Yesterday it was announced that ABC would not renew Marvel’s Agent Carter for a third season and they decided to pass on the Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff called Marvel’s Most Wanted. For those of us that have been paying attention, the writing for both of these series has been on the wall for months now. Agent Carter did not have very good numbers in its second season and Most Wanted has been losing steam from day one. ABC and Marvel seem to be keeping Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. around just so it can reach syndication and I assume it won’t last much longer than this. All of this is from a company that has made genre defining movies and Netflix series, so why is it struggling on television so much?
Two days ago The Hollywood Reporter posted an interview with Captain America: Civil War directors Anthony and Joe Russo. They talked about how bosses Kevin Feige and Ike Perlmutter clashed heads until Feige decided to report to Disney boss Alan Horn directly. “As THR reported, Feige’s frustrations with the notoriously frugal Perlmutter came to a head during the filming of Captain America: Civil War in 2015,” quoted the article. There have been rumors about Perlmutter for years. He seems to be under the impression that Marvel is the same company it was when it went bankrupt in 1996. It seems that Marvel has knee jerk reactions to many things because of their previous bankruptcy.
Ever since Feige and Perlmutter parted ways the rumor mill has not been positive. The Inhumans movie suddenly stalled and then was taken off of the schedule all together. Marvel television and Marvel movies have largely been unable to directly interact with each other. While this might work for Daredevil or Jessica Jones they make up for it by having self contained stories. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is trying to do that this season but it still feels weighty. Agent Carter had a strong first season but it was barely renewed the first time and the second suffered from a ‘sophomore slump’ that it wasn’t able to recover from.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is probably the most inconsistent thing Marvel has made thus far. There hasn’t been a season that has been consistently good and the series has a bad habit of meandering. There weren’t a lot of people calling for a spinoff, but Marvel hastily wrote off two of the better characters in the series, Bobbi Morse (Adrianne Palicki) and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood), without waiting for a confirmation from ABC. To be fair Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. got the rug pulled out from under it three fourths of the way through its first season with the dismantling of S.H.I.E.L.D. The show has been trying to rebrand itself since by taking on the Inhumans as the show continues struggling to define itself.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe seems to be doing well since the split, and without Perlmutter penny pinching they could offer actors raises, bring on new and interesting talent and generally become “much healthier, happier” says Joe, paving the way for “really compelling choices.” Marvel television has had what is arguably the first failure that Marvel has had since it started this grand experiment back in 2008. Agent Carter spent most of May 12th treading on twitter as people mourn the loss of yet another amazing woman on the small screen. The divide between Marvel TV at ABC and the company seems to be getting worse. The Marvel Cinematic Universe won’t even acknowledge that Agent Phil Coulson is alive or that a version of S.H.I.E.L.D. exists. The Marvel universe is trying, to almost comical levels, to keep the TV and movie universes separate. Daredevil and Jessica Jones make up for it in quality but unfortunately Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.is only ‘pretty good’ at best.
Agent Carter and Most Wanted are two of the first casualties of the ongoing tensions within Marvel when it comes to the movie and television universes. While we don’t know what is in the future for Marvel television on the small screen (aside from the Cloak and Dagger series they are making at Freeform), unless the people in charge realize they don’t have to act like the Marvel that filed for bankruptcy in 1996 I don’t see it changing.
While the Civil War between Iron Man and Captain America might be over, it seems the one within Marvel itself rages on and I sadly expect there will be more casualties along the way.
Here is the new red-band trailer for Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon, what seems to be a Bret Easton Ellis-type exploration into the depraved seediness of high fashion. Only it has that definite Refn dreamlike intensity. And it looks absolutely insane:
When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.
This isn’t going to tell you anything about the film, which is sure to be a Lynchian dive into psychosexual madness. Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks, and Keanu Reeves star, though Reeves’ presence in the film is staying purposefully quiet. Blink and you’ll miss him here.
The Neon Demon looks like more of what Refn was experimenting with in Only God Forgives, a film I didn’t particularly care for but might need to revisit. This one hits theaters June 24.
Simon Kinberg is one of the guiding figures of the ‘X-Men’ movie franchise at 20th Century Fox. He also wrote the screenplay for ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ and produced ‘The Martian’, the latter earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. He also serves as a producer on the ‘Star Wars Rebels’ television series.
While promoting the upcoming ‘X-Men Apocalypse’, Kinberg sat down with Flickering Myth’s Oli Davis to discuss his current projects. He also talks about the 2015 ‘Fantastic Four’ reboot, which proved to be a box office flop.
‘I actually think part of the problem on the last ‘Fantastic Four” is that we tried to make it maybe a little bit more like an ‘X-Men’ movie, make it a little bit darker, when, in fact, I think the ‘Fantastic Four’ comic traditionally is a lighter, brighter, more hopeful book that’s interested in very different things to other comics,” Kinberg says. “So the challenge this time is to get it right tonally and to find what is special about the ‘Fantastic Four’ as a story.”
Despite the last film’s disappointing reception, Kinberg is keen on reviving the ‘Fantastic Four’ franchise. “We’re working really hard on figuring that out,” he says. “Nothing would make me happier than the world embracing a ‘Fantastic Four‘ movie.”
On the subject of crossovers, Kinberg admits Fox never had the idea of having the X-Men characters interact with Marvel’s First Family. “There wasn’t a conversation back then about it,” he recalls. “I think Marvel as a studio was just starting out, and this notion of crossing over and telling larger stories that are like a larger tapestry taking place over different movies hadn’t really come into its fruition yet. So none of us were thinking in those terms, and Marvel blazed a way for us. We should’ve been thinking in those terms because that’s obviously the way the comics have always done it, but we weren’t.”
The Thing mourns what could have been with crossovers
He is quick to praise Marvel Studios and Disney for their interconnected universe. “I just think it’s a radical way to make movies. And I think that usually movie studios are – let’s just say – they’re a little short-sighted. They’re not long-term thinkers. They just want to bang out one movie at a time. And then Marvel showed up and changed the way we all look at movies.”
Kinberg is interested in well as bringing back cast members Jamie Bell, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara and Miles Teller. “The ‘Fantastic Four’ comic is as enduring and as powerful as the X-Men comic,” he says. “It’s an older generation comic, but it’s been really important – and it’s one that I loved growing up – and I continue to love. The characters are great characters. And I think the actors we have in that franchise are amazing actors. If you look at Michael B. Jordan, he is, like, the most in-demand actor right now. And Miles Teller, and Jamie, and Katie are great actors. So I think there’s an opportunity to tell it, and tell it correctly.”
If you want a quick study of the evolution of horror, watching every kill by Jason Voorhees is the way to go. CGI! We don’t need no stinking CGI! Practical effects all the way!
Since 1981 filmmakers have created 199 death scenes at the hands of Jason. Thanks to Friday the 13th The Franchise for stepping up to be the death accountant.
The Friday the 13th franchise has earned $380 million over 12 films. ‘Freddy vs. Jason’ is the highest grossing film involving Voorhees, banking $82 million in 2003.
Kevin Bacon is the most famous actor to be killed by Jason.
The clip below is 20 minutes long, but I could only make it through five. How many death scenes can you watch?
If you don’t want to watch the video we have an infographic.
Well, we’re getting there. Part one of The 100‘s season three finale, ‘Perverse Instantiation’, purports that this episode will contain strange or abstract intimations of reality and maybe even coming to the realization that what we’ve been shown isn’t all that it seems. In what has become the unfortunate truth of the season, this is all a shiny intellectual facade over a reality that has lost its way.
Part one begins by trying to place its characters in their final positions for ‘Perverse Instantiation: Part Two’ and the ending of this episode brought us to that point with very few detours or surprises that would grip an audience. Now, I say this understanding that…
SPOILERS
… we found out that Jasper has been chipped and Ontari winds up braindead on the top floor of Polis, leaving our heroes with no cognizant Nightblood to accept The Flame. But are those really surprises? Sure, maybe Jasper’s turn will stun many (including me) but there absolutely had to be a road block in Raven and Monty’s path toward helping Clarke and co. at Polis. That’s how this season has worked: one step forward, three steps sideways, fall down. All I’m saying is that the surprises came at expected moments. It’s an algebraic equation at this point and we’re starting to figure out the value of ‘x’.
Roan even makes an unsurprising return, saving a helpless Clarke and immediately relieving her of The Flame and her firearm (seriously, Clarke? Just give it to him, why don’t you?). Bellamy then saves the day and they take Roan hostage and hatch the brilliant plan to infiltrate Polis and excise the chip from Ontari and implant The Flame in her spine.
Except A.L.I.E. has a spy in their midst. We’re led to believe it’s Roan only to be stabbed in the stomach just like Monty as we see it’s truly Jasper who has taken the chip. It was a sincerely touching moment to see Jasper and Monty bro it out again and to feel like Jasper had finally come full circle from his grief. This would have been a nice conclusion to his season arc but it’s stripped from us as he’ll now have to deal with City of Light postpartum disorder assuming he survives. It’s actually a nice story touch and was the most earnestly surprising moment of the episode, even if it was structurally telegraphed a mile away.
Jasper ruins the plan for Raven to receive the kill code from Ontari once she’s been implanted with The Flame by destroying their communications.
Except this was a stupid f*&#ing plan in the first place. Clarke, Bellamy, Roan, Octavia, Miller and Bryan enter Polis already figured out by the enemy but would it have been any different if they weren’t? The episode sets up the disconnected communication like so many episodes in the past but completely fumbles the necessity of the communication in the first place. Why would Clarke and Roan believe they’ll be led right to Ontari in the first place, able to get the drop on her and do their business? How would Bellamy and co. have been able to help from the shadows?
In another strange choice, once Clarke is kidnapped and Roan is shot by Kane (The City of Light’s version of The Winter Soldier, apparently), A.L.I.E. thinks the wisest decision is to physically torture Clarke to get the entry code for The Flame. All of the chipped characters know by now that torture isn’t the way to get to the root of the problem. All they would need to do is threaten a loved one and voila! Immediate acquiescence. Instead of threatening Abbey like before*, they go after Bellamy, who isn’t even in the room with Clarke, Abbey, Jaha and A.L.I.E. In the end, this thread actually goes nowhere as they end up threatening Abbey when the abduction of Bellamy ultimately fails when Murphy, Indra and Pike show up to save the day. In what was a cool rescue, it all felt like plot events that needed to happen instead of events that would’ve happened.
Either way, this brings me to one of my larger points regarding the episode and the larger season as a whole: the problem with displaying grand gestures whenever a problem arises is that it opens Pandora’s Box for audience expectation. Not only are we numb to the idea of sacrifice here, we’re now searching for the seems because our expectations have already been set in previous episodes when this exact situation has occurred. Then, because Abbey tells A.L.I.E. they arbitrarily need Bellamy, it is actually the plot forcibly stalling movement. Everyone isn’t in motion. A.L.I.E. is waiting for the guards to return with Bellamy. Tension comes from each piece moving independently of each other. I hate always referring to season two but the writers perfected the art there, using the lack of and miscommunication as the device to create tension but keep everything moving forward.
In ‘Perverse Instantiation: Part One”, all other plot threads seemingly stop to allow the others to move forward. It’s not the worst sin, but it makes for a really boring episode of TV. Especially considering we know this is only the first half of the season’s conclusion.
All this said, I can’t hate on every bit of the episode. The 100 truly shows its increase in budget in its production design. All of these sets are gorgeous and are allowed to be photographed without a million lens flares and a sheen of smoke hiding the creases in the frame. There are some truly gorgeous shots and I was taken aback by the level of detail present in every setting.
It was also a lot of fun getting Bellamy and Murphy back together again. Bellamy is also allowed to go all the way in protecting Murphy by killing a chipped soldier when he didn’t need to. Yeah, Murphy was being choked out, but Bellamy has found more creative solutions around killing folks before.
At the end of it all, we’re left with a braindead Ontari and no Nightblood in which to place the chip. Will we see Pike’s death at the hands of a vengeful Indra or Octavia? Will Clarke become Wanheda and Heda through some strange twist? Will Monty have the balls to step out in the hallway and face Jasper mano e mano before he kills Harper?
I’m hoping ‘Perverse Instantiation: Part Two’ provides us with at least an entertaining send off for season three. Let’s just have some fun guys. Please?
“It’s a Unix system, I know this!” – Raven
*And maybe this had something to do with it. Was there a fear of going back to the well with that one?
Check out my reviews of previous episodes of ‘The 100’ here:
Lionsgate released the first trailer for ‘Hell or High Water’ starring Chris Pine and Jeff Bridges from a screenplay by ‘Sicario’ scribe Taylor Sheridan.
A story about the collision of the Old and New West, two brothers — Toby (Chris Pine), a straight-living, divorced father trying to make a better life for his son; and Tanner (Ben Foster), a short-tempered ex-con with a loose trigger finger — come together to rob branch after branch of the bank that is foreclosing on their family land. The hold-ups are part of a last-ditch scheme to take back a future that powerful forces beyond their control have stolen from under their feet. Vengeance seems to be theirs until they find themselves in the crosshairs of a relentless, foul-mouthed Texas Ranger (Jeff Bridges) looking for one last triumph on the eve of his retirement. As the brothers plot a final bank heist to complete their plan, a showdown looms at the crossroads where the last honest lawman and a pair of brothers with nothing to live for except family collide.
‘Hell or High Water’ gets a limited release on August 12 with a nationwide release on August 19.
After a two-season run, Marvel’s Agent Carter television series has ended its run.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, The ABC network axed the period drama weeks after the second season’s cliffhanger ending. While the show received critical praise, it never gained successful ratings like its fellow program Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Agent Carter and Vernon Masters in tense discussion
The Season two’s finale gained a 1.4 rating among adult audiences, but it did receive 4.3 million viewers with DVR. While the it may seem impressive, the numbers were only a fraction of Agent’s of S.H.I.E.L.D‘s average ratings.
Agent Carter‘s future looked especially bleak after leading actress Hayley Atwell signed on to star in an upcoming ABC series titled Conviction. Despite Atwell’s assurance that she would be able to do both shows, this did little to assuage Marvel fans.
Despite the cancellation, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D has been renewed for another season, and a spin-off titled Marvel’s Most Wanted in the works.
He’s back. After a week of new episodes back in January, the show once again went into another hiatus but has returned with a 4 week event called “In too deep.” The event begins with two new episodes. In Super Watermelon Island, Malachite (the fusion of Jasper and Lapis Lazuli) has returned and it’s up to the Crystal Gems to fuse together to stop her. In the second episode, Gem Drill, Steven and Peridot have no choice but to dig towards the huge weapon known as the Cluster in hopes of finding a way of stopping it from destroying the Earth.
The two episodes deliver lots of action, some satisfying and some not. Fans have been waiting for a while to watch Malachite return and use her destructive power against Steven and the team and they will not be disappointed (providing they didn’t watch the sneak preview clip for the episodes weeks ago). The action with the Cluster thought is a bit of a let down. Instead of getting the great destroyer of worlds which was built up for several episodes, Steven finds a solution and the danger is fixed relatively easy. Maybe the Cluster will find a way to be a threat in later episodes but for now it’s fixed in a neat and proper way tied up with a bow.
The two episodes do dig into some creepy territory with the images they portray. First it’s revealed the Watermelon creatures were selecting one amongst them, dressing it up to look like Steven and making sacrifices to Malachite in an effort to keep her from rampaging. This is followed up by Steven having a mind trip as he gets closer to the Cluster and begins to see the screaming faces of the souls of the gem fragments which seem to talk in unison through lens flare. It’s moments like this which make is hard to believe it’s supposed to be a kid’s show.
There is a lot to be enjoyed here for fans but overall this was a bit of a disappointment. Hopefully with Lapis Lazuli back and Jasper still out there, the other three parts of the event will be more entertaining. For know though, it might be better to not watch anymore previews or risk spoiling the best parts of the episodes.
Following the events of last week’s release of Captain America: Civil War, Coulson and his team determine what place SHIELD will have in the world now that, under the Sokovia Accords, super-powered individuals must be registered with the UN. Like one of my previous articles said, Agents of SHIELD has been building throughout Season Three towards a civil war of its own, turning Daisy against Coulson and the team. A few characters that had been relegated to the back burners reappeared in “Emancipation,” and we saw the creation of a new form of Inhuman life. Let’s have a recap …
“Emancipation” – The Recap
May walks in on Coulson catching up on his news in the upper-floor bar facade of SHIELD HQ. The two discuss the Sokovia Accords and such topics as the death of Peggy Carter(Agent Carter‘s titular character), Captain America’s resistance to the accords, and the end of SHIELD as they know it. Coulson tells May that desperate times call for desperate measures and suggests she leave before General Glenn Talbot of the ATCU walks in.
Talbot and Coulson exchange a tense greeting and sit down at a nearby booth. Talbot tells Coulson that the Sokovia Accords are now law and that President Ellis believes Coulson has super-powered people working with him in SHIELD. As such, Talbot has been sent to take inventory of SHIELD’s superhuman assets and report back to the President. Talbot claims registration is the price of SHIELD’s re-legitimization but Coulson won’t bite. He reminds Talbot that while the Avengers work in the spotlight, SHIELD has always worked in the shadows. He tells a confused Talbot to buckle up as the booth they’re sitting in descends toward SHIELD HQ.
While Coulson gets his assets checked, a brainwashed Daisy hacks into the SHIELD HQ security systems while having her blood drained. Daisy’s able to check on Lincoln, still being held while he recovers from his immunodeficiency, before being locked out again by Fitz, who’s playing hacker defense. Hive mentions that Daisy’s former teammates have caused a number of delays in his plan and tells Daisy that if they offer any more resistance, he won’t forgive them. A jumpy Radcliffe checks in on Daisy and tells Hive that they now have enough blood for their initial test and that all they need are some volunteers. Hive tells Radcliffe that he is in the process of recruiting some very special ones as a present to Daisy.
Back at SHIELD HQ, an uncharacteristically bossy May tells Lincoln to get his act together, actually using the phrase, “Straighten up and fly right,” at one point. She threatens to turn him over to Talbot and leaves. In the server room, Fitz works diligently to keep Daisy out of SHIELD’s systems while Simmons looks on and lends moral support. They discuss Mac’s injuries inflicted by Daisy and remark that the majority of the damage was done to his “spirit.” Fitz and Simmons are about to embrace when May walks in and the two awkwardly push away from each other. May wants them to forget about Daisy and concentrate on determining Hive’s endgame.
While Coulson and Talbot walk the halls, Coulson asks Talbot to leave SHIELD’s Inhumans off of the books, saying some battles require “Secret Warriors.” Coulson introduces Talbot to Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez, who demonstrates her special ability by stealing the service ribbons off of Talbot’s chest without him noticing. As Rodriguez walks off, Coulson tells Talbot that most Inhumans are regular people who want to have regular lives. Talbot replies that the Inhumans’ names would be on a protected list, and reminds Coulson that he’s on one as a member of SHIELD. Coulson says that’s why he knows registration is a bad idea: in his experience, people misuse lists and those lists frequently end up in the wrong hands.
Cut to a combat training facility for the Watchdogs, who appeared in “Watchdogs” earlier in Season Three. Two of the Watchdogs discuss the Sokovia Accords, one saying they’re a joke and that he prefers the Inhumans’ extermination. He hands his Watchdog pal a picture, unseen by the viewer, of an Inhuman and says they’ll make an example of this one.
Back in Lincoln’s isolation cell, we see him look up at a camera and then start whispering to Daisy. A nearby monitor switches channels and shows a scroll across the bottom, “I’m here … I’m listening … ” Hacking SHIELD’s security system further, Daisy is able to create a video loop (à la Speed) of Lincoln lying in bed. Daisy and Lincoln catch up as the loop plays. Lincoln tells Daisy that he’s been locked up because the team doesn’t trust him. He tells her that he wishes they could be together without Hive or SHIELD, and Daisy breaks off the connection just before Coulson and Talbot enter Lincoln’s cell.
The registration debate plays out between the three as one would expect: Talbot tells Lincoln that registration is necessary to ensure the public is protected from super-humans and Coulson argues that SHIELD is uniquely qualified to facilitate this protection. Lincoln makes things interesting when he agrees to be registered in exchange for his immediate release from his SHIELD holding cell. Giving no answer to Lincoln one way or the other, Talbot and Coulson leave the cell.
Talbot asks to see “the ugly,” having seen the good and the bad. Coulson takes him to Lash. Talbot goes on a folksy tirade when he sees Lash, using terms like, “God’s crusty pie,” and, “out-of-control freak-show.” Coulson assures Talbot that Lash is the final surprise on their tour but Talbot demands to see Daisy. May says Daisy is on assignment but Talbot knows better, having satellite imagery of her walking around with Grant Ward, presumed dead. Talbot asks what’s at stake that would make Coulson lie to his face. Coulson tells him the world is.
Rodriguez and Mac talk in the kitchen. She wants to know why Mac is acting withdrawn and says she wants to help Daisy. Mac, clutching his injured ribs, says they can’t help Daisy and doesn’t want Elena to be brainwashed. Mac gets pretty maudlin, describing Hive’s plans as “end-times evil” and Rodriguez prescribes a beer and some faith. Mac wonders if faith is just something people talk about when they know there’s no hope, but Rodriguez reminds him, “Evil preys on the weak because it fears the strong.”
We see the Watchdogs all pumped up and ready to kidnap an Inhuman. They roll up on their target, seemingly cornering him in an alley. As the Inhuman takes off his hood, we see that the Watchdogs’ target is Hellfire who, using a chain from a dumpster, makes pretty short work of the five canine-themed fanatics. Hive appears and says he wants the Watchdogs to become what they hate.
Fitz and Simmons explain that Hive should now be able to make brainwashed Inhumans using Daisy’s blood, saturated as it is with GH.325 and Hive’s parasites.
Back at Hive’s laboratory, the Watchdogs who were forcibly volunteered for injection of the Inhuman compound are shoved into a shipping container while Hive waxes poetic and tells Daisy that the Watchdogs’ emancipation is a gift to her. Radcliffe voices some concern about the ethical implications of using unwilling victims to test the compound but is quickly silenced by Hive. He releases the compound into the shipping container and they wait for terrigenesis to occur. Daisy tells Hive that she has hacked SHIELD’s security systems and, after thanking her, he tells her to rest in case they need more of her blood.
Daisy working remotely with Lincoln is able to break him out of his cell while Talbot and Coulson debate sending the US military in to deal with Hive. Fitz asks Talbot to tell them what Hive stole from the ATCU but before Talbot can answer they learn that Lincoln has escaped from his cell and go investigate.
Terrigenesis complete, Hive and Radcliffe check on their new batch of Inhumans. Radcliffe is disgusted by his super-strong creations, describing them as abominations. Hive, though, views the experiment as an unmitigated success and demands that Radcliffe make more of the brainwashed mutants. Hive shows Daisy his newly minted Inhumans and tells Daisy that they’ll require all of her blood to make more.
Talbot tells Coulson he’ll have to alert the President that Coulson has lost two Inhumans and Coulson asks for some time to re-capture Lincoln, still at large in SHIELD HQ. Eventually Lincoln makes it to the hangar, knocks Mac out, and escapes in a Quinjet. As Lincoln takes off, the rest of the team show up to help Mac, and Talbot tears a strip off of Coulson. But, the whole thing was a setup. The team knew that Daisy had infiltrated their security systems and made it look as though Lincoln had escaped in order to join her. In fact, the man in the Quinjet is a very hungry Lash looking for a good Inhuman meal. Won’t Hive be surprised!
Hive V. Lash: Dusk of Inhuman Injustice
Cut to Hive’s laboratory and the fight we didn’t realize we’d been waiting for, Hive V Lash: Dusk of Inhuman Injustice. Lash pushes Hive down and then literally tears a strip off of him. Hive’s new batch of Inhuman mutants attack Lash but the five are quickly dealt with. Daisy attempts to stop Lash but is too weak from loss of blood. Lash kneels over Daisy, forms an aura of energy around her, draws something out of her, crushes it in his hands, and tells Daisy that she’s free now. He carries her to the Quinjet and, after putting her inside, gets a flaming chain, the preferred weapon of Hellfire, through the heart. The doors close, Lash dies, and Daisy comes home.
A welcome wagon is there to meet Daisy who reports that Lash died saving her, but was unable to kill Hive. A quick blood analysis and brain scan reveal that Daisy is free of Hive’s infection, what several characters call “the sway” throughout the episode. The good news dispensed with, Fitz tells Coulson and Talbot that Hive likely plans to infect “a significant percentage of the human race” with his new Inhuman compound. Fitz and Simmons go on to say that all Hive needs is a delivery method that will disperse the Inhuman compound into the upper atmosphere. Talbot admits that this is exactly what Hive stole from the ATCU, a fully operational warhead.
The final scene was kind of an odd one between Elena and Mac. She gives him a gold crucifix on a gold chain and tells him to keep the faith.
“Emancipation” – My Critique
“Emancipation” was a relatively good Agents of SHIELD episode. First and foremost, “Emancipation” dealt in espionage! Huzzah! What a concept for a show about a group of super-spies! Rather than just being a vehicle for special effects, a show about Marvel’s most elite spy group should involve familiar spy themes. “Emancipation’s” inclusion of the team’s secret plot to make it look like Lincoln was betraying them was a juicy bit of espionage in a show that’s barely featured any.
Michael Collins-er-Peterson, everyone!
It was also good to see Lash do something in “Emancipation” since he’s been sitting on the back burner for so long. I was a bit concerned that, like the Kree and Deathlok, Lash would be yet another Marvel property tossed away after only a couple of uses.
It was also good that the thing Lash did in “Emancipation” was beat the tar out of Hive. Before “Emancipation,” Hive essentially had no weaknesses, having been able to stand up to Kree, Inhumans, and any SHIELD agents thrown at him. Hive’s weakness to whatever blue energy Lash shot at him in “Emancipation” is good news on a couple of fronts: (1) any villain or hero becomes more interesting once his or her weakness is revealed, (2) if Hive can be destroyed then Brett Dalton may be leaving the show at the end of Season Three.
‘Supergirl’ season two was up in the air due to productions, but CBS’s sister station The CW has renewed the show and as reported earlier will move production to Vancouver, according to Deadline.
The show averaged 10 million viewers an episode, which bests are CW superhero shows.
The CW now has four DC Comics properties with ‘Supergirl’ joining ‘Arrow,’ ‘The Flash,’ and ‘Legends of Tomorrow.’ With all shows produced by Greg Berlanti.
The CW did not announce the premiere date for season two and or Supergirl crossovers with the other shows. ‘Supergirl’ stars Melissa Benoist, Calista Flockhart, David Harewood and Chyler Leigh.
