I think it is kind of fun to see the areas where Emma is not that brilliant, as it is flawed humanity which is most interesting to me. After all, Emma does a couple of other humorous actions outside of that Murdersville scene--she grabs the side of an electric car after Steed told her that when HE grabbed the side of an electric car it knocked him out (Positive-Negative Man), and it knocks her out; she apparently walks around in boots full of sand for hours, not thinking it strange (The Masterminds); she spends DAYS at the keep-fit school and cannot figure out what's going on, when Steed figures out who is doing the ventriloquism about 5 seconds after walking into the room (How To Succeed...At Murder). So, it's nice seeing Emma humanized--it makes her character more approachable to me.
And to show my Avengers fairness, yes, Steed does dip his hand into the Silent Dust toxic powder and shovel some into an envelope. Then, a minute later, he uses that unwashed same hand to scoop up an apple and eat it, toxic powder and all.
If nothing else, we learn that Steed has an amazing constitution....after all, that rash act is followed by a noticeable lack of attention which winds up getting him shot in the shoulder, after which he runs into an animal trap! Well, at least there weren't any helicopters around.... And yes, in TNA "Return of the Cybernauts", Steed did also stand directly in front of the quickly head-whacking cybernaut, only to be, well, quickly head-whacked....again...head-shaking angst for any Steed fan to watch!
Our man should have known to duck!
