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

[jgsugden]

Basically what everyone has said from the beginning

Yep.  Stark even mentions the tech in Avengers.  Beyond the tech being a mainstay of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the comics, this is perfectly in Whedon's wheelhouse in a story about regular people in a Super world.

[Threash]

Why are we spoiling speculation!

[jgsugden]

Why are we spoiling speculation!

I'm doing it because this seems certain to me, someone that knows the comics, but it would be non-obvious to someone that has not read them.

[Lakov_Sanite]

I could really like this show but currently half of it makes me want to punch babies.  It's almost worse because it's very close to being good but nooooot quite there.

[Venkman]

Ah that makes sense given the context.

[Der Helm]

So far I am entertained. I actually like some of the hand to hand combat scenes, but the parts with any kind of gun play just look ridiculous. Seriously, it's Starship Troopers 2 bad.

edit: That clip is supposed to start at 2:15.

[Tannhauser]

That last episode is what I was expecting from this show.  Still some problems, but a good plot, better pacing, better acting.  Ward was leaps and bounds better because his back story was more fleshed out and he had good action scenes.  The truth serum bit was unexpected and fun.  The billionaire is a great character and I'm sure we'll see him again. 

[jgsugden]

It sounds like Marvel is bringing some partners to S.H.I.E.L.D. to TV over the next few years - maybe multiple partners.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/64631

[Lakov_Sanite]

Ah comic book companies, the word saturation means nothing to them.

[Numtini]

FWIW, my partner and I are both Whedon fans, but less so comic book fans and thought the last episode was the weakest, bordering on unwatchable.

[Khaldun]

I thought this one was pretty good. Finally starting to build a bit of a sense of momentum--feels less 'one off'.

[Lakov_Sanite]

They are taking some steps in the right direction but I would like them to touch on more than super science.  That may be asking too much of course but still, they are heading for a good season two.

[Fordel]

Seduce him!

[HaemishM]

Finally got to see last week's episode. Glad to see them create Graviton, though I doubt we'll see his spiffy blue and white outfit.

[Bunk]

Enjoyed this episode, looks like they are starting to get in to a watchable rhythm. Only plot whole that irked me was that no one noticed that Agent Ward's (I remember his name!) perspective would be about two feet higher than the girl's. Guess the handler just assumed everyone in that building was really short?

Still not sure the lead girl has that it factor to be the next Whedon girl fans go nuts after, but personally I never got the Sarah Michelle Geller thing either.

[satael]

So was the research facility in the latest episode some private thingy or government run (since the "good guys" did shoot a few guards which might be a bad idea to do to some law-abiding government workers) ?

[Khaldun]

Wasn't clear to me either. If it's ex-Soviet government, then you might ask why they're sitting on that super-sekrit information in that room and not sharing with SHIELD, who seem vaguely international. (Though this would be a good thing for the series to clarify--is SHIELD international or American in the show? The comics have several different answers to that question at different times.) If it's private, that's also interesting.

I'm assuming in the end that the secret bad guys in this one are AIM. Or at least I'm hoping it. I could totally go for at least one beehive helmet guy just as a joke at some point.

[Abagadro]

Some clever lines and a liked the reveal at the end of who the "handler" was. Still don't like Skye that much and the music is seriously bugging me. Maybe it is because I only half-watch it while playing tanks so I notice the audio a lot more than other shows.

[jgsugden]

They said something in early episode 4 that made me think S.H.I.E.L.D. started out in the U.S. but is now international.  That also gels with the world map behind the counsel in Avengers.  I would like to know how it is funded... if it is international and gets funds from across the globe, it would beinteresting to see how they deal with a funding government that missteps.

[Velorath]

Implication from the Avengers is that they're supposed to be under the control of the World Security Council that Fury is seen talking to. There haven't really been any details on the Council itself, but I think Marvel might have referred to them as an international organization.

[UnSub]

Ah comic book companies, the word saturation means nothing to them.

Releasing as many different titles as possible is what made the comics industry the success it is today!

[Velorath]

It the TV industry. It's pretty much built on a model of over-saturation. Fuck, how many half-hour sitcoms come out every year? They could put out 20 shows about superheroes and it would still be a fraction of the number of reality shows about "celebrities" that exist, or shows about chefs who yell at their incompetent staff, or CSI series.

[eldaec]

They said something in early episode 4 that made me think S.H.I.E.L.D. started out in the U.S. but is now international.  That also gels with the world map behind the counsel in Avengers.  I would like to know how it is funded... if it is international and gets funds from across the globe, it would beinteresting to see how they deal with a funding government that missteps.

Something that really jumped out at me in the Peru episode is how this whole canon is built on assumptions of the 50s, 60s and 70s that ever more globalisation and liberalisation was/is inevitable and that a common enemy would unite most governments/cultures.

I'm not expecting much exploration of that weirdness, but if it were brand new I'm not sure you could sell the very idea of an overt UN driven military unit post 2000.

[Threash]

So far every episode has been great.  You picky bastards have problems.

[Venkman]

Some clever lines and a liked the reveal at the end of who the "handler" was.

I just watched the episode, but like the prior four, on the ABC app rather than on TV/DVR. Who did they say the handler was? I missed it. I thought they didn't know after

[Abagadro]

[Simond]

Wasn't clear to me either. If it's ex-Soviet government, then you might ask why they're sitting on that super-sekrit information in that room and not sharing with SHIELD, who seem vaguely international. (Though this would be a good thing for the series to clarify--is SHIELD international or American in the show? The comics have several different answers to that question at different times.) If it's private, that's also interesting.

I'm assuming in the end that the secret bad guys in this one are AIM. Or at least I'm hoping it. I could totally go for at least one beehive helmet guy just as a joke at some point.

Yeah, I'm thinking The Reveal - or the non-Coulson one, at least - is going to be AIM (or HYDRA, or any of the other evil counterparts to SHIELD) has been behind some or all of what they've seen in the series.

[Khaldun]

Including, I'm guessing, "Rising Tide". Which will probably lead to lots of double-agent hijinks with Skye--and will probably be the underlying reason Coulson took her on board, to get a line on whomever is behind Rising Tide.

[Numtini]

We are Joss diehards and rode Dollhouse into it's controlled impact with ground, but tonight is the last chance. This is just rubbish.

[MediumHigh]

I stopped being a die hard josstard when I read the buffy season 8-9 comics.... the fuck was that shit.

[Ghambit]

This about sums of the jist of this show (especially after watching tonite's epi):

[Margalis]

I watched this ep after not watching the last few.

Yeah...it's bad. Boring, lame characters, bad acting, awful script.

I don't know if the dialogue is just bad Joss, or someone doing a bad Joss imitation, or what. The whole "they named him" repeated thing just didn't work at all. It was supposed to be - funny? I also don't get the idea of making fun of Superhero code-names in the context of a comic book show, at least not to this extent. It might be funny if a guy has an obviously lame name, but his name wasn't any dumber than "Iron Man" or "Hawkeye." Really weird thing to hang your hat on.

Don't think I'm watching another episode.

[MediumHigh]

This about sums of the jist of this show (especially after watching tonite's epi):

And you guys laughed when I called her fanservice on the first episode. 

[jgsugden]

I am still enjoying the show.  It isn't perfect, but I think they're going to find their way as time goes by.  Some of the problems from the pilot have been smoothed out.  I still have high hopes that more will get worked out.  However, I agree that the script on this one needed more work.

[kaid]

Some clever lines and a liked the reveal at the end of who the "handler" was. Still don't like Skye that much and the music is seriously bugging me. Maybe it is because I only half-watch it while playing tanks so I notice the audio a lot more than other shows.

I never noticed the music until I read the threads but now I did notice it you are right the music is pretty god awful. I like the show so far but man the music is terribad and does more to detract from the show than it adds.