The Last Ship: John Pyper-Ferguson

9/25/2016

SPOILERS AHEAD
If you haven't seen "Don't Look Back" yet, then I can't be responsible if you continue reading.

I never expected to be writing about The Last Ship. That's not to say that it's not worth writing about, just that I have little room to add another thing to my To Do list. I liked The Last Ship from the beginning; it's solid entertainment with great characters and an intriguing story. And the second episode ever of the series really gave me something to come back for: Ken "Tex" Nolan, a guard that the crew of the Nathan James met at Guantanamo Bay. I was immediately taken with his spirit and affability, so different from the buttoned up, by-the-book naval officer.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Absolution and Ascension
Season 3, Episodes 21and 22 Recap

9/20/2016

Image copyright Marvel Television and ABC Studios

I knew someone was gonna go. I just didn't know everyone would.
—Daisy to Coulson, "Absolution"

In memory of Dan Schmidt, the founder of Across the Airwaves, who sadly passed away this summer. The tribute episode for him can be found here.

Here we are, right down to the wire. It's the end. The final two episodes of the superb third season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. I would have liked to separate these two to have easier to digest posts, but how could I? They aired together. They belong together the way "S.O.S., Part 1" and "S.O.S., part 2" belong together.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Emancipation
Season 3, Episode 20 Recap

9/19/2016

Image copyright Marvel Television and ABC Studios

Cap, Agent Carter: They were my heroes growing up. Both of them were there at the beginning of S.H.I.E.L.D. Now we may be there when it ends.
—Coulson to May, "Emancipation"

In memory of Dan Schmidt, the founder of Across the Airwaves, who sadly passed away this summer. The tribute episode for him can be found here.

Emancipation? What does Daisy have to be emancipated from? The people who love her and only want the best for her?" That would have been my reaction if I had known the title before watching the episode. Sometimes the title of an episode can give away too much or, usually in the case of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., make me really anxious about what it really means, especially when there's a double meaning.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Failed Experiments
Season 3, Episode 19 Recap

9/18/2016

Image copyright Marvel Television and ABC Studios.

And what if you fail, if they decide to turn on you instead, to come after us with their weapons of war, to kill me...kill all of us? What then?
—Hive
Then I will rip their hearts out.
—Daisy

In memory of Dan Schmidt, the founder of Across the Airwaves, who sadly passed away this summer. The tribute episode for him can be found here.

Looks like "Failed Experiments" was another fantastic episode that should be counted among the best of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I just had to be reminded since this wasn't the Summer of Erin, where I got to rewatch all the series I've been wanting to rewatch for years, but the Summer of Erin Must Do a Million Things and Have No Time for Herself. There were so many of these impressive episodes in the third season, maybe more than the first two years. While every episode has a reason to watch - even if it's something as simple as a perfect one-liner, a sweet moment, or the look on someone's face - the further Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. gets into the mysteries and closer to the edge of disaster, then the deeper the storyline and friendships, the more developed the personalities, and the more involved we the audience are.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Singularity
Season 3, Episode 18 Recap

9/17/2016

Image copyright Marvel Television and ABC Studios.

"This alien creature messed with the wrong team. It thinks if it breaks our legs, we'll stop fighting. But it doesn't know how damn stubborn we are, especially when it comes to protecting our own. Hive is building an Inhuman army, but we're not gonna let that happen.
— Coulson, "The Singularity"

In memory of Dan Schmidt, the founder of Across the Airwaves, who sadly passed away this summer. The tribute episode for him can be found here.

I forgot about this speech. How did I forget about this rousing speech?! Shame on me. This is one of those moments that the show is all about. And now I'm thinking of Coulson talking about how the team was still a team, that they weren't "Agents of Nothing." Both fantastic scenes, and three years down the line, now not a desperate, heartbreaking plea but said with confidence that they were going to win.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Team
Season 3, Episode 17 Recap

9/15/2016

Image copyright Marvel Television and ABC Studios

In memory of Dan Schmidt, the founder of Across the Airwaves, who sadly passed away this summer. The tribute episode for him can be found here.

What can I say here about "The Team" that I didn't cover below? Undoubtedly a heck of a lot, since there's always so much going on in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but I'd have to watch it again first. When I'm done with all these tweetcaps, I still have to finish a post about one of the most triumphant yet dark episodes of the season, "Maveth," and the one episode missing from my site, not including the five I have left to post before the season four premiere on September 20. I think it's a tie between "Laws of Nature," "4,722 Hours," "Maveth," and "The Team" for the best of season three and the entire series.

T-Shirt: Stranger Park

9/14/2016

Okay, that's it. This has to be it for quite some time. There are so many amazing shirts out there, but I can't possibly have them all. I have far too many already, and I'm sure my family is fed up of seeing new ones, concerned for all the money I'm spending. I am concerned about it, too. It may have become an addiction.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Paradise Lost
Season 3, Episode 16 Recap

9/13/2016

Image copyright Marvel Television and ABC Studios

In memory of Dan Schmidt, the founder of Across the Airwaves, who sadly passed away this summer. The tribute episode for him can be found here.

This is sixth in a series of twelve tweetcaps I'm trying to post before the premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s doubtlessly spectacular fourth season on September 20. So, I'm half way there! But I should have been half way there days ago. Now I have to scramble to get things done again. No matter. I enjoy this quite a lot. It's nice to have most of these already complete. It's almost like someone else wrote it for me and I'm just editing.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Spacetime
Season 3, Episode 15 Recap

9/10/2016

Image copyright Marvel Television and ABC Studios

In memory of Dan Schmidt, the founder of Across the Airwaves, who sadly passed away this summer. The tribute episode for him can be found here.

If you've read any of my four previous posts about the second half of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s spectacular third season then you can skip this paragraph. For the rest of you, you'll find below my tweets from the night "Spacetime" aired. I never had the chance to do a review of the episode, and I would have liked to post this mini recap sooner, but everything got away from me. I don't even know where the summer just went. For the second half of the third season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I expected I would do the normal thing and talk about the episodes that gave me a lot to think about. I thought I would be doing a lot of writing, but it didn't turn out that way. That's not the show's fault at all; it just gets better and more intricate and is always well-done and beautifully performed.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Watchdogs
Season 3, Episode 14 Recap

9/08/2016

Image copyright Marvel Television and ABC Studios

In memory of Dan Schmidt, the founder of Across the Airwaves, who sadly passed away this summer. The tribute episode for him can be found here.

This is the fourth in a series of twelve recap type posts that I'm releasing before the fourth season premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on September 20. Twitter is an ephemeral sort of thing and I love to save certain things I've written about my favorite shows. I didn't like that I neglected the second half of this spectacular season on my blog. So, these are all of the tweets I did for Watchdogs and some extra commentary that I shared with Across the Airwaves.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Parting Shot
Season 3, Episode 13 Recap

9/06/2016

Image copyright Marvel Television and ABC Studios

In memory of Dan Schmidt, the founder of Across the Airwaves, who sadly passed away this summer. The tribute episode for him can be found here.

This may be months late, but at least I have finally gotten to it. I had been writing about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. since before it even existed; inconsistently, though, since I'm the only one here and that's a lot of work. But, sadly, last December was the last time I talked about it on this blog. The show did nothing wrong. In fact, it just kept getting better, as it always has: deeper characterizations, storylines that flesh out more and more, with actors that give it everything they have instead of thinking a show set in a comic book universe is beneath them...and a heck of a lot of humor.

THE WALKING DEAD
Comic-Con 2016 Trailer
Season 7 Preview

9/05/2016

As always, I am super excited for and completely dreading the premiere of The Walking Dead on October 23. Until then, I get to imagine what's to come. No matter what I imagine, I'm sure the series will go a way that is even more harsh and horrific and full of unforgettable performances.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Inside Man
Season 3, Episode 12 Recap

9/05/2016

Image copyright Marvel Television and ABC Studios

In memory of Dan Schmidt, the founder of Across the Airwaves, who sadly passed away this summer. The tribute episode for him can be found here.

For the second half of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s third season, blogging fell by the wayside, completely replaced by tweeting and sharing those tweets with Across the Airwaves podcast, but I'm not sure I ever did that for this episode. I had to go all the way back to March 16th to get these tweets. But it looks like I didn't have as much as usual to say. I'm sure I was just too busy being captivated by the episode rather than the unlikely possibility that it was the least interesting episode of the second half of the season. Since I adore this series, I should probably find some time to watch it again.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Bouncing Back
Season 3, Episode 11 Recap

9/03/2016

Image copyright Marvel Television and ABC Studios

In memory of Dan Schmidt, the founder of Across the Airwaves, who sadly passed away this summer. The tribute episode for him can be found here.

It may seem to some reading only this blog and not following me on Twitter that I have fallen out of love with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I mean, I haven't written about anything since "Closure," the ninth episode of the season, all the way back in December. There have been no tees about the show recently either. It sure seems that MAOS is no longer a priority, to anyone who isn't me. Fallen out of love? That couldn't be further from the truth. The tees have been few and far between lately, because I haven't seen much on the daily tee sites. And I've just been talking about the show in a more easily digestible, quicker to compose, immediate form on Twitter.