Agents of SHIELD: "Turn, Turn Turn"

[amanuensis1]

Oh CRIPES I need someplace to talk about tonight's Agents of SHIELD. Anybody up for discussion?

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

I was relieved, because Ward is my least favorite character.

Also it was incredibly skeevy that he pivoted like that from May to Skye but I guess it's okay because he's a bad guy now?

I'll watch next week to see what happens next. It's like the Cap 2 movie was the big picture and this is the details on the ground. I forget when The Hub was…somewhere in Europe? On an Atlantic island? Do you remember?

What did you think?

[amanuensis1]

Okay, I know I might be working too hard at this and delusional because my heart's broken, but...

...what if Ward just put himself into deep cover?

Think about the significance of the tag before you laugh at me.

Consider this: we saw him check the chamber of the pistol before he shot. What if he shot the three with an icer, did something when he shot Victoria Hand the extra times to make sure he'd get visible blood (Ward's a sharpshooter, he doesn't need to fire extra rounds to make sure someone's dead when he shot them at pointblank range, and we don't have any reason to think Ward hated Hand enough to want to put extra bullets in her), and did it all so that he can smoke out Garrett's network?

Hand could even have been in on it. (Her "Hey, Ward, wanna kill Garrett?" felt contrived--though it may just have been contrived for the story so that we could get that shocker moment out of Ward.) But maybe she wasn't in on it, because the fewer people who knew of a plan, the better chance it would have of succeeding. Garrett's a clairvoyant, after all.

But he's not a telepath. I didn't start thinking about this at all until after I saw the tag of the episode, wondering about the significance of Ward sitting there with his eyes closed, so still, hearing the drone of Garrett's anecdotes, and I started thinking, "What if this is Ward going into his own walled-off mindspace, having made a last-second, "The clairvoyant won't have seen this coming because I didn't know I was going to do it myself" decision, and now he's psyching himself up/out so that Garrett won't see/feel the outcome coming?

And Ward would do this kind of thing, would think it's his duty to do this kind of thing. Wouldn't care if it might get him killed or branded a traitor, because he already effed up earlier and badly by cold-killing the fake clairvoyant. (Heck, I'm almost willing to believe he'd kill the three loyal SHIELD agents just to go rogue and take this chance. Almost. That's probably taking my wishful thinking too far.)

Yes, I know I could be overthinking the whole thing, but these things happen when you're heartbroken. I very much want to believe this version, and now I'm enjoying its cleverness so much that I'll probably throw my emotions into it and get my heart broken all over again when it proves untrue.

[florahart]

Well, I mean, so many back and forths in this episode, which I'm sure is supposed to leave us as totally unsure who's on what side as the characters. So I'm willing to choose this too, and I agree, his entire characterization has been about duty. And about not being a team player -- doing his job alone. So...possible.

[amanuensis1]

If it hadn't been for that tag, the way he's sitting there with his eyes closed tuning out Garrett, and then opens his eyes as if to say to the viewer, "Yeah, you THINK you know what's going on now..." If not for that I would have assumed he's HYDRA and that's that.

But it works the other way too--him being HYDRA, I mean--with lots of little hints from the start, like the way he wants to work alone, his coldness, his unexplained anger at times...Yeah, I think the "so many back and forths" is meant to leave us saying "I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE" and that's the point.

[jenna_thorn]

I really don't think you're overthinking it, because this (going deep undercover at a two word off screen request from Coulson) would justify the seeming throwaway line from the pilot about his being second to Natasha in infiltration, because it's bugged me for months.

I think that his going deep / triple agent was set up from his introduction.

[amanuensis1]

(Your icon! Ha, I just saw that comic panel in-context a couple days ago and I was ALL OVER IT!)

They certainly set up something from the beginning, because either version works--his betrayal, or his preparation to keep infiltrating HYDRA no matter what. I am no longer certain which but after a day to ruminate, I am ready for either, I think!

Ward's always been my viewpoint character. Ward's still gonna be my viewpoint character, and that...well, that's gonna be interesting.

[florahart]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Does that count as a discussion?

(When Hand said Coulson, and then they went to commercial, K1 and I were both making grabby hands at the TV going COME BACK HERE WHAT WAIT WHAT?! NO COMMERCIALS NOW!)

But seriously, akjfhakjhsdhjfkshjljfhda Ward! What the hell, dude! When they just made me feel worried for him because Lorelai and hey that was kinda rapey, and then he was all how did I not know, and then urgh! And does the guy have the magic alien goo that heals people? And is he now going to have the graviton stuff? And does anyone on the Bus know because of Hand's radio? And just SO MANY QUESTIONS kajhdsfkjhakjdsf.

Also, is Lola okay? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

[amanuensis1]

Okay, here's my thought: Ward my be just what he seems to be now, but...what if Ward just put himself into deep cover?

Look up thread here for my explanation.

[ellid]

My friend Tracy and I thought the same thing: maybe Ward has decided to go inside HYDRA to try to smoke it out?

Also, it looks like this episode is set during the last part of CA:TWS but not quite during the end, since Cap's status is unknown. I'm assuming this meant that Steve had brought down the Triskelion and the helicarriers but either hadn't been found afterwards or was still being treated at whatever hospital (a military facility?) hospital he ended up in. Clearly the government is trying to keep his condition and location quiet, since Natasha doesn't say where he is while he's recovering, plus there are armed guards outside his room.

Either way, I was screaming a lot. A LOT.

[amanuensis1]

The idea didn't come to me until some minutes after I saw it. But I kept thinking back to the tag and why they spent time focused on Ward's closed eyes like that while Garrett drones on in the background.

[meredyth]

Unless Ward is actually the clairvoyant?

*random thought it random*

[meredyth]

That look that Coulson and Ward exchange as he's walking away speaks so loudly! I'm just not sure what the translation is.

You're right, it could totally go both ways. But my leaning is towards deep cover - simply because if he were truly HYDRA, why didn't he eliminate Skye when he had her alone in the base? He has to know that she's a threat, possibly one of the biggest threats, to their activities.

However it pans out, my brain is so twisted now I need a corkscrew to clean my ears.

I'm just waiting for Phil to realise that Lola has been damaged - then HYDRA better think about crawling back into that dark cave, and pulling the tunnel down behind them.