Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 100th Episode Roundtable

Friday night saw the 100th episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which not only focused on the team dealing with three Monoliths exploding inside the Lighthouse and the Doctor Who-like rip in time that took place because of that explosion but also a monumental ceremony taking place at the very end and a rather unexpected revelation about a new character.

It’s time to see what Karen, Rueben and Roz had to say about this important episode that marks a record for the Marvel universe on the small screen:

We now know a LOT more about Deke, don’t we? Did you see that revelation coming before hand? What do you think of the revelation?

Karen: I KNEW HIS PARENTS WERE CONNECTED! I was off a little, but I think I mentioned those two as potentials. Of course I was a generation off… but hey, I was close. I’m so glad he’s got a SHIELD connection. I really dig his character and hope he sticks around.

Rueben: It’s great that he has a SHIELD connection, but I certainly was NOT expecting it to be Fitz and Simmons. It’s actually kind of cool that they are his grandparents, but I didn’t see it coming until he said that line about finding the ring at the thrift store that looked like the ring his grandmother used to have. The light bulb literally blew up over my head at that statement. That revelation explains so much and gives more credence to why he kept popping up in the episodes.

Roz: Okay so I didn’t think that was a possibility but I think it works that after all this Deke is at least “family” to SHIELD. It helps to explain a few things and why Deke was so adamant to look towards the Earth That Was, and why he’s got some good instincts about SHIELD.

This episode definitely seemed to pay homage to Doctor Who with the crack in the wall-like rip in time and, of course, the revelation about Deke. Were you surprised by the homage; and how did you feel about the rip created the worst fears of everyone as it grew?

Karen: I love timey-wimey, so of course I ate it up! The manifestation of fears was quite whovian as well. Probably the only nit I have was with the length of Coulson’s hesitation while standing at the rift with “Mike”. It gave the time for Deke to finish his chores and bring back the real Deathlok, so I understand why, but it still seemed like a really long time. We also got to see how logical it would’ve been for Coulson to explain away the last five years, so that was a factor as well.

Rueben: I was actually kind of enraptured by that whole conversation with “Mike.” What he said actually made sense and had me going for about a second that “Oh my God” it was all a dream, but the very next second, I knew that was too pap for the show to do that kind of twist. Plus, Fitz warned Coulson that his worst fears would be revealed to him the closer he got to the rift/rip so I knew all of that had to be false, but it sure made one question everything that took place before that. I totally loved the homage!!

Roz: I’m someone who goes to Gallifrey One most years, I never look poorly at a Doctor Who reference. Yeah it felt like a sort of more sinister, but still approachable villain that I like to see in Who episodes all the time. I think that the rip needs to do something to ramp up the tension and necessity of action, but it works here because this hole in the universe is not the same spin as Who. Never copy when you can just reference, folks.

We got a call back to Coulson’s exchange and deal with Ghost Rider. Were you surprised to find out what it entailed?

Rueben: I think I was more relieved than surprised by us finally learning what his deal with Ghost Rider entailed. It just seemed like they were stringing us along too long without an explanation. Now, we have to hope they can figure out how to rescue him from what seems to be an inevitable conclusion.

Roz: Honestly, I sort of forgot that deal with Ghost Rider (I feel like the LMD and Framework overshadowed all that Ghost Rider stuff). Everything felt fresh again, but I think that works at a long memory from fans that we can’t always look to. (I’ll admit that I don’t have a need to rewatch SHIELD the same way I do other shows.)

Karen: I had forgotten about it as well, so getting that payoff was a little unexpected Easter egg. I enjoyed the Ghost Rider bits last season, so again, a really nice callback for me. I enjoyed that it explained how and why Coulson was injured so badly, and that he was resigned to his fate. I’m not counting him out yet – but we do know that they’ve written this season’s finale as a SERIES finale – so you never know. They could blow up all of SHIELD for all we know.

Do you think it was fair of Coulson to put that kind of a burden on Daisy and May?

Rueben: No, I don’t think it was fair at all, but I also think that he didn’t have any other solution. But hopefully where my limitations of seeing another way out of this current situation are concerned, that the writers have another timey-wimey, twisty-turvy way to get around it all.

Roz: It’s not right, but I think it’s the only option he could think of. We really are down to the bare bones and if someone’s gotta go, Daisy’s straight is too much to ignore, or kill.

Karen: It was pretty dirty at the very least. Can you say martyr? He wants Daisy and May to work together as leaders in the “new SHIELD,” but it is really his cry for help? Part of me thinks he really wants them to find a cure for his death knell.

Hale is closing in on the Lighthouse. What do you think of how she’s approaching finding SHIELD?

Roz: I think it’s a bit myopic to look for Daisy in one city after those false leads, but shouldn’t she know that the Lighthouse is a place they would go?

Rueben: I have to wonder how much the Lighthouse is on her radar. She is seemingly closing in on them, but I’m hoping that perhaps Fitz and Simmons might be able to come up with some kind of blocking mechanism that no one can find the Lighthouse until they can figure out how to eradicate the rip in time. Other than that I just have to idea.

Karen: She seems laser focused that’s for sure. I don’t know if she realizes how much of a refuge the Lighthouse would be to them; that may be why she’s not zoned in before now.

So we see lots of the old “bad” guys in one place again. What do you want them to do with SHIELD now?

Roz: Isn’t the obvious answer to kill Hale? Besides that, I’ve got nothing.

Rueben: Yeah, I have to agree that Hale needs to go, but not until the team gets their revenge on Ruby for what she did to Yo-Yo.

Karen: She’s gotta go down. They’re going to come together in order to do that. However, there’s the other situation happening as well, y’know, the planet blowing up thing? Which one is the bigger threat? Which one will they have to take out first? I’m sure they’ll be concurrent, but how thin will they have to spread themselves to handle all of it? It’s gonna get interesting. I can’t wait to see how things play out. Fitz has to start working on Yo-Yo’s bionics soon, right?

What did you think of the 100th episode? Please share your thoughts below.

The next new episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will air on ABC on Friday, March 16 at 9/8c.

[Photo Credit: ABC]