Earth Station MCU

This week, on a Very Special Agents of SHIELD....we cover both "Watchdogs" and "Spacetime" in one supersized episode. Obvious allusions to terrorism and enhanced interrogation are obvious, and James Bond villainy abounds. John and Jen earn that new iTunes tag this week, talking about revealing fashion choices on the new "Cloak and Dagger" series on Freeform, Nitramine hickeys, as well as horrifying flashbacks to 80s TV's attempts to tackle serious issues.  Oh, and sweet Asian cinnamon rolls.  Just...don't ask.

In this episode of ESMCU,John and Jen take a moment to talk about iTunes "explicit" vs. "clean" ratings, as well as Marvel/Disney's statement regarding a proposed law in Georgia that would allow for GLBTdiscrimination. Along the way we end up talking about Jon Favreau's "Chef", a director of "Sherlock," Garry Shandling, and the difference between Captain Britain and Union Jack. Jen mispronounces the names of some new hires for "Marvel's Most Wanted," and we talk about where things go from here for Bobbi and Hunter. Where does their story go from here, and can the rest of the team carry on without two of their best agents? 

In this week's episode of Agents of SHIELD, Coulson wears nerd glasses, Talbot wears a dress, and "Ward" gets a makeover! John and Jen also talk a little about season two of Daredevil (no spoilers, sweetie!), as well as the upcoming return of a familiar face on SHIELD, Vision wearing a suit, and Marvel finally getting a clue when it comes to marketing to a wider audience. 

Agents of SHIELD returns after its midseason hiatus, and between trailers, casting news and everything else going on in the MCU, it's been a busy week! John and Jen look at all the latest MCU news, and then tackle Agents of SHIELD's "Bouncing Back." The Agent Formerly Known as Ward gets super-creepy, Coulson gets his Jack Bauer on, and romance is brewing on the Quinjet this week. Fitzsimmons' hits the reset button on their relationship, while Lincoln and Daisy get busy, and Mac hits it off with new Inhuman "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez. All this, #thereswidow, and Legos on this week's Earth Station MCU!

All good things must come to an end, and this week we say goodbye to Peggy, Jarvis, Howard and the SSR crew for another year...and possibly for good. John and Jen talk about the finale of Agent Carter, "Hollywood Ending", but manage to squeeze in "The Martian," "Flash," and more. The future is uncertain, but that cliffhanger at the end--!! Will Thompson survive? Will Peggy and Sousa end up together? Will Whitney claw her face apart and end up as Madame Masque? We'll have our fingers crossed that ABC decides Agent Carter deserves a third season.  Of course, there's news to talk about as well, including official confirmation of Ward's new identity, Fitzsimmons and Selvig crossing over to the comics, the renewal of SHIELD, and speculations on the new J. Jonah Jameson.

Agent Carter again packed a lot into two hours - everything from a musical number to a revolving door of face/heel turns, not to mention Wilkes getting raptured up into a cloud of Zero Matter, Jarvis going all grimdark, and more. But first, John and Jen talk about the new Iron Fist, the latest Daredevil trailer, James Gunn's thoughts on the industry reaction to Deadpool, and Anthony Mackie trying to walk back his big spoiler about Civll War. 

Oy. Some days the audio gods are kind, and some days they are not. And sometimes you leave the pop filter off the mic, and it sounds like you're recording in a wind tunnel. Mea cupla, Marvel Universe. Fortunately, there's a lot of fun stuff to talk about, including "Guardians" casting, James Gunn sightings in Atlanta, Anthony Mackie's on-air slip-up, Ward's fate on Agents of SHIELD, and ...how much longer is it until Daredevil is back?

We also review the double episode of Agent Carter, including "The Life of the Party" and "Monsters". The costuming is gorgeous, Dottie is up to her old tricks, and Whitney reaches full-blown super-villain status. Was this a bust or best episode ever? Tune in to find out!

Let's pour one out for Jen's deceased computer...and celebrate the return of ESMCU! In this episode, John and Jen talk about the future of Agent Carter, MCU ads at the Super Bowl, and a monumental feat of Lego engineering. This week's adventure with Agent Carter and the SSR crew had slapstick, a heist (making the Leverage-style title appropriate), and the addition of Rose and Samberly to the SSR team, as well as an end to the Sousa/Violet 'ship. On a scale of one to five Pink Monstrosities, how would you rate this episode? 

On this week's episode of Earth Station MCU, John and Jen talk "Agent Carter" ratings, comments on Hulk and comedy from the "Ragnorok" director, and the future of Trish on "Jessica Jones."  John geeks out over Lego Avengers, Jen squees over getting to see the cast of "Gotham", and "Smoke and Mirrors" is evaluated on a scale of one to five Bernards. 

One of the hallmarks of Agent Carter's first season was its willingness to look at gender issues during its period setting, and this season continues the trend, while adding another issue: race.  This week's episode both explicitly and implicitly addresses the erasure of African-Americans from the stories of the time period, but this is not the first time race has been an issue in the MCU, whether in front of the camera or behind. The "whitewashing" of the Ancient One in Doctor Strange has alternately been praised and criticized, while rumors of an Asian Iron Fist bring up some of the racist stereotyping that would probably offend modern audiences, but was seen as acceptable for the times in which they were written. 

Also in this episode, John and Jen discuss the similarities between the Doctor Who and Marvel communities when it comes to their willingness to jump on a story, no matter how tenuous the source, and cause it to blow up the internets, and the love/hate relationship fans have with material produced 30 or more years ago. All this, as well as possible spoilers in the Doctor Strange Lego set, "Marvel's Most Wanted" casting, and some of the many Easter eggs in this week's episode, "Better Angels."