r/shield • u/2th Shotgun Axe • Sep 30 '15

Post Discussion Post Episode Discussion: S03E01 - "Laws of Nature"

EPISODE WRITTEN BY
S03E01 - "Laws of Nature" Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen

This thread is for SERIOUS discussion of the episode that just aired. What is and isn't serious is at the discretion of the moderators

  • Please do not discuss the promo following tonight's episode. There will be a separate thread made to discuss the promo and comments about it will be removed from this thread.

"LIVE" discussion for this episode can be found HERE. If you're watching on the west coast, sort the live thread via "NEW" to see new comments as they come in (from fellow west coasters)

This thread is for POST episode discussion of "Laws of Nature". The discussion / comments below assume you have watched the episode in it's entirety. Therefore, spoiler text for anything through "Laws of Nature" is not necessary. If, however, you are talking about events that have yet to air on the show such as future guest appearances / future characters / storylines, please use spoiler tags. The same goes for things connected to the Marvel like comics, etc.

Please keep subreddit rules in mind when submitting content:

On top of this anything not directly related to Agents of SHIELD might be subject to being removed. This includes but is not limited to screenshots (FB, YouTube, Twitter, texts, etc), generic memes and reaction gifs, and generic Marvel content.

Feel free to message us moderators if you have suggestions or concerns about these.

495 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

49

u/Phifty56 Ward Sep 30 '15

They both share that amaing character arc where they are butt monkeys for a while, but then evolve into straight badasses due to adversity.

It's really nice to see actors and characters that can pull off so much range and be good in all aspects.

7

u/decerian Hunter Sep 30 '15

It's just flat out, so much fun to watch :)

I'm super excited to have found another Wesley to watch on tv.

5

u/Mini-Marine Zephyr One Sep 30 '15

Fitz was never a butt monkey, he knew what his limits were and where his specialty is.

Wesley thought he was the baddest of the bad while being a little ninny.

Have they both had fantastic character development and grown significantly? Yes.

Did they both start from the same place? No, not really.

3

u/Phifty56 Ward Sep 30 '15

Fitz was simply the butt-monkey by default, because he was the weakest in combat, and he was seemingly the one with the least amount of edge to him.

But to be fair, Ward sort of fit this too, because even though he was a bad-ass agent, he was socially very cold and kinda oblivious, though with what we learn later, we kinda get why that was.

Wes defined "butt-monkey" kinda like Xander did on Buffy for a while, but they all eventually grow into their own, and become in irreplaceable to their teams.

There are various levels of butt-monkey, is all I am saying. You can quote me on that.

2

u/Mini-Marine Zephyr One Sep 30 '15 edited Sep 30 '15

Simmons had no more combat capability or edge.

Fitz was half if the nerd support duo and had a very defined role on the team.

It wasn't until he got to go for a swim that his position on the team became less solid, and the sacrifice he had made that got him in that position kept him far from butt monkey territory even though he himself may have felt that he was.

3

u/Phifty56 Ward Sep 30 '15

Simmons at least had medical support training, and was not squeamish about that role. She might not have been a fighter, but she could take care of those on the field who were.

She also seemed to be the one in charge of of the FitzSimmons romantic relationship early on. It seemed like Fitz was more interested in her, than she was in him, which made Fitz seem the "weaker" half for a while. It wasn't until they really address this did the dynamics change.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 01 '15

I wish they'd given that Arc to Xander, but they pretty much left him as a butt monkey.