Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

[jgsugden]

And 4 out of those 5 girls in that article are dressed similarly to the character on SHIELD as seen in the promos. 

VICTORY IS OURS!

[Lakov_Sanite]

You mean in their glamour shots?

[Ironwood]

Oh Fuck me, this fucking thread is retarded.

[sickrubik]

Oh Fuck me, this fucking thread is retarded.

yeah, it's... gotten really fucking silly. I'm embarrassed for my part in all this.

[Sir T]

Once again General Zod saves the galaxy

[jgsugden]

You mean in their glamour shots?

....

And on to other topics -

[jgsugden]

Anyone else impressed with the lack of spoilers for this show?  I figured that with a show this big, they'd have a number of leaks out there, but beyond the coverage of the pilot from the convention crowd, I have heard very little about the subsequent episodes.  I just heard the description for the second episode today, and it is about as detailed as me telling someone, "I'm meeting my friend in LA to talk about something."

[Lakov_Sanite]

Not necessarily a good sign.

[jgsugden]

I'm expecting great things.  It won't be the 100% amazing World of Marvel we'd like to see, but I have faith in the team behind the series. 

My checklist for things from the movies or comics that I'd like to see addressed by this series:

1.) Where did they put the Abomination after Incredible Hulk?
2.) We saw what seemed to be the creation of 'the Leader' in the Incredible Hulk - with no Hulk movie on the horizen, I'd like to see him appear in S.H.I.E.L.D. 
3.) Hydra and AIM have been established - I'd like to see them be regular foes.
4.) We saw some blips on the map for locations S.H.I.E.L.D. was tracking in the Atlantic and in Africa in Iron Man II. I'd love to see them explianed.
5.) I'd like them to establish whether this is a world in which the Savage Lands, the Blue Area of the Moon, Subterranea, Monster Island, etc... might or do exist.  We've been getting small snapshots of the Marvel Universe in the films - they'll have a lot more time to explore this world in the show.
6.) Lizzy Caplan.
7.) The Ten Rings existed in IM I and II.  The Mandarin in IM III capitalized upon the imagery of the Ten Rings - was there an actual tie to the group as well?
8.) There are a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel in the comics that we have not seen referenced in the show.  I'd like to see Carol Danvers, Jasper Sitwell, etc... show up.
9.) I'd like to see a classic version of Nick Fury.  Maybe we can get a multiverse story with an alternatre Earth... and I think it'd be funny to have him played by the Hoff.

[Ironwood]

Goodness, that list is funny.

[jgsugden]

Goodness, that list is funny.

You're confused.  You were searching for "awesome and very reasonable, except for #9 which is idiotic".

[Lakov_Sanite]

Oh god...I'm saving that list for the end of season one. I'm gonna print it on a napkin and soak up all your bitter fanboy tears with it.

[jgsugden]

Oh god...I'm saving that list for the end of season one. I'm gonna print it on a napkin and soak up all your bitter fanboy tears with it.

Heh.

That list is a modified cut and paste from an email  (#9 was a joke, btw).  However, the email list has 10 items.  I cut out one of the items because I already know that it is going to be addressed in S.H.I.E.L.D.  I also shortened the list of things in #5 for similar reasons - one Marvel location has been confirmed to be part of the show at some point in season one (according to an implication of a quote of a writer).  I don't expect all 10 will see screen in season 1, but I do expect that AIM, HYDRA, 10 Rings, named S.H.I.E.L.D. agents from the comics, etc... will make be seen.  I also expect a few ot the others will make it to the screen as well, although it could be as vague as seeing a reinforced cell with the name Emil Blonksy on it, or S.H.I.E.L.D. protecting a diplomat from Wakanda.  Although I'd love to see 9 of 10, I'd be happy with 6 of 10. 

[Khaldun]

I dunno how many Easter Eggs of that kind you'll see, but not many of them will be major plot elements.

AIM I think you can expect, but not in the funny yellow beehive hats.

[jgsugden]

Just curious about people's predictions...

If you use the US release date for Thor (November 8) and the US schedule for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and if that show shows a new episode every week for the first 8 weeks, Thor will come out between episodes 7 and 8. 

Do folks think we'll see any forshadowing or response to the events of Thor 2 in the show?  If so, at that time or will they wate until later (after the midseason break)?

 

[Tannhauser]

Doubt they will, but if they reacted/set up movies that could really inter-connect the MCU in a way not seen in entertainment.  Unless there's some TV/movies interlaced that I don't recall at the moment.

Jane does punch Loki and says "This is for New York", so they do refer to Marvel's The Avengers (sorry love typing that) in Thor 2 and possibly take a slight dig at Man of Steel:  Real Estate Adjuster at the same time.

[Velorath]

Just curious about people's predictions...

If you use the US release date for Thor (November 8) and the US schedule for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and if that show shows a new episode every week for the first 8 weeks, Thor will come out between episodes 7 and 8. 

Do folks think we'll see any forshadowing or response to the events of Thor 2 in the show?  If so, at that time or will they wate until later (after the midseason break)?

 

I think it would be more a matter of when they take place in relation to each other rather than when they both come out. Also I think Captain America 2 would be the easier movie for them to tie into a bit since there's more of a S.H.I.E.L.D. connection there, you've given the show almost a full season to establish itself, and it comes around the time when most network shows are coming up on their season finales.

[Father mike]

So this airs tonight, but I'm not going to be home to watch it.  Anyone know what time ABC.go posts episodes?  Is it right as they end, or is it the next morning?

[Merusk]

So this airs tonight, but I'm not going to be home to watch it.  Anyone know what time ABC.go posts episodes?  Is it right as they end, or is it the next morning?

Looks like it's the next day, based on checking out what episode of "The View" and "Good Morning America" are currently posted (Yesterday's)

[Fordel]

I liked everything about the first episode except for the little slow-mo thumbs up montage near the end. Fucking wank that was 

[Speedy Cerviche]

it was ok for a network show

[Tannhauser]

It was a good show but I am not sold on Fitz/Simmons.  They were more like cheerleaders than scientists.  Good story, and I liked some of the references. 

[Ghambit]

All of the characters sucked except Mae and Coulson; exactly due to what Lakov said.  Twerent for the writing (save the cliche koombaya moments like at the end), it'd be DOA as far as I'm concerned.  

[Evil Elvis]

And the immediate sextension between the Olivia Munn wannabe ...

Christ, it's really true.  I thought the actress might be her younger sister or something.  Same look, same terrible acting.

[Ghambit]

She's the weakest part of the show so far, but has the lead role in the pilot.  Go figure.  I will guess (hope) her part to play will be slowly minimized or tweaked. 

[Lakov_Sanite]

Glamourhackers.gov?

 

[Velorath]

[Khaldun]

I thought more than implied, pretty much said.

Hacker character is very weak and will need a lot of Whedon attention to be anything better. The casting here is terrible--this needs to be someone feels like they have hidden depths and instead they cast someone who feels like the deepest she gets is when she is sad about breaking a nail.

Muscle/assassin is such a noncharacter that I barely registered his presence. The whole truth serum thing would only have worked if he'd felt monosyllabic and remote up to that point, which he didn't.

Fitz and Simmons were fine, the pilot/veteran was interesting.

The dialog was generally good. Action choreography was ok, not dazzling.

Has potential but also could quickly spiral into suck. A lot is going to depend on how they create longer-term arcs.

[Merusk]

The truth serum thing was the weakest bit of all because it's such a goddamn worn-out trope.  Oh no, tough guy has feelings and says things like "gram-gram!?" when forced to drop the facade.  He's human! 

Over-all it felt like a very thin fan-fiction. I'm willing to give it another shot because it was only the pilot, but it didn't even hold the 10-year-old boy's interest long enough for him to care about Gunn-nee-"Everydayworker 09959".

Then again I've also never been the Whedon fan the majority of the internet is. I find his stuff really sophomoric and the lens/ corporate censor filters that ABC are applying really buff that aspect of his work more than any depth he achieves.

[Margalis]

That was pretty bad.

Supermodel hippie computer hacker girl - lol. I get that Joss Whedon's thing is casting terrible actresses he wants to bone and having them play ludicrously unbelievable roles but this is even worse than his typical beautiful hooker / martial artist shit. I wonder if people will ever catch on to Whedon's fake feminist stuff. Girls you can do anything, from being a kung-fu master to an expert hacker - as long as you're super hot! In general the more screen time a character got the worse they were - not a good formula. It definitely feels like they found some attractive-looking people and cast them without thinking about their acting ability or their characters. Faux-Hawkeye managed to make actual Hawkeye exciting. Maybe their mandate was to make Renner look exciting.

The speech at the end was so bad, like someone read 5 seconds of financial industry coverage over the past 5 years and thought some trite messaging would hit home. And the slow-mo thumbs up montage...it almost seemed like parody.

It also felt very small overall, like SHIELD is operating on a 6-figure budget.

The Coulson mystery stuff is not interesting as multiple onscreen people already know what the secret is - it's only a mystery to the viewers because the script is deliberately holding that information back. I mean, someone could have said "He can never know that he's a robot" and that would be it. I'm also not sure if you can construct a series around a guy who was basically a character actor / sidekick in the movies.

The dialogue was typical Whedon quippy remark / quippy response, but that's to be expected.

Doubt I will watch another episode, it feels completely inconsequential to the larger Marvel stuff and nothing more than a cash-in. I'm not a fan of Whedon in general but at least his previous work was conceptually kind of interesting in a messing-around-in-genre sort of way. This just looks to be bland characters on low-budget adventures.

[Lakov_Sanite]

The only thing that would really get me into the show was if it could show more of the existing marvel universe.  Unfortunately it looks as though it will only be expanding upon the movies established canon and then just making shit up out of thin air.

[UnSub]

It also felt very small overall, like SHIELD is operating on a 6-figure budget.

That was one of the potential issues I saw hitting this show - it's for fans of US$100m+ budget movies, but it is being done on much, much smaller budget. Which cuts down the scope a lot - instead of Doctor Doom you'll get Batroc the Leaper because he's cheap to film.

In many ways the concept (still haven't seen the show) raises the same kind of alarm bells I felt when watching "Torchwood" - they say they are there to save humanity, but the team looks like a bunch of people they rounded up in a bar.

We'll see - it could be a good series, but I actually wonder how much being tied to those action blockbusters is going to weigh the show down.

[Bunk]

If this show gives us Batroc the Leaper it will be the greatest show in the history of television.

Ehem, anyway - didn't think it was too bad. Never like to judge a show on just it's pilot, so I'll give it a chance. I like Coulson, I think Clark Gregg has the presence to pull off a lead character. Ming na is always a solid actress (and the living embodiment of the rule that Asian women don't age). I liked Fitz/Simmons as characters, and I think the cute girl casting works for that part. Hacker girl, maybe not so much, but I didn't think she was terribad, just a little off.

Agent Douchenozzle - I thought about the episode this morning and realized he was the only character who's name I could not remember. Nor could I remember his face. Not a good sign.

I hope they are smart enough to work in some Marvel Universe Easter Egg characters for us, as I do think that will help hook the comic nerds. I'm fine with them using C Listers - not like these characters would ever make it in to movies, so why not use them now.

[jgsugden]

#0: Usefully cynical commentary.  Usefully.   

#1: Batroc is unlikely to appear in S.H.I.E.L.D. ...
#2: They had to pick their battles.  They had a lot of ground to cover in 42 minutes of show, and the main battle was making sure the show would make sense to an audience that had never seen the movies.  That meant focusing on the character that was an outsider and giving you cliche introductions to everyone else.  Why cliche?  Because you'll get the general idea really fast.  They had to service 7 characters (including the bad guy), plus service the S.H.I.E.L.D. concept.  That required them to move fast.  Too fast.  I felt like there were a dozen or so times where Whedon would typically have a pause (in dialogue, between scenes, etc...) to give the audience a chance to breath and accept something, but that were rushed into the next big moment.  For example, the 'discovery' of her in the truck (spoiled inh the commercials) is something that I think Whedon would have extended by a minute or more, although always intended to end with the sudden dorr popping open.

#3: Whedon's best pilots have both been 2 parters.  Buffy and Firefly were much better than Angel, Dollhouse and S.H.I.E.L.D.  I enjoyed all five, but Whedon (and his teams) do best when they have the time to introduce and build concepts.  To an extent, the movies served as a 'part 1' to this episode, but handling 6 new characters in this episode was still rushed.  I think you'll have a better idea what you'll be seeing over the series once you see the next 2 to 6 episodes.

On an overall basis, I think this episode was in the top 15% of prime time TV.  Adjusted to account for the constraints they had to deal with in a pilot and this unique situation, I bump it up into the 90 percentile and have expectations that subsequent episodes will be better.  Whedon starts strong, in my book, and usually gets stronger around episode 6 to 10.

[Lakov_Sanite]

I'm not saying the show was terrible, the things I was critiquing earlier are still there but the show has enough redeeming qualities to give a pass BUT...

I think this episode was in the top 15% of prime time TV

You must not watch much tv, because putting that anywhere near something like breaking bad or even a great sitcom like parks and rec is insane. 

That said, if this show can make a season two, I can see it really hitting it's stride because I think they have some good elements that need to be refined.