Star Wars – The Force Awakens Random Theories

This post contains theories so Spoilers are part of the territory. You have been warned.

I saw Star Wars – The Force Awakens for the second time today and there were certain things that struck me that hadn’t before. Mind you, I haven’t read the novelization yet so these are just my personal theories.

Rey’s Origin:

I personally don’t believe that Rey and Kylo Ren are related and if they are, they certainly aren’t siblings. There is no way that Han or Leia would have let her believe that her parents had abandoned her. And if they had left her on Jakku, then their reunion would have been very different from what we saw. I don’t think they would have been able to keep it from her especially, considering the way things went with Ben Solo.

The other reason I don’t think she is Han and Leia’s daughter is because she clearly doesn’t recognise them. She was young but old enough to have memories of her parents.

I also don’t think she is Luke’s daughter and you only have to look at Luke’s reaction to ascertain that. Luke had been left on Tatooine, never knowing about his mother and father and I don’t think he would have done the same to his daughter. And especially just dump her there, in no one’s care, left to look out for herself.

I think her real parents left her there to keep her from falling into Ren’s hands and left Lor San Tekka (Max Von Sydow’s character) as someone who could keep an eye on her but always from a distance. It is just too much of a coincidence that the planet that Rey is on was also the hiding place of someone who was a friend of Leia’s and a Resistance sympathiser. Add to that, he personally knew Ren and Ren knew him.

Ren and Rey:

Ren seems to recognise Rey. I think they trained together under Luke or that she had been present when Ren was training with Luke (she might have been too young judging by her own flashback) I think her parents decided to hide her when Ren turned to the Dark Side and went back to help Luke only to die at Ren’s hands or Snoke’s. I don’t think she is connected to the Skywalker line. That would just be too much of a coincidence. I think that Ren recognises who she is because she was strong with the Force, even as a young child. What better place to hide her at than a desert wasteland.

Another reason is because his reactions to her are far too extreme which is saying something because Ren is pretty volatile anyway. But his reactions to Rey and consistently unpredictable. He kidnaps her but treats her what appears to be with care, being almost gentle (by his own standards anyway). At no point in the film, does he ever try to kill her. In fact, he tries to take her out of the fight by knocking her out. I think, in his own twisted way, he was trying to protect her.

I also think that Ren will ultimately be redeemed. He’s the Vader in this trilogy and Snoke is Palpatine.  He will either help Rey defeat Snoke or do it himself. I also think that Rey will be instrumental in his redemption. She got a reaction out of him that even his own father failed to elicit. Clearly Luke is not the man for the job and Leia won’t have any better luck reaching him than Han did.

Rey’s Lightsaber:

I think that Rey is going to make her own Lightsaber. Her’s will be the kind that Darth Maul used, two sided but blue in colour. It would fit her fighting style and she certainly has the technical skills. She needs training to use the Force and also perfect her fighting technique but that will come under Luke’s guidance. The fact that she carried a staff from the very beginning is a very clear indication that her Lightsaber will two-sided.

Random question:

Did anyone notice an alien who looked remarkably like E.T. when Rey and Finn enter Maz Kanata’s stronghold? It’s just fleeting glimpse but I think I definitely saw E.T.

P.S. (I completely forgot about this yesterday)

When Rey and Chewie finally reach the planet that Luke has been holed up in, it seemed like Rey had been there before. Remember the time Ren is interrogating her and he mentions the ocean and the island she sees in her mind? When she reaches the planet, she has a very peculiar expression on her face, almost as if she’s seen it before… I wonder what this means exactly. Does it mean that it’s a memory or was it something she saw because the Force is strong within her and it simply showed her where Luke could be since he’s the only Jedi currently in existence?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review

This review does NOT contain spoilers.

I finally got a chance to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens this weekend and I loved every minute of it. It was one of the most anticipated films of this year and with so much hype around it, I was a little worried that it may not live up to the expectations but I needn’t have worried. It was the only film this year that I walked out of with a huge smile on my face. In my humble opinion, it was the ultimate feel-good film this year. It had high stakes, and it was smart and funny with loads of edge-of-your-seat exhilarating action. It was an absolutely delightful film.

One of the things that really stands out about the original trilogy is just how much fun they were. And that’s what really strikes you about The Force Awakens; it is a really fun film. This was such a pleasant change from the prequels, which were so dour and dull. There were so many extraneous plot points that really bogged those films down. The Force Awakens revived the charm of the original trilogy. There was also a good amount of nostalgia with the return of Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill reprising their roles as General Leia Organa, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker respectively.

When I revisited the original trilogy, I noticed their thorough lack of cynicism and there was something very beautiful about that. In a world made more cynical, it is therefore, a real pleasure to see a film that is not cynical. Where the good guys are inherently decent and even the bad guys are redeemable. This kind of positivity and optimism is rare in films these days, which is why, a film like The Force Awakens is even more significant.

Full credit must be given to J.J. Abrams. The film is so wonderfully balanced. There is spectacular action with beautifully realised characters. The action in the film is especially thrilling. I was initially a little disappointed to learn that the film was in 3D, but having seen it, it was completely justified. The 3D really draws in the audience and makes them feel like they’re right in the middle of what’s happening. Abrams made excellent use of the 3D; it was a storytelling tool and not a gimmick as is so often the case.

The prequels were very CGI heavy and had a very clean almost sterile look about them, the widespread use of CG felt reductive and they lost the charm of the originals. They also felt removed from reality because of it. The Force Awakens brings back puppets and actual sets and the use of CG doesn’t overpower the characters. There is a tangibility to the film that was completely lacking in the prequels.

While it is a joy to see the original cast members return, the film also has a host of new faces. One of the major strengths of the film is that it doesn’t keep harping about Luke, Leia and Han. It introduces us to the new characters and they are what really make this film memorable. It would have been easy to lose these newer faces in the nostalgia surrounding the original trio but even in this Abrams manages to deliver brilliantly. The film is a clear handing over of the reins to the newer generation.

As I’ve stated earlier, the real strength of the film lies with the new characters: Finn and Poe with special mention for Rey and Kylo Ren. I really liked the new characters. They were so engaging that I found myself completely involved in their narrative. I wanted to know more about them and the film gave us just enough to whet our appetite.

John Boyega as the reformed Storm Trooper Finn, who has a change of heart and Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, the fierce Rebel Forces pilot were amazing. I only wish that we had seen more of Poe. Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata was the resident wise woman and was reminiscent of Yoda. Gwendolyn Christie as Captain Phasma felt underused and frankly wasted. I am hoping that is rectified in the upcoming films. Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke was suitably creepy, sinister and mysterious and evocative of Emperor Palpatine.

Then there was Rey, played brilliantly by Daisy Ridley. We know next to nothing about her except that she is scavenger from Jakku and has no family. Like the audience, she too doesn’t know where she comes from. We had a great female character in the form of Princess Leia in the earlier films but there were times when it felt like she was sidelined in favour of making Luke or Han appear more capable. That was most certainly not the case with Rey. She was resilient and capable of taking care of herself and was often more efficient than the men around her.

She displayed strength of character as well as vulnerability and Ridley portrayed that beautifully. I found her to be the most engaging character of the entire lot. 2015 has been an awesome year for kick-ass female characters from Charlize Theron’s Furiosa to Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust and Rey is a welcome and deserved addition to that list.

Another aspect that made me happy was the presence of women in the film. In the original trilogy, the only female character of any importance was Leia but in The Force Awakens, there were so many more women around whether with the Rebel Forces or The First Order. That was a very refreshing and welcome change. The Force Awakens was a much more inclusive experience.

Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren was a conflicted antagonist. He is not so much a villain but someone who is on his way to becoming one. Like Rey, he too is on a journey that is far from over; he is slowly coming into his own. He straddled a fine line between seeming like a spoilt brat with anger management issues and someone who desperately craved not only to preserve Darth Vader’s legacy but also to take it further. And yet, there is conflict within him. The Original trilogy gave us an amazing and complex villain in Darth Vader and Ren is no different. I, for one can’t wait to see more of his evolution.

Also, I would be remiss if I did not mention BB-8, the new droid. Never have I come across a more adorable robot (with the exception of WALL-E) I am not sure whether BB-8 is male or female, but for now, we’ll assume it’s a he. He had such a distinct personality and was so emotive. I thought that R2-D2 was awesome, but Abrams outdid R2 with BB-8. I absolutely fell in love with him!

The Force Awakens does a great job of introducing new elements to the franchise while retaining enough elements of the original to stay true to its roots. And while existing fans of the franchise will love the film, it is also geared towards attracting newer audiences. Even if you haven’t seen those films or don’t want to, you will still enjoy The Force Awakens because it is a well-written, well-directed and wonderfully acted film. It has high stakes, engaging characters and an interesting plot that will keep you hooked to your seats. It is a thoroughly enjoyable ride and one that will not leave you disappointed.

Cast in Honor (Chronicles of Elantra #11) by Michelle Sagara Review

Synopsis:

In the aftermath of a vicious battle between darkness and light, the city of Elantra has emerged victorious. But Shadows continue to haunt every corner of its streets…

Elantra stands strong, but countless numbers of Hawks, the city’s staunchest protectors, were lost in the brutal attack. Humans, Barrani, Aerians, Leontines—none of the races emerged unscathed from the defense of the city. Homes were lost, families were scattered…and the outcast Barrani Lord Nightshade is missing from his castle in the fiefs.

Yet as the chaos surrounding the battle begins to wane, Private Kaylin Neya’s duties must resume, despite her grief. Called in to investigate a triple murder in a quiet part of town, Kaylin and her companions are soon embroiled in a case that is anything but routine. Evidence of the deadly Shadows that still threaten the city leads to hints of ancient, forgotten magics. And a visit to the Oracular Halls points directly to Ravellon—the heart of the Shadows and the darkness they contain.

But it is there that Lord Nightshade will be found—if he still survives.

(source Goodreads)

The Chronicles of Elantra series is one of my favourite fantasy series and with 11 books down, it doesn’t appear to be slowing down, if anything, things only seem to be getting more dire. Cast in Honor was action-packed from start to finish with never a dull moment.

As much as I like this series, it does take getting used to because of Michelle Sagara’s writing style. It is different in many respects, though mostly in the way she structures her sentences. The prose is also dense and therefore something you can’t skim through. Surface reading will yield you no understanding. It is also why, despite Honor’s fast-pace narrative, it was still slow reading. The other reason it needs to be read slowly is because of the information, there are explanations of various concepts like Time, the Different Worlds, the Elements and so on and understanding these concepts goes a long way in understanding why something is happening in the novel. However, and I felt this acutely with Honor, it also felt more dense than the previous books and the concepts more complicated. For once I completely empathised with Kaylin’s sense of frustration given that I was feeling the same thing.

Also, considering that there is always some force trying to destroy the world, this series is not all gloom and doom. It is actually quite funny which keeps it from getting too depressing and dour.

The strong points of this series have always been the world-building and the characters and in that respect Honor does not disappoint. The world of Elantra keeps getting more dimensions and layers and they are so intricately woven. As strange as this world is, it is one I feel I inhabit while I am reading because of the level of detail and care with which Sagara describes this world. It is fully realised and each new installment, adds another layer or more detail making for a very rich universe.

If the world-building lets you imagine the world as it is, the characters give it heart. The characters are rich and diverse with complexities, strengths and flaws. They all have such distinct personalities that you could never confuse one character for another. And they too are not simply what you see, they have their own hidden agenda and motives which are not always immediately apparent.

As series progress, very often the main character undergoes changes, more often than not, and this is especially true for female characters, they seem to diminish in favour of the male characters. Thankfully, Kaylin Neya, has so far avoided this fate. She has a come long way from when we first saw her in Cast in Shadow. At her heart she is the same person, driven to help those around her but she has shed some of the chips she had on her shoulders and learnt that it’s not weak to ask for and accept help. She is still stubborn as ever though, in Honor, her sense of self-preservation was a little more active than it has been in the previous books. She also seems to have learnt some restraint which was also welcome. However, her main strength is still the same and it has nothing to do with her powers, it is her desire to help people and protect her friends, even at the cost of her own safety.

We know that Kaylin is the Chosen but we still don’t know what that means exactly. She also has a familiar who frequently likes to slap her face with his wings but will she ever be able to understand him as others do? Will she learn to control and harness her powers? Part of her charm lies in the fact that she is willing to blunder through relying solely on her instincts but there have been situations where greater understanding of her powers would have saved precious time.

Teela continues to be my favourite character in the series. I love her and her irreverent attitude. She has lived a long life and seen more of the world than Kaylin has, there are things about her past that we still don’t know but what we do know is that she cares deeply for Kaylin and expects nothing in return. She also has a very dry sense of humour which I really enjoy.

Bellusdeo is another character that I really like. As the lone female Dragon in the world, she knows that there’s a lot riding on her and she also doesn’t care. I love that around her, even the scary Arkon behaves more like a young boy than a very old and powerful Dragon. And that she finds her lessons with Diarmat as painful as Kaylin does.

We also saw the Emperor when he visited Kaylin again, seeking her advice on how to behave with Bellusdeo, presenting a more vulnerable side of the Emperor. It is still weird that he’s seeking this advice from Kaylin and the irony is not lost on Kaylin.

The others were all there as well. Severn was steadfast as ever, but we finally got a glimpse of what he feels for Kaylin and it is more than friendship. But it was at the tail-end of the book and therefore did not have time to build up any further than that. Nightshade is also finally back and ambiguous as ever. He’s a tough nut to crack. He doesn’t love Kaylin, I don’t think anyone is delusional enough to think that. He doesn’t think that mortals are worth his attention. Kaylin catches that attention because of her powers but for now, that’s about all there is to it. It was also nice to see the Arkon, Ybelline, Marcus, Caitlin and Moran (Kaylin’s newest housemate.) Evanton was impatient as always.

Of the Lost Barrani children we met in the previous book, we see a lot more of Mandoran and Annarion in Honor and I really like both of them. They are so unlike the other Barrani that they seem almost human. Mandoran is funny and also more communicative of the two, he is also more approachable. Annarion, on the other hand, is more closed-off and  volatile. But they behave more like siblings and bicker like small children constantly which is very entertaining. Also their interactions with Teela are amazing. If there’s anyone other than Kaylin who exasperates her, it is these two, chiefly Mandoran.

There were two new characters in Honor; Gilbert and Kattea. Gilbert is a Shadow who has taken on the form of a human. This shed greater light on what the Shadows and Ferals are and their origins. Kattea is from the fief of Nightshade but one that is vastly different from the one Kaylin grew up in. Gilbert and Kattea are from the future, one where Elantra no longer exists. They have been brought to Kaylin’s time to avert that disaster. Kaylin saw herself in Kattea, but one who hadn’t yet had to make the difficult choices that Kaylin had. Kattea brought all of Kaylin’s protective instincts to the fore. But Kattea was also resilient and sharp. She was a survivor and she helped Gilbert as much as he helped her.

What makes this series compelling is that though there are great forces at play and often the world is in grave peril but at the heart of the series are problems that are very human. There is grief, loneliness and isolation, something we can all relate to in some capacity or another and that is what grounds this series and makes the characters so relatable.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D – Daisy Johnson and Grant Ward

Daisy “Skye” Johnson is my favourite character on the show. She is what kept the team from splintering way back in season 1. She was the glue that kept the team together; she was also the heart of the team, the innocent. Everyone else, even Fitz and Simmons were Shield agents. Which is why she saw things differently from the way they did. We’ve seen her grow and mature into a very skilled agent herself and more recently a hero. What makes her a great character is that despite the setbacks she’s suffered, at her core she’s still the same person. She hasn’t become jaded and closed-off the way Coulson has. She’s suffered just as much as he has (if not more if you consider her childhood) but she’s still compassionate and willing to see the good in people. She also has a keen understanding of what makes people tick. We saw an example of this in season 1 and again in season 3 when she talks to Coulson about Ward. She understands Ward, even sympathizes with him. But that doesn’t however mean that she forgives him or can forgive him. But she would not have killed him. Sure, she shot him in season 2 but that was also a very trying time for her, she had been kidnapped by him, just met her father who may or may not have been insane and was threatened by a Hydra psychopath, so I can understand why shot him then. But season 3 Daisy, would not have made that decision. I also know that if she finds out what Coulson did, she would not be okay with it either.

Also, Daisy is also the first female superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (followed closely by Jessica Jones) The first two seasons of AoS were pretty much her origin story. My only gripe with the show is that so far we haven’t the full extent of her powers. Please let her put her powers to better use than opening doors.

Then there is Grant Ward, the character a lot of people love to hate. As far as villains go, Ward is about as good as they come. He’s had a very tough childhood, abused by his parents and his elder brother; he protects his younger brother until the day he’s forced to hurt him which finally makes him snap. We meet the brother in question in episode 10 and he says that Ward changed after that, started blaming other people for his own mistakes. But what if it isn’t that simple? Ward loved his brother, they were best friends and being the elder of the two, Ward felt responsible for his brother’s safety. To suddenly be forced to hurt that very brother must have hurt him deeply. He couldn’t face what he had done, so he looked elsewhere to assign the blame. He didn’t have anyone to protect him. When he meets Garrette, for the first time, someone treats him as a human being, recognizes that there are things he might be good at. He was looking for a father figure and he found it in Garrette. It is not surprising then that Ward betrayed his Shield team when he was asked to because despite what he felt for the team, he wouldn’t be where he is without Garrette. Think for a minute how different things might have been if Coulson had found him first and recruited him, much like he found Skye (this is confusing, do I just call her Daisy now and does it depend on the period of her life I’m talking about) She’s loyal to Coulson first, everything else comes after that. It was the same for Ward and Garrette.

The whole of last season, Ward was looking for his place in the world. I believe that he wanted the chance to come back to Shield or at least work with Daisy. But when he realised that those doors were permanently closed to him, he came up with his own team. I also don’t think he loved Kara, not the way he loves Skye. But he saw on Kara’s face the same awe and love that he had once seen on Skye’s. She saw the horrible things he did and chose to stay him anyway. She didn’t judge him. Again, it was Ward who killed her but he can’t deal with that guilt, so instead he focused his rage at May and Coulson.

Having said that, I’m not excusing what he did to Bobbi, that was messed on a number of levels or the fact that he threatened to kill Andrew (although in that particular instance, Hunter screwed up) or when he killed Rosalind while she was at home. She wasn’t coming after him, in fact of the entire team, she was the only person who hadn’t actually done anything to Ward. I see all of that but his character is so compelling that I want there to be more to him than just another run-of-the-mill villain.

Now, let’s talk about Skyeward, despite all that I have said before this, I still see him with Daisy. Not as he was but redeeming himself for her, becoming the man she thought he was. Will it happen? I don’t know… But their relationship was built so well and it took its own sweet time. You could see that Ward was torn, it was in the moments where he would just stand back and observe her interacting with the rest of the team or the way he got sometimes got flustered around her. In other words, she made him vulnerable. Garrette wasn’t wrong when he told Skye that she had changed him. He felt protective of her in a way he didn’t of others. The rest of them knew what they had signed up for, knew the dangers, she didn’t. She also wasn’t like the others. She genuinely cared about everyone on the Bus. She wasn’t thinking tactics and strategy, she just went by her gut and did what felt right to her, even if it placed her in great danger. He was different around her, not as guarded. He also knew that they had had similar childhoods and he saw in her a kindred spirit.

Even after she rejected him at the end of season 1, he still held out hope that she would see him as more than a monster. He escaped and kidnaped her in the misguided hope that if he reunited her with her biological father, that she would think better of him, instead he got shot. Even after that, when Coulson contacted him to rescue the Lincoln and Deathlok, he came along but when he realized that it was about Skye, he was suddenly more invested and followed Coulson in the hope that he might get to see her. Clearly he is still in love with her.

We haven’t had any Daisy and Ward interactions so far in the season and I am more than a little disappointed. I was looking forward to those. We did have Daisy speaking about him and for the first time, she didn’t sound angry, more sad and disappointed. I am hoping that it wasn’t the writers’ way of closing down that relationship for good. But now he’s Maveth-Ward and I wonder what that means. We know that he will retain all his memories and I am curious to see how that will play out in the rest of the season. I read somewhere that the writers claimed that Skyeward was endgame but I don’t know if I believe that, maybe they just said it to throw the audience off. I can’t wait to find out how the writers wrap up this season.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D – Characters

One of the things that the writers and creators of Agents of Shield do best is character development. The characters on the show are complex and nuanced and always growing and changing.

Let’s start with Director Phil Coulson. All of the characters on the show have come a long way from who they were when the show started. Phil Coulson is no different. He was a man who believed in Shield and what it stood for. It was only after he found out about the T.A.H.I.T.I program and then Hydra and Ward that it shook his faith in the organisation. Following that breach of trust, he has become a harder man, a more ruthless man. Season 1 showed him as a very skilled operative but one who could still nurture, case in point, his relationship with Skye. Their almost-father-daughter relationship was one of the best things on the show. But lately, that Coulson has been disappearing in his quest for revenge. After Rosalind’s death, Coulson lost all objectivity and became more like Ward than he would care to admit. He enlisted Hunter, who’s also the most unstable character on base for help and then proceeded to kidnap Ward’s remaining brother, Thomas and threatened him. If not for Bobbi’s interference, things could have gone very differently for Thomas. But in doing so, Coulson became the very man he despised. Even on the other planet, Coulson had Ward and could have brought him in, he was injured and Coulson already had the upper hand, instead he made a calculated decision to kill him. It wasn’t spontaneous, he had time to think about it, weigh the consequences and still went ahead, and that’s disturbing, especially if we as the audience were meant to root for him. Coulson’s actions were no different than Ward’s and that’s a troubling trend. And what’s worse is that he came back and resumed his directorship of Shield as if he hadn’t just killed a man in cold blood.

On a side note: I hated the way Rosalind just died, just when we learnt the truth about ATCU and that she was in fact trustworthy, she just gets shot. Why couldn’t she have just been injured or attacked but managed to escape? Why of all the possible alternatives for her character did the writers have to go with killing her? It seemed like a cheap shot and it only served to motivate Coulson and I think she deserved better than that.

Melinda May is probably the most consistent character on the show. When we first meet her, she is closed off and doesn’t take to Skye. She has her own demons to confront but never lets them get in the way of her duty. She is a master at compartmentalization. But over the course of time, she has become more open (in stark contrast to Coulson) She takes Skye under her wing (another relationship I loved and would love to see more of. Season 3 has been seriously remiss where the female characters’ interactions are concerned, high time it was rectified, right?) The only time she loses control was when she joins Hunter on his “let’s kill Ward” bandwagon and even then she is the one who is more in control. Her reaction after she finds out that Andrew is Lash is heartbreaking because you know that there’s a part of her that genuinely believes that she doesn’t deserve to be happy, but even there, she makes the tough call and shoots him to save those around her. Oh, and she’s a better fighter than all the men on the show and never needs to be rescued.

Jemma Simmons also underwent some drastic changes along with Fitz after Ward tried to kill them. I loved her enthusiasm and her optimism. But after what Ward did and especially what happened to Trip, she changed into someone willing to kill an Inhuman instead of subduing them. The end of the season saw her coming to terms with that to a degree (it isn’t something that the show has addressed this season) Her relationship with Fitz is more troubling. It is clear that she loves him but on her part, that love is platonic. He is her best friend and an integral part of her life but she’s not in love with him. I don’t like it when female characters are defined by their relationships with the men in their lives and increasingly that’s what’s happening with Simmons. She has been quite passive this season. To a certain extent, it makes sense, considering that not very long ago, she was suffering from acute PTSD and still suffers from it (she still carries the sharpened stick as seen in the when she uses it to cut her bindings in episode 10) I’d like to see her get back to her self-assured, confident self.

Fitz, the resident nice guy. How far he’s come especially from the trauma he suffered at the end of season 1. Season 3 is also a role reversal for him with regard to his dynamic with Simmons. But he has also come into his own, where earlier, Simmons seemed the stronger of the two, this season sees him stepping up. He is also very much in love with Simmons and while it isn’t easy for him to deal with the fact that Simmons is in love with someone else, he loves her enough to save the man who protected her when he couldn’t. And it’s that struggle that makes him so engaging and endearing. He knows he could lose her forever to that man but that doesn’t stop him from trying.

Now, onto the rest of the gang. I love Bobbi. She is awesome and kicks serious ass. She is also emotionally supportive of the others on the team. I loved her interactions with Daisy and it’s very sad that we don’t have more of those. Even her interactions with Jemma, they were refreshing because these women trusted and respected each other. I wish we had more of these interactions. Hunter is a lose cannon and very unstable. Of all the characters on the show, I like him least. He is more like a liability for Bobbi than anything else. He puts the team in jeopardy and even gambles Andrew’s life and still manages to miss. And he is annoying. Then there is Mack. He is another character who has come a long way from season 2. He is now partnered with Daisy and I love their banter. They are supportive of each other and Mack genuinely cares about her. He is also the most objective when it comes to Coulson and doesn’t hesitate to call him out on it. Lincoln is being set-up as a love interest for Daisy and I don’t know how I feel about it and that has mostly to do with his character. He is just not that interesting and while his interactions with Daisy are sweet enough, it still feels like something is missing. At this point I would happy if the writers didn’t force love interests especially since they don’t the have time for it going from one life-or-death situation to another. I am also happy with the way Daisy handled their first kiss. She didn’t overthink it or blow it out of proportion. Her attitude was, ‘fine that happened, we’ll see where this goes but in the meantime there won’t be awkwardness because we are adults and we have more important things to do.’ That was so refreshing.

I am going to tackle Daisy and Ward in a separate post because that will be a long one. Stay tuned for part 2.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Season 3 – Mid-Season Finale Musings

I just finished watching the mid-season finale for Season 3 and given with the way it ended, there is much to discuss. Spoiler below so beware.

The driving force this season so far, has been Shield on Ward’s trail to make him account for what he did Bobbi and Ward’s attempt to revive Hydra (a leaner and meaner version) along with the Inhumans arc which mostly involves Daisy.

The season started by putting the Inhumans front and center and indeed built it up as the prevalent arc this season, but for the last few episodes, it seems like that they’ve been put on the back-burner for the time being. In fact, even Daisy’s screentime has lessened considerably. As much as I loved the way the writers set up the Inhumans in the show, the way they’ve handled it this season, makes the arc seem more like an afterthought and that was a little disappointing.

I will admit that the Inhumans arc tied in nicely with Hydra but where the actual Inhumans are concerned, I thought we would see more of them (and being in body-bags doesn’t count)

Ward building up Hydra was a logical step for him. We saw him throughout Season 2 ,trying to find where he fit in without Garret. Could he reconcile with Shield and Skye (he doesn’t know that she goes by Daisy now) or does he strike out on his own? He wanted a team of his own to facilitate his vendetta against Shield and Hydra was just convenient. The writers made it clear that Ward sided with Hydra not because he believed in their ideology but because of Garret. Through the course of the season so far, we meet another shadowy Hydra head, Gideon Malick and find out Hydra’s true origins .

The mid-season finale had quite a few surprises up its sleeve, one of them being the ancient Inhuman who was trapped on the other planet, Maveth. Not only did we lose Grant Ward, but we also learned that Will died not long after Simmons was rescued. But I am a little confused. If the creature on the planet was an Inhuman who has been on the planet for thousands if not hundreds of years, how did he survive, especially after the planet turned into a barren waste-land? Is it an Inhuman or a true virus? We know that it overtook Will’s body but it also had access to his memories, that’s how he recognized Fitz and knew what he meant to Simmons. We saw a worm-like thing slither out of Will’s head when Fitz kills him but what is it and how is it an Inhuman, I can’t make sense of that? Is the worm an Inhuman or was its original host one and this is how he adapted to this strange planet? At this point, the finale just raised more questions than it answered.

The questions will be answered when the season resumes but I am sure that the writers know what they’re doing and will answer most of our questions by the time the season ends. Marvel’s Agents of Shield will resume in March and that is a very long wait. In the meantime, feel free to speculate….