Tag Archives: Victoria Hand

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Agents of SHIELD – S1E17 – Turn, Turn, Turn – Recap

Unlike The Well, which dealt with the fallout of Thor: The Dark World in a very ancillary way, Turn, Turn, Turn is directly impacted by the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW for Agents of SHIELD and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  If you haven’t seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier yet, you might want to see that first. But if you’d like to just read about how Captain America: The Winter Soldier affected Agents of SHIELD heading into this episode, I wrote up a handy guide here. But seriously, SPOILERS start after this Hydra logo.hydra logo

Hydra really is everywhere. They’ve even taken over the SHIELD Academy, which I lovingly refer to as SHIELDwarts. I’m hoping we get a special Red Dawn-esque webisode of the loyal SHIELDwarts students and staff standing off against the Hydra students and staff.

Before the real traitor was revealed, I was convinced it would be Triplett (aka Ward 2.0). I thought his flirting with Simmons might have been a ploy for getting info on her research into the drug that helped resurrect Coulson. Plus, he’s the agent we knew the least about. When he took out his knife and flashed it at Simmons, I was completely fooled. But Ward 2.0 is on the up and up, or so it seems. I hope he’s not a traitor. After this episode, he seems pretty cool.

agent leo triplett agents of shield

I also liked Victoria Hand’s reverse psychology for trying to figure out if Triplett and Simmons were Hydra agents. Besides being a nice swerve about Hand’s allegiance, it was a great, tension filled stand-off and cool action sequence.

Now, onto the real traitor…

hydra message

WARD!!!! NOOOOOOOOOO! On the one hand, I can’t believe that Ward is Hydra. On the other hand, I have to hand it to the writers of Agents of SHIELD, and Brett Dalton (who plays Grant Ward) for making me care about Ward. After watching the pilot, he was my least favorite character on the show. I felt that way for a few episodes, but then slowly started caring about him. It got to the point, where as of last week, I didn’t want any of Coulson’s crew to be a traitor. But man, now I’m totally back to hating Ward.

Marvel.com has a really good interview with Brett Dalton about Ward’s turn to the dark side.

dalton paxton shield

BILL PAXTON!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Paxton is just so cool as Agent Garrett. But now…he’s not only a traitor, HE’S THE ACTUAL CLAIRVOYANT! WTF?!? Paxton’s been pulling the strings all along! You know what, Paxton? It’s stuff like this that makes everyone like Bill Pullman more than they like you!

bill pullman independence day

You know who would never betray SHIELD?
President Thomas. J. Whitmore, that’s who.

I’m really interested to see where Agents of SHIELD goes from here. Ward revealed his true allegiance mid-air, so his betrayal won’t be immediately known to his team. Other than Agent Garrett, there were other people on that flight who Coulson might think freed Garrett. Or maybe Coulson’s team will think Garrett’s plane was rerouted remotely, the way The Bus was last episode. They might think they’re headed on a rescue and recovery mission, only to find themselves trapped in a den of vipers…or Hydras as the case may be.

agents of shield turn turn turn poster

Marvel is releasing a series of limited edition prints called “The Art of Level 7.” The different prints will each be based on an episode of Agents of SHIELD between now and the end of the season, and each one will be released a few days before that episode’s air date. If you’re interested in purchasing the prints, you can find them here: Art of Level 7. The first in the series, pictured above, was for this week’s episode, with art by Mike Del Mundo. I love this image. It’s very Steranko.

Looking at this print,  I feel like I should have noticed a rather major clue into the identity of The Clairvoyant based on who is listed in this in the description for the print: Agent Phil Coulson, Agent Melinda May, Skye, Agent Grant Ward, Agent Jemma Simmons, Agent Leo Fitz, Agent Antoine Triplett. Who’s missing? That’s right? Bill Paxton’s Agent Garrett. Then again, so is Victoria Hand. And that traitor, Ward, did make it on the print, so maybe it’s not the best clue after all…

Marvel has also put on sale the print for next week’s episode, Providence, with art by Paolo Rivera.

paolo rivera agents of shield provedence

Such a cool image. I’m tempted to buy it.

Both Samuel L. Jackson and Colbie Smulders are confirmed for upcoming Agents of SHIELD episodes. It will be great to have a face to face confrontation between Fury and Coulson regarding Coulson’s death and resurrection. It will be interesting to see where in the timeline of the Winter Soldier movie these episodes take place. Will Hill already be at Stark when she sees Coulson again? Or will it be before SHIELD’s official disbandment? I like the idea of SHIELD shrinking in size and going deep cover, if that’s an option going forward.

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Winter Soldier & Agents of SHIELD

MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW. If you haven’t seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier yet, see it first and come back. And if you’re an Agents of SHIELD fan, make sure you watch Winter Soldier BEFORE you watch the tonight’s  episode! But if you don’t plan on watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier before tonight’s episode, this post should catch you up with everything you need to know.

agents of shield winter soldier

I feel more than it affects any of the other Marvel movies, Captain America: The Winter Soldier dramatically affects the Agents of SHIELD TV show. In the most recent episode of Agents of SHIELD, Coulson figures out that the villain The Clairvoyant is a SHIELD agent or has SHIELD agents in his employ. In Winter Soldier, it’s revealed that SHIELD is even more deeply compromised than Coulson suspected. Hydra has secretly taken over huge parts of SHIELD (and the government) from the top down, including the senator played by Garry Shandling in Iron Man 2 and long time SHIELD agent Jasper Sitwell!

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The Doctor and Rose reenact the pivotal scene between Senator Stern and Jasper Sitwell from Captain America: Winter Soldier.

Sitwell appeared briefly onscreen in Thor and Avengers, but has seen the majority of his screen time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the Agents of SHIELD TV series, including in last week’s episode, where he was still thought to be a loyal SHIELD agent. The revelation that Sitwell is in fact an agent of Hydra is a huge bombshell. Before Winter Soldier, there was no reason to think Sitwell was a traitor. Now, unless he’s revealed to be a triple-agent, Sitwell will be remembered as a traitor. I doubt he survived being thrown into oncoming traffic by the Winter Soldier on a busy DC highway. That said, he may be in part of tonight’s episode, as he was still alive in last week’s episode, and we don’t know yet how much of tonight’s episode takes before or during the events of Captain America: Winter Soldier. 

sitwell

We also don’t know how much of last week’s episode took place during or after Winter Soldier. Remember how hard a time Coulson was having trying to get in touch with Nick Fury last week? Could the reason for Coulson’s difficulty be the assassination attempt on Fury’s life in Captain America: The Winter Soldier? Coulson’s crew has been isolated and on their own recently. Unless they hear something from Victoria Hand or Agent Garrett (Bill Paxton), there’s a good chance they won’t hear it. And it was revealed last week that Hand has her own agenda counter to Coulson.

victoria hand

Could The Clarivoyant from Agents of SHIELD be part of Hydra? The tagline “Everything is Connected” that ABC has been running in their advertising for Agents of SHIELD certainly makes it seem so. In the most recent episode of SHIELD, Coulson deduces that the Clairvoyant isn’t actually a psychic, but it rather someone with deep access to information, who uses that information to predict the future.

clairvoyant shield agent

Could the Clarvoyant be the now computerized Arnim Zola? It fits, as Zola was using everything from Facebook and Gmail to predict how people would act and who needed to be taken out. The main thorn in this theory is that I feel we’ve seen the Clairvoyant in silhouette already, unless that was just the man in the wheelchair who Ward killed in last week’s episode.

I’m guessing that one of Coulson’s team will be revealed as a Hydra agent. But I can’t think who I would want that traitor to be. I’ve grown to like every member of Coulson’s crew this season and will be devastated if any of them are traitors. Right now, I’m hoping it ends up being Garrett or Triplett if it has to be anyone. I do not think Agent May is a Hydra agent. I think her suspicious behavior is a red herring and that her secret phone line is a direct connection to Fury. And I don’t know what to make of Hand. Is she a Hydra agent? Or is she operating her own agenda?

agents of shield trust no one

Tonight’s episode of Agents of SHIELD is going to be huge! Do not miss this episode!

 

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Agents of SHIELD S1E7 – The Hub

I really enjoyed the seventh episode of Agents of SHIELD. I think it is because the usual pairings of Ward and Skye, and Fitz and Simmons were shuffled. Fitz is sent to the field with Ward, and Skye enlists Simmons in a mission of subterfuge within a giant SHIELD facility known at The Hub.

Both Fitz and Simmons are taken out of their comfort zones this week. The lab-bound Fitz is enlisted into a heavy-fire field mission with Agent Ward. There is tension between Fitz and Ward. Fitz resents Ward for being the one who saved Simmons in last week’s F.Z.Z.T. Ward feels like he’s babysitting Fitz in the field. I’m glad Fitz wasn’t portrayed as only bumbling in the field. Fitz and Ward both get to save the day at various points during the mission. Though I’m also glad that concern over Fitz’s lack of field experience was used for humor when he lost a fight with a sliding glass door.

FitzWard

FitzWard

Simmons finds herself partnering with Skye in an scheme of intra-SHIELD subterfuge. While Skye has no regards for rules, clearance and procedure, Simmons is completely by the book. If this were D&D, Simmons would be lawful good. Or in her own words, “I like following the rules and doing what’s expected of me. It makes me feel nice.” She’s given a great arc in this episode, as by the end of the episode, she’s bragging to Fitz, “I shot a superior officer in the chest.”

Of course I’m going to love an episode that focuses heavily on FitzSimmons, as they are my absolute favorite characters on the show. As if I needed another reason to like Fitz, we find out in this episode that the guy has excellent taste in sandwiches. His favorite? Prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella with just a hint of homemade pesto aioli.

Two Marvel Comics characters make their Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in this episode of Agents of SHIELD. Jasper Sitwell is a SHIELD agent who has been a member of SHIELD since his first appearance in 1966’s Strange Tales # 144. Victoria Hand is a newer character. She has a shadier past than Sitwell, in that she made her rise to prominence as  the evil Norman Osborn’s #2 when he took over SHIELD and renamed in it HAMMER. She eventually made it to the side of the angels when Captain America offered her a chance at redemption after Osborn’s downfall. I like the inclusion of these characters and hope to see more comics characters make their way to the show. As much as I like the new characters created just for Agents of SHIELD, it’s cool to see pre-established characters pop in. It ground the show more firmly as a Marvel show.

 

 

Victoria Hand and Phil Coulson

Victoria Hand and Phil Coulson

Jasper Sitwell

Jasper Sitwell

I’m really loving Agents of SHIELD, especially these last two episodes. If you’ve fallen off the SHIELD helicarrier, I think now’s a good time to get back into it. Next week’s episode has Coulson’s team cleaning up after the events of Thor: The Dark World. If you’ve seen the movie, next week should be a great jumping on point for you.