Agents of SHIELD S204 - Face My Enemy

[ctg]

According to Clark Gregg, last night's episode had some of the lighter moments we'll see this season:

There's episodes that we do that are really — especially this season — that are really dark and terrifying, and there's ones that have elements of that but also, you know, that's what I love about Marvel. They don't shy away from — there's got to be some moments that are fun and funny and sexy. There's this terrific relationship between Coulson and his oldest friend, in a way, certainly at S.H.I.E.L.D., in Agent May, played so wonderfully by Ming-Na Wen.

Jeph Loeb also answered how the two Marvel shows are connected:

Spoiler

I can't reveal all of it, and there's the magical "it's all connected," but there was something really fun about being able to sit down at the beginning of the season and say, "Okay, because of what happened last season, Coulson has been tasked with this enormous job of rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D. What is it, who is it, what are the responsibilities and — most importantly — why is it?" Those are the things that weigh on his character and weigh on the stories that we're telling. To then be able to go back to 1946 and see Peggy Carter deal with that same issue, which is, should there be — they don't even have a name for it yet — should there be an organization like this? To see that echo back and forth is tremendously fun and makes "Carter" so relevant now even though it's a period piece. We don't want anyone to feel like, "Well, I don't know what the world was like back in 1946?" You don't have to care, just come on aboard and watch ["Agent Carter" lead] Hayley Atwell try to figure out the same things that Coulson is trying to figure out in present day — but the world is a different place. So that kind of action, adventure and fun will feel very much like what we refer to as 'The Mothership,' but on its own has its own kind of flavor. That's very much like the movies. Our movies, "Captain America" and "Thor" and "Iron Man," are all very different films and yet, when you watch them together, it all feels like it's of a piece. That's the key to what we're trying to do.

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[markpud]

Spoiler

Really enjoyed seeing May let her hair down this week. Really can't believe she's 50! The May on May fight was a fan-boy dream but somewhat gratuitous (referring to the underweary-ness of it all).

Happy to see Fitz starting to reintegrate too. Such a wonderfully performed character.

As for all the tie-ins of the "universe". I felt slightly ripped off after being told that one episode last season would ref Thor 2, so I went out and watched the movie (otherwise would probably have waited for the DVD) but the enjoyment of the episode didn't rely on knowing the plot of that film. Obviously the tie into Capt America 2 was much bigger and was the catalyst for moving the series forward. I actually preferred SHIELD's explanation of what happened re Hydra. Cap2 was a fun action film but I enjoyed it more having already seen what happened via SHIELD.

How Agent Carter deals with prequel-itis remains to be seen. I'm guessing there's be plenty of shady guys saying hail Hydra to each other while appearing to work for SHIELD.

Gotham's done a decent job so far of making an engaging prequel, so there's hope Carter can too.