That big farm Upstate?
It was a revenge kill. There was no reason to kill them at all, in fact when Garret was going to kill Coulson and May in the episode they find out he was the clairvoyant he specifically told them to only shoot Fitz in the leg. FitzSimmons are incredibly useful alive, he wanted them killed as revenge for killing him.
Yeah, I get that. It just still doesn’t feel right to me. Garrett didn’t seem desperate for their deaths - just angry and the kind of guy who kills people who anger him. I didn’t get the impression that either he or Ward seriously expected Garrett to die (there was the Universe Palpification Tonic after all) and Ward didn’t seem to be reacting to Fitz as if he’d just killed his beloved mentor. I also doubt Garrett and Ward would take so little care when trying to do something they thought was important.
If I misread Ward and he was upset and in a hurry to get back to Garrett, I could definitely see it being a sloppy but genuine attempt to kill FitzSimmons. I’ll re-watch later as I’m only going by a single viewing.
Garrett told Ward to kill FitzSimmons for the same reason he told Ward to kill Buddy: to prove his loyalty. Ward failed the Buddy test, and the dog died anyway. Same here; if Ward didn’t kill FitzSimmons, Garrett has an entire plane full of goons to do it for him.
Also, Garrett is re-establishing his control over Ward by cutting off any thoughts of not going along with Hydra – and it’s obvious that Garrett has doubts about Ward’s commitment, based on Ward’s behavior with Skye and subsequent outbursts against Garrett.
Garrett thought he was going to die when he gave that order - I don’t think re-establishing control was his motive. He’s confident in his control over Ward. He practically had Deathlock kill him and yet Ward ran like a puppy to his side when the EMP went off. He may have a weakness but he’s loyal to Garrett.
SHIELD uses Indiana Jones’ refrigerator technology for its pods.
What we saw in this episode is that Garrett is not only evil but petty. He quit Shield not over some issue of principle but because of a personal injury to himself. He was running his project not out to advance Hydra but to keep himself alive. Garrett’s only loyalty is to himself. As I’ve said, I’m surprised he’s able to keep other people loyal to him when he shows no reciprocal loyalty to them and even mocks the idea of loyalty.
Quinn at least reflects this - he has no loyalty to Garrett either but sees Garrett as a means to advance his own interests. But you can see that people like Ward and Raina are disturbed by the way Garrett acts - they want to belong to a cause they can believe in and Garrett isn’t providing that to them.
Finally got to see the ep, having been tied up during its initial airing. I believe I understand the what the flashbacks were trying to convey, and that was to mimic the old-school Marines method of tearing boots down and building them back up again. Unfortunately, it was handled clumsily, and as presented it’s not at all clear why Ward should feel any loyalty to Garrett, given his continuously dickish behavior.
As for who shot Buddy (or didn’t), I’m with those who say it was Garrett, as it makes the most sense in context with the scene it was tied to (FitzSimmons’ mechanized bum’s rush off the plane). And yeah, only in comic-book land would they survive that drop.
So, kind of a meh episode, although the scenes at the motel and Cybertek somewhat made up for it, and “Get ready for a big download” gave me the biggest laugh of the entire series.
Nah, Garrett didn’t think he was going to die. He thought his only chance to live was to get whatever drug brought Coulson back. He had the drug. He sent Ward away and kept Flowers there for her to give him the drug. The thought he was just about to get what he’d wanted all along.
Luckily, only in comic book land would a quarantine locked science lab cube be auto-jettisoned from a 747 sized vertical lift spy plane. 
Think I agree with your read of the Garrett&buddy stuff though.
One thing I notice about this episode is Triplett seems to have finally settled in and been accepted as a full member of the team.
Which probably means he’s going to die next week.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has officially been renewed for a second season along with the addition another MCU TV show, Marvel’s Agent Carter. (I wanted to write C.A.R.T.E.R. for no real reason)
Called it. I said all along they’d make the announcement of renewal at the same time they announced Carter.
I agree that Garrett shot Buddy, and it sets up this situation:
Garrett: Ward, kill Buddy.
Ward: Go on Buddy, run away.
Garrett: Don’t worry about it Ward, I did the job you didn’t have the strength to finish.
Garret: Ward, kill FitzSimmons.
Ward: See ya Fitz, see ya Simmons, you’re on your own.
It seems like Ward left Garrett another job to finish, so how’s he going to react when Garrett kills Fitz and/or Simmons?
I’m guessing changing the name to “Marvel’s Former Agents of a now-defunct organization that used to be called S.H.I.E.L.D.” isn’t going to happen.
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Luckily, only in comic book land would a quarantine locked science lab cube be auto-jettisoned from a 747 sized vertical lift spy plane.
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Yeah, come to thing of it, Simmons must be getting mighty tired of getting dumped off the plane mid-flight.
Who’s agent carter?
Carter (Haley Atwell) was Captain America’s main contact when he was involved in fighting red Skull and HYDRA. She and Howard Stark went on to found SHIELD. The series is supposedly going to show the early days of SHIELD and how Carter fought sexism as well as HYDRA in the glory days of the 40s.
Well that first one was on her.
Anybody else think that the novelty spy gear this episode is actually a sly preview of what’s to come with Agent Carter?
Of course it is. They’ve known they were going to do the other series for quite some time, announced or not, and it’s a great way to tease the new show while giving the current guys some neat toys to play with… We’ve known Coulson is a 40s nerd for years. This just adds some richness to the MCU on TV.
From Screenrant:
*Hayley Atwell’s contract with Marvel was extended, and the actress will be starring in this TV adaptation of her character. The burning questions is: What will a Peggy Carter TV show be about? Here’s what we know so far:
It’s set in 1946, a year after the end of WWII. (Period piece.)
The show deals with Peggy returning home to world where her sex makes her marginalized in society – especially as a single woman/warrior whose heart is broken by the loss of Steve Rogers.
The hook is that Peggy goes to work for SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), running secret missions for Howard Stark – presumably the first threads of what will eventually become S.H.I.E.L.D.
Showrunners are Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, creators of the late-2000s TV series, Reaper (which never got its proper due, IMHO).
It’s mentioned that Agent Carter could be used as a bridge gap between the fall and spring halves of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*