The Writing on the Wall (207)

[GateWorld]

AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. - SEASON TWO THE WRITING ON THE WALL EPISODE NUMBER - 207 Coulson puts his sanity on the line to locate a former TAHITI patient, who is tracking others like him in order to solve the mystery of the alien glyphs. Meanwhile May's team catches up with an elusive Ward. VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE >>

[meredithchandler73]

OH MY GOD! Another awesome episode! I must rewatch this several more times, but some thoughts after just one viewing:
--Amazing to see Coulson come unhinged. I realize he was a man on a mission, but it was scary to see the lengths he was going to get information such as putting himself in the memory machine. When he pushed Skye into the cell and locked her in, my jaw dropped. I am so relieved that the compulsion is gone now. As interesting and exciting as it all was to see how the GH-325 had been affecting Coulson, I'm happy to get the old Coulson back!
--Excellent to finally see more about the TAHITI project, but so many questions still remain. Coulson wanted to destroy the alien, but the doctor insisted he couldn't do that because it was thousands of years old. I know there will be more about the blue alien coming in the future - perhaps even some answers during Agent Carter.
--No explanation about the fact that the painting survived the fire in Miami. Do we think that it was Derek (tattoo man) who caused the fire and spared the painting? He didn't cause fires with the other people he went after. Perhaps there was some kind of struggle and a fire started? I don't think I buy the theory that just because there was alien carving on the painting, it became indestructible.
--It's been good that Ward's loyalties have not been clear. The fact is, he says over and over that he understands what he has done and what he is, and he says he will never lie to Skye ever again - but he doesn't say anything about being loyal to SHIELD or Coulson's team. As much as I'm not a fan of Ward these days, it was good to see him as the excellent agent we remembered - noticing what page Bobbi was reading in her book and that she was still on the same page when he saw her on the bus. I haven't trusted Ward so far this season but by the end of this ep it seems to me that he is not *against* Coulson and the team, though not necessarily for them. He certainly has no loyalties to HYDRA. Once again, I think we have someone with their own agenda in here. And based on the end of the ep, Grant's priority seems to be going after his brother. (Everyone notice the kitchen matches in the bag? Seems crazy that he might do a repeat of what landed him in juvie all those years ago - trying to set fire to the house with his brother in it.) I suppose we are supposed to believe now that Grant was telling the truth about his brother the entire time and his brother is the psycho who tortured his little brothers and now plays innocent. I'm kinda hoping it isn't as cut and dried as that. Maybe Grant will be content with just ruining his brother and getting Christian to confess to all the psycho things he did to his younger brothers. Anyway, I find my hatred of Grant has lessened a TINY bit (with his present of Bakshi), but I still don't fully trust him.

[P-90_177]

Wow, that was a thrill ride.
Great to see Coulson go off the rails. You really have to wonder if he would have shot that guy and start killing people like Tattoo man if he didn't start finding answers soon. Some scenes from his memory were actually quite chilling as well. Some great use of editing and camera work at play there.
Now we know there's a city to find, but is that one that's actually on Earth?

[meredithchandler73]

Wow, that was a thrill ride.
Great to see Coulson go off the rails. You really have to wonder if he would have shot that guy and start killing people like Tattoo man if he didn't start finding answers soon. Some scenes from his memory were actually quite chilling as well. Some great use of editing and camera work at play there.
Now we know there's a city to find, but is that one that's actually on Earth?

It seems obvious that different people had different reactions to the GH-325 serum. At the time Fury made the decision to revive Coulson, they believed that the 6 test subjects were able to reintegrate into society after having their memories erased. The artist seemed to be obsessively painting the alien writing, but she didn't seem to be psycho like Garrett or Derek. Then again, it seems Garrett and Derek were bad men to begin with, so that could have had something to do with why they reacted the way they did. I suppose if you have no conscience, you only care about yourself and finding the answers you want. It doesn't matter who you hurt or kill in the process. But as "unhinged" as Coulson was getting, I don't think he would ever have resorted to carving into people to find answers.

Interestingly enough, Coulson didn't start carving until he saw Garrett's writing. Is it possible it wouldn't have activated in him at all if he hadn't seen it? Could the procedure they performed on Coulson have been slightly different from the ones they did for the other test subjects? It seemed like Coulson was left with most of his memories in tact - just nothing about the TAHITI project and his resurrection. It seems like the other test subjects were given totally new memories and new identities. Could it be that not trying to fully rewrite him left him less affected in the beginning?

As for the city, I was wondering if it was even on Earth as well. They may never find the actual city, but they still need answers about what has been happening and how it all links to the obelisk.

***SPECULATIONS***
I know absolutely nothing about the Marvel comics or any of the background on the upcoming characters/stories that will be coming in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I have heard people throwing around ideas about what the city is and where this story is leading, if it could be connected to the MCU in storylines that are years away. My thought: yes. It is certainly possible/plausible that we are seeing Easter eggs which will pay off in a film a few years from now. It's nice to get the teases for stuff that will be coming within the next year, but I would find it much more satisfying to know that Marvel really has built a UNIVERSE that will continue to connect as time goes on.

[P-90_177]

It seems obvious that different people had different reactions to the GH-325 serum. At the time Fury made the decision to revive Coulson, they believed that the 6 test subjects were able to reintegrate into society after having their memories erased. The artist seemed to be obsessively painting the alien writing, but she didn't seem to be psycho like Garrett or Derek. Then again, it seems Garrett and Derek were bad men to begin with, so that could have had something to do with why they reacted the way they did. I suppose if you have no conscience, you only care about yourself and finding the answers you want. It doesn't matter who you hurt or kill in the process. But as "unhinged" as Coulson was getting, I don't think he would ever have resorted to carving into people to find answers.

Interestingly enough, Coulson didn't start carving until he saw Garrett's writing. Is it possible it wouldn't have activated in him at all if he hadn't seen it? Could the procedure they performed on Coulson have been slightly different from the ones they did for the other test subjects? It seemed like Coulson was left with most of his memories in tact - just nothing about the TAHITI project and his resurrection. It seems like the other test subjects were given totally new memories and new identities. Could it be that not trying to fully rewrite him left him less affected in the beginning?

As for the city, I was wondering if it was even on Earth as well. They may never find the actual city, but they still need answers about what has been happening and how it all links to the obelisk.

***SPECULATIONS***
I know absolutely nothing about the Marvel comics or any of the background on the upcoming characters/stories that will be coming in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I have heard people throwing around ideas about what the city is and where this story is leading, if it could be connected to the MCU in storylines that are years away. My thought: yes. It is certainly possible/plausible that we are seeing Easter eggs which will pay off in a film a few years from now. It's nice to get the teases for stuff that will be coming within the next year, but I would find it much more satisfying to know that Marvel really has built a UNIVERSE that will continue to connect as time goes on.

I know enough to know what's coming up on the movie side of things, but I don't know the mythos well enough to know where the series might be heading.

[garhkal]

Wow, that was a thrill ride.
Great to see Coulson go off the rails. You really have to wonder if he would have shot that guy and start killing people like Tattoo man if he didn't start finding answers soon. Some scenes from his memory were actually quite chilling as well. Some great use of editing and camera work at play there.
Now we know there's a city to find, but is that one that's actually on Earth?

For me, i was shocked to hell to see the extent they took the Taihiti project to, and makes one wonder, with this revelation on what S.H.I.E.L.D did, was it worth saving?
And i also wonder, would coulson have gone all Garret, had they not found the key being 3D?

As for ward, i loved his call to Skye, and her comment to him about the "cat dropping off dead mice"..

***SPECULATIONS***
I know absolutely nothing about the Marvel comics or any of the background on the upcoming characters/stories that will be coming in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I have heard people throwing around ideas about what the city is and where this story is leading, if it could be connected to the MCU in storylines that are years away. My thought: yes. It is certainly possible/plausible that we are seeing Easter eggs which will pay off in a film a few years from now. It's nice to get the teases for stuff that will be coming within the next year, but I would find it much more satisfying to know that Marvel really has built a UNIVERSE that will continue to connect as time goes on.

One of my 2 Battle tech sites where we have a Shield thread, there is lots of speculation linking the city to the one the Unhumans had supposedly on the moon, but like you i am not THAT big into a lot of the back story, but am stoked to see where they take this angle.

And i WISH to heck they would explain why Skye has yet to wig out after getting injected..

[P-90_177]

For me, i was shocked to hell to see the extent they took the Taihiti project to, and makes one wonder, with this revelation on what S.H.I.E.L.D did, was it worth saving?
And i also wonder, would coulson have gone all Garret, had they not found the key being 3D?

As for ward, i loved his call to Skye, and her comment to him about the "cat dropping off dead mice"..



One of my 2 Battle tech sites where we have a Shield thread, there is lots of speculation linking the city to the one the Unhumans had supposedly on the moon, but like you i am not THAT big into a lot of the back story, but am stoked to see where they take this angle.

And i WISH to heck they would explain why Skye has yet to wig out after getting injected..

I wondered the same. But as someone else pointed out, both Garrett and the Tattoo man were bad to begin with. Coulson still has a good heart so he'd possibly not go that insane... but I suspect he'd still be somewhat dangerous.

[Linda06]

Coulson going a little crazy in this episode. I love it But glad he's back to normal, well normal for him. Uh I forget, did they mention what City that 3D construction was?

I see Ward is still obsessed with Skye. That's gonna end badly. Does he really think he still has any chance left with Skye or S.H.I.E.L.D.? If he does he really is delusional.

I'm really loving this show though, interesting twists.

But I do wish we had our old Fitz back, I miss him.