I'm sure it's only temporary

[sholio]

... Agents of SHIELD made me like Grant F**king Ward. what even

Comments

[kore]

HA, WHAT? HOW.

[sholio]

RIGHT???

I tune in and out of Agents of SHIELD -- it's one of those shows where I catch a random ep here and there, but don't feel compelled to keep up with it in general -- so I may have missed a large chunk of context, but in the current story arc, they're in a virtual reality where a bunch of the characters are alignment-flipped. I'm still not *entirely* confident that Ward isn't being set up for a double-cross (neither are the rest of the characters, for that matter) but VR!Ward appears to be an actual good guy and is kind of adorable.

I think the writers just enjoy trolling the fandom, really. XD

At the very least it's an opportunity for guilt-free appreciation of Brett Dalton in leather jackets. (Until the other shoe drops and he tries to kill everyone.)

[kore]

Yeah, I quit watching early in S2, and was never that compelled to go back, but I heard this season they had Ghost Rider? and now some kind of 'Framework' thing and it's all Agents of Hydra and it sounded too close to upcoming comics Secret Empire for me so I was like, nahh.

HOWEVER

an opportunity for guilt-free appreciation of Brett Dalton in leather jackets

NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED. Maybe he'll be good in the /Matrix/ Framework and then somehow come back evil IRL! Hah.

[recessional]

Oh, okay, he is like mirrorverseWard. (Or being presented as.) That makes sense.

(Look I have a Criminal Minds mirror-verse au where Foyet is the goodguy, I'm fine with these things. XD)

[applenym]

Oh, wow — I might have to start watching this show again! I LOVE mirrorverses. And I also really like Brett Dalton as an actor.

I started the first episode of this season and then never continued, having no interest in watching Ghost Rider brutally mow down bad guys with his flaming car. Sounds like they've moved on from that, though?

[madripoor_rose]

Heh heh heh. And who knew Fitz's actor could pull off that level of creepy?

[sholio]

I am a HUGE sucker for AUs, parallel-universe doppelgangers, evil clones/twins (or good-guy clones/twins of characters who are normally evil), and so forth, not to mention really enjoying spy stuff and the "we are hunted fugitives on the run and the entire government is out to get us!" trope. So this story arc couldn't really have been more relevant to my interests. :D

[kore]

....well dang, maybe I do want to see this bit. Last I heard there was a big LMD storyline, and I'm not so much into those. But this is after that right?

[madripoor_rose]

Nods, also trapped in the matrix! is one of my favorite plots too. It is just weird how often Whedon projects veer from 'not what I wanted it to be---WORST TWIST EVER---how did it get so awesome again?' for me. The Buffy comics did it, and now AoS.

[newredshoes]

I guess in this in-show AU, he's not a Nazi?

[sholio]

Yeah, AU!Ward appears to be the inverse of canon!Ward -- instead of being a mole for Team Evil among the good guys, he's a mole for Team Good Guy among the bad guys.

Unless he's actually a triple agent and there's another double-cross coming, which is entirely possible.

[kore]

Well, that would SUCK. So it's....sadly likely?

OTOH imagine the juicy angst if Quake had good memories of Ward from the evil Hydra matrix! and then there could always be fix-it fic

[sheron]

Oooh that actually makes some sense in terms of you liking him! But it would be hilarious if he was triple crossing :D

[sheron]

Impossible.

[sholio]

I thought so too, but apparently not! It's actually hitting some of the same buttons for me that Harry's relationships with the Flash team did in season two, where they have to deal with this guy who LOOKS exactly like a guy who double-crossed and tried to kill them, but isn't the same person.

(That being said, I would not be surprised if he turns out to be secretly evil after all.)

[amalthia]

This season has been surprisingly good, I actually couldn't wait to see what would happen next, after last week's episode. I'm hoping they pull this Ward out of the Framework and give him a robot body in the real world and then see how he navigates how different it is from what he knows.

[sholio]

I loved the last two episodes! I can't wait for next week! I think it's the most excited I've been about the show since, well, ever. Or at least since the last couple of season one episodes.

I'm hoping they pull this Ward out of the Framework and give him a robot body in the real world and then see how he navigates how different it is from what he knows.

Same!! I think by far the most likely endings for this Ward are either going out in a blaze of heroic glory or turning out to be actually evil after all, but I actually do love the idea of the characters bringing him back to the real world with them.

[yalumesse]

SAME. I just posted some rambling brainthoughts on tumblr, but - yes. Wow. I like this Ward. I want him to stay.

[sholio]

Ooooh, I am intrigued by your point about Aida having plans for the real world too! HMMMMM.

I really love the idea of Framework!Ward coming back as an LMD (well, assuming he doesn't turn out to be planning a double-double-cross XD). I was thinking about this some more last night, though, and it's starting to seem unlikely to me, because it would be SUCH a massive get-out-of-jail-free card for other dead characters. And Aida's creator (whose name I can't remember) didn't seem to consider it a possibility for his dead wife. So I'm not sure if it would work ... but yeah, I'm actually hoping they find some way to keep him around, which is something I NEVER thought I'd say about Ward!

[chelseagirl]

I know, right?

He was a big reason I stopped watching in s. 1 -- just seemed such a cliched character. I came back when I found out that he was evil . . . but mostly when I found out the plot had gotten more complex and that Peggy was getting some flashback cameos.

So glad when he left; so weird to be rooting for him, now.

[sholio]

THE WORLD HAS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. I'm rooting for Grant Ward. XD

I still wouldn't be surprised if he ends up either being a secret traitor or turning on the team for other reasons (refusing to accept that he's in a simulation, for example). But I really wouldn't mind if we got to keep this one!

[st_aurafina]

It's so great, isn't it? I think he's just basically contrary - in a good universe, he's gonna be evil. In an evil universe he's a good guy. On Wednesdays when we wear pink, he's gonna wear green.

[sholio]

Ahahaha! This is the best explanation. :D

[sherylyn]

I just got caught up on the series, and I'd seen your post a few days ago, so I had to come read, and now I'm all like "OMGOSH WHAT?!?!!" on it all.

But oh, the aching thing about this arch is seeing Trip and Ward be what they "should" have been allowed to be, and... good freaking heck.

I agree completely that this show frustrates me periodically (and seriously, I need my brain examined, b/c I'd actually managed to *forget* that this is Whedon-verse!! *headdesk x infinity*), and then it turns around and does episodes where you're again like "OH MY GOSH WHAT THE WHAT??!!!" and reels me back in.

This season has left me wanting them to do *more*, somehow, to be the characters and the reasons I loved them more (not that I've hated all of them the whole time or anything, but they've felt like they were spinning their wheels by comparison), and wanting the series to re-connect to the MCU better (b/c I still vividly remember how they jumped in with the whole Hydra's "alive" thing *immediately* after seeing "Winter Soldier", and I *knew* that the the bit in Avengers 2 w/the helicarrier showing up was Phil's "project" the instant I saw it), and... they just haven't felt like they *are* part of that same thing, to me, lately, and I've missed that.

And then they pull this, and it's still a weird arc in some ways, but damn if they didn't drag me completely in again anyway.

Geez. Can it be Tuesday now please?? LOL

And also: I want them to have Coulson alive in the MCU, dammit!!! :-P

[sholio]

AARGH I KNOW RIGHT??? I usually only watch the show intermittently, because watching it straight through is just terribly, terribly frustrating. If you get hooked on a character, they die or turn evil, and none of the storylines ever go how I want. And then THIS HAPPENED and now I'm so, so hooked. I'm actually looking forward to Tuesday for AoS at least as much as I am for Flash coming back!

I just KNOW this arc is going to break my heart or make me angry at the end, but it's so good right now.