Yes, May called her hotline to Fury and someone else answered and said Fury was dead, which she relayed to Coulson.

Though I will say in "Yes Men" it looked to me like Ward tried to shoot May after Lorelei was collared and only "came to his senses" once he realized the gun was empty. At the time I just chalked it up to the way the episode was edited, but in light of tonight I wonder.

I'm a bit pissed about Garret ending up being the Clairvoyant as a fan of Elektra!Assassin. He's supposed to end up being President Wind goddamit!!!!

The weird look he had at the end is what made me think brainwashing.

Oh, I thought that was just, like, his true self that is all into the Hydra scene and evil.

I always thought it was weird that an amazing spy would have terrible people skills. If he was secretly a master manipulator all along I'll be happy.

SO GLAD I WATCHED THE MOVIE FIRST. Jeesh.

I haven't seen the Captain America movie, but want to be spoiled. Is Nick Fury dead, and is it REALLY dead or possibly Coulson dead?

See, now, I had figured that at least ONE of the team on the bus had to be HYDRA, just on the probabilities. My quasi-hope was Simmons because it was so damned unlikely, thus leading to major HSQ.

But Ward turning at the very end was impressive, especially once they'd done the whole Skye kiss thing--OTOH, it's a very Joss thing, to throw the grenade once the romantic ground looks like clear sailing.

I far prefer Ward as a HYDRA plant, although he didn't say "Hail HYDRA", either.

I dunno. I hope he really is a die-hard HYDRA believer, because that's far more awful than tragic brainwashing subject.

I'm also totally on board with bringing Triplett onto the bus. I like him lots more than Ward, although his "make Simmons scared" bit was pretty mean and cheesy.

Frank:

No on both counts.

One thing that stood out was the vulnerability of The Bus's glass.

paraphrasing what Andi said that if in Winter Soldier, Nick's SUV can withstand punishment, why did The Bus have tinkly glass?

Holy fucking shit, what an episode. That was intense as fuck.

Well, my least favorite character suddenly became more interesting.

RIGHT? When the Bus was under attack, I said, "Nobody die! Except maybe Ward."

Also, people who hadn't yet seen Captain America are now kind of spoiled.

Hoo boy. I thought they did a really good job of making the episode accessible to people who hadn't seen the movie. With the exception of the awkward and random Captain America reference at the end, the references to major continuity effects (HYDRA, Fury's death, Sitwell, etc) were elegantly done.

I also feel really sorry for Hand.

Seriously. She became ten times more interesting to me in this episode and NOW SHE'S DEAD.

Oh, I thought that was just, like, his true self that is all into the Hydra scene and evil.

That's what I thought too. I hadn't thought about brainwashing, but that certainly happens a lot in comics (especially with HYDRA), so I wouldn't be surprised, but...I'd rather Ward be evil. Even though I find it hard to reconcile his actions with it. Then again, that's HYDRA's whole thing: they make you trust them, make them think you're their friends.

OTOH, it's a very Joss thing, to throw the grenade once the romantic ground looks like clear sailing.

Yep. That was a very Jossian twist.

I far prefer Ward as a HYDRA plant, although he didn't say "Hail HYDRA", either.

I noticed that too.

I'm also totally on board with bringing Triplett onto the bus. I like him lots more than Ward, although his "make Simmons scared" bit was pretty mean and cheesy.

Man, I spent the whole damn episode flipping back and forth on him, and that scene was so cheap I figured he had to be clean. But when Garrett revealed himself, I was afraid again. Loved his reaction.

Even though I find it hard to reconcile his actions with it. Then again, that's HYDRA's whole thing: they make you trust them, make them think you're their friends.

Well, you know, unless they had big secret HYDRA meetings, I bet a lot of HYDRA SHIELD agents didn't really know who was who until the end. Having a secret handshake would have been too obvious, after all.

By which I mean: it's all a lot more interesting if the HYDRA folks aren't EVIL, just members of a club with a really fucked-up political philosophy. EVIL en masse doesn't work for me, because it rather justifies that kind of black-and-white us-or-them no-redemption/kill-them-all mentality one finds in, um, superhero movies. (And the Lord of the Rings.)

But getting back to Ward: I love the idea that he has been playing them all along, and that he killed the guy they thought was the Clairvoyant in order to throw them off the track, and his whole thing with May and now with Skye was just him using his social-engineering skills, because he's a TRUE BELIEVER. Just in a really shitty thing.