AGENTS OF SHIELD: Rise and Shine {Roundtable}

Agents of SHIELD dove deep into the mind of a young Hale, watching as she finished her HYDRA training and how that has lead her to the choices of today. Did it go enough to humanize a woman we all want to die? Find out as Rueben, Karen and I dig into “Rise and Shine”.

1. Lots of flashbacks today. What did you make of the making of Hale? How do you feel about her working for Whitehall and being friends with a young Sitwell?

MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – “Rise and Shine” – Coulson uncovers General Hale’s true agenda, and it could be the end of the world if S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t help her, on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” FRIDAY, MARCH 30 (9:01-10:01 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Byron Cohen)
CATHERINE DENT, ADRIAN PASDAR

Rueben: There was a lot of flashbacks, weren’t there? Those flashbacks at least helped viewers understand Hale’s background, not that it justifies what she’s doing it, but why she’s doing it. I don’t really think she had a choice in working with Whitehall. There was that veiled threat to her life made by Whitehall when she balked about being forced to become a mother and not getting a better assignment. I was actually more troubled by her being in class with Von Strucker than Sitwell, but that at least explains Sitwell’s backstory now too.

Karen: I always love when they throw Easter eggs into SHIELD (Sitwell’s backstory), so that’s a huge plus. (see what I did there? Easter?) I don’t feel the least bit sorry for Hale. She’s still the worst. She freaking killed her dog to prove loyalty to HYDRA. Being impregnated caused her distress? Really? She seemed pretty psyched to be working with Whitehall until she figured out she didn’t get the top cherry gig. C’mon, THE. WORST. (lol Hale HYDRA)

Roz: I don’t feel bad for Hale at all, and the story with the dog just reminded me of Kingsmen, so that was a little tired. That said, I guess we needed to see how she was made to be this over the top; so much exposure to Whitehall would do that to any woman, especially when so much of her value is in her womb, not in her skills.

2. The Confederacy is run by Peter Mensah as some sort of alien. Do you like how their goal mixes with the Destroyer of Worlds?

Rueben: If nothing else, it at least explains part of the Destroyer of Worlds scenario, but did I catch it correctly that Whitehall had that name in mind way back when. This has been in the works for a VERY long time then. I’m just really troubled by the aliens as a whole, and doubt their intentions.

Karen: I think the clues are just confirming my suspicions that Qovas (Peter Mensah) is one of Kasius’ predecessors. I think he might be Kree, and this is part of the stuff that’s set up with the future timeline story.

Roz: I dislike how this alien, with HYDRA’s help, is trying to bring us to the end of the world. I feel like this whole Kree/alien part of the story is dragging me down.

3. Now FitzSimmons and Yoyo know they make it to the lighthouse. Is that going to change the course of that past with all of the knowledge?

Rueben: I’m beginning to think that the past is just going to repeat itself, and while the team may have learned a lot in the future, they are going to be doomed – to a certain degree – to repeat it all. I want to hold out just a slim bit of hope that they will try to change the past without losing their lives in the process regardless of what they believe: that they are invincible, et al.

Karen: I see what you did there Rueben. Santayana must be part of the Marvel universe, eh? I also hold out some hope that our intrepid SHIELD team can change trajectories a bit, just so we don’t end Season 5 in an apocalypse. I’m already anticipating some fallout, but let’s not go crazy.

Roz: I want the team to change the future we saw, but I don’t know how that happens when we already know Daisy is the Destroyer of Worlds, not Ruby. They do make it to the future, sure, but we don’t know exactly how. I mean, did that Yo-Yo we met at the Lighthouse have her real arms or robotic ones? There are already some changes.

4. How much do you want to see a Ruby versus Daisy fight now that Ruby’s got that big chip on her shoulder?

Rueben: I SO want to see Daisy just rip that little Ruby to pieces. Don’t you guys? That chip on her shoulder just seems to get bigger each time we see her. And to be honest, I’d love to see Daisy and Yo-Yo do a tag team on Ruby. Yo-Yo is not going to let her get away with what she did.

Karen: Let’s do! Daisy will wipe the floor with her, and Yo-Yo once she’s amped up? HOOO MAMA! I’ll get the popcorn.

Roz: Yeah, give me this to me now. I just need Daisy to take down Ruby and still not be the Destroyer of Worlds.

5. MVP?

Rueben: While this may seem like a lame choice given that he finally broke, but Talbot if for no other reason that the zingers he got to spew at Hale. “Crossfit Tinkerbell.” “Calamari Mati Hari.” “Bust your Kracken ass.” I just thought they dialogue he got was pretty priceless and very funny.

MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – “Rise and Shine” – Coulson uncovers General Hale’s true agenda, and it could be the end of the world if S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t help her, on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” FRIDAY, MARCH 30 (9:01-10:01 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Byron Cohen)
ADRIAN PASDAR

Karen: Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) is always good. I have to put my votes in for the very short scene between Jemma and Mack, and then the scene between Jemma and Fitz.
Mack tells her, “It’s not that Fitz is still a bad guy out here, it’s that he was still a good guy in there.”
Then the scene between Jemma and Fitz where they discuss Deke is HILARIOUS, and touching, and the perfect end to this episode.
LEO: He’s my our grandson?
JEMMA: Yeah.
LEO: But he’s the worst.
JEMMA: [Laughs] I think he’s perfect. Plus, his very existence proves that you and I make it to the Lighthouse and live long enough to raise a daughter.
LEO: Do you see what this means?
JEMMA: Yeah, I do.
LEO: It means that our daughter’s obviously gonna marry some belligerent space goon – if she’s gonna give birth to a Deke?
JEMMA: No, Fitz. It means you and I are invincible.

Roz: I think Talbot gets my vote too. He stood his ground as best he could when confronted with another crazy plan from HYDRA.

Karen also went and identified a good number of the books on young Hale’s desk and shelf.
Communism and Development by Robert Bideleux
Over There: How America Sees the World by Granta: The Magazine of New Writing, Ian Jack (Editor)
From H-Bomb to Star Wars: The Politics of Strategic Decision Making by Jonathan B. Stein
Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow
The Americans: A Social History of the United States, 1587-1914 by J.C. Furnas
FDR’s Last Year by Jim Bishop
Widows by William R. Corson, Joseph J. Trento, Susan B. Trento
(Four American Spies, The Wives They Left Behind and the KGB’s Crippling of American Intelligence)
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from W.H. Taft to G.W. Bush by Henry F. Graff (Editor)
(This was on a table with a cassette tape on top)