# Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D S01E07: The Hub (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787 "2013-11-13T04:03:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/21 "2013-11-13T18:35:48Z")
I was really scared there in the final May/Coulson scene that it would be the May-is-Skye’s-mom plot that someone feared last week. Glad to see that it wasn’t, but could anyone make out what was in the file that was so significant? Looked like a headshot of an unknown woman (the agent who dropped Skye off presumably, maybe her mom) and the other pic was … a body? maybe bleeding from the head? It was kind of a dark blob, even on my decent TV. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/22 "2013-11-13T19:23:23Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > I was really scared there in the final May/Coulson scene that it would be the May-is-Skye’s-mom plot that someone feared last week. Glad to see that it wasn’t, but could anyone make out what was in the file that was so significant? Looked like a headshot of an unknown woman (the agent who dropped Skye off presumably, maybe her mom) and the other pic was … a body? maybe bleeding from the head? It was kind of a dark blob, even on my decent TV. the implication is that the shield agent killed the mother - or was atleast involved in whatever happened that caused the death. (I took the ‘dead body’ to be the mother.) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/23 "2013-11-13T19:34:36Z")
“Agents Romanoff and Barton never have an extraction plan.” Oh, yes, they do. At least Natasha does. It consists of “putting someone on hold”. But I was more interested in the trailer for next week. It sounds like they’re doing at least a version of The Wrecker’s Asgardian crowbar. Which could be interesting… ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/24 "2013-11-13T19:36:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > What we’ve mostly been seeing up to now is Coulson’s six-men team. Obviously, they’re not going to be launching a military invasion. But overall Shield is a big paramilitary organization - think of the helicarrier and all that from _The Avengers_. Thanks. I did see the movie but I’m not sure I realized that. I had heard of individual super heroes but the Avengers thing was new to me. I remember Fury from Ironman but looking back I’m not sure who exactly I thought he was. I guess I tend to ignore things for which I don’t have any context. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/25 "2013-11-13T19:51:10Z")
In the scene right after Coulson revealed Skye’s mom was a SHIELD agent, it sounded like Skye responded with amazement, "My mother… was a _woman_? Then she hugged Coulson and thanked him for the revelation. In another scene of unintentional humor, when they revealed Victoria Hand’s character name, I couldn’t help but laugh. It’s like the writers needed a name. Victoria something. What can we use? [writer stares at hand] Aha! Victoria _Hand_. Don’t get me wrong… I love this show with all its cheesy goodness. They should have Cheetos (“it ain’t easy being cheesy”) and Velveeta Skillet Meals (“liquid gold”) as sponsors. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/26 "2013-11-13T20:42:58Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I am waiting for this show to remember the heads of S.H.I.E.L.D. are shady and nuked New York. They are not so obviously the “Good Guys”. Nick Fury is the head of Shield. The people who ordered the nuclear attack are the World Security Council, which Shield works for. So Fury is the equivalent of the Commandant of the Marine Corps. He’s the highest ranking person in his organization but he gets orders from people outside his organization. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/27 "2013-11-13T20:44:43Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > In another scene of unintentional humor, when they revealed Victoria Hand’s character name, I couldn’t help but laugh. It’s like the writers needed a name. Victoria something. What can we use? [writer stares at hand] Aha! Victoria _Hand_. Don’t blame the show’s writers for that one. Victoria Hand is an established character from the comic books. So it’s like Nick Fury - it might be a silly name but they’re stuck with it. On the other hand, Skye and Fitz/Simmons were the show writers’ ideas, so they’re not blameless either. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/28 "2013-11-13T21:00:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Nick Fury is the head of Shield. The people who ordered the nuclear attack are the World Security Council, which Shield works for. > > So Fury is the equivalent of the Commandant of the Marine Corps. He’s the highest ranking person in his organization but he gets orders from people outside his organization. Is that just Semantics? The Shadowy people order Nick Fury around and override his orders when they see fit. They may technically be a different group but they run SHIELD. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/29 "2013-11-13T21:07:53Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > In the scene right after Coulson revealed Skye’s mom was a SHIELD agent, it sounded like Skye responded with amazement, "My mother… was a _woman_? Then she hugged Coulson and thanked him for the revelation. It wasn’t quite like that. Coulson: “The unredacted file from your past. I found it.” Skye: “What did it say?” Coulson: “The document wasn’t about you directly. It was about the person who dropped you off at the orphanage. Turns out it was a Shield agent.” Skye: “A Shield agent? Why? I mean, who? What does that mean?” Coulson: “The agent was unidentified. We don’t know if she was your mother or if she just found you on a door step.” Skye: “Mother? It was a woman?” So Skye wasn’t surprised to discover her mother was a woman. She was surprised to find out that the person who dropped her off was a female Shield agent who might have been her mother. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/30 "2013-11-13T21:12:58Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Is that just Semantics? The Shadowy people order Nick Fury around and override his orders when they see fit. They may technically be a different group but they run SHIELD. I think there’s a legitimate distinction to be made between the organization that gives the orders and the organization that carries them out. It would be wrong, for example, to place the blame for the Vietnam War on the military forces that were there in Vietnam. The decision to go to Vietnam was made by Congress and the President. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/31 "2013-11-13T21:50:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So Skye wasn’t surprised to discover her mother was a woman. She was surprised to find out that the person who dropped her off was a female Shield agent who might have been her mother. Yeah, I know. But it was more funny the way I first interpreted the scene – that Skye would be gobsmacked to learn her mother was… a _woman_. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/32 "2013-11-13T23:40:15Z")
Is the Hub exec who ran the operation, played by Saffron “still hot even without her British accent” Burrows, a known character in the Marvel-verse? The red streaks in her hair seemed out of character for a SHIELD bureaucrat type… ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/33 "2013-11-13T23:54:19Z")
I liked the line where someone jokingly insinuated Coulson was a robot. Shows they’re paying attention to fan speculation and aren’t afraid to use it to push buttons. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/34 "2013-11-14T01:29:24Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Is the Hub exec who ran the operation, played by Saffron “still hot even without her British accent” Burrows, a known character in the Marvel-verse? The red streaks in her hair seemed out of character for a SHIELD bureaucrat type… [Victoria Hand](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Hand) ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/35 "2013-11-14T01:35:17Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I liked the line where someone jokingly insinuated Coulson was a robot. Shows they’re paying attention to fan speculation and aren’t afraid to use it to push buttons. I noticed that. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/36 "2013-11-14T01:45:46Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > [Victoria Hand](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Hand) Ignorance fought; thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/37 "2013-11-14T03:21:25Z")
I think I’m developing a crush on Simmons. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/38 "2013-11-14T04:00:21Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > played by Saffron “still hot even without her British accent” Burrows Oh, wow, I was trying to figure out if I knew who it was playing that character, but I didn’t recognize that it was Ms. Burrows–even though I am familiar with her work going all the way back to _Circle of Friends_. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/39 "2013-11-14T05:04:48Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I think I’m developing a crush on Simmons. Fortunately for me, she likes men that are about her height and heavier. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787/40 "2013-11-14T05:40:40Z")
Fell off the couch, _howling_ with laughter: “The World’s Most Dangerous Sandwich” “You have a very gorgeous head, don’t you?” (Skye’s look of disbelief/shock/HUHWHA after the line just above) The characters are, stroke by stroke, being painted into real people. With TV shows, you have that time, and I’m thinking it’s got to work that way anyway. Otherwise, the first couple of episodes of any TV show are some guy reading out of a book, telling us lots of details about every (main) character, before we ever even see said characters. The last couple of episodes, despite any missteps, have certainly painted more strokes for Fitz/Simmons. At the very least, one can’t say they’re just background ciphers anymore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e07-the-hub-open-spoilers/673787.md?page=3)