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

[dANdeLION]

Three episodes in I'm beginning to warm to the show. At first I was put off by the very UN Shield feel of the team. Shield has always been an impressively competent and efficient organization who took charge and adapted to situations in a calm, confident and effective manner.p.

Say what?!? I happen to know that most of your comic-book S.H.I.E.L.D. interaction was in Iron Man, and the agent in that comic was Jasper Sitwell, who was an emotional wreck. I have had the pleasure of reading some of Steranko's Nick Fury series, and that was mainly about his love affair with La Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine, and them getting out of the crazy shit they got themselves into.

[danlo]

TOM I understand them perfectly, then again...I'm digging the show.

[I'm Murrin]

Just caught up with the latest. Feel pretty comfortable saying that Agents of SHIELD is not an especially good show. It's alright, decent enough, but far from great.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

After watching the trailer for Winter Soldier I realize now that this entire show is nothing but the prologue for the movie. We will probably get two or three seasons and then it will disappear.

There is no way that whats-her-name gets to stay on the team after last episode, monitoring bracelet or not. She obstructed a mission and was lying to them all--in any situation other than a TV show where she trends well with the male 20-something demographic she would be in a cell in a SHIELD detention center somewhere.

[Akasri]

There is no way that whats-her-name gets to stay on the team after last episode, monitoring bracelet or not. She obstructed a mission and was lying to them all--in any situation other than a TV show where she trends well with the male 20-something demographic she would be in a cell in a SHIELD detention center somewhere.

But... but... she had a scene in her (skimpy) underwear last week. She MUST stay!

[Hashi Lebwohl]

That is why I said she trends well with the male 20-something demographic.

[I'm Murrin]

With Joss Whedon show running it does have a chance to get good given some time... but that also depends on how much corporate control there is over the project, and given that the show has to fit in with the overall Marvel cinematic universe, there's gonna be a lot of corporate control.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Disney/Marvel has one guy who has final say over all film/tv products; I can't recall his name but essentially his job is "make sure they all tie in together...or at least don't contradict one another".

So far the TV show is fine. My only question for Marvel is: can we get some movies that feature lesser-known characters? I watched the short film that Thomas Jane and Ron Perlman put together called Punisher: Dirty Laundry and it was pretty good. Mr. Jane has expressed his desire to reprise the role so all they really need is a good script.

Prediction: we find out what really happened with/to Coulson and then we get a cliffhanger until next season.

[I'm Murrin]

Coulson's situation is interesting. They seem to be saying that his character has changed significantly since he died, but I remember him being pretty much the same in the first Iron Man movie.

[aTOMiC]

I have to admit the last episode I watched "The Girl With The Flower Dress" or something similar hit on all points that many viewers have been complaining about. We get a better sense that there is an opposition organization besides Rising Tide that is pulling the strings behind the scenes. The characterizations are clearly beginning to develop in a positive way and we are finally seeing the emergence of bonafide super powered characters.

I'm digging it more and more. Keep it going Joss!

[Hashi Lebwohl]

We get a better sense that there is an opposition organization besides Rising Tide that is pulling the strings behind the scenes.

It is obvious to me--at least, in my cynical view--that this opposition organization is, in fact, SHIELD. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Remember--Fury doesn't run SHIELD, he is only the field commander guiding the organization at the behest of the mysterious Council who, as you recall, decided it would be a good idea to launch a nuclear missile at New York City.

Phase 2 is still underway and this whole Centipede business is just another way for SHIELD to try and create stable metahumans. The government--not just our government but any national government--is always going to want its own team of metas to guard against rogue or uncontrolled metas as well as having a way to protect against off-world threats.

That gravity project is off the record? Yeah, right--if Fury wants to know what is in that vault he'll get access and find out. Slingshot is their method of destroying potentially dangerous tech? Yeah, right--that is the method by which they can send it to a space- or Moon-based lab for continued research without the possibility of interference.

[aTOMiC]

We get a better sense that there is an opposition organization besides Rising Tide that is pulling the strings behind the scenes.

It is obvious to me--at least, in my cynical view--that this opposition organization is, in fact, SHIELD. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Remember--Fury doesn't run SHIELD, he is only the field commander guiding the organization at the behest of the mysterious Council who, as you recall, decided it would be a good idea to launch a nuclear missile at New York City.

Phase 2 is still underway and this whole Centipede business is just another way for SHIELD to try and create stable metahumans. The government--not just our government but any national government--is always going to want its own team of metas to guard against rogue or uncontrolled metas as well as having a way to protect against off-world threats.

That gravity project is off the record? Yeah, right--if Fury wants to know what is in that vault he'll get access and find out. Slingshot is their method of destroying potentially dangerous tech? Yeah, right--that is the method by which they can send it to a space- or Moon-based lab for continued research without the possibility of interference.

I agree with your point however I still believe, since AIM was established in IM3 and is SHIELD's comic book opposition and is connected with Extremis, that AIM will rear its ugly head at some point. And speaking of ugly heads I never forget that HYDRA is out there somewhere as well.

[aTOMiC]

Three episodes in I'm beginning to warm to the show. At first I was put off by the very UN Shield feel of the team. Shield has always been an impressively competent and efficient organization who took charge and adapted to situations in a calm, confident and effective manner.p.

Say what?!? I happen to know that most of your comic-book S.H.I.E.L.D. interaction was in Iron Man, and the agent in that comic was Jasper Sitwell, who was an emotional wreck. I have had the pleasure of reading some of Steranko's Nick Fury series, and that was mainly about his love affair with La Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine, and them getting out of the crazy shit they got themselves into.

Even with all of that drama Dan SHIELD still has always struck me as a cool, confident, effective organization patterned after James Bond's MI6. 007 has all of the same complicated emotional drama but still comes off as cool under pressure and capable of handling just about any situation. That's the impression I get from the comic book and movie version of SHIELD. This show is getting there but the team is riddled with rookies and it might be well into this season or next before they really feel like a SHIELD team to me. Just my opinion of course. BTW I am very familiar with the Jasper Sitwell character and Jasper, in spite of his issues, was a true blue company man and acquitted himself numerous times with a surprising level of competency in the field. He looked more like a CONTROL agent than a SHIELD agent but he took care of business when the occasion called for it.

[I'm Murrin]

So I take it they skipped a week? (Just trying to catch up now and there's no ep from Friday.) Why?

[Hashi Lebwohl]

I had noticed that, as well. Was last week's episode delayed due to production problems--I doubt this since TV shows typically film a month or more in advance--or for some Halloween special? *shrug*

[I'm Murrin]

And Marvel's now got a deal for 4 new 13-episode TV series' on Netflix, followed by a team-up miniseries combining the four. Iron Fist, Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones each in their own show then teaming up as The Defenders.

[I'm Murrin]

FZZT was a good episode, by the way. The first actual good one, rather than just passable. (Not coincidentally, it barely featured half of the cast, focusing on Coulson, Fitz, and Simmons.)

[Hashi Lebwohl]

The only thing that breaks its believability is what ruins most shows that feature technicians of any sort--solutions to problems take 42 minutes or less. Seriously, they were able to manufacture a successful vaccine--sorry, antitoxin--from an alien species in less than 36 hours and it worked on human beings? Just like "I need you to hack their system" and the computer tech is able to do it in only 10 minutes--what, did they have back doors already built in? *rolls eyes* Anyway...

I concur--not a bad episode. One of the upcoming episodes will relate to the aftermath of Dark World.

edit/update: wow, what a *weak* episode The Hub was. Were they even trying or have they settled into "Marvel/Disney paid for a full season so we'll just keep making these until the contract ends"? The only good bits were about getting the files on Skye's parents and Coulson's realization that SHIELD keeps secrets even from him...and that he doesn't like that any more.

[I'm Murrin]

Watching the latest ep right now. If you've not seen Thor: The Dark World, hope you don't mind some small spoilers in the opening minute!

Interesting stuff going on. Somehow still not finding Ward all that interesting a character. Coulson's stuff about Tahiti is starting to feel liek they're laying it on a bit thick, even if the last scene of he ep was a clever one (not the normal kind of nightmares, eh?).

[Hashi Lebwohl]

The question of "what happened to me?" is starting to bother him a lot, possibly even more than it should. If he doesn't get answers relatively soon he'll start to crack.

At first I was thinking "clone" but he has the chest scar so now I suspect "healed by advanced medical techniques available in Asgard". This is plausible--Coulson and Thor are friends, Loki stabbed Coulson, so Thor would consider it his responsibility to take him back home to have him revived and healed.