Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Roundtable: “The Writing on the Wall”

After much focus and speculation, this week there is finally some resolution to the alien writing that has been driving Coulson and others to the brink of madness. Also, after his escape last week, Ward manages to evade his pursuers while carrying out his yet unknown agenda.

1. The alien writing turned out to be a map to a city. Was that on your short list of what it would be?

Liz: A map to a city never even crossed my mind, although it probably should have. I actually thought it was blueprints to a weapon. But this makes me wonder if they’re going to tie this map to the next superhero movie. Thor? Guardians? It’s all connected, after all!

Louise: It wasn’t on my short list at all, and now I feel like an idiot for not thinking it was. That said, I don’t know what the map could be of – aside from a city where Skye will be Queen or something like that – and that’s maybe one more mystery than I want right now.

Jan: I didn’t see that one. I thought it might be a map leading them to something, a weapon or some important item. I’m very curious now to see what this city is, and why the map of it is so important. I love Liz’s idea that it could be tied to the next movie.

2. Ward sent Coulson a HYDRA sized present. What do you think his motivations are for sending him to SHIELD instead of killing him as he did the others?

Liz: I found it ironic that Ward did the same thing Coulson did for Talbot, only messier. Is he trying to gain Coulson’s trust? Doubtful, but other than killing his brother, I have no idea what his end game is. Is he a loose cannon?

Louise: With Ward, I don’t even know if he knows his motivations. His conversation with that HYDRA agent seemed more like a test to see if Ward should still be in HYDRA rather than a problem for Coulson. That just happens to be a happy “accident”.

Jan: I’m trying to get a grip on Ward. He spoke of being “free” now, and it seemed to me that is what he was feeling…the freedom to do things his own way. I think Ward isn’t really bad, but not exactly good either. Rather, he’s somewhere in the middle and will likely continue to perform a mixture of both bad and good deeds in the coming episodes, fulfilling his own agenda but helping SHIELD here and there along the way.

3. Fitz told Mack that the files in our brain never really go away, there is always a backup. A glimmer of hope that Fitz’ condition might not be so permanent?

Liz: I hadn’t thought of that, but hopefully that is the case. However, I think Fitz is doing just fine with Mack. Maybe we’ll just have to resign ourselves to the fact that the old Fitz is never coming back.

Louise: If only! I think Fitz’ brain is recovering, just more slowly than anyone on the team wanted.

Jan: Mack’s taking notice of the comment makes me feel that it will be explored. I have a hard time believing we will see the Fitz of old again, but it would be nice to see him continue to get his confidence back and maybe overcome some more of the issues that still plague him.

4. Who was the MVP of “The Writing on the Wall”?

Liz: It was a toss up between Skye and Coulson, but I think I have to give the award to Skye this time. She kind of reminded me of May! The way she took care of Coulson would have made May proud, in spite of her allowing Coulson to use the “torture chamber” again. I don’t think even May could have stopped Coulson from that.

Louise: Skye for taking the wheels and running with Coulson’s decision to go back into that machine.

Jan: I’m going to go against the grain on this one. Although I loved seeing Coulson being his awesome self and Skye stepping up in a big way, I’m going to give this one to Ward. I know he’s not exactly playing for the right team, but he was at the top of his game all episode. Even the badass Morse couldn’t fool him, and in the end he ended up putting a valuable enemy right in the team’s hands.

5. What was your favorite scene in the episode?

Liz: My favorite scenes were the flashbacks to when Coulson ordered the agents’ memories wiped. We finally got that whole story. Now it will be interesting to see what is done with all that information. What is so important about this city they now have the map to? Are there more aliens like the dead one? Still so many questions.

Louise: Weirdly, I liked the scene with Bobbi and Hunter chasing Ward and how Ward realized what was going on during his phone call to Skye later.

Jan: I enjoy most the moments that make me laugh out loud. In this episode, it was the moment Simmons asked if anyone wanted to leave before she performed the autopsy and pretty much every hand in the room went up.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on ABC.