Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Round Table: A Brewing Bromance?
Jay Ruymann
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On Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 Episode 12, Hydra took matters into their own hands and blackmailed Talbot, the new head of the ATCU, to betray Coulson, while Hunter's obsession over Creel left him irresponsible in the field. Meanwhile, Daisy and Lincoln continued to get steamy together.
But there was so much more that happened!
Join TV Fanatics, Kathleen Wiedel, Jim Garner, Hank Otero, and Caralynn Lippo as they discuss Talbot's mess, Hive's literal, oozing mess, and more!
After Talbot betrayed Coulson, how do you think this is going to affect the relationship between Shield and the ATCU? Likewise, how do you think Talbot's personal bias against aliens will affect the ATCU?
Kathleen: I'm pretty sure that much of Talbot's hostile behavior in this episode was due to Hydra pulling his strings by holding his son hostage. While he might not like Coulson, he does respect him. Also, I don't think that Talbot holds any particular personal bias against aliens in general, given that he trusts Carl Creel with his life. Talbot may be a jerk, but he's also a pragmatist.
Jim: I agree with Kathleen, Talbot's actions were driven solely by the love of his son and Coulson could respect that. Hell, he told him to call him "Glen" (sometimes) at the end after all.
Hank: Same here, I think the situation made Talbot realize once and for all that Director Coulson has his back. There is a new bromance brewing people! The head of the ATCU learned the truth about Malick and his ties to HYDRA the hard way. As Kathleen pointed out, with Creel at his side it seems Talbot's old prejudices are history.
Caralynn: I agree with everyone, I think that after the events of "The Inside Man," these two are firmly on the same team now. I also really appreciated that Coulson almost immediately realized that the cause of Talbot's double cross was because Malick had someone held hostage. That spoke volumes, to me. Even when Talbot was betraying him on the surface, Coulson knew what kind of a person Talbot was deep down. I second Hank's bromance comment! I'm loving these two together. The running while handcuffed moment made me LOL.
Do you think Daisy and Lincoln's opposing opinions of Inhuman powers will challenge their newfound relationship?
Kathleen: There are plenty of people out there who hold opposing political views but still manage to maintain a healthy relationship. Couples don't need to agree on every issue to make their relationships work. Who knows? Maybe their opposing viewpoints might serve to brew a middle-ground solution.
Jim: Again, Kathleen nailed it on the head. I know many couples who have different views on religion, politics, and even child punishment, but they all manage to make a relationship work.
Hank: Daisy seems to be helping Lincoln with his insecurities and issues. If anything, I think the two will balance each other out nicely. Of course, without a little drama the show will become super dull. Perhaps there will be some tension, but I feel things will work out for the two in the end. At least that's my hope.
Caralynn: I still find Lincoln to be incredibly boring, so I honestly don't care. To objectively answer the question, Kathleen is totally right -- you don't need to have identical viewpoints to be a good match. That said, I don't think Daisy and Lincoln are endgame, if only because Lincoln is so dull and I can't imagine him holding Daisy's attention for long...
Hunter's vendetta against Creel for killing Hartley and Idaho was revisited again. Was Hunter being reckless or was his concern genuine?
Kathleen: I don't blame Hunter at all for the way he felt about Creel. While Talbot may trust Creel, Hunter only knows him as the dangerous criminal who killed his close friends. I can't say that I'd handle the situation any better than Hunter.
Jim: Hunter had ZERO reason to trust Creel. I'm pretty sure I would have done the same thing in his shoes, so no, I don't think he was being reckless.
Hank: While he was behaving obsessively, his hunch paid off in the end. It would have been unrealistic for Hunter to work alongside Creel easily with their history. Still, it bugged me that Hunter left his post endangering his teammates and the mission to chase after Creel. That was definitely reckless and hot-headed. The guy can not be trusted to follow orders.
Caralynn: I have a confession: I don't like Hunter. I never warmed to the guy. When he betrayed May and got Dr. Garner "killed," that was the last straw for me (and for May, apparently). I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his disregarding the mission. I rolled my eyes even harder that he ended up having done the right thing, in the end. He is seriously a liability, though, going off on his own to do what he thinks is best. Even though he was right this time, he's just not a good team player.
What disastrous plans do you think Hive and Hydra have for the greater good?
Kathleen: Probably something diabolical and megalomaniacal, involving world domination and the end of normal, everyday humans in favor of the superior Inhumans.
Jim: Hanson's Mmm-Bop World Tour 2016? Giving Star Wars back to George Lucas? Or, maybe some other diabolical plan to destroy humanity.
Hank: I've got nothing, sorry. To be honest, I thought Hive would lead an Inhuman army via his powers. Now that we've learned he can't control Inhumans, I just don't get it. Will he threaten to slime S.H.I.E.L.D's loved ones? Were those sandstorms on the blue planet coming from his fingertips? So far, Hive is letting me down a bit.
Caralynn: Ummmm... I have no idea, so I'm going to guess Kathleen is right and it's something simple and straightforward like eliminating humans in favor of Inhumans taking over the Earth. That would tie in nicely to Daisy's "this is our time" comment to Lincoln. Of course, that idea doesn't totally make sense because why would Malick, a human, be down for that?
What did you think of Hive's powers and completely killing five humans, leaving nothing but their skeletons?
Kathleen: Nom, nom, nom. How much fun must Brett Dalton have had getting covered in all that goop? Honestly, though, we really haven't seen the full extent of Hive's powers. Now that it's apparently back to full strength (why didn't it do this earlier?), what does this mean for our heroes? How can they possibly defeat such a monstrosity?
Jim: Kathleen, are we suppose to answer the question with a question? Dang it! Now I'm doing it too! I think that Brett Dalton must be having the time of his life and I'm really glad I'm not in Hydra, seems like their retirement plan has gotten a bit more brutal.
Hank: Is that all the thing does? (Yet another question). He seemed much more threatening on the blue planet. Okay so he can absorb/fry/burn/slime humans, but how will that help Hive lead an Inhuman army? Kathleen is right, we have not seen the full extent of his powers. He should feed on Malick, the guy is a one trick pony.
Caralynn: I am so, so glad we got to keep Brett Dalton around. It was clear that Ward had overstayed his welcome as a character (I do think they could have sustained his morally-grey thing a little bit, but once they had him go full villain by murdering Rosalind, there was really no coming back for him). I agree, he must be having a ball with this new character, and his portrayal is excellent. The goopy skeleton circle was kind of disgusting but also terrifying. This guy's powers are a huge threat to the team; I can't wait for them to come face to face.
Who do you think was "dead" in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episode 11, flash forward scene?
Kathleen: I hesitate to even hazard a guess at this point. We really didn't see enough to speculate with any hope of accuracy, as far as I am concerned.
Jim: I have no idea, I'm hoping its not any of our regular cast members. I'm guessing there are a few inhumans floating about that could be on the block.
Hank: We were led to believe it was the yoyo lady, no? Her crucifix was floating there with a few drops of blood. Perhaps she joins the team and sacrifices herself for the greater good? I doubt it's one of the main cast. I am curious to learn what led the team up into space, but that's probably a season finale thing.
Caralynn: Hank is right, they were clearly hinting at it being "Yoyo." Which makes me sure that it's anyone BUT Yoyo. Honestly, as long as it isn't Coulson, Fitzsimmons, May, Daisy, or Mack, I can handle losing Bobbi or Hunter (sorry, not sorry). I have a bad feeling it's Mack, though. He and Yoyo were vibing (and also bonded over their religion), so I can easily see Yoyo gifting him her cross. Hence, it's Mack. So that's my guess.
Did you enjoy the episode? What do you think is next for Hive and S.H.I.E.L.D.? Let us know what your theories are!
Jay Ruymann was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He retired in January 2018.
