? Wait... WHAT?!

NYPinTA | March 15, 18:36 CET

De-idioted! It did seem so weirdly out of character for him that I was making a head canon about why, I guess. Confidently pretending to be stupid to put Coulson at ease.

Sunfire | March 15, 18:36 CET

Freaking Talbot....

garyyager | March 15, 18:37 CET

Well the genetic component is finally out. Surprised it took this long.

JDL | March 15, 18:39 CET

Uh, print detecting guns is freaking awesome idea, guys. No kids accidentally shooting themselves or others. Thieves can't use them. Unless... they're SHIELD.

[ edited by NYPinTA on 2016-03-16 02:41 ]

NYPinTA | March 15, 18:40 CET

Man. Talbot went from idiot, to horrible traitor, to guy stuck in a bad situation in just a few moments. I'm dizzy.

NYPinTA | March 15, 18:42 CET

Jasmine flashback

garyyager | March 15, 18:44 CET

Ah! The frozen guy is Talbot's son.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:45 CET

I have no idea what's going on.

Agent | March 15, 18:46 CET

No sure either of them is totally wrong about a vaccine.

You know Mallick you could have just shot them right away...

Those 2 Hydra Inhumans might try a flip.

Dusk | March 15, 18:46 CET

So was Creel released because Malick had Talbot's son you think ? If so then he is still Hydra.

JDL | March 15, 18:49 CET

Ok, I'm back on team Coulson and Talbot as buddies (who kinda hate each other.)

[ edited by NYPinTA on 2016-03-16 02:52 ]

NYPinTA | March 15, 18:51 CET

So cool to see him using his powers for good.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:52 CET

By the end of the season, Coulson and Talbot will be kissing.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:54 CET

Ick.

NYPinTA | March 15, 18:55 CET

Did Ward just... bathe in liquified Inhumans? Revolting.

I also am very team Couson/Talbot cranky friendship.

Sunfire | March 15, 18:57 CET

Another Creel twist ? Argggh!

JDL | March 15, 18:57 CET

I knew he's find a way to make Ward hot again.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 18:57 CET

Best episode for Lincoln so far imo.

JDL | March 15, 18:58 CET

They were liquefied humans. "Ward" cannot feed on his own kind apparently.

Dusk | March 15, 19:01 CET

Pissed off the DVR cut off before the show ended.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 19:01 CET

No Mack at all this episode.

Glad Talbot and Creel are on Team Good now.

AndrewCrossett | March 15, 19:01 CET

I wonder if liquified humans would cure my saggy skin.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 19:03 CET

Maybe Mack will have a bigger role in a subsequent episode, AndrewC.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 19:04 CET

I love the antagonistic bromance between Coulson and Talbot. Definitely looking forward to their eventual kiss.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 19:05 CET

Great episode tonight.Really liked the Coulson/Talbot stuff tonight.

Aso the Inhuman vaccine reminds of the mutant cure from Joss's Astonishing X-Men(and then used in X-Men The Last Stand).

The Inhuman sanctuary also has a very X-Men vibe.

[ edited by Buffyfantic on 2016-03-16 03:09 ]

Buffyfantic | March 15, 19:08 CET

I really thought he said "bring me 5 Inhumans" and they said something like "ok here boss, SHIELD was keeping them in those stasis cubes so they're nice and fresh for you."

Sunfire | March 15, 19:10 CET

Oh nope, I see that I just misheard it and he said 5 humans. Darn.

Sunfire | March 15, 19:14 CET

Imo Daisy is off base on the "cure" and Lincoln is dead right.

JDL | March 15, 19:23 CET

In regards to the vaccine, I'm with Daisy. Yeah, there are some scary creepazoids among Inhumans, but then they'll prevent people like Daisy and YoYo.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 19:34 CET

Supposedly the Inhuman they are going after is
a teleporter. In the comics he was a mutant.

JDL | March 15, 19:34 CET

But Nebula Inhumans being changed involuntarily should have the right to choose !

JDL | March 15, 19:35 CET

Bobbi and Hunter are going off on their own mission... is this a "soft pilot" for their spinoff? And could the reason they have to go on the run be that they kill Gideon Malick, with the world still believing him to be a good guy?

AndrewCrossett | March 15, 19:45 CET

JDL: Except most Inhumans don't know they are until they're changed. We also don't know what Creel vaccine would do to regular humans, do we? What if they start becoming walking rubber bands?

[ edited by Nebula1400 on 2016-03-16 03:52 ]

Nebula1400 | March 15, 19:52 CET

This is similar to the debate in X-Men about "curing" mutants, except in this case the Inhuman in question won't know what power it is they're giving up because they have to take the vaccine before they find out what it is. And if Lincoln is right, the power isn't based on something the person is, but what is needed in the community. So it's a choice, but one where the Inhuman in question only has half the knowledge, but it's not a chance I think I'd be willing to take. But like in X-Men it's the mutants with the cool powers that take offense to the "cure" (like Storm) and mutants that got crappy powers that want it (like Rogue). In this case, Daisy, who you gotta admit, has a pretty cool power, is the one all 'rah rah' Inhumans are awesome sauce.

NYPinTA | March 15, 19:54 CET

It is like the Jossy X-Men. Still, unless there is genetic testing of everyone on the planet, there's no way to catch every Inhuman.

They could recommend that everyone become vegan so they don't get it via fish/fish oil.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 20:02 CET

Honestly thought this was a horrible episode, salvaged only by the two subplots around HiveWard and Daisy/Lincoln. I found the Inhuman convention to be right out of an old 6 Million Dollar Man episode - just corny as hell, and the humor incredibly forced. Disappointing.

I do think the vaccine question is worthy of debate and is one of the more interesting premises the show has asked (and yes borrowed from an old X-Men storyline) Hope that thread continues, and yes this does provide the writers another chance to make Lincoln more interesting

Kudos to Brett Dalton - he seems to have found that stillness / otherness vibe that is affecting, even if I remain unconvinced Hive is capable of being an Omnipotent Ruler of Worlds. I will say goop scene was nicely creepy

Have to say after 3 seasons showing is losing me a little bit. Hope they can course correct in time for an exciting run through to season finale

TallMichaelJ | March 15, 20:03 CET

I haven't wanted to admit this, but Captain America is never showing up. Tony Stark isn't going to facetime. Hawkeye isn't leaving his farm. They're not going to go check on Jessica Jones, even though she has to be on someone's radar (ditto Daredevil).

Unfulfilled potential is what I'm saying.

After two-and-a-half years, I need to accept that this show and I don't want the same things out of this relationship. It's fine... I had unreasonable expectations, and it's not fair for me to expect it to change at this point. It just still hurts, y'know?

[ edited by Agent on 2016-03-16 04:21 ]

[ edited by Agent on 2016-03-16 04:21 ]

Agent | March 15, 20:20 CET

Good call on the downside to going after Mallick AndrewCorsett. If you read the guest characters for next week, I see a potential problem right away.

On the vaccine, it would prevent Daisy & YoYo but they got off easy on the transformation. Even Raina rejected it after who thorny she became. Even people who seem well adjusted like Andrew can apparently go crazy, not to mention the girl in Bahrain. On the other hand, genetic sterilization isn't exactly humane either.

Dusk | March 15, 20:26 CET

Am I the only one who never expected any of the Avengers to show up in this show? They would never have the budget to have any of them even do a cameo. I was always OK with it being its own show.

Nebula1400 | March 15, 21:22 CET

Well, the Conqueror Worm got Ward's body back in shape with a method much like Countess Bathory did hers (for her greater good). I note he said earlier in the episode that the Ward body would be sufficient until the time comes. Would that be when he, oh I don't know, turns into Cthulhu Worm? That will be interesting to see. I do love the twists and turns of this show. And Coulson's hand. He should have several hands, all of them weapons.

Tonya J | March 15, 22:17 CET

I notice they set something up in this ep when Daisy mentioned the "Watchdogs" to Lincoln and expositioned that they're an online hate group who wanna kill Inhumans. At first I thought that this is maybe a group we'd see in Cap 3, that it was a nod to the unrest in that upcoming film, but then I checked the list for the next few weeks' worth of episodes and I see that in two weeks we'll get one called "Watchdogs" (are the Watchdogs something from the comics?). Hmmm...should we expect a big Daisy & Lincoln ep ? With maybe Andrew/Lash and Yo-Yo thrown in for good measure ?All the named Inhumans, basically ?

Creel is hot. Love the big stud thug types and he sure is a handsome one, damn. I like his power too, so was happy to see him back -- even though they've barely given him any lines in two stints on the show now, which has me wondering if the man playing him is much of an actor. Either way, he has presence.

The Hive/Ward-body-restored stuff was perfectly creepy and horrific. Awesome stuff.

Best Lincoln material so far. He has "character-most-likely-to-die-this-season" written all over him, though. He feels like a bit of an unnecessary holdover from Season 2, too, so...much as I don't wanna see Daisy hurtin' (although maybe I kind of do, because Chloe Bennet's great at playing that stuff), I'm okay with Linc being the sacrifical lamb of the year (though Rosalind already was -- I was more attached to her character, though, she was awesome and Linc is a little bland). Although then we lose more prime male eye candy, hmm...

Zero suspense over Bobbi & Hunter's fates in any situation due to the confirmed spin-off now. :\ Oh well, they're mostly the comic relief and there was already genuine suspense with them when Ward tortured Bobbi last season.

Kris | March 16, 04:30 CET

In the comics, the Watchdogs were a neo-Nazi terrorist group, though not particularly anti-Inhuman or anti-mutant. They were against abortion and gays and had the usual extreme right agenda. They had uniforms and everything, and were secretly led by Red Skull (though I doubt they'll go that direction in the show). Captain America fought them.

Hmm, seems like the number of posts in these AoS threads is dropping quite a bit. I wonder why.

[ edited by AndrewCrossett on 2016-03-16 14:10 ]

AndrewCrossett | March 16, 06:09 CET

Bobbi: "I love you."
May: "I don't hate you quite as much."

Well, it's no "I'm the guy who kills Gordon."
But, it'll do.

RobynH | March 16, 07:57 CET

I liked the Inhuman cure when I read it in Astonishing X-Men. Apart from that, it felt a bit of a filler episode apart from the Talbot/Coulson scenes. Taco anyone?

Simon | March 16, 09:01 CET

I missed Mack. Where are you hiding him?

I like Talbot with Coulson. They like fit unevenly but it's so pretty to look at.

I also had a Jasmine flashback with Ward asking for humans.

I was urging Malick to just shoot them (Coulson&Talbot) - putting them in that cage just to be saved is such an overused trope I'd've preferred they get shot *grumbles*

Mirage | March 16, 09:33 CET

Can't believe I missed this live - we were out of power at home - considering the setting.
At least AOS' fake Taipei looked better than fake Taipei from Alias.

Not sure how I feel about the cure thing.

Fascinated by "possessed" Ward.

Numfar PTB | March 16, 10:40 CET

So I was watching 15 minutes behind but then hubby popped up and asked me to pause so he could catch up. Thus, I could not watch live. But hey, Mr. Hann23 is very into this season and he's picky.

Talbot threw me. I knew that he wasn't that stupid so I too was trying to head cannon his wonkiness. It all made sense when it was revealed that Mallck had his son. I do not get where Creel came in. I thought he was stuck somewhere. And do we know what happened to him? That's a way cool super power.

I don't want Hunter and Bobbi to leave. I like them. I love seeing Bobbie kick ass over and over and over and over again. And I adore Spike!Hunter. But if they get the spin off, maybe we can see May go Calvary more often and Mack can come out of0 his office.

I think the quality of the last two episodes were quite good. It's attributable to the performance of Brett Daulton. He's really shown some fine acting chops. Please know, I feel the whole cast is great, but Daulton's just knocking it out of the park as anorexic and then buff crazy Hive. I expect Shield!Hive might be more powerful then whatever iteration was in the comics. I was creeped out by the liquid feed. Ugh! Scary!

Anyone watching The Magicians? THere's a great scene where one character tells another two characters to go "*&$" already. I want that to happen to Jemma and Fitz. Or did Hunter already say that? I was not a fan of Jemma's pedal backwards last week. And they could have off screened it.

I'm struggling with the vaccine because it was just so much a part of Astonishing X Men and I'm dreading, dreading Civil War. I know the vaccine might not be part of that movie but I think Shield is mirroring the splits of Civil War. I want everyone to be happy together and not have all these splits and feuds. I never wanted the Scooby Gang to fight either.

So onto next week! I can't wait! Hopefully, I can watch with everyone.

hann23 | March 16, 13:24 CET

One thing that has bothered me is that Daisy and Lincoln have no chemistry. I have a hard time buying them as a couple.

Lincoln has to die.

Nebula1400 | March 16, 14:00 CET

Lincoln and Daisy really weren't even a blip on my radar. Oops.

hann23 | March 16, 14:41 CET

Came here to say that Lincoln needs to go the hell away. Glad I'm not the first to say it.

Trentaferd | March 16, 16:05 CET

The problem is that Lincoln has not been developed as a character. He's just sort of there to be Daisy's mopey boy toy. He has interchangeable parts, and any Ken doll can fill in for him when he's emoting. He's also all over the place in terms of the role he's supposed to be fulfilling in the story. There's just nothing consistent about the character's personality beyond the perpetual mope. It's not the actor who's at fault (though someone else might bring more to the part), but the fact that we have no back story on him that compels us to care about whether he's on screen or not.

Compare him to Fitz, for instance. Fitz can be mopey, too, but we understand why, and we mope along with him. There's chemistry between him and Simmons. There's a great deal of stuff that's in between the lines for both characters.

Lincoln has none of this.

[ edited by Nebula1400 on 2016-03-17 14:15 ]

Nebula1400 | March 16, 16:56 CET

I was all excited to see the guy who plays the monk in Buffy -- "She's an innocent in this." "She's not my sister?" "She doesn't know that." --I've always loved that scene.

And I'm glad notWard can lose his super-fake looking body makeup. I found it very distracting. Dalton is doing great, though.

jcs | March 16, 22:51 CET

jcs I was wondering where I knew him from! Thanks for clearing this for me.

Mirage | March 17, 06:37 CET

I had to think for a minute, which character on SHIELD matched the actor you're talking about (plus add 15.5 years of aging, because holy crap, that's how long it's been since early Season 5 aired, wow).

The Russian representative ! The one who may or may not have had sinister/ulterior motives. I feel like it's well-worn territory in American-made fiction, especially in film & TV, that we're all expected to be and sometimes lead on to be suspicious of Russian politicians and diplomats...and AoS played right into that trope this week. :\ Sorta disappointing. Is it topical ? Sure -- Cold War paranoia hasn't gone out of style and especially with tensions being as they are at the moment...but is it accurate ? I dunno, I have no clue about the ratio of corruption among Russian politicians versus the average across the world or even just in comparison to corrupt North American politicians (impossible to get a real read on anyway, given that so much of corruption is unknown/hidden). I only know that Putin is a sexist, homophobic, land-chunk-annexing egomaniac (among other complimentary descriptors). Can we have one good Russian politician in a major action drama that I watch ? They had a Russian ambassador on 24 introduced in one season and seemingly good/reasonable, might've had him in one more season, and then revealed him to be completely rotten in his second or third year on the show.

It's just...it's done. Make one of the other countries on that council bad. China ? Okay no. Was Japan sitting there as well ? Their politicians haven't been villains in mainstream American TV and film for a long while, let it be them. I can't remember what other countries were sitting there.

Anyway, so the Buffy Season 5 monk was Russian rep ? Cool !

Kris | March 19, 10:08 CET

March 15 2016