“Rectify” Is a Quiet Marvel

> Daniel was convicted of a brutal but ambiguous crime. Now that he’s out of prison, everyone wants clarity. Credit Illustration by Tomer Hanuka In the first episode of “Rectify,” Daniel Holden (Aden Young) is released from death row, and he gives a speech to journalists and protesters gathered outside the prison. Rather than assert his innocence or talk about justice, he offers a zigzagging meditation on the nature of fatalism. “I had convinced myself that kind of optimism served no useful purpose in the world where I existed,” he explains, in an underwater monotone, as the protesters look on, baffled. “Obviously, this radical belief system was flawed and was, ironically, a kind of fantasy itself.” Humbly, as if ending a philosophy seminar, he concludes, “I will seriously need to reconsider my world view.” For three years, “Rectify” has been a small marvel, an eccentric independent drama, filmed in Griffin, Georgia, and airing off the beaten track as well, on Sundance. With its skewed insights into carceral cruelty, “Rectify” took the slot that “The Wire” used to occupy: it’s the smart crime drama whose fans have trouble persuading others to watch, because it sounds too grimâ€"or maybe too good for you. It’s a frustrating dynamic that has haunted other dramas without cowboys or zombiesâ€"“The Leftovers” and “The Americans” come to mindâ€"but “Rectify” ’s reputation for difficulty is misleading. The show’s dreamy pace makes it a satisfying high, like a bourbon-soaked bob down a river on a humid day. It’s a show about the way that time gets distorted; it’s one that distorts time, too. As with many structurally daring series, it’s joyful, because its insides match its outsides. It’s also, more straightforwardly, a gothic mystery about small-town secrets. When Daniel was in his late teens, he was convicted of the rape and murder of his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Hanna. He served nineteen years, most of them in solitary confinement. The crime itself was a foggy, ambiguous incident that involved psychedelic drugs; two boys testified against him, and, under pressure, Daniel confessed. DNA cleared him of the rape but not of the murder, so plenty of localsâ€"and, at times, Daniel himselfâ€"suspect that he did it, because he was found cradling Hanna’s naked corpse, which he’d decorated with flowers. But Daniel’s younger sister, Amantha (Abigail Spencer), never lost faith in his innocence, and she’s been sleeping with the liberal Jewish lawyer she lobbied to work on his behalfâ€"the big-city Reuben to her Norma Rae. Everyone involved wants clarity, now that Amantha’s faith has paid off. No one gets it. The murder case is reopened and leads down alarming paths. Few people want to face the uglier facts, including the knowledge that Daniel was raped in prison, multiple times. While he was on death row, his father died and his mother remarried, so he has two new stepbrothers, Ted, Jr., and Jared, who is still in his teens. In some ways, Daniel is himself an adolescent, prone to self-indulgent, self-destructive whims. In isolated Paulie, Georgia, he’s a distinctly odd figure, a socially awkward autodidact who meditated and read obsessively in his cell. He speaks in an off-kilter, whispery style, making even sympathetic neighbors uncomfortable. His mannered intellectualism marks him as an outsider, queer in several senses, as much as any suspicions of criminal guilt do. The one person who truly gets him is Ted, Jr.,’s wife, Tawney, a sweet born-again Christian who is desperate to save Daniel, and with whom he develops a dangerous chemistry. Their flirtation takes place, however, largely through elevated conversation about Thomas Aquinas and Buddha, forgiveness and humility. And, in fact, a lot of the pleasure of the show is in the dialogue, which favors the stuff that Daniel jokes is not “gallows humor” but “lethal-injection humorâ€"it’s more humane but less funny.” “It felt good to use the telephone that wasn’t smarter than me,” Daniel tells his sister, about a pay phone. His companion on a road trip tells him, “Everything that happens between men and women is written in mud. And butter. And barbecue sauce. Paula Deen said that to me in a dream I had one time.” Ted, Jr.,’s boozy koan: “First you hate it. Then you like it. It’s called beer.” While the talk takes its time, the plot moves fast. The first season covers six days in six episodes, and climaxes in two crimes, one committed by Daniel, one against him; by the fourth and final season, currently airing, only a few months have passed. Several of the best episodes are one-offs, featuring characters we never meet again. In one, Daniel drifts into the orbit of an antique dealer named Lezlie, a Pan-like anarchist, who invites anyone who is not a gentrifying yuppieâ€"the class he regards as ruining Paulieâ€"to party at his ramshackle house. In another, Daniel gets a ride from a stranger and steals some goats. There’s a strong sense in “Rectify” that, when your memory has been rendered spongy and your safety shattered, each event might last forever or be gone in a flash. Perhaps the standout episode is “Donald the Normal,” from Season 2. In it, Daniel finally leaves town. He takes a bus to Atlanta, then puts on nice clothes and goes to a museum to see a beautiful painting that he knows only from a book. Throughout “Rectify,” the claustrophobically close-knit Paulieâ€"where the local waitress sleeps with both Daniel and the politician who framed him, and where Hanna’s brother glares at Daniel’s family in the supermarketâ€"is portrayed as near-enchanted in its isolation. Any mention of a larger Southern city (even from the former Atlantan Amantha, who has a liberal hipster’s condescension for her home town) makes it sound as distant as Mars. At the museum, Daniel is approached by an attractive older woman, played by Frances Fisher. “What do you think?” she asks. “I think I’ve looked at this painting in a book for so long that somehow my brain has trivialized it,” he says. “And as I stand here in front of the real thing I feel, if anything . . . disappointed.” She’s charmed by the alien quality that others find so creepyâ€"his formal speech, his lack of boundaries. She invites him to lunch with her book-club friends. These are sleek, rich city women. He tells them that his name is Donald and that he owns a bookstore in Alabama. This experiment in reinvention falls apart fast. Daniel has cuts on his forehead and cheeks, the remnants of a beating that put him in a coma. And, bright as he is, he can’t improvise a life he never had. He finds himself faking a conversation about a book he hasn’t read, something with a “pitiful” protagonist. “This bread, um, is excellent,” he says, trying to change the subject. “The panini bread?” one of the women asks. “Yes, um, the pallini bread,” he responds. “It’s . . . unusually fresh.” It’s a heartbreaking slip, a class error that locks him out of a whole world. The book-club women get into a conversation about a story that Daniel >has read, Tobias Wolff’s “Bullet in the Brain,” and which he’s memorized. His lunch companion can’t believe it: “It would be torture to memorize.” No, he explains: it was a calming task, back during “a period in my life when I was having some difficulty dealing with the passing of time in a traditional sense.” Because Wolff’s story deals “with the bending of time,” memorizing it helped him bend time as well. References like this get at the show’s fearlessness in taking art seriously, not merely as a distraction but as a bridge between strangers, a way of reframing the world. Still, it would be an exercise in solipsism without the larger, more grounded ensemble, particularly Daniel’s opposite number, Ted, Jr., who becomes both his bully and his victim. As played by Clayne Crawford, Ted is a strutting, insecure shit-kicker, a high-school tough kid gone to seed. A salesman at the family car dealership, he’s the yuppie type Lezlie disdains, or, at least, he aspires to be: he and Tawney share a McMansion decorated in pastels. When the bank won’t give him a loan for a sketchy scheme involving leasing auto rims to black customers, he mortgages the house, despite Tawney’s resistance. When things fall apart, he gets scary. In another story, Ted might be a cartoon villain: the abusive husband who, at one point, confesses to something so close to date rape that it’s a distinction without a difference. (Crimes on “Rectify” are like that: violence so ordinary that no one reports itâ€"and, when someone does, the justice system makes it worse.) But the show sees Ted’s side, too. Like Daniel, he is a man humiliated by loss of control, with few coping skills when he’s been abandoned. In “Rectify,” anyone who feels something for others, however painful, must be redeemable. In the final season, Tawney and Ted, Jr., go to therapy, heading toward divorce. Daniel, who has been legally “banished” to Nashville, lives at a halfway house and gets an artist girlfriend. The crime is on the verge of being solved. If “Rectify” has a flaw, it’s one that so many humane shows develop in their final stretchâ€"a Tawney-like desire to save everyone, simply because these are characters we’ve loved for years. In one scene, Amantha, recognizing that an old enemy is helping solve the mystery of Hanna’s murder, asks, “Is there anyone left to hate?” Daniel wryly refers to himself as Humpty-Dumpty, but he’s often more like Kimmy Schmidt: he’s strange not because his capacity for wonder has been shut down but because it’s almost too open. As the finale approaches, it’s not the show’s problem that I’ve found myself wanting some ugly to stay ugly. Perhaps I will seriously need to reconsider my world view. >♦ "

| “Rectify” | Quiet | Marvel |

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Marvel’s ‘Inhumans’ Sets ‘Iron Fist’ Boss as Showrunner

Marvel Entertainment is turning to a familiar hand to guide its forthcoming ABC series “The Inhumans.” Scott Buck, who is already executive producer and showrunner for Netflix’s upcoming Marvel series “Iron Fist,” will serve in the same role on “The Inhumans.”

ABC announced last month that it had given a greenlight to “The Inhumans” under a unique distribution and financing deal that will see the first two episodes premiere in IMAX theaters. Those episodes are slated to later air on ABC, with subsequent episodes premiering on the broadcast network.

“The Inhumans” will premiere in theaters in September, 2017, then air on ABC that fall. The series, based on characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics in 1965, tells the story of a race of superpowered beings. It is produced by Marvel and ABC Studios, and will be ABC’s third Marvel series, following “Agents of SHIELD” and “Agent Carter.”

“Iron Fist,” the fourth Marvel series for Netflix following “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” and “Luke Cage,” will premiere on Netflix March 17, 2017. It will star Finn Jones as Danny Rand, a kung-fu master able to summon the power of the mythical Iron Fist.

Prior to “Iron Fist,” Buck worked as executive producer on Showtime’s “Dexter.” His other series credits include “Six Feet Under” and “Rome.”

"

| Marvel’s | ‘Inhumans’ | Sets | ‘Iron | Fist’ | Boss | Showrunner | Marvel | Entertainment | turning | familiar | hand | guide | forthcoming | series | “The | Inhumans< | Scott | Buck< | already | executive | producer | showrunner | Netflix’s | upcoming | “Iron | Fist | will | serve | same | role | Inhumans | ”< | p> ABC | announced | last | month | that | given | greenlight | Inhumans” | under | unique | distribution | financing | deal | first | episodes | premiere | IMAX | theaters | Those | slated | later | with | subsequent | premiering | broadcast | network | p> “The | September | 2017 | then | fall | based | characters | created | Stan | Jack | Kirby | Comics | 1965 | tells | story | race | superpowered | beings | produced | Studios | ABC’s | third | following | “Agents | SHIELD” | “Agent | Carter | p> “Iron | fourth | Netflix | “Daredevil | “Jessica | Jones | “Luke | Cage | March | star | Finn | Danny | Rand | kung | master | able | summon | power | mythical | Iron | p> Prior | Buck | worked | Showtime’s | “Dexter | other | credits | include | “Six | Feet | Under” | “Rome | p> |

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Marvel’s ‘Inhumans’ Sets ‘Iron Fist’ Boss as Showrunner

Marvel Entertainment is turning to a familiar hand to guide its forthcoming ABC series “The Inhumans.” Scott Buck, who is already executive producer and showrunner for Netflix’s upcoming Marvel series “Iron Fist,” will serve in the same role on “The Inhumans.”

ABC announced last month that it had given a greenlight to “The Inhumans” under a unique distribution and financing deal that will see the first two episodes premiere in IMAX theaters. Those episodes are slated to later air on ABC, with subsequent episodes premiering on the broadcast network.

“The Inhumans” will premiere in theaters in September, 2017, then air on ABC that fall. The series, based on characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics in 1965, tells the story of a race of superpowered beings. It is produced by Marvel and ABC Studios, and will be ABC’s third Marvel series, following “Agents of SHIELD” and “Agent Carter.”

“Iron Fist,” the fourth Marvel series for Netflix following “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” and “Luke Cage,” will premiere on Netflix March 17, 2017. It will star Finn Jones as Danny Rand, a kung-fu master able to summon the power of the mythical Iron Fist.

Prior to “Iron Fist,” Buck worked as executive producer on Showtime’s “Dexter.” His other series credits include “Six Feet Under” and “Rome.”

"

| Marvel’s | ‘Inhumans’ | Sets | ‘Iron | Fist’ | Boss | Showrunner | Marvel | Entertainment | turning | familiar | hand | guide | forthcoming | series | “The | Inhumans< | Scott | Buck< | already | executive | producer | showrunner | Netflix’s | upcoming | “Iron | Fist | will | serve | same | role | Inhumans | ”< | p> ABC | announced | last | month | that | given | greenlight | Inhumans” | under | unique | distribution | financing | deal | first | episodes | premiere | IMAX | theaters | Those | slated | later | with | subsequent | premiering | broadcast | network | p> “The | September | 2017 | then | fall | based | characters | created | Stan | Jack | Kirby | Comics | 1965 | tells | story | race | superpowered | beings | produced | Studios | ABC’s | third | following | “Agents | SHIELD” | “Agent | Carter | p> “Iron | fourth | Netflix | “Daredevil | “Jessica | Jones | “Luke | Cage | March | star | Finn | Danny | Rand | kung | master | able | summon | power | mythical | Iron | p> Prior | Buck | worked | Showtime’s | “Dexter | other | credits | include | “Six | Feet | Under” | “Rome | p> |

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Marvel’s ‘Inhumans’ Sets ‘Iron Fist’ Boss as Showrunner

Marvel Entertainment is turning to a familiar hand to guide its forthcoming ABC series “The Inhumans.” Scott Buck, who is already executive producer and showrunner for Netflix’s upcoming Marvel series “Iron Fist,” will serve in the same role on “The Inhumans.”

ABC announced last month that it had given a greenlight to “The Inhumans” under a unique distribution and financing deal that will see the first two episodes premiere in IMAX theaters. Those episodes are slated to later air on ABC, with subsequent episodes premiering on the broadcast network.

“The Inhumans” will premiere in theaters in September, 2017, then air on ABC that fall. The series, based on characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics in 1965, tells the story of a race of superpowered beings. It is produced by Marvel and ABC Studios, and will be ABC’s third Marvel series, following “Agents of SHIELD” and “Agent Carter.”

“Iron Fist,” the fourth Marvel series for Netflix following “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” and “Luke Cage,” will premiere on Netflix March 17, 2017. It will star Finn Jones as Danny Rand, a kung-fu master able to summon the power of the mythical Iron Fist.

Prior to “Iron Fist,” Buck worked as executive producer on Showtime’s “Dexter.” His other series credits include “Six Feet Under” and “Rome.”

"

| Marvel’s | ‘Inhumans’ | Sets | ‘Iron | Fist’ | Boss | Showrunner | Marvel | Entertainment | turning | familiar | hand | guide | forthcoming | series | “The | Inhumans< | Scott | Buck< | already | executive | producer | showrunner | Netflix’s | upcoming | “Iron | Fist | will | serve | same | role | Inhumans | ”< | p> ABC | announced | last | month | that | given | greenlight | Inhumans” | under | unique | distribution | financing | deal | first | episodes | premiere | IMAX | theaters | Those | slated | later | with | subsequent | premiering | broadcast | network | p> “The | September | 2017 | then | fall | based | characters | created | Stan | Jack | Kirby | Comics | 1965 | tells | story | race | superpowered | beings | produced | Studios | ABC’s | third | following | “Agents | SHIELD” | “Agent | Carter | p> “Iron | fourth | Netflix | “Daredevil | “Jessica | Jones | “Luke | Cage | March | star | Finn | Danny | Rand | kung | master | able | summon | power | mythical | Iron | p> Prior | Buck | worked | Showtime’s | “Dexter | other | credits | include | “Six | Feet | Under” | “Rome | p> |

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Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Wants to Be Approachable Yet Complex

How the fighter is trying to appeal to newcomers and the hardcore through elegant design choices.

By Daniel Krupa

Back in 2011, I bought a copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, with the aspiration of mastering its systems. Unfortunately as someone who has no real fighting game experience and is inherently lazy, I found it a pretty intimidating experience. In fact, I can still see it on my shelf now as I write this, quietly judging me. So when Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite says it wants to be accessible, I appreciate the olive branch.

I also realise that, for some, a word like ‘accessibility’ has other strong connotations when applied to a genre like fighting games. To the hardcore it might imply a lack of depth, but as Bill Rosemann â€" Creative Director at Marvel Games â€" tells me, that’s necessarily true and it’s something Marvel has a lot of experience with.

“A very key thing to Marvel in everything we create is accessible,” says Rosemann. “Whether you start reading the comics, or you start watching a TV show, or you’re seeing a film â€" we always say this may be their first comic, TV show, or film. It may be Doctor Strange or it may be Captain America: Civil War.

"So we start all of our stories very accessible, but we reward long term fans â€" so the more you read, the more you watch, you begin to make all of these connections. You watch a film, and you see Nick Fury approach another one of these characters and make these connections. The more you read, the more you watch, the more you see that it is very complex and interesting, and we reward you with your time. The game is the same way: very accessible, the more you play, the more you experiment... we’re going to reward all that time you’re putting into it.”

What we’re trying to do is make the game more elegant and simplified but still as complex and hardcore as it’s ever been.

Marvel has the mindset that any issue could be a person’s first, and that approach is informing Infinite. But as with previous games, it can still lead to a feeling, especially among die-hard fans, that their game is being taken away or diluted. I remember a similar conversation hovering around Dark Souls 2, yet that game turned out to be just as demanding as its predecessor. It does, however, make some of its systems easier to understand, which is no bad thing. Dark Souls doesn’t suffer noobs gladly.

“What we’re trying to do is make the game more elegant and simplified but still as complex and hardcore as it’s ever been,” says Mike Jones, Executive Producer at Marvel Games. “But we do want it to be approachable.” Jones stressed this was a new phase in the series â€" hence no ‘4’ in the title â€" and part of that goal is to attract a wider audience but not at the expense of alienating long-time fans.

“Say if you just love these characters and you want to hear a great story and see some great actions â€" it’s completely approachable in terms of how the systems work and in terms of how the controls work, but that depth is there if you want to find.”

Infinity Stones: Elegant Complexity

Even though the team wouldn’t be drawn into specifics, Peter Rosas - aka Combofiend - a former pro-player and an associate producer on the project teased where that complexity is to be found.

“There’s a very heavy technical aspect required to play the old ones,” says Rosas. “MvC2 is very unforgiving if you’re not very technical. But with this one [...] because it’s 2 vs. 2. It’s instantly that much more accessible. What you have is players who can just jump in, pick two of their favourite heroes; they don’t have to worry about assists. They’re not bogged down with all these decisions. Character, character, and your stone.”

>

Ryu activates the Power Stone.

The Infinity Stones â€" a recurring plot device in the Marvel Universe and soon to be a huge element in the MCU â€" unlock Infinite’s complexity and depth.

“We understand that three characters has been a staple for the last 16 years or so,” says Rosas. “To that effect we looking at the stones, and we were looking at a third character, and when you think about how teams were in the older games: what you had were two characters and then a third character who was a function, whether it be some type of pick-up or just for their assist â€" they weren’t picked because they were necessarily liked. They were picked for their functionality.

“So then taking that into account we thought what if we used the stones as functionality. What if we applied the stones to the team and then you modify the team entirely. So now you have the stone acting as a third character but also more than as the third character. The stone modifies the team in a way that really lets a player to create their own identity.

“Say I play a team of Ryu and Captain Marvel, and he plays the same, and he plays the same. But I play the time stone, and he plays with the power stone, and he plays with the mind stone. Suddenly, our tactics are very different. Our strategies are very different, and now we’re having a discussion which team is the best? What is the best way to customise the team? What’s the best strategy? It begins this discussion now. There’s much more customisation. There’s much more depth.”

While the specifics weren’t forthcoming, each stones seemingly applies a team-wide buff, which can be used to either compensate for a fighter’s weakness, amplify one of their strengths, or add an element they lack entirely.

“So you see with Ryu [in the trailer] he uses the power stone to knock Captain Marvel against the wall,” explains Rosas. “So suddenly characters who didn’t have that ability have a way to extend combos or knock the opponent back. There are multiple uses for them. In addition to that, there’s a final effect we’re looking into.”

The Infinity Stones unlock thousands of different permutations to play around with. Or as Rosas describes it: it’s “for guys who want to sit in the lab and discover things through endless possibilities.”

>

Captain Marvel uses the Time Stone.

In the Marvel Universe, the Infinity Stones are among the most powerful objects, and in a neat move Infinite is applying that story logic to the fighting genre.

“They allow you to break the rules of the universe,” says Jones. “So thinking about it through a fighting game lens: what rules of fighting games would the Infinity stones allow you to break? So we’re looking at attack, mobility, vitality, space control â€" all those things where we’re adding tool to a character’s toolset that they might not have otherwise.”

“So with Captain Marvel [in the trailer],” says Rosas. “You saw she activated the time stone. All her attacks were extremely fast. She broke the law of time.”

And Jones expects this Infinity Stone system to drive the game’s meta in the long-run:

“You look at the history of fighting games [...] people have their favourites, but ultimately what happens is only five or six [characters] who have the tools surface to the top and are worth playing if you want to be competitive. What the [Infinity stones] allow you to augment the entire roster, and make up for weaknesses or double-down on strengths to create strategies and, hopefully, the metagame discussion we end up hearing is Ryu with the mind stone is OP, or Captain with the time zone is the best thing you could possibly do, but if you do X and use this set-up it’s way better to use the reality stone... or whatever it is. That’s sort of the lab experimentation, hardcore fighting game that we hope emerge.”

Read on for how Infinite is taking cues from Civil War and who we can expect to appear in the character roster.

Continues

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| Marvel | Capcom: | Infinite | Wants | Approachable | Complex | How | fighter | trying | appeal | newcomers | hardcore | through | elegant | design | choices | div> By | Daniel | Krupa< | span>< | span> Back | 2011 | bought | copy | Capcom | with | aspiration | mastering | systems | Unfortunately | someone | real | fighting | game | experience | inherently | lazy | found | pretty | intimidating | fact | still | shelf | write | this | quietly | judging | when | says | wants | accessible | appreciate | olive | branch | p> I | also | realise | that | some | word | like | ‘accessibility’ | other | strong | connotations | applied | genre | games | might | imply | lack | depth | Bill | Rosemann | Creative | Director | Games | tells | that’s | necessarily | true | it’s | something | p> “A | very | thing | everything | create | “Whether | start | reading | comics | watching | show | you’re | seeing | film | always | their | first | comic | Doctor | Strange | Captain | America: | Civil | p> So | stories | reward | long | term | fans | more | read | watch | begin | make | these | connections | Nick | Fury | approach | another | characters | complex | interesting | your | time | same | way: | play | experiment | we’re | going | putting | into | ”< | p> What | simplified | ever | been | p> < | div> | mindset | issue | could | person’s | informing | previous | lead | feeling | especially | among | hard | being | taken | away | diluted | remember | similar | conversation | hovering | around | Dark | Souls | turned | just | demanding | predecessor | does | however | easier | understand | which | doesn’t | suffer | noobs | gladly | p> “What | Mike | Jones | Executive | Producer | “But | want | approachable | stressed | phase | series | hence | ‘4’ | title | part | goal | attract | wider | audience | expense | alienating | p> “Say | love | hear | great | story | actions | completely | terms | work | controls | there | find | p> Infinity | Stones: | Elegant | Complexity< | div> Even | though | team | wouldn’t | drawn | specifics | Peter | Rosas | Combofiend | former | player | associate | producer | project | teased | where | complexity | p> “There’s | heavy | technical | aspect | required | ones | “MvC2 | unforgiving | because | It’s | instantly | much | What | have | players | jump | pick | favourite | heroes; | they | don’t | worry | about | assists | They’re | bogged | down | decisions | Character | character | stone | p> < | div> Ryu | activates | Power | Stone | p> The | Infinity | Stones | recurring | plot | device | Universe | soon | huge | element | unlock | Infinite’s | p> “We | three | staple | last | years | “To | effect | looking | stones | were | third | think | teams | older | games: | what | then | function | whether | type | assist | weren’t | picked | liked | They | functionality | p> “So | taking | account | thought | used | modify | entirely | acting | than | modifies | really | lets | identity | plays | power | mind | Suddenly | tactics | different | strategies | having | discussion | best | customise | What’s | strategy | begins | There’s | customisation | p> While | forthcoming | each | seemingly | applies | wide | buff | either | compensate | fighter’s | weakness | amplify | strengths | p> “So | trailer] | uses | knock | against | wall | explains | “So | suddenly | didn’t | ability | extend | combos | opponent | back | There | multiple | them | addition | there’s | final | p> The | thousands | permutations | describes | “for | guys | discover | things | endless | possibilities | div> Captain | Time | p> In | most | powerful | objects | neat | move | applying | logic | p> “They | allow | break | rules | universe | thinking | lens: | would | attack | mobility | vitality | space | control | those | adding | tool | character’s | toolset | otherwise | “You | activated | attacks | extremely | fast | broke | p> And | expects | system | drive | game’s | meta | run:< | p> “You | look | history | people | favourites | ultimately | happens | only | five | [characters] | tools | surface | worth | playing | competitive | [Infinity | stones] | augment | entire | roster | weaknesses | double | hopefully | metagame | hearing | zone | possibly | better | reality | whatever | That’s | sort | experimentation | hope | emerge | p> Read | cues | from | expect | appear | em>< | strong>< | p> Continues< | p> |

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‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Midseason Finale Recap: Ashes to Ashes

Henry Simmons as Alphonso “Mack” MacKenzie and Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Yo-Yo Rodriguez. Jennifer Clasen/ABC

Even though this is the second episode after a month-long break, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is having a midseason finale because momentum isn’t something they care about apparently. Last week was about getting the agents back from the ghost dimension so they can take on Eli Morrow and this week we finally get to the climax they have been building to.

So what’s Eli doing? Well, he’s making a big, weird, glowing chamber but turns out his hired help hasn’t actually seen any money and the cops and S.H.I.E.L.D. are outside and they are starting to have some doubts in leadership. Eli quickly puts those fears to rest by paying the men by creating diamonds inside the lungs of one of the complaining members and tells the other men to cut him open if they want more. Pretty dope power move.

News crews are outside of the building where Eli is executing his master plan and Director Mace is trying his best to keep the situation under control. Coulson suggests using Daisy, Yo-Yo and Robbie to stop Eli but Mace is less than enthusiastic about the idea of using a still-wanted terrorist and a demon serial killer. Coulson reminds Mace that Robbie is unstoppable and is on their side and that they need all the help that they can get. No matter how many episodes we go through, people just can’t remember that Robbie is the only one that has managed to stop any of the Darkhold-related stuff. Coulson also believes that Aida can be of some assistance prompting him to reveal that she is an android. Despite Mace’s shock that people haven’t seemed to learn anything since Ultron (as well as revealing a slight attraction to her), Mace agrees to let Aida join the mission as long as she’s dismantled after.

With the go ahead from the director, Daisy, Yo-Yo, and Robbie are ready to storm the building. Yo-Yo runs in to do some reconnaissance only to trigger an explosion and gets hit from the blast. It turns out Eli created Caesium (which is apparently the most active metal on Earth according to Google) and Fitz realizes he’s testing the limits of his powers. Fortunately fire doesn’t scare Robbie at all and he heads on into the building. He takes out a few goons and finds the chamber Eli has created. It’s a quantum battery, similar to the one that was in the lab that first gave Eli his powers but this is on a bigger scale. Fitz has seen the set up before and realizes it’s called the Demon Core (because of course it is) and that it’s basically a fail-safe. If something messes with it, it activates the plutonium within (which Eli made from scratch) and everything goes boom. But before Robbie can do anything about it, he confronts his uncle and blames him for everything only to get stabbed by some carbon spikes preventing him from transforming. He is also facing radiation from the quantum energy in the chamber and Eli realizes the prison rumors of Ghost Rider were true and realizes it’s been his nephew this whole time.

Elizabeth Henstridge as Jenna Simmons and Iain de Caestecker as Leo Fitz. Jennifer Clasen/ABC

The agents still don’t have much of a plan. Yo-Yo is patched up from the blast and Mace wants her back in the fight as soon as possible only to get in an argument with a very heated Mack. Yo-To and Mack are still having their little lovers quarrel. Daisy has been feeling an increasing amount of seismic activity that Fitz is looking into and the lack of trust towards Mace finally reaches a tipping point as both Coulson and Daisy confront Mace about his dealings with Senator Nadeer. Turns out it’s all pretty simple, he gave Nadder Jemma to examine the Inhuman just so Nadeer wouldn’t release the photos of Daisy and Robbie during the prison incident â€" Nothing too sinister. Mace does however show a glimpse of uncertainty, which is something we don’t see often from his confident demeanor. He doesn’t believe they are a team, but Coulson is determined to prove just how great of a team they can be.

Back in the building, Eli is creating water now; elemental compounds that he says are the first step to being able to create life. Coulson appears at gunpoint with some of the thugs and delivers a beautiful line that Eli should “get a girlfriend first.” He might be held prisoner but he did bring a chain (!) so fingers crossed Ghost Rider will be able to use it. Underneath them however, the rest of the agents are putting their plan into action. Now it was tough for me to keep up with this logic here. I had to rewind five times just to see if I understood the plan. See, Fitz believes Eli isn’t creating matter from nothing. According to the law of conservation of energy, energy can neither be created nor destroyed. And even though Eli is power hungry, he doesn’t realize the matter is coming from the quantum energy from the other planes of existence. As he steals more energy, the tremors get worse. To stop Eli, Aida is going to rebuild the gateway to try and get rid of the potentially explosive quantum chamber. The process requires Daisy to control the building tremors and to keep Eli and his goons from killing all of them. There are some small moments where Aida is watching the agents in almost a studious way and I feel like it’s important to point it out and remember for later.

Eli reveals the Darkhold told him he can create life after death and Coulson realizes the chamber isn’t a failsafe but an actual bomb Eli intends to use. Acting fast, the agents move in with May and Mack taking out some of Eli’s gang and Yo-Yo doing a super cool slow motion run through the room. Even Mace is suited up in an armor suit of sorts and is tossing people around. Downstairs the agents are dealing with their own firefight as a gang member shoots Aida. Coulson tosses the chain to Robbie who turns into Ghost Rider and tries to pull himself away from the spikes sticking through him but instead lets go of the chain and chooses to burn up Eli instead. And in that moment the fail-safe goes off and the explosion happens only for the chamber to disappear thanks to the gateway.

Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May. Jennifer Clasen/ABC

Although Aida is bleeding out on the floor, she reveals she was programmed to react to pain just like a human would to better help her fit in as an actual target on missions. She’ll be fine, but that doesn’t mean she enjoys the process. Daisy is struggling after absorbing all the quakes and has to step outside quickly. She runs out and blasts herself into the sky and ends up landing right in the center of all of the news teams who quickly identify her as Quake. Mace steps in right on time to say she was the one that saved everyone and even calls her Agent Johnson.

Later, she mentions to Coulson how Robbie’s car should go to Gabe but Coulson doesn’t believe she should lose hope yet. He even mentions that the last Ghost Rider came back which could be a reference to the Johnny Blaze version we possibly saw in the flashback episode. It also could mean S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about Ghost Rider way before Robbie. All he says is it’s a long story, which means we might never get an answer.

Daisy is asked if she wants to be an agent again and she says there are definitely parts she misses and is also happy the new face of S.H.I.E.L.D. is an Inhuman. Turns out, Coulson actually wanted her to be the new face but Daisy only says, “maybe in the comic book version.” Beautiful. Also Mack and Yo-Yo kiss, so, yay. They can stop fighting, Daisy can stop whining, and everything should be good right? WRONG! Mace approves Radcliffe to work on the LMD program at S.H.I.E.L.D. and that means bringing his research over here. Agent Nathanson is the lucky guy that gets to go do that. And you don’t have to remember that name because as he is packing all of Radcliffe’s things up, he stumbles upon something shocking in a closet. So shocking that Aida shows up and snaps his neck after seeing it! What is it? Turns out it’s an unconscious May covered in blood. Wait? But if May is there, who is having a drink with Coulson at the end of the episode?! Is this May a robot? Is that why Aida is so keen on watching people? Is she learning from them so she can make copies of the agents? If you can’t wait for 2018 for the second season of Westworld, I would suggest coming back to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in January for all of your robotic nightmares. Until 2017, True Believers!

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