I don't think Mike is dead, he still has some redemption to do. Might die once that's done though. I wish he'd told the team the real plan ahead of time, though. I think Coulson would have still gone through with it. Guess Mike couldn't take the chance he wouldn't though.

Wonder if we'll see that code that Ward snapped a picture of during the Amadal ep in Po's lair...

That explosion looked to be mostly flames from the tanker truck rather than shrapnel, and Mike's powers are Extremis-based. He should be able to handle brief exposures to high temperatures, shouldn't he?

I don't think that it was Mike exploding, I think that the explosion was planned by Raina as a distraction, since she knew that they would jump into action when they took Coulson instead of Mike.

Since the original issue with the program was that the soliders exploded, perhaps the solution to the problem made them fireproof. I mean, how would they know that was a side effect. That's my theory.

I don't understand why Mike didn't just tell Coulson that they wanted him instead of Mike. If S.H.I.E.L.D. weren't willing to let him sacrifice himself, why would they object if he told them that they really wanted Coulson? I will be happy if it is revealed that Coulson knew what was up. I wouldn't be surprised if they had been monitoring Mike's communications and heard the actual call with the real demand.

I am annoyed by Ward's sniper's perch. No sniper worth his/her salt would pick a spot without a 360 degree view of the target, and if it wasn't possible, they would damn sure do better than a spot where they can't see ANYTHING if they walk behind a truck. That's just stupid. If there was really no good spot, Ward was better used elsewhere and they could have put random sniper there.

At first, I thought that Mike could actually be dead, I mean it is Joss after all. But then, I thought "ABC at 8PM? Nah. Deus ex Machina coming up"

At first, I thought that Mike could actually be dead, I mean it is Joss after all.

Joss always makes his deaths explicit. This is too ambiguous to have emotions about.

Just mainlined the last six episodes to get caught up.

My big issue with Ward in the sniper perch (beyond the stupidity of setting up somewhere a truck was in the way) was it seemed stupidly risky, considering the bad guys said they were willing to kill Mike's son the instant they felt something was off about the exchange. Meaning if they spotted Ward, there's a good chance they'd kill Ace.

Of course, considering the helicopter shot him as they escaped, they apparently knew he was up there but decided to continue with the exchange anyway, once they realized he was a complete moron and wouldn't be able to shoot them from there.

Let them think they're in control until you prove they aren't.

edit: (Clint would have done better.)

We watched it tonight, a week late. Love having JAR back. LOVE.

I will be happy if it is revealed that Coulson knew what was up.

I feel like he had to have known. But I still can't figure how it's going to play out.

Of course, considering the helicopter shot him as they escaped, they apparently knew he was up there but decided to continue with the exchange anyway, once they realized he was a complete moron and wouldn't be able to shoot them from there.

I will bet that they picked the spot deliberately.

They're creating a Peggy Carter TV series starring Hayley Atwell. I'm really hoping this will be good. [link]

Oh, yay! I hope it's good!