Around the Water Cooler: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – “The Bridge” (spoilers!)

"Riding along in my automobile / My agent beside me at the wheel." © ABC/Marvel Studios
“Riding along in my automobile / My agent beside me at the wheel.” © ABC/Marvel Studios

It’s been a crazy week, but now I can get back to talking about the latest episode of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, now available to watch on the official website.

  • I believe this is the first episode to include a “Previously on…” which means it’s mid-season plot building time! I’m looking forward to seeing the mysterious woman in the flower dress again, mostly so I can figure out exactly what her role in the Centipede project and/or organization is. She’s definitely not the head honcho, but she seems to have more savvy than a regular minion or hench. Perhaps she’s like Mirage from The Incredibles: non-powered, but extremely vital? Hopefully I’ll get to find out more about her soon—including her name.
  • I already don’t like Jailbreak because of how snotty he was to the people rescuing him. Consider how easy it could have been for the squad to say, “Oh, whoops… that dude you wanted us to break out of federal prison? We experienced some turbulance and he accidentally fell out of the helicopter while it was a mile up. Sorry. Sir.
  • God, the more I see May with Ward, the more I like it. I know that’s breaking the heart of at least one of my friends who’d prefer to see Ward with Fitz, but I really think that May is good for him.
  • “Did I beat Captain America’s time?” “Not even close.” Oh, lookit how adorable you are, Mike Peterson.
  • So recently, Geena Davis published a guest post with The Hollywood Reporter about how one way to make media less sexist and more inclusive is by writing into scripts that at least half of the extras in a scene should be female. I’d like to note that perhaps the casting directors of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” are keeping this in mind with respect to non-whites as well with the inclusion of the Asian field agent who was talking to Mike Peterson.
  • Aw, Simmons! And now you have to go around being adorable. Which begs the question: Does she get this flustered around Ward, whom we already know looks good shirtless? Or is she more intrigued by Peterson on a scientific level as well?
  • Is that a genuine example of a scene between two men where they’re talking about women and their relationships with them and it moves the plot forward as well as establishing character? Stop the presses!
  • “The Avengers thought I was dead, so I had to keep that up.” Does that mean that at this point in time, they know he’s alive now?
  • From this first scene between Poe and Raina, I got the sense that that while he is working with her, he is not working for the Centipede organization. Hmm, so he’s not one of our Big Bads, and that makes an amount of sense.
  • May turning on Skye like that makes me sad, but it also makes sense because she’d just been rattled by Ward and didn’t get back to her center fast enough. Proves that she’s human. Good for her!
  • Of course, I am now fearing the scene where Skye runs to Papa Coulson, whining about how May is being a big ol’ meanie. I do hope they manage to pull something great out of that or subvert my expectations completely.
  • The more I look at the “bedrooms” on the Bus, the more I realize how important it must be to carve out any kind of personal space and private time while inside it. At least Coulson has an office and May has her cockpit. Fitz and Simmons have the lab, but sharing that could be a bit of a pain. Where does Ward go?
  • “The staying away, not being there? I’ve seen first-hand the kind of damage that can do.” Is Coulson referring to Tony Stark?
  • J. August Richards’ face after speaking to Raina? Awesome.
  • Yeah… nice mid-series plot-twist.

Thoughts?