Agents of Shield and the 5 Stages of Grief

THIS POST CONTAINS ALL OF THE SPOILERS! If you have not seen ALL of season 1 of Agents of Shield, just stop reading now, please!

This is going to be the first in a series with the working title: I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED (a long time ago)! Still tweaking, but the point is that many television and movie revelations have rocked the world – and I’ve ignored quite a few of them. So as I go back and do experience the twists and turns, I want to talk about it! And I deserve that. Just like all of the other late-comers. Check out my reactions to the end of season one.

As I mentioned in our Anomaly Podcast Episode for Age of Ultron, I began to watch AoS to get fully immersed in the Marvel Universe (Congrats Disney, you win). Upon the revelation that Agent Ward was actually a HYDRA Agent I had the following emotional reactions.

1. DENIAL: No! No. This can’t be. It is a trick. It’s a mistake. Part of a bigger plan. Ward is awesome. He wouldn’t do this. Maybe it is some kind of dream sequence or worst case scenario. Maybe we will snap to the real world soon. But what are they doing at the Fridge????

2. ANGER: Oh no! It’s true. Ward is not only evil, he’s a liar, a psychopath, a murderer, and a liar. Did I say liar? Betrayer! I wish I were Agent May. Or I wish I had her skills, so I could go through the TV and kill him myself, not just kill, but maim and kill. Did I say kill? I’m so mad, I could spit. And you know what I’m really mad about? It seems like he isn’t even committed to the HYDRA cause. Is that worse somehow? It’s worse… RAAAGGEEE!

3. BARGAINING: Okay, he didn’t actually kill them. Maybe he’s like a double agent. You know, just use your knowledge of HYDRA to help the team. Sometimes people do the wrong thing for the right reason. You can turn this around Ward. You, wait, NOO, not Patton Oswalt…

4. DEPRESSION: I’m, just… it can’t be happening. There is no turning back, no more Patton Oswalt, no more Grant Ward – Shield Hero! All of it is gone, it can’t be undone. Guess you can’t trust anyone anymore. My whole life is a lie. I’m so sad, I can’t watch anymore… I wish Ward would have died a hero rather than be this… I’m so sad!!! If I was a real person who watched this last year I would have been inconsolable.

SEASON TWO SPOILERS NOW! The first few episodes.

5. ACCEPTANCE: Well, now that this has played out, I still hate Ward as the worst kind of evil. But he makes a good match for our heroes. And since you never know who he likes or works for, (does he really love Skye?) you really don’t know what to expect. It’s good that we have a visceral reaction to the things he does. One day, somehow, he will get his payback. And that will be worth it!

If you like this article, you may also enjoy these episodes of the show: Buffy and Whedon commentary Firefly, or Buffy. You might also like my analysis of Doyle from Angel. And Whedon comes up in our discussion about Women in Sci Fi and Fantasy.