After watching the penultimate episode for the first season of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, the Whimsies were torn by mixed emotions. Here’s how their discussion went…
TESSIE. Well, I’m saying this right off the bat, and you can quote me if you want: If Joss Whedon KILLS Fitz and Simmons, I will NEVER watch this show again.
TRIXIE. Me neither!
TILLIE. Me neither!
TRIXIE. Then we’re in agreement?
TILLE. Absolutely!
TESSIE. Great! Because I love Fitz and Simmons! If they get killed, I’m going to be really, really upset, and then I won’t trust Joss Whedon at all, and I’m not going to let him make me get upset about characters I like. I would rather not watch this show at all, than watch all my favorite characters get killed off. 
TRIXIE. I agree. But you know what? If I’m remembering correctly, Fitz has some kind of tracking device on him, some kind of….beacon…from Tripp’s grandfather, the Howling Commando. Why would they make a point of having a tracking device, unless there would be some reason to track them?
TILLIE. The drop from the plane to the ocean wasn’t that far. And also, they’re somewhere between Cuba and Miami. That’s not a lot of ocean. Someone will find them.
TESSIE. I hope so! Because mostly I like this show, and I don’t want to have to stop watching it!
TILLIE. Well, we all know how you feel about Fitz and Simmons. But how are you feeling about Agent Ward after this week?
TRIXIE. (nodding) It was a big Ward week.
TILLIE. Yes, but does it make a difference? Do we hate him any less now?
TRIXIE. (considering) Well…I almost feel like I WANT to hate him less. Because now we kinda understand why he’s the way he is. But we can’t just gloss over the fact that he’s killed lots and lots of people, lots and lots of SHIELD agents!
TESSIE. But at least he didn’t shoot his dog!
TILLIE. That’s right! He didn’t. At first we thought he would, but he just shot in the air and the dog ran off.
TESSIE. And then Garrett shot the dog, with the rifle, didn’t he?
TRIXIE. Garrett is evil!
TILLIE. It didn’t both you two that there was a dog in this story?
TESSIE. It did, at first. But I could see it was a friendly dog. I mean, in those first scenes, with Garrett and Ward and the dog, the nicest one in the whole bunch happened to be the dog!
TILLIE. Haha! Tess! Who ever thought we’d see the day when you were rooting for a dog!
TESSIE. Oh, don’t get me wrong. They still kinda scare me. A lot. But I think I can watch them on TV and look at them in books. Dogs…okay. But not wolves.
TRXIE. Thank goodness there were no wolves on SHIELD! I keep wanting to watch the rest of the Twilight movies, but I know there are going to be a lot of really big wolves, so….
TILLIE. (adamantly) We shouldn’t let our fears rule us, girls!
TRIXIE. I know…I know…
TESSIE. Me too. I know…but getting back to Fitz, it was kinda cool how they compared him and Simmons to the dog.
TILLIE. Right! And that’s what gives me hope that Fitz and Simmons will survive. Because somewhere, deep down, Ward still cares about them.
TRIXIE. He said it! He said he cares! But he sees that as a ‘weakness.’
TILLIE. Right. But he cared enough about the dog not to shoot him, and I think he probably knew when he released that pod into the ocean that they were flying really low and it wasn’t going to kill them.
TESSIE. So he let them live…
TRXIE. What kind of a villain is that, that lets his enemies get away and live?
TESSIE. They’re not his enemies! They’re his friends! Fitz was making a very good point, and for a moment there, I thought he almost had him, I thought he was going to convince Ward to turn away from the dark side.
TILLIE. But he didn’t.
TESSIE. Not really. But sort of. At least ENOUGH to keep Fitz and Simmons alive.
TRIXIE. Cos Ward could have just shot them! But he didn’t. He’s all mixed up, isn’t he?
TILLIE. And he’s not really doing what Garrett tells him to do. He’s not obeying his leader.
TRIXIE. There’s a chink in his villain armor.
TESSIE. Yes! But is it enough to crack off the bad guy and let the good guy out?
TILLIE. You mean: is he redeemable? I still don’t think so. I think he’s going to have to die.
TRIXIE. Or better yet!! Why not let him live, and he would still be out there, to cause the SHIELD agents all kinds of trouble?
TESSIE. Right! And then poor Skye…she still kinda likes him. Well, maybe not as much as before. But I think if he had the chance, Ward could probably bamboozle her into liking him again.
TRIXIE. Bamboozle!! Haha! Great word, Tess!
TILLIE. Ward is a very, very interesting character now. I don’t particularly like him, but I certainly hope they don’t kill him off. Though I think maybe they will.
TESSIE. Well, I guess that’s why we have to keep watching! To find out what they do with Ward, and to find out what happens to Fitz and Simmons.
TRIXIE. And to find out what happens to Garrett! He’s evil! I hope he dies!
TILLIE. I agree. No love lost there. See, if Garrett dies, we’ll all say ‘Good riddance!’ But if Ward dies, I think some part of us will still be sad, even though we know he’s a bad guy and deserves to die.
TESSIE. So I guess we’ll find out a lot of stuff next week, because it’s the last week of the season. I hope they won’t leave us hanging.
TRIXIE. Ugggh! A cliff-hanger! I hate cliff-hangers. I hope we don’t get one here.
TILLIE. Don’t hold your breath, Trix. I think we probably will.
TRIXIE. Well, at the very least, I don’t think we’re going to get the final word yet about Skye, about what she is. We’ll definitely have to wait till next season for that one!
TESSIE. Her parents are ‘monsters’?? What does that mean?
TILLIE. It could mean anything. Very vague. I think we all have different scenarios playing in our head about what Raina meant when she said that.
TRIXIE. Raina! In the flowered dress! Now THERE’S an interesting character!
TESSIE. I know! I think maybe I could end up liking her.
TRIXIE. She’s not on board with the Hydra stuff. She’s in it for her own reasons. She thinks she and Skye are alike somehow.
TESSIE. Yeah….wonder what THAT means…
TILLIE. More questions than answers?
TRXIE. Keeps us coming back for more!
TESSIE. But in the meantime, we have a few more things to talk about, girls. So far, we’re just touching on all the serious stuff. But this was also a very FUNNY episode.
TRIXIE. OMG!
TILLIE. When Coulson and May dressed up like Fitz and Simmons! Hysterical!
TRIXIE. And “Get ready, Skye, there’s going to be a LARGE file transfer!”
TESSIE. Haha! And wasn’t it funny when Coulson geeked out about all that stuff that Tripp brought in the suitcase?
TILLIE. (giggling and blushing) He’s such a geek!
TRIXIE. You love him!
TILLIE. I do!
TESSIE. Hey, wait! Fitz had a lot of good stuff to do in this episode too. Like, short-circuiting Garrett with that joy buzzer. But it was pretty funny when he lit the curtains on fire.
TRIXIE. Curtains on fire…always funny…
TILLIE. And Skye and May had a nice talk.
TESSIE. May said ‘Of course I’m furious. But I’m not going to waste it on a tantrum,’ or something like that. She’s saving it up for when she sees Ward again.
TRIXIE. Ooh! Ooh! Can’t wait for that! Now I kinda hope they don’t kill Ward, at least not too fast, cos I’d love to see May get a piece of him!
TESSIE. Trixie! The violence!
TRIXIE. Oh, stop being so hoity-toity! We’re watching a show about spies and super-villains. There’s going to be some violence now and then, and you love it as much as I do.
TESSIE. Well, I have to admit…I would love to see May give Ward a little bit of her ‘furious.’
TILLIE. Next week, girls! Next week!
TESSIE. But then, no more SHIELD all summer! Waaah!
TRIXIE. Not to worry! Miss Chrissy and The Man have plenty and plenty of movies on the shelves to keep us busy during the long, warm days and nights of Summer!
And we do! But that’s another story, or rather, “other stories,” ones that may or may not be told on these pages, as time slowly ambles on, here in Whimsieville.
