AGENTS OF SHIELD: Turn, turn, turn: Hand, Garrett, Ward?

Some more rambling theory-spinning crazy talk on AGENTS OF SHIELD after WINTER SOLDIER before tonight's ep…

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I see three possibilities for the allegiance of Hub Director Agent Victoria Hand…

1. She's loyal trust-the-system SHIELD and answers to the SHIELD chain of command (as Hub director, would that only be Fury?). This offers two sub-options: that she's following orders from legit SHIELD, or unwittingly following orders from Hydra, perhaps with (well-hidden) misgivings. This second sub-option seems true to her comic book persona.

2. She's Hydra and in cahootz w the likes of Sitwell and Crossbones and Pierce. This would be a powerful strategic move for Hydra, as she can enlist all the resources of The Hub for Hydra objectives, without revealing Hydra itself.

3. She's Centipede and answers to the Clairvoyant. Okay, maybe she IS the Clairvoyant, but I'd rather she was another lieutenant. Either way, this would be a powerful move for the Clairvoyant for the same reasons as option 2.

By ordering some level-something something-protocol lockdown, she might effectively seal The Hub off from the events of WINTER SOLDIER, at least for a while. And by trumping up some charges on Coulson's team, or even just throwing up the "Level 8" classified wall, she can defend any moves she makes against them, including killing them. As a legit SHIELD agent, she may have received orders branding Coulson & co as traitors, and the Bus's course change might be just the manufactured or coincidental proof to back them up. I don't quite buy that Hand is responsible for the plane changing course (away from the Triskelion and Insight, btw).

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Ward could easily be SHIELD's or Hydra's. I feel like he genuinely believes the Clairvoyant to be a menace and a monster, tho, so I'm gonna say he's not w CV. I don't know that his delivery sold me on the emotional duress he experienced when he cracked and shot Nash, but if I take him at his words, okay. His execution of Thomas Nash was indeed in the heat of the moment. That makes sense, as it would have been choreographed by the Clairvoyant. CV's words, pumped thru the machinery surrounding Nash, were no doubt designed to manipulate one of the agents in the room into killing Nash, as CV could *not* have him be taken into SHIELD custody alive. Ward may have been the easiest mark, or simply the first on CV's list, or served the bonus purpose of fracturing Coulson's team.

Maybe the Clairvoyant is going to use the SHIELD/Hydra schism and WINTER SOLDIER events to his advantage by outing some Hydra agents close to and on Coulson's team.

The next episode is titled "Turn, Turn, Turn," the same words that Garrett uses to describe the wheel of agents and S.O.s. Garrett trained Ward and Ward trained Skye. So, what if Garrett is Hydra, eh? That would make me really sad. Not just cuz it's Wild Bill playing him, but because he's ostensibly playing the character brought to life by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz in ELEKTRA: ASSASSIN. Not quite as over-the-top as I remember him, but he definitely brings some cowboy swagger.

Taking "Turn, turn, turn" to heart, tho. Would Hydra Garrett have recruited Ward? Is there something in Ward's past (I'm real shaky on character histories, bleah) that would make him seem a likely convert?

And let's say he did. Would he have expected Ward in turn to convert Skye? I found their conversation before the double-blind mission to be… conspicuous. It wasn't unreasonable or unlikely, just… I dunno. Seemed to skip a few beats somehow. Maybe he was fishing for a Hydra call and response? Third degree burn, nerve endings, gut shot?

Keep on keepin on~

AGENTS OF SHIELD: The Clairvoyant: Hail Hydra?

Some more rambling on the Clairvoyant, incorporating some events and intel revealed in CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER.

]]] WINTER SOLDIER SPOILERS FOLLOW [[[

Let's say Clair Voyant, aka CV, is a SHIELD agent who's been recruited by Hydra. Let's say CV moved up the ranks of both organizations, to a level high enough to gain access to Zola's work, specifically the Insight Algorithm, perhaps an Alpha or Beta, y'know? Not in its ultimate, Hydra-ted form. CV sees a way to exploit the Algorithm for his own personal agenda, copies/steals it, and begins using it to plan and predict. The first thing CV would do would be to hide himself from both sides. How? Modifying his SHIELD file to project a competent, loyal, sufficiently high-level, but not trouble-making operative, basically painting the picture of a successful but forgettable drone.

What agenda?

I like the Clairvoyant as having a personal stake and/or a high ideal as the drive behind his clandestine machinations. On the surface, it seems like CV's operations, aka Centipede, are focused on the development and acquisition of exotic weaponry. I don't think we've seen that weaponry applied in the support of a particular ideology, right? Seems mostly like an arms dealer on the surface, traveling in the same circles as alien tech scavengers and exiled cybercriminals, right?

Not very satisfying to me, but that might be enough. Especially as a til-now-phantom-like third party in the SHIELD-Hydra dynamic. A mercenary villain, building an enhanced mercenary army for hire.

Wow. Can you imagine Hydra getting SHIELD on the ropes at some point in the WINTER SOLDIER struggle and Coulson cutting a deal with the Clairvoyant to *hire* his forces to help SHIELD? And maybe Hydra counters, but CV sticks w Coulson, as he can be trusted while Hydra certainly cannot.

What if CV tweaked Insight to do more than hide himself, but also cripple Hydra, perhaps out of philosophical disagreement? That would be a nice touch. Like when the mob turns its Tommy Guns on the Nazis instead of the cops, cuz, F that—Nazis! Y'know?

So, on the surface, Centipede looks like an exotic arms developer and dealer and super army for hire. But what does the Clairvoyant really want out of this? What end would this be a means to? Well, it's the creation of a force that can stand toe-to-toe with SHIELD and perhaps Avengers. I've gone on quite a bit about my wild hopes that there is time or dimensional travel involved, that the Clairvoyant doesn't just have SHIELD files from the present, but from the future as well. Well, the algorithm renders that unnecessary. So, maybe CV has used the algorithm and discovered an imminent Earthican catastrophe—Insight itself? The rise of a supervillain or superpowered force? The age of Ultron?—and created Centipede as a pre-emptive strike or defense against it. Or as a force against which SHIELD (and Hydra?) can be tempered and strengthened, to better face this coming apocalypse.

I say Earthican because the algorithm operates on recorded personal history and data, and we can assume that CV would only have access to human information…

Or can we? What if CV is an extraterrestrial, or has access to extraterrestrial data? Perhaps the algorithm, applied to an ET-net, revealed that another battle in the higher form of war is going to take place on Earth soon and in his way is helping to arm and prepare the adorable Earthicans.

Would be a nice comic booky "Humans Number One!" to have a mad Earthling scientist develop something like the algorithm that no one's seen applied in the rest of the galaxy. Hari Seldon's psychohistory, anyone?

Or, we go back to one of my old theories that doesn't require ET data or the algorithm, but simply Nick Fury's do-what-has-to-be-done-to-protect-humanity directive. SHIELD as the world knows it is too massive (so massive that it's unwittingly become home to Hydra as well) and transparent (compartmentalized, sure, but everything is logged somewhere) to do the dirty work needed to properly defend the Earth in a higher form of war. So, Nick sets up an independent rogue op, completely disavowed and unconnected to SHIELD, to develop weapons and soldiers in the wild, to fund itself any way it needs to, and then to get big enough that it has to lock horns with SHIELD, and in that conflict, SHIELD gets smarter, stronger, and when it wins, acquires weapons that it would otherwise have been unable (read also as unallowed) to ethically and safely develop on its own.

Keep on keepin on~

WINTER AGENTS: syncing up CAP2 and AOS redux ramble

Then again…

How about we try this without being so impatient? Not as much fun, but we do have most of half a season to go, right? =)

]]] WINTER SOLDIER SPOILERS (and the usual crazy talk) FOLLOW [[[

In AGENTS OF SHIELD: End of the Beginning… Before Victoria Hand returns to The Hub, she relays that Agent Sitwell is to report to the Lemurian Star. This is the SHIELD barge that Cap and the Widow are sent to free from Batroc and his pirate mercs (enlisted by Nick Fury). This doesn't necessarily mean that Batroc strikes immediately on Sitwell's arriving at the Star. He may have been there for days or even weeks before he's taken hostage.

Although… In WINTER SOLDER, we *do* get the apparently superfluous information that the Star has been held by the pirates for 93 hours when Cap and Nat are brought in, right? That's almost four days of time that begins sometime after Sitwell arrives. How much time do we think passes in the course of the events of "End of the Beginning?" Could it have been four days?

*Maybe.* But if AGENTS OF SHIELD needs more time for Agents-vs-Clairvoyant to play out before Fury's apparent death, they can write it in easily enough. Just extend Sitwell's time on the Lemurian Star before Batroc takes the ship. So, if it "helps," everything that happens in last week's episode happens BEFORE Cap, Nat, and the Strike Team board the Lemurian Star. That potentially opens up weeks in the AGENTS timeline before SHIELD has to be dissolved. Coulson may have a chance to speak to Fury before his death, and with Insight and Hydra on his mind, he would definitely clue Coulson into a contingency plan/mission.

Actually, going along with the notion that May is reporting to Fury, let's take her report to Coulson that Fury has returned (from wherever/whatever) as legit. Assuming that Nick hasn't been dodging Coulson specifically (which is what it's seemed like from within AGENTS), that would have happened *before* Cap meets Nick in WINTER SOLDIER, right? That by itself significantly extends the amount of time between the events of "End of the Beginning" and WINTER SOLDIER.

Are we gonna let AGENTS OF SHIELD get away with no mention of Insight's satellites? The three carriers, well, okay. Let's say they're ultra super top secret. Altho launching them from the heart of D.C. seems counter-intelligent, no? Okay, okay, fine. Let's say that despite the fact that everyone in the Triskellion seems to know about Insight, it's been compartmentalized tightly enough that none of our AGENTS would know about it and discuss, refer to, or gossip about it.

Hrm… All of SHIELD's files were released to the interwebs. That means the Index and Skye's history are Out There, right? Hrm…

There's no need to bring Hydra into AGENTS, altho it would certainly be cool and bold. As I keep saying, for me, Clairvoyant ≠ Hydra. Way more interesting for me if they do bring Hydra in as an enemy of the Clairvoyant as well. Hrm… 

What if the multiple choice options for "To whom is Agent May reporting?" are actually…?

1. Nick Fury - SHIELD
2. The Clairvoyant - Centipede
3. Hydra - SHIELD

Answer 3 would be frickin cool. Hell, what if Victoria Hand is Hydra and she wants to quash the Clairvoyant as badly as Coulson and co? Which way would the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" dynamic swing things in that scenario, eh? Agents + Centipede vs. Hydra? Or Agents vs. Hydra vs. Centipede?

Hrm… You know what. For the Clairvoyant's prop gambit to work, Thomas Nash could not be allowed to survive as a prisoner of SHIELD. If Ward truly did fire because of emotional duress or whatever, someone else in the room was ready to do the job. Or Nash would somehow have to appear to provoke an attack. Altho… Frack. I guess the Clairvoyant would be able to push anyone's and everyone's buttons in that room in order to get that desired result. For whatever reason, probably to screw w Coulson's team, Clair chose Ward for the job.

Try to forget about the Clairvoyant. If Hydra does wrap a tentacle head around AGENTS, who would be the most likely target for Hydra recruiting? I kind of like Fitz for that. Agent May, sure. She's been thru hell for SHIELD and as a result might be susceptible to the right pitch from Hydra. But Fitz! C'mon, that would be way more fun! It's played for comic relief, but you see the flashes of resentment and superiority beneath his nerdy Brit surface, don't you? He might be science-nerdy enough to appreciate the Hydra philosophy as something elegant, or perhaps something incredibly naive but convenient. Man, that would be Something. =)

Curious. Hand is quite insistent on having Simmons join her at The Hub, ostensibly to brief her agents as SHIELD's expert on Deathlok. Nah. Simmons couldn't be Hydra w Hand. If Hand wants Simmons at The Hub, it's because she/the Clairvoyant is counting on her bringing Skye's blood sample with her for study.

Compartmentalize the information. Skye's double blind protocol. Could be an illustration of Agent May's situation, believing she's working for Fury, but actually reporting to someone else?

Okay, am I totally arguing w myself now? *sigh* Allright, enough w the crazy talk…

…for now. =)

To address what I originally meant to walk thru…

The next eps of AGENTS OF SHIELD could be playing out before or during the events of WINTER SOLDIER. I *want* it to be during, with Fury's return (announced by May in "End of the Beginning") marking the completion of some off-the-grid counter-intel work (investigating Hydra corruption and setting up Batroc's Starjacking). I want for Centipede to be distinct from Hydra. I'd love for there to be a three-way battle/struggle.

And I'd really like for Nick Fury to be "wearing" Victoria Hand's eye to gain Alpha-level access to SHIELD's files at the end of WINTER SOLDIER. =)

Keep on keepin on~

AGENTS OF SHIELD: GH-325?

Some scattin' on the "GH" in GH-325. Most are tweets from the night the episode aired. Note that when I first saw the episode, I wasn't sure if the specimen's skin/surface color was actually blue or tinted blue by lighting and the cryo tube. Since then, Coulson has described the creature as "blue" on the show.

GH-325 Infinity Formula? Super Soldier Serum? Captain America blood? Wolverine blood? Red Skull blood?
Is GH actually blue-skinned? Tint from cryo tube/suspension? Centaurian (Yondu)? Kree (Ronan)? Frost Giant? G for Giant?
GH… George Harrison? =)
GH… G for Gilgamesh? aka Forgotten One. Eternals, anyone?
GH… Maybe it's where the being was found/recovered? Ghana?
GH… Glenn Hughes? =)
GH… Green Hantern? =)
GH… Gamma Hydra? Heh. A star, but man, look at those words in Marvel light, right? =)
GH… H for hormone? Harvest (as in organs)? Humanoid?
GH… GREY HULK?! A secret history 1960s gamma bomb test survivor who ultimately died or had to be put down?
GH… H for "Hala?"

I really like G for "Giant" and H for "Hala." Unfortunately, those would be mutually exclusive. G for Giant as in Frost Giant would be a great fit as collateral damage from the portals created during THOR 2. H for Hala as in the Kree homeworld would be kind of perfect because Coulson reacted violently to GH-325 treatment while Skye (a "natural" 084) took to it rather easily, indicating that Skye has Kree blood in her. I'm pretty certain that blue and pink cree are NOT different species, so a pink Kree Skye should be able to accept a transfusion of blue Kree chemistry. Hrm… Might be an indicator of Kree genetic manipulation as well, eh? Inhuman Skye?

Would be an interesting way to introduce mutants into the MMU without "mutants." Having the Kree genetically tinkering with human stock over millennia, resulting in something along the lines of the recent Inhumanity phenom in the MCU.

What about T.A.H.I.T.I.?

They're all happier in the ice?

Geep hon geepin hon~

WINTER AGENTS: syncing up CAP2 and AOS…

I made some connections between AGENTS and WINTER SOLDIER when doing my post-movie debrief ramble, but let me try and think it thru in more detail…

]]] WINTER SOLDIER SPOILERS (and the usual crazy talk) FOLLOW [[[

(Note that this is based on the assumption that events of AGENTS and SOLDIER sync up as soon as possible. Here's a ramble that allows for more time.)

In AGENTS OF SHIELD: End of the Beginning… Before Victoria Hand returns to The Hub, she relays that Agent Sitwell is to report to the Lemurian Star. This is the SHIELD barge that Cap and the Widow are sent to free from Batroc and his pirate mercs (enlisted by Nick Fury).

In AGENTS OF SHIELD: End of the Beginning… May relays to Coulson that Fury is back on the grid. He can contact him to discuss his problem/s. Not sure where this falls in relation to WINTER SOLDIER, but there's definitely no news of Fury's death/assassination in the episode, so it must be before Fury's shot.

In AGENTS OF SHIELD: End of the Beginning… Fitz attempts to set up a secure hard line between The Bus and Simmons at The Hub. He succeeds in getting a broken signal, and while he's working on it, Simmons explains that there's a sudden burst of activity, that a group of agents have stormed the situation room. I *thought* this would have lined up with Steve Rogers's outing of the Hydra tendrils in SHIELD, but none of the Agents have heard about Fury's assassination, right? So, this must be early in the course of WINTER SOLDIER. Perhaps it's a reaction to Fury's assassination/death, which happened at 2am or so, D.C. time, I think? When Fitz cuts May's line, perhaps he cut all comms on The Bus? In any case, in the minutes following that, everyone on The Bus is engaged in gunpointing and doubletalking, right? No time to acknowledge a message from the Triskelion about Fury's death.

In AGENTS OF SHIELD: End of the Beginning… Fitz does a wonderfully lame job of talking his way out of the cockpit and mentions their imminent landing at the Triskelion (to deliver Ward). Perhaps the course change that The Bus makes—a flying U-turn—is made remotely, or pre-programmed and triggered, as part a Nicholas Fury contingency plan: if things get messy (i.e. I have to fake my death) get Coulson and his team as far away from Hydra/SHIELD as possible. Perhaps The Bus and Coulson's team is MMU Fury's Secret Warriors, his answer to a Hydra-corrupted SHIELD, outfitted with last generation equipment (which might make them safe from certain modern technological vulnerabilities) and an eclectic mix of operatives and specialties, including two 084s (one natural—Skye, one man made—Coulson) and their highly skilled watcher (Agent May, reporting to Fury).

In AGENTS OF SHIELD: End of the Beginning… Victoria Hand at The Hub issues orders to bring down that plane (The Bus) and kill everyone on board except Agent Coulson. Hrm... No interest in Skye? Perhaps because she already has her blood at The Hub, thanks to Simmons. The latest this could be in the events of WINTER SOLDIER would have to be Fury's death. Hand would not show her hand as a Hydra minion yet, but maybe The Hub has been strategically staffed with Hydra, and Hand doesn't need to take over by force. But—SOMETHING happened that Simmons mentioned over the static-y secure line… Perhaps Hand, directed by Pierce, used the Fury assassination as pretense to apprehend potential troublemakers, which would include all of Coulson's team. Not sure if I remember enough to piece together a decent string of logic to explain that, tho. Is there a way to connect the dots from Wade killing the supposed Clairvoyant (Dourif) to Fury's assassination by an unknown/ghost (Winter Soldier).

So, the next chunk of this season of AGENTS OF SHIELD plays out in the course of the second two-thirds or so of WINTER SOLDIER, after Fury's assassination. In the epilogue of the season finale, I hope to see Coulson speaking loudly and clearly, knowingly at Fury's grave (the place that Cap is supposed to send anyone who wants to see Nick), as we pop thru the headstone's surveillance camera and monitor to see Nick watching, listening, and grinning at Coulson's report from some unlikely safe house. Maybe across the street from Cap? An office in Stark Tower? Working a food truck? Renting a room at Aunt May's? Heh.

Oh—I know! Coulson shows up at Fury's grave to drop off the objective of his final mission as a SHIELD agent: the eyeball of Victoria Hand. For Nick to have inserted into his socket before returning to the Triskelion near the end of WINTER SOLDIER. =)

I know it looks like Victoria could be Clair Voyant, but I'd really like for her to be yet another link in the chain.

And, I'd still like for Centipede and the Clairvoyant to be something separate from cut-off-one-head-two-more-shall-take-its-place Hydra. Perhaps the Clairvoyant went double-rogue, lifted Zola's algorithm for a specific, not as high-minded as forcing freedom on the thankless masses purpose, but what? Making lots of money via exotic weaponry? Seems kind of lame and base to me. Gotta be something bigger and better. Maybe the exotic weaponry is means to a more personal end.

I want it to be personal somehow. Involvement of time or dimensional travel a bonus. =)

Maybe it's to take down SHIELD and Hydra for something they did to the Clairvoyant? Or *will* do?

I want the Agents vs. Clair + Centipede to outlast the mothballing of SHIELD.

Hrm… AIM, anyone? =)

Oh, and cuz I haven't said enough crazy but totally likely stuff yet this post… Is Skye Spider-Woman? Or Ms. Marvel? Kree flesh wouldn't reject Kree chemistry the way human chemistry would, right? We've been told that her parents died, but we were never told they were human, right?

RE: Dourif as the Clairvoyant prop. Man! That was some lovely wonderful brilliant casting and yarn spinning! Casting Bard Dourif and not hiding it (having his name, plain as can be, in the opening credits) was a stroke of simple genius.

Brad Dourif? O man, he's *totally* the Clairvoyant! Why else would you get Brad Dourif? I'll bet I'm the 167th to tweet it, too! Duh, Internet!

But hey, not only is this the Marvel Universe, but a chunk of the Whedonverse, so think about it, people! Who's gonna take sweet, sugary convention, like casting Brad Dourif as your vile evildoer, and then punch you in the stomach while you're lapping it up?

But, y'know, in the supercoolest way possible? In the way to which you can only respond: thank you, sir, may I have another?

I'll tell you who: a Whedon. Or TWO, even! Nicely frickin done, MoJed. =)

Keep on keepin on~

CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER rambling

Caught it at an early show tonight. A very satisfying Marvel movie experience. But then, I already felt I got my money's worth when I got the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY trailer followed by GODZILLA! =)

A moment of sadness at not living in the universe in which Marvel has the film rights to Godzilla, allowing them to bring bits and pieces of the GODZILLA comic book to the big screen—G v. SHIELD and the Avengers! Thor and Godzilla in a shoving match with the Empire State Building caught in the middle! Shogun Warriors!

O well. *sigh*

I was saying, satisfying, but not what I would call wonderful. I *LOVE* THE FIRST AVENGER. It was a near perfect film for me in so many smart, clever, joyful, button-pushing ways. This one doesn't deliver that brand of nickelodeon adventure joy. It's darker, more "grown-up," and that change fairly reflects the change in eras within and without the Marvel movie universe continuum, FIRST AVENGER being about a character living and fighting in WW2 who was drawn and inked in the 40s in bright propaganda reds, whites, and blues, and WINTER SOLDIER retelling a story originally written in the 21st century with all of its frustrating gray areas. But there is no chance that it will bore you. There's a lot of action sugar to help the darker themed medicine go down.

Hadn't thought of it at all while reading the comics, but if you're just a little poetic, "Winter Soldier" can refer to either Cap or Bucky, and even Nick if you push a bit. The comic places the Soldier's origin in Russian cover ops, which makes "Winter Soldier" a logical code name: cold war, Russia, and all. It also works because in between ops, he is kept literally on ice in cryosleep. Winter also evokes a lateness in time that reflects both Steve and Bucky's chronological, if not lived, years. Being out of time, y'know? And of course, it is about cold. And who's the coldest warrior we know in the MMU? Nick Fury. Bloodstained Captain America trading cards, anyone? =)

The film's action for me is generally a bit sterile and mechanical but definitely has its moments. I felt oddly uncomfortable with the amount of carnage and the body count delivered by the film. For better or worse, it's totally appropriate to the story, but I just didn't enjoy most of it. Probably the correct, responsible response, tho, and I guess that comes with the darker territory of the film.

I will say that I totally dig seeing Cap's shield *spang* back into his hands after a combo strike, but I did find myself wanting something different in the sounds of its contacts and strikes.

Allright, I'm just gonna start scattin on what comes to mind, so if you continue, you are entering SPOILER territory…
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Cap vs. Batroc! Nicely shot face-off, almost Capcom arcade gamey, heh. And while the Leaper did get a lot of good hits in (he might've won by points in a tournament =), he's outmatched by the super soldier in strength (as a result, not sure about skill—would've been nice to have seen Rogers training in various martial arts in *any* of the movies so far, or even a reference to SHIELD basic or an instructor). I would've liked for Batroc to do better vs. Cap, but, well, he *is* Batroc, right? Heh. And he was the first "boss" in the film. Their fight helps us calibrate our notion of how superhuman Cap is.

Batroc! Good wardrobe. Subtle color choices made him appear comic-book Batroc when in action vs. Cap. Not sure if I'm disappointed that we didn't hear him challenge Steve in heavily accented English. =)

Right away I'm feeling the darkness of this sector of the MMU and this film. Watching Cap mercilessly take out the pirates holding the Lemurian Star just doesn't sit easy with my image of him from the comics. MAYbe he's using nonlethal force when possible, but it looks like he's not pulling any of his enhanced punches (which look pretty awesome/fearsome).

The Black Widow also goes in with tiny pistols blazing. I really wish that we got to see Tony Stark or SHIELD outfit her with ballistic or distance Widow's Bites. They seem to work as close-up tazers, not blasters or projectile launchers. It's easier to see that, tho, given Natasha's modern day covert ops background. Are her throwing discs a standard in the Widow's arsenal? Maybe they'd do better launched from one of the barrels of her bites, instead? First I thought that it was some kind of contact EMP device, but later I realized that it's a kind of tazer. It tries to fry whatever it lands on, i.e. Winter's cybernetic arm or the badge that Pierce tricks Natasha into wearing.

Lemurian Star. I'm fairly certain I heard Fury and Cap call it "Lumerian" a couple of times while others called it "Lemurian." Would've been nice to be consistent and correct, but maybe it's a subtle sign of derision of the corruption/infiltration of its crew by Hydra?

The Lumerian Star was referred to earlier this week in AGENTS, which I thought was significant. Yes, it refers to a once hypothetical ancient (sunken, I think?) continent, now rendered impossible by modern plate tectonic theory. However, it also refers to the very Marvel-real original home of the Deviants, monstrous counterparts to the Eternals. Also, realms and denizens connected to Atlantis (an offshoot of Atlanteans) and the Savage Land. MMU-wise, introducing Atlantis would be pretty sweet altho I feel it would require/deserve some the retcon-insertion of The Invaders during WW2—Cap, Namor, and the Human Torch (check out the Stark Expo in the first Cap movie =). But that seems like a lot of work, no?

What would be an easier and fit would be the Savage Land. How awesome would that be? Maybe a High Evolutionary storyline? Perhaps he could be the end-credits villain reveal of an Ant-Man/Ka-zar team-up? =)

Arnim Zola! Where the heck is his primary brain now? It was originally housed under Cap's old SSR training camp in Jersey, which apparently become one of the first SHIELD facilities. SHIELD or Hydra, if I was dealing with Zola, I'd do everything possible to keep him contained in a closed network, cut off from the wilds of the Internet. Was his primary consciousness transferred to the Lemurian Star? That would make sense to me. Was the intelligent encryption that Natasha copied from the Star some kind of Zola "agent" that independently knew to reactivate the old tape drives and stall Cap and Natasha and sacrifice its self/instance in the missile strike on the bunker?

Wherever he was, he's still at large. A disembodied digital consciousness. An awesome interpretation of Zola for the big screen from the comic book. Do Zola and JARVIS get it on in some corner of the deep web and birth Ultron? So great to see the Project Paperclip era tech. =)

The Insight Algorithm?! Where the heck is this? On what computers/drives is it stored? It was on the computers on the Lemurian Star. It was backed up—AI-encrypted and unreadable—to the thumb drive by Natasha. It was apparently in the computers of the Insight satellites, added or activated (I can't remember) by Hydra cronies (that's when we see one of the Insight helicarrier screens identifying targets on the ground in the White House and Stark Tower and (who the heck was standing in the middle of?) that baseball field or park.

It sounds like Zola had developed this some time ago, so Hydra must have been using it to help with their campaign to sow chaos and drive humanity to the point where it would willingly give up its freedoms/privacy (gotta say, I appreciate the dark theme, if presented overly dramatically as the purpose of Hydra). Would be nice to have the history of the algorithm revealed in upcoming AGENTS OF SHIELD eps.

Does WINTER SOLDIER Insight Algorithm = AGENTS OF SHIELD Clairvoyant? I kind of hope not. I'd made the suggestion that Clair is more Hari Seldon than Amazing Kreskin, and the algorithm is exactly the tool to back that up. Zola's algorithm = Seldon's psychohistory.

Brock Rumlow! (aka Crossbones!) Nice way to bring him in. I think it was kind of masterful and economical writing putting so much bad-guy-ness under the tentacled arms of Hydra. Looking forward to seeing him resurrected and improved in a future Cap flick. I never quite got his loyalty to Red Skull in the comics (I thought of him as more of a merc than a true believer), but I can see how he'd follow Strucker and Hydra in his movie incarnation. "There is order in pain," he says. Or something like that. Wackjob.

Cap and Natasha are Level 6. When Pierce gives Winter Soldier his final mission, he describes the targets as Level 6.

Zola's algorithm would identify anyone who could threaten Hydra, including Stephen Strange! =)

On Fury's headstone: The path of the righteous man… =)

Senator Shandling: "Hail Hydra!" =)

Nick Fury's eye?! Aka, proof of his Alpha-level clearance identity. He lost it the last time (the one time) he trusted someone. It seems like he's talking about Pierce and Bogota, when he disobeyed orders and rescued Pierce's daughter. But that didn't actually require him to trust Pierce, did it? The result of that action was that Pierce trusted Fury, and became a believer in what he took to be Fury's way. Still, I'm there was something in the delivery of some of Nick's lines regarding losing his eye that seemed to point the finger at Pierce, no? Dammit, I'll hafta watch again soon. =)

Pierce does say that Nick already took a bullet for him. We saw that happen when Winter popped him thru Cap's window. But maybe he wasn't referring to that?

Nah. I'd say it's 95% likely he was. Foo.

Anyhow, we've always heard that it's been LOST, right? That under the eyepatch, we'd expect to see a socket or scar tissue but definitely not an organic eyeball. Frustrating when we see him dead on the gurney in profile, with his right eye hidden from view—argh! But in the end, he shows us, and surprises Pierce with, his other eye, which when scanned releases SHIELD's (and Hydra's) data to the Twitters. Heh.

I want to believe that he DID lose his eye. I want to believe that they eyeball that he reveals is not his eye, but someone else's. Someone who has Alpha-level clearance or whatever they called it. Victoria Hand, perhaps? =)

Does that sound crazy? Well, does it sound crazier than the notion that SHIELD, in its bureaucratic precision, decided to revoke all of Fury's codes and biometrics, but were so mind-numbingly utilitarian and practical about it that they only revoked those codes and biometrics that Fury could supposedly actually use? And, since all SHIELD's records indicate that Fury no longer has a left eye (but did back when he joined SHIELD, before Bogota) there would be no reason to delete that retinal scan from Alpha-level access.

Like when the gunners on Vader's Star Destroyer decide to conserve "blaster ammo" or whatever and not destroy Artoo and Threepio's escape pod? =)

I like how when the council is dressing Pierce down for hiring and supporting Fury as director when he's the one responsible for Batroc, the attempted data heist, and sabotaging Insight, that it so nicely fits into the picture that Pierce is painting for the need for Insight. Some smooth plotting.

A lot of things click nicely into place as the story moves along, but I would not have minded swapping out 10 minutes of action for character and relationship building. I'm bringing my own comic-book-assimilated Cap-Bucky history with me to this. I'm not sure that a flashback and one line ("to the end of the line") sells that to me if all I know is what's in the movie/s. I do like that Cap is so ready to believe he's back, tho.

Sam Wilson! You will believe a man can fly! I love the Falcon exo-rig or whatever it is. I would've liked to have seen some logo or brand attached to it somewhere (did I miss it on the dossier folder?). Introducing him as the outsider who can help Cap and Nat on the run was well done, and "on your left" was pretty irresistible for me.

No one ever says Agent 13's last name. Her first name is Sharon, and if this character is a one-for-one from the comic books, her last name ought to be Carter, which would make her Peggy Carter's daughter (or maybe granddaughter, I forget). Maybe Marvel-Disney is debating the creepiness of a 95-yo Capsicle dating the granddaughter of his not-exactly widow from WW2 before revealing her back story, eh?

Epilogue 1. Baron Strucker in some research facility where Hydra scientists are studying Loki's spear. You know, the one that seems to contain a piece of the Tesseract? It *seems* like the flunky who's speaking to Strucker refers to the facility as something legit that's a cover for Hydra activity. First thing I thought of was a revived Project Pegasus, which would make sense since the first one was studying the Tesseract at the start of THE AVENGERS. Strucker's walking around in the open in this place, tho, so I'm thinking it must be a hidden lab, period. Or maybe a hidden lab beneath a legit lab or complex. The flunky mentions "the volunteers" and the Baron explains that the dead will be buried deep, so disposed of and covered up. Then flunky mentions "the survivors," and the Baron refers to "the twins." As the twins are revealed to be Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, the Baron declares the present to be an age of miracles, and describes them as…"horrible," I think? I was kind of hoping to hear "age of marvels," but maybe that line's being saved for a different speaker and moment. Pietro looks properly ticked off and Wanda looks wonderfully potentially out of her mind. I wonder what kind of countermeasures are built into their cells.

Epilogue 2. Back to the Captain American exhibit at the Smithsonian. Earlier we saw Steve Rogers visit it incognito, civilian togs and baseball cap pulled down over his eyes. Now we see a similar figure and when he approaches the Bucky Barnes section, we see that it's Winter Soldier. Is he remembering, or learning? Either way, he's alive and hanging around, at least for the time being, in D.C. Steve and Sam won't have that far to go.

AGENTS OF SHIELD: End of the Beginning. In this week's episode, before the agents deploy in double-blind fashion to identify/apprehend candidates for Clairvoyant, Victoria Hand relays orders to Agent Sitwell to report to the Lemurian Star. She also excuses herself from the op, claiming that she must return to the Hub to pull their fat out of the fire when the time comes. In WINTER SOLDIER, Cap is sent to rescue Sitwell and the SHIELD crew of the Lemurian Star, held hostage by mercenary pirates led by Batroc.

AGENTS OF SHIELD: End of the Beginning. When Fitz attempts to set up the secure hard line between himself on The Bus and Simmons at the The Hub, he gets a not-great connection and the last thing he hears from Simmons is something about a group of agents storming the situation room. This could be a response to Steve Rogers's announcement at the Triskelion, outing Pierce, Insight, and the STRIKE (I'm assuming that's an acronym =) team as Hydra. The end of WINTER SOLDIER shows all of our cinematic SHIELD stars parting ways, implying that SHIELD has, in fact, been dissolved. However, who knows just how long it takes to make that happen, right?

AGENTS OF SHIELD, moving forward… Is Victoria Hand the Clairvoyant? I'd be okay with that after the wonderful Brad Dourif sleight-of-hand. But I'd be much happier if she's yet another link in the chain.

Is Victoria Hand and/or the Clairvoyant a stooge of Hydra? Hrm… I'd like for Clair to be something different, completely unaffiliated (and from the future =). If not that, then someone who's taken a pledge to both SHIELD and Hydra and turned on both of them to create their own operation, aka Centipede. They've got a Deathlok in the field, and with the acquisition of Mike Peterson—a stabilized Centiped super soldier—they supposedly have the key to "Stage 3" of their Centipede soldiers.

Nit. I would've thought that Cap would hold his shield between Nat and himself and the explosion when jumping thru the window to avoid it on the Lemurian Star. Instead, he uses the shield on the window (which Natasha has already shot twice).

Nit. I would've liked to have seen Cap land on his shield on his feet when jumping from the Triskelion. His shield is supposed to absorb like 99.9999% of the kinetic energy thrown at it, right? Or is that not established in the MMU? Hrm. In the comics, do bullets hit his shield and just drop to the ground? I *liked* seeing him redirect the chain gunfire at other baddies, but hafta wonder how dangerous that would be for bystanders, right?

This isn't everything, but it's as much as I can put together semi-coherently just now. More later. =)

Keep on keepin on~