Guest Post!!~ 5 Questions We Want Answered In Season 2 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Skye Ravy is a writer, editor, artist, photographer, musician, and overall renaissance woman. She is a regular contributor to kernelcritic.com, where she gets to fan-girl all day about awesome shows, like Game of Thrones and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Follow her on twitter at @ravyskye.

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The much anticipated season 2 of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debuts this fall, and we fans are beyond excited! Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is written and produced by Joss Whedon (Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The show was met initially with criticism, perhaps due to sky-high expectations from Marvel die-hards.

I personally enjoy Whedon’s sort of dorky, campy humor. Whedon was the producer of the cult classic (and one of my favorite shows) “Firefly” which was tragically canceled after only one season. Firefly fans are probably better equipped to enjoy the pace and tone of AoS than strict devotees to The Avengers franchise.

Despite initial criticism, AoS has pushed on, and delivered an excellent end to Season One. They won over many of their prior naysayers, and shocked loyal viewers with new plots of intrigue, danger, mystery and unexpected betrayal. They left fans with a lot of questions. Here are my top 5:

1) What direction will Coulson take the new organization?

At the Comic Con panel, Clark Gregg, when asked how he reacted to learning that he would be the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (both as an actor and as Coulson) answered that “inside my head there was a very loud ‘SQUEEEE’!” Well you are not the only one excited Gregg.

With the collapse of the old S.H.I.E.L.D. will come a whole new modus operandi for the team. They will start season 2 on the run, with governments not recognizing their new organization. What will that mean for their access to weapons, medicine, and technology? What is the first direction that Coulson will take?

I think that we can expect a bit more deviousness from the team now that they are not so closely bound to the government. They will be able to take justice into their own hands a little bit more, fighting for the greater good rather than following orders.

Season two will have Coulson working with some agents that “will not be his first choice” according to Whedon. I’m wondering if that includes Isabel Hartly, a new shield agent that will be played by Lucy Lawless (Xena, Warrior Princess), or Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki)?

2) What is Skye’s true identity?

In season one, we learned about Skye’s status as an o-8-4, an object of unknown origin. The most widely circulated theory is that Skye is an alien.

Speculation has been suggesting a totally new plot emerging within the Marvel universe: an Alien war. We got a glimpse of the Kree and Skrull aliens in Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as in the latest Avengers movie. The Kree and the Skrull are both ancient alien civilizations that are at war with another. In the comics, the Skrull want to destroy humanity as well.

If Skye were a Kree alien, it would explain her normal, human appearance. Kree aliens can take different forms, and change their appearance through intense concentration. It takes the Kree a huge amount of concentration to shape shift, which would explain why Skye hasn’t been accidentally switching forms throughout her life. Other theories are that she is a Kree alien, or a baby Ice Giant like Loki. Hopefully we will find out in Season 2!

3) Is Fitz going to be OK?

Poor fitz.

He sacrificed himself to save Simmons by blowing out the glass when they were trapped at the bottom of the ocean, and as a result in now in a coma.

I’m really hoping that the producers aren’t planning on killing him off, or even keeping him in a coma, for that matter. Fitz-Simmons, as they are known, are pure television gold in my opinion. I loved to hear their genius banter, and love that they have been such a strong team since their time at The Academy.

The scene where Fitz runs through the glass door with the cells that Simmons needed for her vaccine (it’s really more of an antiserum), infecting himself along with her so that they could find the cure together, brought tears to my eyes. This scene is where the show really won me over. The authenticity of their relationship is spectacularly portrayed.

There are many theories circulating about what will happen to Fitz. I read one theory that Simmons would begin to date Trip while Fitz is in the coma. I really hope this doesn’t happen, she clearly loves, and has always loved, Fitz. (You don’t make extra special sandwiches for someone you don’t love.)

In my version, Fitz wakes up immediately and everything is hunky-dory again. But alas, Whedon is a cruel mistress. He may keep him in a coma, he may kill him off just like he killed Wash in Serenity, just to make us all cry.

(Update) Fitz is shown in the new trailer released for Season two, much to my relief. Did they use GH325 to save his life too?

4) Is Ward really a traitor?

Oh, Ward. He was everyone’s favorite guy in the first part of season one, and then it turned out that he was working for the enemy the whole time. Ward was working with Garrett, who turned out to be the clairvoyant, and they are all working for Hydra.

Perhaps Brett Dalton’s acting was just so convincing that we fans just can’t believe that he was working for Hydra all along. This may be because the producers kept him in the dark until the time came to prepare for the pivotal episode. He said that he, “took as long as I possibly could go into that office” when the producers called him in to break the news. Whedon is infamous for killing off main characters, and throwing in big plot twists where we least expect them.

I don’t think that I’m alone in hoping that Ward turns out to be a double-double agent. His emotional ties to the team are strong, (he had been sleeping with May and flirting with Skye). It’s hard for me to believe that he would stab people in the back that he cared about. Then again, he did almost kill Fitz and Simmons.

The fan base did seem to agree though that Ward is pretty sexy as a bad guy, and Dalton seemed excited at the panel to be given the chance to develop a totally different, dark side of his character. I think he’s also pleased that Whedon isn’t killing him off (yet). I’m still going to keep my fingers crossed that he has a change of heart.

5) What is in GH325?

The Serum GH325 is derived from the bodily fluids of an Alien life form referred to as GH. It rapidly heals cellular damage that would otherwise be fatal, and in Agent Coulson’s case, it can even bring people back from the dead. They used the drug on Skye as well, who got shot in the stomach and almost died.

Coulson was having a serious moral battle with the use of the drug, considering it’s alien origins and the unknown side effects. Coulson asked Simmons to monitor the drug’s effect on Skye when she administered it. Simmons, who was interested in how the drug could benefit humanity, was unable to re-create it using samples of Skye’s blood. When Simmons asks Coulson if she can send in Skye’s blood samples for further study, Coulson forbade her.

Later on, Raina was able to re-create the drug using the vials that Garrett had recovered from The Guest House, and she administered it to Garrett. Garrett seems to go insane after taking the drug, drawing a complex alien formula for something (what is it!?) that Coulson later finishes. Is the alien drug responsible for their knowledge of this (also seemingly alien) formula?

It’s clear that the drug is of Alien origin, and I would think that an alien drug being administered to humans would kill them, or drive them insane. Obviously Coulson and Skye are “different”. How different? We will have to wait until season 2 to find out!

Check out the teaser trailer for Season 2:

Tags: Agent Ward, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Brett Dalton, Clark Gregg, Comics, Coulson, Fitz-Simmons, Geekery, Guest Post, Hail Hydra, Joss Whedon, Marvel, Nerdtastic Ramblings, Television