Heavy Is the Head (202)

[GateWorld]

AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. - SEASON TWO HEAVY IS THE HEAD EPISODE NUMBER - 202 Hunted and running out of solutions, Coulson puts his team right in the line of fire in the hopes of saving them all. But with General Talbot, Hydra and Creel all on the attack, can they possibly survive? Meanwhile, a mysterious Doctor harbors some dangerous secrets that could destroy one of our core team members. (ABC) VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE >>

[meredithchandler73]

I loved this episode and can't wait to watch it again. I will have to watch this a few more times to really wrap my mind around everything, but some thoughts off the top:
--I was glad I guessed correctly that Fitz knew he was the only one seeing and speaking with Simmons. And apparently "Simmons" likes Mack and the way he doesn't treat Fitz the way the others do.
--I'm loving Henry Simmons (Mack) and his dynamic with Fitz. Can't wait to find out a little more background on his character. Was he some kind of engineer?
--Nice reuse/re-purposing of the overkill weapon (from the episode The Hub, also used in Turn, Turn, Turn). Edited to add: Maybe this isn't the overkill weapon but something that Fitz created from scratch? Based on the design I thought it looked so much like the overkill device that Fitz just reverse-engineered one at some point. Edit #2: rewatched and it was the overkill device.
--So much comedy in this episode! Some really terrific lines and moments.
--I can't recall if I mentioned this in the episode 1 review, but I really like the fact that there aren't just the Good Guys and the Bad Guys. It seems Dr. Whitehall is officially part of Hydra (and has been since WWII), but then there's Raina and The Doctor (aka Skye's father) who have their own agendas. Talbot's agenda is simply to wipe out SHIELD. Lance Hunter is a mercenary, though it was nice to see that there are things he cares about that don't have to do with money - having a proper funeral for Hartley and getting her necklace to her sister.
--I would like more backstory on the new characters of Hunter and Mack, but I am still waiting for more backstory on May - particularly Bahrain. Maybe about her one and only marriage. By the way, I'm glad my shot in the dark about Hunter and May having been married was totally off!
--And still there are secrets! May is the only one who knows about Coulson's hypergraphia. I suppose that the newer drawings that Skye was given (in the last ep) to compare to Garrett's drawing were other "episodes" that Coulson has had, documented by May. (Coulson and May are such a great team. I know there's no way for them to be a couple right now - him as a director and so much going on - but I totally ship Philinda.)
--As badly as I feel for Skye knowing she is being kept in the dark about something, I do think that people need to feel the Director of SHIELD is in control. Skye seems to be a very good agent so far, following orders and everything. I wonder if a little bit of the old Skye won't pop up and she'll try to dig into what Coulson is trying to keep from her.
--Love the meet between Talbot and Coulson. I do think Talbot has some begrudging respect for Coulson, but he just won't leave him alone. I wonder if Coulson will ever have the chance to actually save Talbot's life...and whether that still wouldn't convince him not to keep hunting Coulson and his team.
--Just in case people don't watch the previews for the following week's episode:

Spoiler:

In this episode, Dr. Whitehall's lackey tells Creel to rely on his training and reminds him that compliance will be rewarded. Creel has this robotic tone as he says, "I am happy to comply." Sounds like Hydra was involved in brainwashing people - probably most interested in getting gifted people to work for them and not worry they'll turn on them. Perhaps Simmons was brainwashed into joining Hydra? I am so anxious about next week's episode!

[Looney]

I am in total agreement with meredithchandler73 on this one. I thought it was a really good episode. The only thing I didn't like about it is Hunter. He is not growing on me. The worst part was him making the deal with Talbot. It was so expected and unoriginal. And the way they did it was almost like they were just going through the motions because it was so obviously not a big deal. Anyway, I still really enjoyed this episode. I really loved how they worked the humor in and the Kyle MacLachlan intro was great.

[garhkal]

Unfortunately i was watching NCIS NO (cause it had Denozo in) so i missed this weeks ep. BUT i will be catching it when watchabc lets me!

[yukin1990]

I have watching this show before NCIS NO!!

Love the new character Lance Hunter!!!He shot Agent May, not a great move!!!Want to see how Agent May pay him back!! But he is loyalty his teammate (Idaho and Isabelle Hartley), even got them a proper burial!!!Which i like this guy so much because of it!!

Now can we saying that does SHIELD become illegal armed organization like Mithril (Full matel Panic)and Celetial Being(Gundam 00)?? seeing they all having stealth cloaking technology.

At the last part of this episode is the first 0-8-4 is it alive object??And does Hydra is having brainwashing technology(CA2: TWS and Creel behavior)?? Does that could explain Simmons behavior in ep three!!Why Simmons abandoning fitz????????

Good to see they having a cloak-equipped quinjet and the bus can be cloak now!!! it is so awesome!!

[meredithchandler73]

It is nice that SHIELD has the Quinjet and can cloak the bus. I don't think things should necessarily come easy for the team, but it's nice to see the progress that they are making. (Love that Coulson shows May about the allies he has made so far - blue dots on the map. And not long after that they are looking at all the people able to check the HYDRA message that was sent to Creel and there are sooooo many more red dots.)

I can't believe I didn't mention it sooner, but totally LOVE Coulson playing with the toolbox. The scene from T.R.A.C.K.S. was so hilarious when Coulson and Ward couldn't figure out the holo-table, but I like seeing Director Coulson being very adept searching through info from the Toolbox. Hope we get to see more of that this season.

And while Coulson was going through stuff in the Toolbox, a file with a picture of Agent Carter came up. Nice. I wonder how many little references to Agent Carter we will see throughout the first half of the season.

[Starsaber]

And while Coulson was going through stuff in the Toolbox, a file with a picture of Agent Carter came up. Nice. I wonder how many little references to Agent Carter we will see throughout the first half of the season.

One theory I heard is that the building they're operating out of now was the original SHIELD headquarters (so they can take out the monitors and use the same set for Agent Carter).

[meredithchandler73]

One theory I heard is that the building they're operating out of now was the original SHIELD headquarters (so they can take out the monitors and use the same set for Agent Carter).

Oooh! That's a very cool idea!

[garhkal]

Finally got to see this. Man are they milking the Fitz issue, though i can understand why after knowing someone who did suffer some brain damage from asphyxiation.
I loved the playing with that holo table thing, but wonder. Was it stark who gave that over, or was it something shield "Borrowed" from stark?