Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 Episode 19 "The Only Light In The Darkness"

[seahammer]

^ I think Koenig's behavior is a good indicator of how Hydra infiltrated SHIELD so thoroughly in the first place. hesitation and benefit-of-the-doubt don't work well in an intelligence/espionage organization. That sort of looking the other way or thinking "nah, it can't be" was probably endemic in the organization.

 

[Nathan]

^ I think Koenig's behavior is a good indicator of how Hydra infiltrated SHIELD so thoroughly in the first place. hesitation and benefit-of-the-doubt don't work well in an intelligence/espionage organization. That sort of looking the other way or thinking "nah, it can't be" was probably endemic in the organization.

Which is ****ing ridiculous that a spy agency acts like that.

 

[Dark Raven]

^ I think Koenig's behavior is a good indicator of how Hydra infiltrated SHIELD so thoroughly in the first place. hesitation and benefit-of-the-doubt don't work well in an intelligence/espionage organization. That sort of looking the other way or thinking "nah, it can't be" was probably endemic in the organization.

It all seems pattontly obvious when you think about it.

 

[Monster_Robot]

Which is ****ing ridiculous that a spy agency acts like that.

Or it's just a tv show based on a fictitious agency in a fictitious world where people fly around in spandex shooting fireballs from their eyes...

Sooooooooo yea

 

[Ant-manic]

or Fury picked individuals like that because they are more loyal. Sitwell wouldn't have hesitated to shoot someone.

 

[Ant-manic]

The problem with Ward's interrogation was just how quickly Koenig changes his mind. He's clearly suspicious, and Ward's readings are fluctuating. But because Ward answers a couple of insignificant questions "truthfully," Koenig instantly decides that he's trustworthy. I kind of think that he'd at least consider the possibility that Ward is mixing lies with the truth, like spies are prone to do.

just to provide context, Koenig only gave them the test because they were thinking about leaving the base. Coulson was vetted by Fury. and Coulson brought his team with him. what reason would Koenig have to distrust Coulson's judgment? Koenig was doing everything by the book. and Coulson argued with him every step of the way. and it was a member of Coulson's team that gave Ward the coordinates of that secret base. he didn't trust Ward. that's why he pulled the gun. but Ward answered honestly about his motivation for being there. at best, Koenig could have asked him to elaborate on the answer. but why? Coulson, who had passed the test, trusted Ward. Skye, who had passed the test, invited Ward. and they were subjected to a lie detector because they were leaving the base.

 

[Mike Murdock]

The problem with Ward's interrogation was just how quickly Koenig changes his mind. He's clearly suspicious, and Ward's readings are fluctuating. But because Ward answers a couple of insignificant questions "truthfully," Koenig instantly decides that he's trustworthy. I kind of think that he'd at least consider the possibility that Ward is mixing lies with the truth, like spies are prone to do.

To be fair, the only question he answered falsely was "why are you here." He then answered it truthfully. "Are you HYDRA" should have been a question everyone was asked, but it weirdly wasn't (it was only asked to Ward after he was being deceptive and not asked after he told the truth). Stupidity, sure, can't argue with that.

Exactly. And after making such a big deal out of it, after seeing it in action, it looks like something Black Widow would be able to figure out.

Dude. Why do you keep bringing that up? Who's to say she wouldn't?

 

[Loki882]

It has nothing to do with trusting or not trusting Coulson. Ward's reading were fluctuating and Koenig made his judgment based off of answers to softball questions. It's simply not believable that those answers would get Koenig to do a complete 180 after being so suspicious. And why is Coulson's judgment so trustworthy? Coulson trusted and believed in Garrett, and he turned out to be a traitor. Coulson trusted and believed in SHIELD, and it turned out to be practically a branch of HYDRA. Coulson trusted Sitwell, and he turned out to be a traitor. Coulson trusted May, and she turned out to be lying to him/manipulating him as well. Yeah, Coulson's not exactly been the world's greatest judge of character in this show.

 

[AquamanOS]

"Are you HYDRA" should have been a question everyone was asked, but it weirdly wasn't (it was only asked to Ward after he was being deceptive and not asked after he told the truth).

Who's to say it wasn't? Everyone else would have said "no" and passed. We only catch glimpses of everyone elses tests, presumably because they all pass perfectly with no hitches. We only see Ward's in entirety because we know he's lying and the suspense is if Koenig figures him out or not.

 

[Nathan]

Would actually have been nice to show though that he ends everyone's test with "Are you Hydra." And everyone passes with flying colors. Then we get to Ward, and he's the first one where the machine picks up negative readings.

 

[TheVileOne]

^ I think Koenig's behavior is a good indicator of how Hydra infiltrated SHIELD so thoroughly in the first place. hesitation and benefit-of-the-doubt don't work well in an intelligence/espionage organization. That sort of looking the other way or thinking "nah, it can't be" was probably endemic in the organization.

Yup. It's no surprise all this stuff happened under Fury's watch and then he puts a guy like Koenig in charge of a hidden base.

 

[Mike Murdock]

Who's to say it wasn't? Everyone else would have said "no" and passed. We only catch glimpses of everyone elses tests, presumably because they all pass perfectly with no hitches. We only see Ward's in entirety because we know he's lying and the suspense is if Koenig figures him out or not.

Well, the context of the question suggests it wasn't a scripted question, but a reaction to the previous answer. I don't think it was asked to everyone else. We'll never know for sure, though. How many questions did they show that were unique to a member, though? I seem to recall the same questions each time.

 

[solstica]

Keep in mind the following:

1) Ward had inconsistent readings, due to pain from his ribs. When Ward was notified of this, he jammed what looked to be a straightened paper clip into the skin under his nail. To further throw off the machine.

2)Koenig had suspicion, but Ward made his BS answer about Skye work. Ward had iffy answers twice and was very vague. He's HIDING something. Then he "admits" that it's all for Skye. It makes him look less like Hydra and more like a professional trying to hide a crush.

 

[TheVileOne]

And my point is, someone as savvy as Black Widow would be able to figure that out and could beat the test that way if she had to.

 

[hoy-small-fry]

And my point is, someone as savvy as Black Widow would be able to figure that out and could beat the test that way if she had to.

But remember, love is for children and babies, so she wouldn't have even thought of that

 

[Mike Murdock]

And my point is, someone as savvy as Black Widow would be able to figure that out and could beat the test that way if she had to.

OK, let's say she can. Literally nothing in the episode said she couldn't.

 

[Nathan]

Yeah, Koenig simply said that Fury never told him if she beat it.

 

[Mike Murdock]

I mean there are legitimate reasons to criticize that scene. Relying on stupidity is generally a writer crutch (although people are, in fact, stupid sometimes) and there might have been a better way to get out of that scene (if they removed the "are you HYDRA" question, it might have worked better because it didn't leave an obvious unanswered question, but the pacing would have been off). But I don't think whether or not Romanoff could have beat it was at all relevant.

However, in spite of criticisms of the scene, I thought that scene had a lot of positives. It gave good insight into each character. It showed each their reasons for being there. And it had a Doctor Who reference. I liked the mixed feelings I had with Ward almost getting caught (my instinct was "oh no, he's going to get caught," while my rational side said "wait a second, I want him to get caught, don't I?"). Given all this, the scene was a good edition to the episode and it needed some solution that didn't reveal the plot too early.

 

[Octavias]

Its still possible that Koenig used a LMD because he had suspicions of Ward, or heck maybe they all had questionable reactions at some point and Koenig wasn't tipping his hand... we only saw a brief amount of each test... for all we know he pulled his gun on each and every one of them... it seriously could have been part of the test.. that whole base could well have been a test to see who is loyal... Im not even convinced Hand is dead... its ok to suspect misdirection because that's what the whole Org was about anyhow

 

[JC00]

I'm saying he was a LMD the whole time.

 

[The Clairvoyant]

Everything that was going on with Skye, Ward and Koenig was great, but I found myself not carring that much about Coulson's side of the story in this one. Blackout was not much of a villain, sad to say.

 

[hoy-small-fry]

I really hope we don't get LMDs in the MCU. As many others have said many times, it introduces a whole "lol got ya, it was an LMD" element to every death

 

[Joeyjojo72]

Next level deviousness will be required for the remnants of SHIELD to eradicate the HYDRA infestation. Im completely okay with all of the above, including Ward as a triple agent.

 

[Marvel]

Next level deviousness will be required for the remnants of SHIELD to eradicate the HYDRA infestation. Im completely okay with all of the above, including Ward as a triple agent.

Ward putting bullets in the back of the heads of those agents on the elevator means there's no way he's anything but bad.


I'm officially torn on the fate of Ward and Garrett because I'd love to see both next season. Garrett's attitude and one liners have been a show highlight. Yet, I have a feeling he's going down and Ward will be left on the loose.

Garrett has been many steps ahead of Coulson. Now, it's going to be amazing if Skye is the one who is going to turn that around by out-maneuvering Ward. That little smile on her face when he asked her where to go spoke volumes.

 

[Shikamaru]

I heard a few people bring up a theory regarding Ward. Since they've been comparing him to the Black Widow a lot, the theory is that Ward will try to atone for his crimes similarly to how Natasha tried to atone for the "red on her ledger" in past films. I brought up how Ward is beyond redemption at this point due to the body count, but they said you could have made the same point regarding BW, depending on what she did. Just playing devil's advocate. I don't know if I can fully agree with that yet.