TV Recap: AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D - Season 2 Episode 14: "LOVE IN THE TIME OF HYDRA"

One reason it was rough going getting this up for Wednesday (hence why you're now getting it on Saturday)? This wasn't an especially strong episode, and it was hard to find anything useful to say about it other than to recap what happened.

This an episode almost-exclusively about putting various characters into the positions they need to be in for a promised "explosive" storyline next week, buoyed by some character/relationship melodrama that was nice to see but would've worked better amid the support of a stronger overall setting. Upkeep-episodes are all well and good (and necessary, given that AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D is now clearly pacing itself with an eye on bulk re-watchings whenever the various future Marvel movies it's laying foundation for hit) but the word "obligatory" was hanging too prominently over the proceedings.

Full review (with SPOILERS!) after the jump...

The structural theme at play in "LOVE IN THE TIME OF HYDRA" was various character pairings being shaken by the continuing changes to their status-quo. To wit: Coulson and Skye re-solidify their surrogate-family bond amid his decision to remove her from active Agent duty and relocate her to a secret rural safe house. Fitz and Simmons have it out, verbally, over their unexpected divergence on the Inhumans (still unnamed as such) issue; i.e. Fitz wants to treat Skye's powers as a "difference" to be understood and accepted, Simmons sees them as a dangerous flaw to be cured (or worse?) Hunter finds out that Bobbi (Mockingbird) has been lying to him re: her and Mack being double agents for a second, better-equipped rival S.H.I.E.L.D revival.

Finally, Ward resurfaces, still seemingly in the midst of whatever long-term agenda he's been working this whole time but now with a smitten Agent 33 (the brainwashed HYDRA spy with the face-changer mask fused to her face) in tow. Their's is the "new" and more unconventional "Loves" referenced in the title, and I liking their dynamic even if they're over-telegraphing the "Hey! Remember how Ward pulled this exact same nuturing-crush thing on Skye!?" aspect. Their game-playing with Talbot was also the most entertaining aspect of the episode, re-establishing the tricky edge Adrian Pasdar has to walk with Talbot being not so much "incompetent" but utterly-outclassed as an ordinary General in a world of spies and superheroes.

"The Real S.H.I.E.L.D," on the other hand, is more of a mixed bag. The setup works: These aren't (evidently) more "bad" Agents, nor do they seem to be HYDRA (again, which would be lame,) they just represent a much larger (than Team Coulson) consortium of ex-Agents who also want to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D but see said rebuild as an opportunity to jettison the (in their view) failed Nick Fury model of secret-keeping that Coulson (ever the in-universe fanboy clinging to the old-school) and his ownership of Fury's personal files is standing in the way of.

The problem with this setup? It's already too apparent (unless one hell of a curveball is on the way, granted) what it's there for: Real S.H.I.E.L.D's leader Gonzales (Edward James Olmos) is specifically concerned about Skye's transformation, Coulson's alien-infused blood and the proliferation of enhanced superhumans in general; which means that in addition to worldbuilding for the INHUMANS franchise we would now seem to have some infrastructure for the (MCU version of the) Superhuman Registration storyline that's expected to be the inciting incident for CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR.

All well and good. But for now, no matter how much "moral gray" AGENTS wants to feign by lampshading how haphazard Coulson's style of running a covert spy agency would seem if he wasn't a TV character on an AVENGERS spin-off, the cat is out of the bag in terms of The Inhumans being MCU's replacement for X-MEN/Mutant characters and storylines. As such, it feels pointless to pretend like "Real S.H.I.E.L.D" is going to end up as something other than variations on Stryker, Gyrich, etc.

Presumably this will all pay off handsomely moving forward, but right now we're strictly in piece-arrangement territory, and that doesn't leave a lot to actually think about.


PARTING THOUGHTS

• Also not a great sign: Ward's return mainly reminded me how not-interesting his family-issues and undefined "agenda" are. It still feels like the show made a mistake keeping him around as a semi-regular after he'd served his "gotcha" purpose in Season 1.
• Agent 33 is still more hypothetically interesting than interesting, but it feels like she'd be a better solo wild-card to have onhand than Ward's counterpart.
• I get the reasoning (budget and otherwise) but after all the buildup it was seriously dissapointing to have Skye's "inhibitor gloves" look less like gauntlets than shiny carpal-tunnel bracers. Yes, I'm interested to find out what "drawbacks" Simmons built into them, but still...
• Fitz seeing Skye as a potential Captain America while Simmons is thinking more on the lines of The Hulk is about as close to not-clunky as the movie call-outs have ever been on this series, so good job on that.
• We're long overdue for a return from The Koenigs, right?

NEXT WEEK

At the very least, the ominously titled "One Door Closes" should move things along in terms of who's going to make a (likely temporary) jump to "Real S.H.I.E.L.D;" though the main attraction seems to be finally get May vs. Mockingbird. Should be fun.

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News & Such

Short version: Yes, you're still getting an AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D recap for this week (between tomorrow and Sunday) and I apologize for the delay. I could pin some of it on work (things are gathering steam, and I should have exceptionally good news for fans pretty soon) but it's not just that...


The main fact of the matter is that some personal business (even the vaguest details of which are not public in any way yet, so don't bother looking) came to something of a head, which put some added delay onto my current workload. Since I'm not really ready to share anything about this on The Internet, I can only ask for patience and understanding in that regard. Either way, nothing I've been planning or doing has been canceled, just delayed and shifted. Incidentally, along with S.H.I.E.L.D recaps I'm aiming to start movie reviews (video and text) started again in earnest in the near future, i.e. in-tandem with the start of "big movie season."

More to the immediate: The main (non-personal) thing drawing my attention this week has been finalizing the first episode of REALLY THAT GOOD, which I'm aiming to have up for the weekend (we'll see.) It's been a slightly bigger undertaking than I'd anticipated, and perhaps I should've started with a less intimidating subject for a pilot than... well, you'll see; but I'm very happy with how it's coming together and I'm excited for you all to see it.

As ever, fans and well-wishers who like what's going on (and/or are excited for what's coming) are invited to express their enthusiam via The MovieBob Patreon.

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Dronehood

Andrew Niccol's (GATTACA, IN TIME) GOOD KILL is being touted as the first major Hollywood war movie specifically "about" post-9/11 drone warfare, which one can (cynically) assume is coming out now because we're almost on to the next election and it's now that much less lightning-rod-y to criticize a war-fighting method that's seen (fairly or not) as belonging uniquely to the Obama Era rather than as a Bush/Cheney holdover.

Ethan Hawke stars as an oldschool fighter pilot who, with the demand for his actual flight skills waning, reluctantly joins a squad of joystick-jockeys blowing up Taliban/Al-Qaeda/ISIS/etc (it's unclear what time period/enemy-cycle this takes place in) from the comfort of a stateside cubicle:



What's interesting about the trailer is that the emotional/moral focus seems to be more about the hero feeling like this detached/no-risk version of war fighting is somehow less "fair" or righteous than doing the same basic thing but from an actual plane, which is certainly a... unique way to go about the "old soldier questions his values" story-arc.

You've got to wonder how far (or in what direction) this aims to go: You can easily imagine, from this trailer, the main narrative being that this "Real Soldier" tested/trained by "Real Combat" gradually becomes horrified by the callous cruelty of a new generation that sees this as one big video game and striking back against that mindset i.e. "MY warfare was good because we had real men taking real risks - this is... something else!" (Supposedly that was the basic storyline for Maverick in the once-again stalled TOP GUN sequel.)

...OR is this one going the even darker, more difficult route of the impersonal nature of drone-piloting causing Hawke's character to realize that - removed from the visceral thrill of actual flying and the nominal risk of injury to his own person - maybe the war-fighting he'd dedicated his whole life and being to wasn't as righteous and good as he'd believed it to be?

I'm guessing it's the first one - the John Henry vs. The Steam Drill "aging noble hero versus the cold technology replacing him" narrative is a powerful siren's call, particularly for leading men themselves of advancing age. Early reviews have been mixed, but with Niccol (who could really use a hit at this point) directing it should at least look pretty good.

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In Dog We Trust

Below, the trailer for MAX, which answers the question "How do you make a story about an Afghan War veteran recovering from severe PTSD even more wrenching and instantly sympathetic?" as follows: "Well, what if he's also a dog?"



Jesus.

I've got a well-acknowledged "thing" for dog movies, and between this and WHITE GOD it feels like someone in the movie business might actually be trying to kill me. Just the idea of this is so instantly rough I can almost forgive the trailer essentially giving away it's own third act (a soldier who knew Max's Marine owner shows up, he's a bad guy up to bad-guy stuff, Max and teams up with the kids to fight them) - it's likely a calculated move to let audiences know that it's not going to be wall-to-wall sad dog business. Oomph.

Seriously, though - this looks like the good version of a movie that get's pitched as a joke in some THE PLAYER-style satire of predictable Hollywood sentimentalism ("It's not sad enough! What if it's a sick dog instead?"). I'm onboard, but damn. And it's directed by Boaz Yakin, who did REMEMBER THE TITANS (I just made at least one person cry by typing that title - garaunteed) so you know he's really good at this shit.

MAX is due out June 26, opening as family-friendly counterprogramming against TED 2. I'll be spending the intervening months learning to steel myself into a sob-proof-state, since I'll likely have to see it at a press screening.

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TV Recap: AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D - Season 2 Episode 13: "ONE OF US"

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I'm having a serious internal debate as to where to put the spoiler-warning on these things.

The fact is, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D is now more-or-less "out of the closet" as to what corner of the Marvel Universe it's actually been most connected to all this time (or, at least, midway through Season 1) ...if you're watching it. If you're not, since the ads aren't really using a lot of the key terminology yet, it might still be a surprise for the binge-watching crowd. And while I'm not of the mindset that TV critics should neuter their reviews to cater to the watch-later set... I do know a few people personally who're doing just that with this series, so... I dunno.

For now, short version: "One Of Us" is basically a catch-up episode, keeping the main plot largely in a holding pattern so the show has time to explain lingering questions about where everything stands and partially-reveal the answer to at least one major remaining mystery. It works, especially the welcome presence of Blair Underwood as an ex-S.H.I.E.L.D psychiatrist who also turns out to be Agent May's ex-husband; but it's also the first episode in awhile to return to Season 1's habit of feeling like a "grownups" episode of BUFFY - and not just because it involved a lo-fi superhero battle on a small town high-school football field.

Still, as has been the case with Season 2's slower installments, the cast and the bigger ideas at play ultimately pull this one out. More details after the Jump...


So where we? Oh yeah - Agent Skye is actually an Inhuman - that is, a descendant of early humans who were experimented on by The Kree (Ronan's people from GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY) and manifest super-powers (and sometimes monster-like physical forms) when exposed to Terrigen Crystals. Having been thusly exposed, Skye now has the power to create localized earthquakes, but has difficulty controlling them, putting her S.H.I.E.L.D colleagues in a difficult position. More problematically: Her biological father Calvin (Kyle McLachlan), the supervillain Mr. Hyde, has sworn to cause havoc for S.H.I.E.L.D in order to "rescue" her. Also, two of S.H.I.E.L.D's new-hires, Agents Bobbi (aka "Mockingbird") and Mack, are actually double agents for... someone else, and as last week's episode wrapped they'd had to kidnap Agent Hunter to keep it quiet.

The main plot in "One Of Us" is driven by Calvin, whose big plan involves gathering up a makeshift "supervillain" team and driving to Coulson's hometown in a dumpy RV in order to bait S.H.I.EL.D into a fight. There's a super-strong guy, a tech-wizard guy, Angar The Screamer (well, that was unexpected) and Drea DeMatteo as a razor-fingered woman sharing a name (and nothing else) with a DAREDEVIL character, so do with that what you will.

The point of all this, in terms of the bigger-picture, appears to be clearing up what the revelation of Inhumans being in the Cinematic Universe mix means in terms of earlier information: In Season 1, we learned that S.H.I.E.L.D kept an active database of people with super-powers called "The Gifted Index," treating most folks so listed in the manner of a witness protection program but also moving to monitor and "contain" the dangerous ones. Cal's team have all developed their special abilities second-hand through technology or science (including Cal himself, who despite having married and fathered a child with an Inhuman is apparently a normal man who augments his strength with chemicals - making him much closer to the original Marvel Mr. Hyde than some may have thought), confirming that "gifted" doesn't necessary equal "Inhuman" - with Agent Simmons even reccomending that the Index split Gifteds into categories of "enhanced" and "...something else."

In the B-story, Blair Underwood's ex-Mr. Melinda May does some psychoanalysis on Skye that reveals so little actual information he might as well leave the team with a "My storyline will pay off later" I.O.U. The interplay is decent, but the actual progress made (Skye is afraid of losing Agent-hood, she can sort-of control her powers but not fully) is negligible. The main new detail, that keeping her powers in check is literally making her fall apart inside (this will probably be the in-story reason for her to start wearing a super-suit of some kind) comes about mainly because of the big confrontation on the field.

B-story #2 (C-story?) actually had more meat on it: Mack is keeping Hunter prisoner in his house until bringing him "onboard" is okayed by whoever their superiors are. The reveal? They're with another, even more secretive re-grouped version of S.H.I.E.L.D - one that apparently considers Nick Fury's vision of things an abject failure and Coulson's continuing of that legacy a major no-no. As twists go, it's clever, but I feel like they miscalculated the reveal itself: "Gasp! It's... a slightly-different design of the S.H.I.E.L.D Eagle logo!!!"


PARTING THOUGHTS:

• Someone's going to need to explain to me how DeMatteo's character is either "gifted" or a supervillain. She has scalpel-tipped fingers she gave herself to fend off an abusive boyfriend, then used to kill some other people. Okay, fine... couldn't the normal police just arrest her and remove those? Was S.H.I.E.L.D and special S.H.I.E.L.D arm-restraints really necessary?
• Now that we know Mr. Hyde not only powers-up with chemicals but is still experimenting with them, that means we get to see McLachlan hulk-out sometime before the finale, right? Because that'd be awesome.
• The Reader teleports Cal to the Inhuman training-room we've seen his wife (Skye's mom) use for helping newly-transformed youths in flashbacks, and implies he has someone to "answer to" while there. I imagine people will be assuming this is Attilan, but I doubt it.
• What's "Other S.H.I.E.L.D" up to? Your guess is as good as mine, but if they're already operating from "Coulson's group is dangerous" the fact that he (and at least Fitz and probably also May) are intent on harboring a dangerous Gifted is probably not going to change their minds. Incidentally, Agent Ward is supposed to pop up for the first time in awhile next episode, so that's also in play.
• Shot in the dark: I wonder if we'll find out that the government started up a "new" S.H.I.E.L.D of its own almost-immediately, and that this powerful entity has been letting Coulson etc believe they're safe to get closer to them (we know they want Fury's "toolbox.") Either way, however this works out I'd bet on one of these teams changing their name to S.W.O.R.D or H.A.M.M.E.R by the end of the season.

NEXT WEEK:

"Love in The Time of HYDRA" promises to reveal the new alternate S.H.I.E.L.D in greater detail, and also to pick up Ward and Agent 33's (the brainwashed HYDRA assassin with an Agent May mask fused to her face) yet-unrevealed venture. 33's original actress is back in the credits, so this may involve getting her real face back.


Did you enjoy this review? Consider contributing to The MovieBob Patreon and help keep this and other work like it coming!

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Adam Sandler *Literally* Kills Your Childhood in First PIXELS Trailer

Well. Here's the trailer for PIXELS, a movie based on a viral internet short that won a bunch of praise a few years back:



The premise then? Earth gets attacked by old arcade game sprites in a clever showcase for pixel-block CGI effects. The premise now? Adam Sandler and Peter Dinklage are former rival arcade high-score champs drafted by the President (Kevin James) to battle an army of of evil video-creatures brought to life by invading aliens. Josh Gad and Michelle Monahan are also onhand, for whatever reason.

Chris Columbus directs, which means this is going to be Sandler in family-friendly mode, which I'm sure someone must enjoy since he keeps doing this shit. I'd love to know the legality by which THE Donkey Kong actually appears - did Nintendo okay this? Aren't they famously impossible to get onboard for stuff like this? Also: Is that really Toru Iwatani? If so, way to spoil a maybe clever cameo, trailer.

The only other thing worth noting is that I think the neon-glow effect on the Pixels themselves feels too visually busy. In the original short they just looked like stacks of various opaque colored blocks, which was a much more stylish effect.

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THE UPDATED MOVIEBOB FAQ: 3/13/2015 EDITION

Below the jump, some overdue updates on where I'm at and when you'll start seeing my web presence kick up again. But first - Did you know you needed this in your life? Because you needed this in your life:



I wonder how many people who're seeing this in 2015 even know/knew that DINOSAURS was a "thing?" Anyway...

So. Haven't given a status update in a little while, mostly because we (meaning I) have been in holding-pattern mode for a bit. I don't have the kind of life, friends, colleagues, family or loved ones that would've let me sit around feeling bad for myself while "between jobs" (and I'm impossibly grateful to them for that) which means I've actually been keeping/been kept pretty busy - hence the lack of daily/weekly/etc "progress reports."

Also, what progress HAS been made (and it has!) can't really be fully announced yet (stay tuned!) But, still, a little update in FAQland never hurt anyone. SO...

I'VE BEEN ON MARS FOR TWO MONTHS. WHAT HAPPENED?

I am no longer with The Escapist. You can find some elaboration about that in the original FAQ located HERE.

WHERE IS YOUR VIDEO CONTENT?

Coming. When I said that being cut off from my steady gig came at the least convenient possible time, I meant it. This was always going to be a crunch-time period, as I'd already set in motion the end/reboot of Game OverThinker and was already prepping Really That Good's YouTube launch. As such, what time I might've dedicated via necessity to reviews or Big Picture episodes? Well, that got filled up right quick. I was honestly planning to put up a video review for CHAPPIE, but life and PAXEast got in the way of that one.

Fortunately, the finale of Game OverThinker is about 45% completed and should be up very soon. After that, I expect to have Really That Good's "pilot" debut ready shortly after.

WHAT ABOUT THE "CLASSICS"?

As I've mentioned elsewhere, unfortunately I was not the owner of the IPs to either Escape to The Movies or The Big Picture, so those two "brands" will not be making a return any time soon (at least not with me at the helm, for sure). However, while I cannot share the details as yet, an arrangement is in motion with some old friends which I think will make fans of both Big Picture and the "old-school" Game OverThinker very excited.

As for movie reviews? Well, right now I don't have an outlet that's looking to pick up a video review series (do you know of someone who is? By all means, contact bobchipman82@gmail.com!) That doesn't mean I won't be producing video reviews, but it DOES mean I probably won't be producing them on a regimented schedule for now - when I want to do a video review, and I have the time, it will be done (remember, we're still in the "empty" season!)

WAIT - WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT GAME OVERTHINKER?

Actually, since this is an IP that I own outright, I can afford to spill a handful of beans: When Game OverThinker's current incarnation ends, it will do so in a way that will effectively see the series' two components (game-culture analysis and wacky comedy hijinks) into two separate entities. The first of these will be a series very much in keeping with what the show was for its first 50 or so episodes (read: 95% commentary and "overthinking") while the second series... will be a surprise you're just going to have to wait for :)

Where you'll see these and other projects end up, either on my YouTube channel or elsewhere? That's one of those things I can't talk about yet. Sorry :)

SO IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO BE ALIGNING WITH SOME BIGGER PARTNERS IN THE NEAR FUTURE. WHAT ABOUT YOUR PATREON?

The MovieBob Patreon is not going anywhere.

Of all the things that have changed about my outlook following my departure from The Escapist, a certain hardening of my stances on employment, freelancing, etc is the most noteworthy. Simply put: I no longer have any interest in "de-facto" or "in-all-but-name" employment. With anybody. Until such time (which may be never) as you see me as a full-on insured/benefited/bonded employee of somewhere with the protections that implies, I'm a freelancer whose work is going to show up in a lot of different places and/or on my own outlets.

And while that definitely comes with an increase in freedom, it also comes with a decrease in security and stability month-to-month. That, plus my equal lack of desire to ONLY work on things that someone else has contracted me for, means the Patreon is staying right where it is.

YOU'D MENTIONED BEFORE THAT YOU WANTED TO TRANSITION FROM YOUR TWO SHOW-BLOGS TO A SINGLE WEBISTE. IS THAT STILL THE PLAN?

Yes, but it is delayed for now. You'll likely see the new shows find their footing before I'm ready to blow up my existing infrastructure and build anew. Watch this space, though, because there's a very real chance that I'll be looking for web design help.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FEELINGS ABOUT VARIOUS PERSONS HIRED BY THE ESCAPIST IN THE WAKE OF YOUR DEPARTURE?

Yes.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE THOSE FEELINGS?

Nope.

WHAT DOES YOUR CONVENTION PRESENCE LOOK LIKE IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

Right now, I can't make any definite statements re: the con circuit. Many contacts for cons, expos, events etc that I had were handled through an employer I no longer affiliate with, so I'll need to rebuild/restructure some of those relationships.

That having been said, if you are part of a convention that would like me as a guest/panelist/etc or a convention attendee looking for an extra panelist or event-partner, please feel free (and encouraged!) to get in touch with me about that.

I'D LIKE TO HIRE/CONTRACT/WORK-WITH YOU - HOW CAN WE GET IN TOUCH?

Bobchipman82@gmail.com is best for right now.

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