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How I Spent My Games of Thrones Vacation

Westeros Map

No, this post isn’t about how I spent my time visiting Westeros. I wish! Actually, no, I don’t. I think I’d last half a day in Westeros before having at least one body part violently removed. I’d be lucky to survive a week. Rather, this post is about how I spent the long, grueling months between the end of HBO’s Game of Thrones season 4 and this Sunday’s premiere of season 5.

At the top of each of my season 4 recaps, I noted that while I loved the show, I had never read any of the books. A couple of commenters apparently didn’t notice that, which led to some unintentionally funny angry comments about me not being a “real fan” for resorting to nicknames instead of remembering the actual name of yet another brown bearded, scraggly haired white guy. The most common insult thrown my way was “Did you even read the books?” No, I didn’t. It said so right there at the top. I had no plans to read the books. I was really enjoying the TV show, loved the way the show presented the story and didn’t want to spoil any plot points from the story. I liked being shocked when the Red Viper had his face caved in by the Mountain. If I knew that was coming, it wouldn’t have carried the same weight.

But when season 4 ended, I was jonesing Game of Thrones bad. I needed more. I went back and watched season 1 again. It didn’t satiate. I knew I could watch the entire series again and I’d still have the hunger for more content. So I did what I said I wouldn’t. I started reading the books.

I started with the first book in The Song of Ice and Fire, A Game of Thrones. I wasn’t so much interested in what came next as I was in seeing how the TV differed from the book, which is why I didn’t start with book four, A Feast of Crows. Plus, I had heard enough complaints from fans of the book that the show was really changing things as the series went on. I know how different The Walking Dead the TV show is compared to The Walking Dead the comic book, and I didn’t want to deal with something similar. Whenever a fan of The Walking Dead TV series asks me where they should pick up the comic, I always tell them from the beginning. There’s just too much difference between the two.

Reading A Game of Thrones on the Kindle was a chore at times. I’d read multiple screens before the percentage completed would tick up another percent. I remember reading the beginning of the book for 45 minutes and realizing I was still in the opening scene of season 1, episode 1. It was a little over a month before I finished A Game of Thrones. I couldn’t immediately move on to A Clash of Kings. I wanted to, but my brain needed a break. I looked for an unread book on my Kindle that couldn’t have been further away from A Game of Thrones, and ended up reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point. It was such a joy to see the percent completed jump up with every other flick of the screen. Oh joy!

Tipping Point was a necessary read in my journey through A Song of Fire and Ice. No, Gladwell’s book didn’t inform George R. R. Martin’s writing for me in any way, but it did serve as a palette cleanser. Having finished Tipping Point, I was ready to head into the second book of A Song of Fire and Ice, A Clash of Kings.

While reading A Game of Thrones, I was amazed by how faithful Game of Thrones season one is to the book. Season one makes some changes, but they’re very minor and hardly noticeable. But once you get to season two and A Clash of Kings, the changes becomes more apparent. The changes become less cosmetic and more substantial. This continues into the third book, A Storm of Swords. The broad strokes are mostly the same, but with each book, the TV show diverges in the details more.

As for how the books line up cover to cover with the beginning and end of each season, book one, A Game of Thrones is season one of the show. Likewise, season two of show is pretty much all of book two, A Clash of Kings. When we get to book three, that’s where things change. Book three, A Storm of Swords, takes up all of season three and season four of the show, with one very notable exception at the very end of A Storm of Swords, the return of a fan favorite character who does not return at the end of season four. I remember seeing an interview with either Martin or a producer on the show saying that character will not be returning in season 5. But I guess we can only wait and see.

After I finished A Storm of Swords, I debated whether or not I wanted to continue with the series and read A Feast of Crows. I was very tempted to, and even loaded it onto my Kindle. I made it about two pages into the book before putting it down. I couldn’t do it. I just love the TV show too much and don’t want to “cheat” the show by reading ahead.

Thankfully, the show is back this Sunday, and so are my recaps of the show.

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Agents of SHIELD – S2E15 – One Door Closes – Recap

Tonight’s episode is told in two time periods. We have the ongoing conflict between Coulson’s SHIELD and “Real” SHIELD in the present, and in the past, we see where Bobbie, Mac and Gonzalez were during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

We open in the past. Mac is bloodied, on his knees with his hands on his head. Other agents are too. We’re in the middle of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Bobbie breaks in and is a one woman wrecking crew. She takes almost everyone out. Lucy Lawless gets the last guy. Remember when Lucy Lawless was on one episode of SHIELD this season and then died? Well, she’s back! Probably just for this episode, but still, she’s back! This scene is shot in a weird blue light, as if to yell, “Hey! This is the past!”

The lighting gets normal and we jump to the present. Bobbie returns to Coulson’s base. She’s up to something. She installs some hardware int he server room. While she’s doing that, Coulson is letting Mac work on Lola, supervised of course. Coulson confronts Mac. He asks Mac who he works for. Mac, not lying, says SHIELD. But Coulson thinks he’s being difficult.

Skye and Simmons are getting in the FaceTime session planned last episode. Simmons explains how the gloves work, but doesn’t mention any side effects, which is weird, because Coulson said last episode that the glove would have side effects and that Simmons would explain them to Skye.

Bobbie laser drills into where Coulson is hiding Fury’s toolbox. She steals the toolbox. May catches her in the act. They fight, and I have to admit, as soon as May walked in, I was looking forward to this fight, as both characters have been in some of the most athletic fights on the show. This fight was a bit of a letdown as Bobbie quickly flees. When May catches up to her, she sets off an EMP, which gives her and Mac the opportunity to escape.

In the past, Bobbie and Mac are on an aircraft carrier. The pace is in shambles. They find Gonzalez. His leg is badly messed up.

injured gonzalez one door closes shield

In the present, Bobbie reports in to Gonzalez. Gonzalez wants Skye. Why?

At her cabin, Skye tries on her power dampening gloves. The gloves are making her woozy. She calls Simmons, but gets her voice mail. Skye notices a blue wire under her desk and follows it to the wall. It’s a hollow panel, which she pries off. Under the wooden panel is reinforced metal that looks like the wall of her cell on The Bus. There’s a giant fist print in the wall. Did The Hulk stay here?

hulk hand one door closes shield

 

Skye is startled by something outside. She’s freaked out. If I was alone in a cabin in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, I’d be freaked out too.  Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door. Skye and I divert over how to handle this. She answer the door. I would have ran and hid under my bed. Gordon, the blind teleporter, is at the door. Well, he’s not really blind. He can kind of see. I’m guessing he has a radar sense similar to Daredevil. He and Skye debate about the nature of her powers and why she should join him and his group. She’s not interested. He eventually takes the hint and leaves.

agents-of-shield-one-door-closes-gordon

Back at the base, Bobbie runs into Simmons, who doesn’t know what’s going on. Simmons thinks she can fix the power outage. She just needs to find the right tool in her bag. She hands Bobbie a bunch of stuff, one of which stuns Bobbie. She basically takes Bobbie out in the cutest way possible, and then draws her gun on Bobbie. It reminded me of Hooks from Police Academy. Well played, Simmons! Her espionage game has grown so much since she awkwardly infiltrated Hydra at the start of the season. Coulson retrieves the toolbox from Bobbie. May searches her locker and finds a gas mask. Ruh-roh.

hooks police academy

In the past, Bobbie and Mac need to move Gonzalez. Mac distracts Gonzalez with a story about his childhood coin collection so that another agent can pop Gonzalez’s leg into place. This aircraft carrier has too many secrets on it to fall into Hydra hands. Fury ordered Bobbie to sink it. Bobbie tells everyone to escape. Gonzalez argues that somehow them joining her will mean she’s be able to get out faster. Not sure how a severely injured old man isn’t going to slow things down, but I only have Level 7 clearance.

Fitz finds Bobbie’s device in the server room. Mac finds Fitz. Mac tells Fitz he isn’t going to hurt him. Fitz, rightly so, doesn’t trust Mac. gas starts filling the entire base. Mac pleads with Fitz to move away from the wall. Mac jumps on Fitz, saving him as the wall explodes. Gonzalez, Weaver and that shaved head guy who only plays jerks in movies burst in in gas masks.

In the past, Lucy Lawless goes all Xena on a bunch of Hydra agents.

In the present, everyone on Coulson’s team, save May, is captured. Gonzalez sends the shaved head jerk and a bunch of agents to “the house that Banner built” to retrieve Skye. Bobbie insists on going. It’s clear that she doesn’t trust these guys to not kill Skye.

Speaking of Skye, she decides to take the gloves off. She washes her hands and unitentionally makes the water spiral out of the faucet. It’s a cool effect.

At the base, FitzSimmons silently reconcile. This is broken up by Agent Weaver. You might remember her as the former head of the Academy, aka SHIELD Hogwarts, aka SHIELDwarts. She lets them know what went down at SHIELDwarts during Winter Soldier. They don’t show anything, but I’m guessing it’s similar to the Death Eaters’ invasion of Hogwarts in Harry Potter 6.

Gonzalez is meeting with Coulson in Coulson’s office, now Gonzalez’s office. Coulson gets the best line of the episode when telling Gonzalez he has good taste in offices and “you haven’t even dived into the record collection.” Gonzalez doesn’t plan on staying. He has the toolbox. He wants Coulson to show him how to use it so that he can hunt down superhumans. Coulson, unsurprisingly, refuses.

May gets to a comm and warns Skye that SHIELD is coming for her. She tells Skye how to escape the cabin’s security features. Bobbie and company show up at this time. Bobbie orders icers only, but shaved head jerkface definitely cocks a gun right after she says that. I’m pretty sure you don’t cock a night-night gun.

In the past, Mac wants to save the ship. They’re successfully fighting back, even if Hydra has them severely outnumbered. Gonzalez says they need to follow orders and blow the ship. Bobbie chooses to save the ship. Gonzalez says, “I hope we don’t live to regret this.” Xena says, “Let’s just hope we live.” Sorry, Xena…

Hartley-Bobbi-and-Mack-fighting hydra one door closes shiled

In the present, Gonzalez really lays into Coulson, practically accusing Phil of being Fury’s Frankenstein Monster. Gonzalez thinks Fury had too many secrets. Phil responds with “Fury’s secrets didn’t bring down SHIELD, Hydra did.” May ends the debate by icing Gonzalez and his guards. May helps Phils escape the base and immediately surrenders. She’s staying behind to make sure nothing happens to the team.

Skye and a “Real” SHIELD agent fight. He fires on her. Definitely not an icer! Bobbie and the shaved head jerk find Skye. Shaved head jerk then shoots at Skye, despite Bobbie saying not to. In an act of self defense, Skye unleashes her vibration powers on the bullet…and on the surrounding area. She destroys the area. Trees are powdered. I have no idea what her power is doing to Bobbie and shaved head guy’s insides. I think they might be dead. Skye looks like she’s worried they’re dead too. She whispers, “Gordon, help.” Amazingly, Gordon immediately appears. How did he hear that? He ports her out. Bobbie gets up. She’s okay, but looks shocked by the devastation Skye caused.

skye on the attacks one door closes shield

In the final scene, Coulson is at a tiki bar on the beach. There are palm trees in the background. Hunter joins him. They’re officially a team. Phil and Hunter vs. Real SHIELD. I can’t wait.

 

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Tuesday Night Comics Episode 66 – Dave Returns! So many reviews! “Hug the bunnies!” Convergence is here…are we excited?

Dave is back! Convergence is here! Are Billy and Dave excited? Listen and find out!

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Need more reasons to listen? The guys review a lot of comics, graphic novels and trade paperbacks this week, including The Multiversity: Ultra Comics #1, Uncanny Avengers Volume 5, Lady Killer #4, Pastaways #1, the first three volumes of Greg Rucka and Michael Lark’s Lazarus, Joshua Hale Fialkov’s The Bunker Volume 1, Fairest Volume 2 and more!

If you take one thing from this week’s episode, always remember, “Hug the bunnies.”

hug the bunnies

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Agents of SHIELD – S2E14 – Love in the Time of Hydra – Recap

We open on a diner. Ward and Agent 33 are on a date? This is the second diner scene in as many weeks. They’re really getting good use out of that set. Ward and Agent 33 go all Pumpkin and Honey Bunny on the patrons when they jump on the tables and rob the diner Pulp Fiction style. Samuel L Jackson is not in this diner. What a missed opportunity! Oh wait, they’re not robbing the place, they’re kidnapping a plastic surgeon?

pulp fiction robbery

Somebody tell Agent 33, “Bitch, be cool.”

FitzSimmons is checking out Skye’s broken arms. Skye refers to herself being on the DL. Fitz doesn’t know that DL means disabled list and not down low. He’s adorable.

Coulson and May are meeting. These Coulson and May meetings are great for anyone who missed an episode, as they constantly seem to be debating what’s going on with the team. May has changed her mind about Skye being on the team. It seems like Simmons and May want her off and Fitz and Coulson want her on. Luckily for Skye, Coulson is in charge.

Back to Ward and Agent 33. Oh, that wasn’t a plastic surgeon that they kidnapped. It was an engineer…who is kind of like a plastic surgeon since he fixed Agent 33’s digital mask.s mask. She can now look normal again…though it seems like May is still her normal face. She can’t take the mask off. Oh crap, is Agent 33 the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Madame Masque? For those of you not familar with her, Madame Masque is an Iron Man villain named Courtney Whitmore. She hides behind a golden mask because she was once beautiful but had been horribly disfigured…or was it all in her head? Some writers have made it recently that Courtney was not actually disfigured, but suffered a psychological break and only thinks she is disfigured.

Madame_Masque_Marvel_XP

Madame Masque

We’re introduced to Edward James Olmos, who plays Gonzalez, the head of the “Real” SHIELD. Real SHIELD reminds me of the Original Ghostbusters and Real Ghostbusters cartoons that went up against each other in the 1980s.

realghostbusteroriginalGhostbusters

Lance is unimpressed with Real SHIELD. He’s clearly grew up an Original Ghostbusters fan. Lance gets the best line of the episode when describing Coulson. He says that Coulson “tends to hog the mic during karaoke nights.” Lance is shocked that Bobbie is a part of Real SHIELD. I wonder if she really is. Maybe she’s a triple agent. Hunter also gets the second best line of the episode when he turns to Bobbie and says, “Maybe we could have discussed this alone without all of Hufflepuff looking on.” I can’t think of a bigger Harry Potter related insult than being called a Hufflepuff. They’re like the short bus of the Harry Potter universe.

Gonzalez explains the formation of Real SHIELD and why it’s necessary. They didn’t trust Fury and they don’t trust Coulson post-alien injection.  They think Coulson is being driven insane by the alien injection. It’s funny; if this conversation was happening a few episodes back, they’d be right.

gonzalez

Coulson and Skye go on a road trip.Well…air trip. They’re talking in the rear hold of what I believe is The Bus. They share a cute moment eating some Twizzlers together. But wait a minute…who is flying this plane?!

twizzler time

Agent 33 is trying on new faces. Ward killed the doctor. Note: Ward is still a very bad man. Agent 33 puts on Skye’s face…with May’s hair, and starts making out with Ward. This is some weird shit. Why did she keep May’s hair? She can control her hair along with her face. Ward realizes it’s weird. I think it’s weird the Skye lookalike still has May’s voice…and hair.

Gonzalez is asking Bobbie about Hunter. He’s worried Hunter might turn her. Bobbie thinks she can get through to Hunter.

Ward gives Agent 33 his origin story. He finishes by saying he got over his issues by having a heart to heart with his family. He doesn’t mention that heart to heart means killing them all. It’s amazing how Ward has transformed into a total psycho. He’s not Kyle McLaughlin level crazy, but he’s up there. He wants 33 to have a similar “heart to heart” with Bakshi that Ward had with his family. For those who haven’t been paying attention, it was Bakshi who prepped Agent 33 for Whitehall.

To break into Bakshi’s prison, Agent 33 disguises herself as Talbot’s wife. Luckily no one there seems to know what Mrs. Talbot’s voice sounds like, because she still sounds like May. I could have sworn the engineer said she could change the sound of her voice now. Maybe I heard that line wrong.

Coulson has taken Skye to a cabin in the woods. It’s isolated. He brought her here so that she could heal and hone her powers. Simmons designed gloves for Skye to wear. They will help her control her powers, but there are side effects…Coulson isn’t saying what they are.  Skye’s supposed to FaceTime with Simmons later to get the deets.

Agent 33/Mrs. Talbot switches into an Air Force Major disguise. Ward somehow just walks right in the facility. Seriously, how did he get in. Agent 33 has to get waved him by Talbot while pretending to be Talbot’s wife while Ward kind of just shows up in the middles of the facility. The real Mrs. Talbot calls saying she’s stuck in traffic. Ruh-roh. Talbot puts two and two together very quickly. There’s a reason Talbot’s a general. Talbot rounds up every female on the base. He lectures them, saying how he cannot stand a spy in his house.

Cut to Mac at Coulson’s base. Well played, SHIELD editor. Well played.

Talbot starts grilling people, asking them trick questions. Go with the trick answer, Agent 33! Meanwhile Ward is shooting up the place. Oh hey, Agent 33 is a dude now. Haha, take that Talbot! She’s not even in the room! They open up Bakshi’s cell. He thinks she’s here to break him out…until he sees Ward and starts putting things together. Bakshi tries activating her brainwashing, but 33 punches him in the face before it can take effect.

Talbot pulls a gun on his own wife, his real wife. Geez, Talbot! She’s just bringing you tacos for Taco Tuesday. She even brought your favorite sauce!

Bobbie and Hunter have a heart to heart. It sounds like Bobbie is 100% New SHIELD…just what a triple agent would say. Hunter decides he’s leaving. Bobbie won’t stop him (I’m guessing because she’s a triple agent). But all the armed guards will stop him. Or they’ll try. Oh wait, no need. They’re on a aircraft carrier out to sea. Bobbie pursues. Hunter is nowhere to be seen. Oh wait, there’s like 50 aircraft that Hunter could escape on.  Still, how could he possible get off undetected?

hunter tries to escape

Fitz confronts Coulson about Skye. Coulson won’t tell him where she is. Fitz then confronts Simmons about how she’s treating Skye. Fitz calls her out on how she’s changed, even though Fitz and Skye have changed, neither has changed more than Simmons. That gets to Simmons.

Talbot FaceTimes Coulson and May. At least I think it’s Talbot. It has to be. Why would Agent 33 tell Coulson that Agent 33 broke into a base with Ward? Okay, that’s the real Talbot.

Hunter managed to escape in a submersible pod. Way to go, “Real” SHIELD. Bobbie wants to go back in to Coulson’s base. “Real” SHIELD debates and approves.

Coulson and May have both come to the conclusion that they don’t believe Mac. They aim to confront him. They don’t seem to suspect Bobbie yet.

Agent 33 goes back to her real face. It’s majorly scarred. Oh wow, she is definitely Madame Masque! Ward and Agent 33 have Bakshi tied up. They’re going to brainwash him. Things are definitely getting interesting…

Finally, I have to say, I really like this week’s title, Love in the Time of Hydra. First, because it references Love in the Time of Cholera, and second because this episode did a great job on focusing on the various couples on the show. You have Agent 33 and Ward as the outlaw couple. FitzSimmons is trying (and constantly failing) to get back into the groove of where they were last season. Bobbie and Hunter are the Romeo and Juliet of the spy world…if Romeo and Juliet bickered constantly. This season of Agents of SHIELD has been spot on. I can’t wait to see how the show will tie into Avengers: Age of Ultron in one month!

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Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 65! Nick Returns!

Nick returns! Dave is on his honeymoon, so Nick is back to help fill in. Billy and Nick blow way past $20 each in this week’s 20, talk about what they’re both reading right now, as well as the new iZombie TV series, their mutual love of Mike Allred, and Nick’s recent reread of the Starman omnibuses.  Who’s ready for some comic talk?

izombie comic

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SHIELD #2 – Review

shield 2 cover

After reading SHIELD #1, I was very excited for more from Mark Waid and Carlos Pacheco, especially from Pacheco, who was one of my favorite comic book artists in the late 1990s, but seems to have disappeared over the past decade. Sadly, Carlos Pacheco does not join Waid on SHIELD #2.

Humberto Ramos steps in on art, and a more perfect artist could have not have been picked for this issue. Issue #2 of SHIELD sees Simmons go undercover as a high school substitute teacher in Jersey City, NJ. What superhero highschooler happens to live in Jersey City? That’s right, Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel. After reading this issue, Ramos is now my second favorite artist of Kamala, behind only Kamala Khan co-creator Adrian Alphona. Ramos’s style of exaggerated hands and feet is perfect for a shape-changing, often-stretchy character like Ms. Marvel.

Waid delivers another great script. He introduces us to Simmons’s father, who does not know his daughter is a secret agent for SHIELD. Waid uses Jemma’s need to lie to her parents about what she does for a living as a bonding moment between Simmons and Ms. Marvel. Kamala doesn’t like lying to her parents about her superheroing as much as Jemma doesn’t like lying to her parents about her secret agenting. I would love to see Kamala and Jemma meet again, as I can see Jemma being a great mentor for Kamala.

The plot centers around Simmons and Coulson trying to find a black marketer of stolen supervillain tech operating out of the Kamala’s school. The tech that shows up leads to Coulson and Ms. Marvel having an obscure villain trivia-off, noting the variations in the tech that villains used over the years. They both get the chance to one up each other in the trivia, and like Coulson’s scenes in issue #1, plays to Waid’s own strength in comic book trivia.

If the first two issues are any indication, SHIELD will be one of the best books that Marvel puts out this year.

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Agents of SHIELD – S2E13 – One of Us – Recap

We start at dinner time…..someone in Coney Island is eating steak. She’s got robot hands. Hey, it’s Drea De Matteo! Her name is Karla Faye Gideon. We find that out when Kyle shows up and tells her he got her name off a Gifted Index. She asks if they’re with SHIELD. He says he’ll try not to be offended. Classic Kyle zinger!

kyles krew

Kyle’s with Levi and Francis. Levi has control over tech. Francis has the power of looking extra creepy. Drea closes the door in their face. Smart move. She reopens the door. Less smart move. Francis gets her metal gloves off her. She’s got metal razors for fingernails. Kyle wants her to join him. He’s creating his own Masters of Evil it seems.

razor hands

On the bus, Skye and Coulson are sharing a meal. Coulson is adding her to the Gifted Index. Whoa, Blair Underwood’s name just popped up in the opening credits! Sweet! Is he who Coulson is bringing in from the outside? May’s apparent ex? Oooo…

blair underwood

Bobbie and Simmons are in the lab. Simmons is having a hard time explaining Skye’s DNA. Fitz comes in. Simmons intentionally goes quiet when Fitz walks in. Aww, I miss FitzSimmons. Simmons does too it seems. Simmons tells Bobbie that a betrayl of trust like that changes everything. Just in time for Bobbie to field a call from Mac.

Mac is at the safehouse where he has locked up Hunter. Hunter has the great line of the episode when he tells Mac to tell Bobbie he takes it all back…when he said he wished she hadn’t died out there. Harsh, Hunter! Then again, he is handcuffed to the bathroom sink. Bobbie tells Mac to bring Hunter in. She’ll arrange an extraction. How big is this conspiracy?

Hey, it’s Blair Underwood! May is waiting for him at his university job. So it looks like Blair is Andrew, May’s ex. Nice. He doesn’t seem excited about SHIELD needing his help. He’s dismayed that May is back in the field. Interesting. Going through his criteria for helping Skye, he clearly distrusts SHIELD.

WHOA! WHAT? He’s MAY’s EX-HUSBAND!!! I thought he was maybe an ex-boyfriend!

Kyle shows up at an Brinmore Psychiatric Facility and Drea slashes the guard’s throat. Kyle is flagrant, waving at the security camera. We see Francis’s power. He’s super strong (besides just being super creepy).

Coulson and Andrew seem to be on good terms. Coulson briefs Bobbie on the break-in at Brynmore. He also notes that Hunter didn’t show up today, in what seem like a way of judging Bobbie’s reaction.

Skye isn’t excited about meeting with a psychiatrist until she finds out he was married to May. She peppers him with questions. To get Skye to open up, Andrew reveals details about his marriage to May. Nothing big, just enough to get Skye to like him.

Kyle and company tore through the facility. Only two people were stored in the subbasement – John Bruno, a military assassin and a guy who immediately attacks them. This dude looks like Killer Croc. but less reptilian. He’s big, but just being big isn’t an auto-win against Bobbie, who takes him down with ease. Kyle left Coulson a note spray painted on the wall, FIGHT ON.

The second guy is David A. Angar…aka Angar the Screamer. Hahahaha, are you serious?!? Angar the Screamer! Who’s next? D-Man? Not sure why Kyle left Killer Croc but took Angar the Screamer. I’m trying to think of a Marvel villain lamer than Angar. Let me get back to you on that. For those of you who can’t tell why I’m laughing, here’s Angar the Screamer from Marvel Comics:

angar the screamer

While talking to Andrew about Skye, May gets the second best line of the night when she says, “I taught her how to fire an automatic. Of course she likes me.” Andrew and May get snippy about each other’s love life. They’re totally going to sleep together. As I think this, he tells her, “You looks good.” Keep it in your pants, Blair Underwood!

Fitz walks in on them joking around. He’s freaked out. He’s clearly not used to May smiling. Gossiping about May and Andrew reunites FitzSimmons. Yes! Their reunion is cut short when Skye gets a case of the shakes. She’s shaking the entire Bus. Whoa, this is just from Skye having a bad dream? May and Andrew take the good cop bad cop approach to get Skye to calm down. Amazingly, it works.

Bobbie and Coulson are hunting Kyle’s RV on traffic cams. Coulson notes that sometimes ignorance is bliss. Oh, like Bobbie potentially betraying you?

Kyle and company are reenacting Diner…if everyone in Diner were crazy. Razor Fingers is the most normal person in this crew.

Coulson confronts Bobbie about Hunter. He figured out that Hunter didn’t bolt because of Coulson’s job offer, but wrongly thinks it’s because something happened between Bobbie and Hunter personally, because they’re sleeping together. Bobbie blames Hunter bolting on his fear of commitment.

Bobbie gets a hit on the license plate. Coulson figures out what FIGHT ON meant. Kyle and co are heading to Coulson’s hometown in Wyoming.

Skye and Andrew are meeting again in Skye’s room/cell on the Bus. As they talk about the index, Skye gets agitated and the room shakes…except it’s not Skye. The Bus is taking off. Andrew is not happy. He confronts May, who basically says she had no choice.

Kyle and Drea release Angar from his muzzle. He’s about to scream, but Kyle tells him to make it count. Angar walks out onto the 50 yard line and screams. Everyone on the field either passes out or dies, I’m not really sure. Birds fall from the sky. Ruh-roh.

angar the dufus

Mac brings Hunter a pizza. He tells Hunter he wants to keep Hunter alive. He reminsices about how they first met. When Hunter calls his BS, Mac leaves Hunter with the pizza.

Skye wants to head to the field to help Coulson, but May and Andrew think it’s a bad idea. They don’t want her near her dad. It turns out Coulson never went to this high school, but his dad did coach football and taught history. Coulson’s dad died when Coulson was 9.

Kyle gets on the loudspeaker. He calls his group The Slicing Talons. Maybe work on that name, Kyle. Kyle is pissed that Coulson killed Daniel Whitehall. That’s what this is all about? I have to say, I really like Kyle McLaughin as a completely crazy bonkers person. Phil wants to wait for May, but when Kyle threatens to kill the highschoolers, Phil comes out of the shadows. Kyle’s people are on the field. Angar takes Coulson’s gun. Kyle gives him a speech about stopping Coulson before Coulson has a chance to hurt his daughter. That’s when May walks out of the shadows with a gun dug into Skye’s neck. Even Coulson is surprised.

Kyle advances on May, and May tells him to tell his people to stand down on his daughter dies. He’s convinced May won’t kill her, but that Coulson would. He give Angar the microphone and tells him to tell the whole town. Someone shoot Angar already.

As Angar is about to scream, the blind teleporter from last week ports in, grabs Kyle and ports out. Drea yells, “End this!” Coulson rushes Angar, punches him in the larynx and drops him. May fights the super strong Francis, but even with her fighting skills is losing out to his brute strength. Drea climbs down from the bleachers and is ambushed by Bobbie. She manages to escape into the locker room. Bobbie pursues. Carla (Drea) isn’t being taken alive. I have a bad feeling that Bobbie is going to die because Hunter says he wishes she was dead. But Bobbie wins. I’m very happy about that.

Skye sees Coulson whip that tech dude in the face, and freaks out a bit. She starts shaking, but gets it under control. Unfortunately, controlling it causes her to break out in bruises all over her arms and she passes out. Coulson and May run to her. She wakes on The Bus. Whoa, she shattered her own arms. She wasn’t stopping her powers, she was directing them inward. Now Skye’s a danger to her friends, and herself. Skye is worried, but May reassures here.

Simmons wants to categorize superhumans into different subcategories. Deathlok and David Angar she calls “Enhanced,” because their gifts were man-made. But Skye and Raina, this is something that was inside them. For now, Simmons is calling them “Other.” Could “Inhuman” be far behind?

Now that they’re back at the base, Andrew is leaving. He recommends that Skye leaves SHIELD. May thinks she’s safest with them. May offers Blair Underwood a recurring role on the show, but he turns it down. He does say he can recommend someone else though. Please let it be Doctor Seaver from Growing Pains!

dr seaver

Mac grabs Hunter and takes him to a secret facility. Mac tells Hunter who he’s working for…SHIELD, the real SHIELD, and steps away to reveal the real SHIELD’s new logo.

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Kyle has wrecked the room the blind teleporter left him in. The teleporter asks if he’s done. Kyle is pissed that he didn’t grab Daisy/Skye too. But the reason the teleporter grabbed him is that Kyle “is making too much noise.” He says that Kyle isn’t one of them, that Kyle is a science experiment. Kyle steps out of the room to meet with the teleporter’s boss (or bosses) as the episode fades to black.

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Agents of SHIELD – S2 E12 – Who You Really Are – Recap

The episode starts in Portugal. Some dude is explaining s’mores to another dude on the beach when Lady Sif emerges from the water. She’s looking for someone named Carver. The people on the beach, one who looks like Josh Jackson, don’t know who Carver is. One of the guys tries to hit on Sif. Big mistake. She punches him across the beach. She also has amnesia. Now that’s how you start an episode!

sif on the beach who you really are

At Coulson HQ, May and Skye are training. It’s intense. Do they do their own stunts? Skye flips May and pins her. May tells her that she should have gone for a finishing blow. Skye makes a Mortal Kombat joke. Skye is worried about letting loose, and hurting her friends if she does. Fitz interrupts training to get May to back off Skye. May doesn’t like training being interrupted and offers for Fitz to come back and train one on one with her if he wants to interrupt training so badly. Unsurprisingly, Fitz declines.
Bobbie and Hunter are post-coitus. It was either really energetic sex or they’re both secretly in terrible shape. Hunter tells Bobbie that Coulson offered him a permanent position. She seems hesitant for him to take it. It seems like Hunter is doing this for Bobbie, but I wonder if Bobbie wants him there with what she and Mac have planned.
bobbie and hunter who you really are
Speaking of Mac, he’s meeting with Coulson. They’re doing inventory. Coulson wants to upgrade Mac to field agent status. Mac’s hesitant about it. He passes himself off here as a bit of a pacifist. May coomes in to tell Coulson about Portugal. The Portugal authories have Sif in custody. Coulson and company make a beeline for Portugal and Sif, who asks if Coulson is Carver. Coulson tells her that he’s not Carver, but rather Son of Coul. Ha. He shows her a still from the last time she was on  he show to show her that they’ve worked together before. It turns out Twitter is the answer to the mystery of what happened to Sif. Someone posted a video of her in a sword fight with some dude. She doesn’t remember this. The team theorizes that this mystery man is a rouge Asgardian.
The rouge Asgardian seems at first glance to maybe be an Absorbing Man-like guy. It’s not the Absorbing Man from previously in the series, but he seems to have the same powers. He shows up at a hospital holding what looks like a large metal screw and is changing colors to match the screw.
Coulson deduces that Sif was undercover. Sif doesn’t remember anything, but when May mentions Thor, Sif smiles, but doesn’t remember him.
Hunter, Mac and Fitz are checking the pier. Bobbie and Skye check the hospital. The rouge Asgardian beats up Bobbie. Skye draws her gun on him, and then loses it and shakes the place, knocking down shelves. In the confusion, the rouge Asgardian escapes. Skye fills Coulson in on the rouge. He might not be Asgardian at all. He was using Nitrogen to turn his blue skin pink. Skye things he’s a Kree. I’m now on the same page as Skye, as the Kree are the resident blue skinned aliens of the Marvel Universe. Sif notes Carver isn’t just a name, it’s the Kree work for keys.
the kree
Hunter walks in on Skye and Fitz talking about Skye’s secret. He doesn’t hear anything. Speaking of secrets, after Simmons finishes checking on Bobbie, Mac meets with Bobbie. Mac wants Bobbie to convince Hunter to leave. He says, “I don’t want him here in case he takes their side.” Just who are these two really working for? Mac wants Hunter gone to preserve their friendship with Hunter when they betray Coulson. Aww, Mac is the traitor with the heart of gold.
Skye doesn’t want to be on the Kree mission. She’s worried about hurting her friends, and them finding out her secret.
The Kree dude pulls out a Kree inscribed lock box. Coulson’s crew ambushes him. Coulson shoots him with an electified net. The Kree’s name is Vintac. He sounds like he was named after a floppy disk company. Also, the Kree have these V-shaped brow ridges.
Hunter stops by Bobbie. She gives him the cold shoulder and tells him she needs time to figure them out. She wants to slow things down. Awww man, she’s totally Call of the Wilding him. Don’t believe her Hunter. She loves you!
Sif wants to know how the truncheon works. FYI…the truncheon is that large screw thing the Kree guy is carrying around. The Kree says it only works when its in his hand. To prove this, he kicks the truncheon out of Coulson’s hand, grabs it and hits Sif with it. He then immediately backs down. He just wanted to prove a point. Being hit with the truncheon restores Sif’s memories. Sif immediately punches Vintac in the face. Apparently the Asgardians and Kree have a longstanding feud.
The Kree mentions terrigenesis. Terrigenesis! For those of you not familiar with the comics, terrigenesis is how the Inhumans get their powers. The Inhumans are an offshoot of humanity who were experimented on long ago by the Kree. When an Inhuman is exposed to the terrigan mists, he or she goes from baseline human to Inhuman, gaining random superpowers. It’s kind of like mist activated X-Men. While the mutants in the X-Men have their x-gene activated when they hit puberty, the Inhumans need to be exposed to the terrigan mists to gain their superpowers. While Sif and the Kree explain terrigenesis, FitzSimmons are examining a crate taken out of the pit. In the crate are spots for 6 diviners…but no actual diviners. Who has them? Hydra?
Back at base, Fitz stupidly leaves his analysis of Skye’s DNA on his iPad right where Simmons can pick it up. She’s impressed by the work and the results and wants to know whose DNA it is. He flounders.  He says it’s a simulation. Simmons is amazed at how real it looks.
The Kree and Sif both want to take out anyone affected by terrigenesis permanently. This gets Skye a bit worked up. The whole base starts to quake. May is the first one to realize that it’s Skye doing this. Sif wants to take Skye to Asgard. The Kree thinks she’s too dangerous to live. Coulson throws himself between Skye and the Kree as May runs with Skye. Coulson tries bringing Sif on his side, but she sides with the Kree. Mac and Bobbie intercept the Kree. Mac gets a punch in before being flung across the room. Hunter doesn’t do much better. It’s Bobbie’s turn. She’s a much better fighter than the two of them. She might not last long, but it might be long enough…long enough for Fitz to blast him with a gun borrowed from Cable. It’s huge. Bobbie zaps the Kree with his own truncheon.
skye shakes who you really are
May tries to talk Skye down. They’ve locked themselves in Ward’s old cell. Sif cuts through the energy wall with her sword. That’s not helping calm Skye down. Skye shoots herself with the knockout gun. This convinces Sif that Skye wants to get better. She agrees to leave Skye with Coulson, though she still doesn’t think it’s the best move. Since being hit with the truncheon, the Kree guy doesn’t remember anything other than that he’s Kree. Sif is going to return him to Hala, the Kree home world.
May has the best line of the night when Sif leaves. “Not a lot of laughs that one. And when I say that…”
Simmons is getting on Fitz’s case for not telling her about Skye. Fitz didn’t want people to treat Skye differently, like they did him. Mac ironcialy says that secrets don’t help anybody. Bobbie joins in. The irony continues.  Skye walks in just as Mac yells that they’re the ones who need protection from Skye. Fitz is the only one on Team Skye right now. Skye’s bag is already packed. She doesn’t bolt, but she does confine herself to her bunk? a cell? That was a heavy door, so i’m guessing cell.
In the final scene, Mac is working on the Bus. Hunter marches up the ramp and confronts him. He wants to know what’s up with Mac and Bobbie. Mac responds to his questions might knocking him out. So much for staying friends…
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Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 64 – New Comic Book Previews for 3/25/15, The Wake Reviewed, Our Take On The Batgirl Cover Controversy!

It’s a new episode of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast and we’re here with our picks for what new comic books you should not miss at the comic book store this Wednesday!

aquaman free willy cover multiversity doug mahnke pastaways 1 cover

 

We’ve also got some new reviews for you, including The Wake by Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy.

the wake cover

We also talk about the new Avengers: Age of Ultron TV spot and give our takes on the Batgirl cover controversy that has been ripping through comic book sites this week. Do you agree with us? Disagree with us? Let us know in the comments below.
batgirl joker variant

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Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 63 – Our Picks For New Comics Coming Out 3/18/15! Fantastic Four The Martian Manhunter-Cabaret Connection!

It’s time for another episode of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast, where Dave and Billy give their picks on what new comics to buy on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 if you only had $20 to spend.

red one 1 cover batgirl endgame 1 batgirl 40 cover

Then, we reach back in time and talk about Ultimate Comics All-New Spider-Man #1-16, reach back further to talk about Kevin Smith and Terry Dodson’s Spider-Man and Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do, and then reach even further back to talk in-depth about Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee’s Inhumans.

In our final segment, we go where no other comic book podcast has gone before and talk about the connection between Martian Manhunter and the Emcee from Cabaret.

alan cummings cabaret 2martian manhunter arms crossed

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