Will this strange machine help find Jemma?
I honestly can’t recall an episode where I was sitting on the edge of my seat for what seemed like a very very long time. So let’s break down some of the best moments of this week’s episode of +Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3×02 The Purpose in the Machine
Full Steampunk ahead
Between the group of 19th century pseudo-illuminati trying to answer the riddle of where the monolith leads to and the subsequent discovery of a secret passage in an abandoned Gloucestershire castle (I assume English Heritage doesn’t exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) which leads to an acoustic chamber with very obvious steampunk technology (that still works) designed to keep the portal open, it felt like you were being transported in a Jules Vernes novel for a moment.
Part of me hopes we’ll get a little more information on how those Victorian gentlemen were able to work out the frequency to open up the portal but I’m not holding my hopes up.
Although, except for the machinery, the room somewhat reminded me of the hole to reach the Kree city without a name.
Handy Asgardians
Last year Lady Sif came back to lend a hand as she was running after a Kree soldier, thus helping to explain the origin of the Inhumans. This year I don’t expect Jaimie Alexander to have any spare time to make another appearance in the show but it was fun to see Peter MacNicol again as Professor Elliot Randolph. The prison “escape” scene was funny but part of me just thinks Coulson ended up cashing up for his release, otherwise it wouldn’t do much good to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s image internationally.
Ming’s Swing
May is back, sort of. I was happy to see James Hong play May’s father, he seems like a pretty good fit, and he doesn’t seem to have aged much those past 20 years. Still despite May wanting to get away from S.H.I.E.L.D. to lead a normal life she can’t quite shake off the paranoia that Ward is after her and those she loves. As the ending shows, she’s not wrong, though how that will play out remains to be seen. Certainly that ending scene made me wonder if they are going to kill off Andrew eventually. If they did it might not help May fully reintegrating S.H.I.E.L.D. but it hasn’t quite come to that yet.
I am interested to see her and Hunter team up to take on Hydra and Ward. Between Hunter who can’t seem to shut up and May, the eternal silent it will make for some fun tension.
Secret Warriors
It’s not easy building a team of super powered people when most of the current candidates just acquired their new ability and don’t fit the psychological profile to become a super spy.
We all know Lincoln will join her team eventually and then they can take on their code names of Quake (and maybe Mack will stop calling Daisy “Tremors”) and Sparkplug. The question is who else will join them. I’ve seen one or two rumors that they have cast Phobos but nothing really confirmed yet.
Rebuilding Hydra
Ward attempts to coerce some spoiled lad into transferring money into the Hydra accounts who turns out to be Werner von Strucker, Baron von Strucker eldest son (and an actual villain from the comics, albeit pretty secondary). Something tells me he won’t live very long but at the same time there’s no telling just how many assets Hydra still has so there’s potential for a quick rebuild if Ward can assert himself as the true new leader.
Although we don’t know about the status of Baron Zemo at this stage.
I’m still feeling pretty antipathetic towards Ward and actually hope Hunter’s mission will succeed but at what cost is what worries me. Are going to see such a loyal follow up to Ward that should he die he would have a contigency plan to return more powerful than ever or something? It feels like a possibility.
Rescuing Simmons
Fitz is showing both blind stubbornness almost at his own peril and tremendous courage, showing the kinds of lengths he is prepared to go to to rescue Jemma. The events of this episode pick up a few seconds after the desperate scream from last week’s episode with Bobbi and the team barely pulling him away before the monolith liquefies again.
It’s not yet explained what frequency the liquefaction corresponds to but I hope we’ll have an answer to that soon.
And as I started saying, that sequence from when Fitz dives into the portal, find Jemma through a thick sand storm, Daisy straining to keep the portal open, Mack and Bobbi using all their strength to ensure the rig doesn’t collapse. I really thought the two of them would end up stuck on that Kree planet together but against all odds they were both able to be pulled back, which is a heck of a lot sooner than I expected, but then again it’s not the first time the show resolves something quite so quickly
The question now is, did Jemma bring something back with her? I feel that storyline will lead to something more than psychological trauma. I would almost ask whether it is Jemma at all (I’m not 100% sure who has the rights for the Skrulls) but that seems a bit like a moot question given her nightmares, her affection for Fitz and the lack of a grin in a dark corner type-thing.
At least the monolith is destroyed now, for good or for ill, we’ll find out soon enough.
