Preeeeeeeetty sure it's that one, given it's one of Joss's pet themes.

It's just interesting to me that, on the face of it, the immediate reaction is "Holy shit, Hydra infiltrated SHIELD? Bad evil bad noooooo!", but then you pull back and think "Waaaaaait a second."

Or maybe that was just my reaction. I am kind of simple. It's possible that every other person who saw the movie and/or watches the show had the immediate reaction of "Well, SHIELD is shifty anyway, because power corrupts good people; the Hydra thing is ACTUALLY secondary."

And, damn it, I want to keep discussing this, but I have a pile of work to do. I hope there are more interesting posts after I've demolished the pile.

That was, to me, easily the best episode of the season, but I'm getting the vibe that other people didn't think so. Evil!Ward NINE THOUSAND times more interesting than Boring!Ward. Coulson had a realistic emotional reaction to the shit going down. May also had a realistic reaction ("Uh, dude, are you sure you're not crazy?").

And I'm very pleased that Ward isn't brainwashed.

May's reaction is very reasonable. Why should she trust Coulson when it's been proven that nobody can be trusted? She doesn't know he's the main character of a TV show put out by Disney.

edit: And god knows what happened to his brain in T.A.H.I.T.I.

Garrett didn't see the alien, did he? I wonder if Raina can be fully trusted now?

I'm with Dana on the character notes. I just don't trust the show to not rehabilitate Ward, or at least do so in an interesting way. Considering I mostly watch for Coulson, I'm still liking what they're doing with him, thankfully.

(I get the idea that Bill Paxton is having a really great time being a comic book villain!)

Coulson had a realistic emotional reaction to the shit going down.

Marvel.com had a perfect description of his Big Speech: "making a rallying speech sound absolutely heart breaking." If you look at the text, you could easily deliver that as a big rah-rah THIS WILL BE OUR INDEPENDENCE DAY speech, but instead it was Coulson unspooling.

And I'm very pleased that Ward isn't brainwashed.

I kept looking for any signs that they were seeding a plot twist that he's brainwashed or a triple agent, and any doubt I might have possibly had went away when he shot those two fucking guys in the elevator like it was nothing. I'm glad there's no extra layer to that, although "redeemed by Skye" is still a possibility.

She doesn't know he's the main character of a TV show put out by Disney.

You seem very attached to this idea that the Disney name means puppies and flowers when I just described a character shooting two completely innocent people point blank in the head. Yes, Disney owns Marvel. Disney also owns Touchstone.

Coulson had a realistic emotional reaction to the shit going down.

Yes, I also thought his and May's reactions were perfect. I've never felt sorry for Coulson before.

Well, it's not Game of Thrones, and security guards during an invasion are different from a character who's been the driving character of the series and in several movies.

edit: not the driving character in the movies, but certainly pivotal.

That speech broke my heart, while also making me want give Clark Motherfucking Gregg a standing ovation.

Yeah, that speech perfectly encapsulated what's going on with Coulson and Gregg nailed it. May's reaction was perfect as well.

I hope Fitz gets more to do than be jealous of Trip.

While some character-building was necessary to get here, I wish it didn't drag on so much beforehand. The show might have been better-served by starting as a mid-season program and had a condensed build-up to the HYDRA reveal.