Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Review - Episode 14: T.A.H.I.T.I.
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
Any episode that makes me wonder what is going to happen next with some thought that I'll get an answer (I'm looking at you Lost) is good for me. Question on the Atlantians, did they have fins instead of legs, Mermen if you will? Might be a very good reason to have had him cut in half.
Namorita seems the most plausible to me. Then again, we predicted the character from the pilot would be Luke Cage, but it turned out to be Deathlok instead.
To be honest, I liked this episode much better than some other ones. Of course there is still room for improvement... :/
They just look like blue humans but with gills. I don't think they have been shown with the typical top-half human, bottom-half fish thing but it could be different for these guys. If it is an Atlantean then maybe the body was washed ashore and just happened to be cut in half and the people that found it did an autopsy thinking it was alien. I figure if it was killed in some kind of battle then SHIELD/whoever would have had an all out war with them or there would have at least been some larger conflict to cover up.Ickabod said:
Atlanteans stuff:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_mermanus
I agree with the sentiment of some that this was one of the better ones. I enjoyed it and next week looks to be interesting. I hope with more regular scheduling the pace will pick up and continuing threads perhaps will start to take a more central role and making the show feel more coherent. The 95% mcguffin chase of the week, 5% development should go to something like 80/20 or 50/50 for this to become a lot more interesting. Mostly because the mcguffin searches are already becoming quite stale and formulaic. See also Bob's comments about the now standard issue science parts.
I loved the episode personally. I also wonder what ridiculousness T.A.H.I.T.I. is an acronym for.
That almost human in the incubator probably.
That almost human in the incubator probably.
I've been enjoying this show from the start. Last night's episode struck me as the weakest in a while. Maybe because it was built up as offering a magical change that some fanboys have been awaiting.
While I agree with MovieBob's points, I think the bigger problem is a lack of style and mood. It feels like a series of brightly lit sets and lightweight characters. They arrive at a rocky mountain hideout, but there's no foliage or animals or anything to suggest it's more than a set. No sergio leone music, and agents spitting in the dirt complaining about the altitude. I mostly find myself wondering how long the FX guys had to work on the shot, instead of considering the reality of the story at that moment in any way.
Why do we watch skye's CGI med capsule getting loaded for so long? Why not show Skye inside, suffering? or show some agent outside trying to ensure the process is delicately handled, wincing at the bumps and clangs? instead we just got a CGI shot that was clearly sweated over, but still fell short of the movies.
At another point the wizkids got some sort of hologram of blocks of "code"? The big twist is that instead of being encrypted garbage, it's some sort of 3D ASCII point cloud of a topographical side view of a secret base? wtf? and this followed some bizarre hand waving GUI that slid through hundreds of files, in a way that makes no sense for actual usability.
Is it so hard to ask a programmer for ideas on what that shit might look like?
shows like Black Mirror excel by feeling deeply researched and inventive with their technology, while Shield's technology, science, and NSA-style government bureaucracy all feel like a teenager's hasty sketchbook. Which is a problem for thinking people, because the science, tech, and politics are suppose to be what each episode is about?
what the fuck is the show trying to be about?
it does feel a lot like the marvel one shots on the DVDs, because it feels like a rushed half-thought through sketch that mostly serves as fodder for someone's bland cinematography reel.
the first episode hinted at the meaty topic of not being invited to the super persons party. How did last night build on that? with average joe's deciding death no longer needs to be a problem, especially for their super friend?(and no debate or thought on this?) ... welcome to the party?
They even had a scene where the cliche muscle guy points out how Simmons hasn't known Skye that long, and informs the audience that this makes perfect sense because you can still form strong bonds in a short time. huh. That scene served to remind me that it really made little to no sense for world class Agents to give a shit about the civilian they've known for a month.
the bigger picture of this episode is that the SHIELD agency wants to interrogate the rich asshole so they can work on CENTIPEDE, but our agents would rather... do nothing with him? keep him around so they can murder him if the civilian they barely know dies? or maybe the bigger organization doesn't really care, because Bill Paxton appears to be there because he also has an unsanctioned personal vendetta?
wtf?
I guess the point of this show is that SHIELD is horribly disorganized and hired all the wrong people, who never do their jobs. but it's hard to enjoy rebels when everyone's a rebel? bleh. hmmf.
While I agree with MovieBob's points, I think the bigger problem is a lack of style and mood. It feels like a series of brightly lit sets and lightweight characters. They arrive at a rocky mountain hideout, but there's no foliage or animals or anything to suggest it's more than a set. No sergio leone music, and agents spitting in the dirt complaining about the altitude. I mostly find myself wondering how long the FX guys had to work on the shot, instead of considering the reality of the story at that moment in any way.
Why do we watch skye's CGI med capsule getting loaded for so long? Why not show Skye inside, suffering? or show some agent outside trying to ensure the process is delicately handled, wincing at the bumps and clangs? instead we just got a CGI shot that was clearly sweated over, but still fell short of the movies.
At another point the wizkids got some sort of hologram of blocks of "code"? The big twist is that instead of being encrypted garbage, it's some sort of 3D ASCII point cloud of a topographical side view of a secret base? wtf? and this followed some bizarre hand waving GUI that slid through hundreds of files, in a way that makes no sense for actual usability.
Is it so hard to ask a programmer for ideas on what that shit might look like?
shows like Black Mirror excel by feeling deeply researched and inventive with their technology, while Shield's technology, science, and NSA-style government bureaucracy all feel like a teenager's hasty sketchbook. Which is a problem for thinking people, because the science, tech, and politics are suppose to be what each episode is about?
what the fuck is the show trying to be about?
it does feel a lot like the marvel one shots on the DVDs, because it feels like a rushed half-thought through sketch that mostly serves as fodder for someone's bland cinematography reel.
the first episode hinted at the meaty topic of not being invited to the super persons party. How did last night build on that? with average joe's deciding death no longer needs to be a problem, especially for their super friend?(and no debate or thought on this?) ... welcome to the party?
They even had a scene where the cliche muscle guy points out how Simmons hasn't known Skye that long, and informs the audience that this makes perfect sense because you can still form strong bonds in a short time. huh. That scene served to remind me that it really made little to no sense for world class Agents to give a shit about the civilian they've known for a month.
the bigger picture of this episode is that the SHIELD agency wants to interrogate the rich asshole so they can work on CENTIPEDE, but our agents would rather... do nothing with him? keep him around so they can murder him if the civilian they barely know dies? or maybe the bigger organization doesn't really care, because Bill Paxton appears to be there because he also has an unsanctioned personal vendetta?
wtf?
I guess the point of this show is that SHIELD is horribly disorganized and hired all the wrong people, who never do their jobs. but it's hard to enjoy rebels when everyone's a rebel? bleh. hmmf.
Good gods this episodes...
Towards the end I was thinking it would be a clone, or the original Coulson - but no... its some blue non-human. How very interesting and honestly unexpected. But hey, if that guy was of the same species that our wounded heroine is of... oh boy
I can't wait for the next episode
Towards the end I was thinking it would be a clone, or the original Coulson - but no... its some blue non-human. How very interesting and honestly unexpected. But hey, if that guy was of the same species that our wounded heroine is of... oh boy
I can't wait for the next episode
Story wise the episode was quite good, nice to see that the mid season reveal wasn't the entire storie.
And although the answer raises more questions than it answers, it is a good way to progress Coulsens storie.
Not really action packt, but one often comes at the cost of an other.(next week will make up for it)
I freeze famed the alien.
When you see the alien for the first time(38 min), you have a good view of the left side of its neck.
I don't think i can see any gills there.
Later on the right side you can see a brown discoloration, but this goes over the length of its neck.
Hard to tell but i don't think there are any gills there nether.
Also, MARVEL didn't do any foreshadowing to suggest the atlantians. (or this is the foreschadow)
Look at this still from the Gardians of the Galaxy of ronan the accuser
http://www.punchdrunkcritics.com/2013/08/1st-look-at-michael-rooker-in-guardians.html
I see some similarities there.
The kree make sense
Also this could imply that skye is indeed an inhuman.
And although the answer raises more questions than it answers, it is a good way to progress Coulsens storie.
Not really action packt, but one often comes at the cost of an other.(next week will make up for it)
I freeze famed the alien.
When you see the alien for the first time(38 min), you have a good view of the left side of its neck.
I don't think i can see any gills there.
Later on the right side you can see a brown discoloration, but this goes over the length of its neck.
Hard to tell but i don't think there are any gills there nether.
Also, MARVEL didn't do any foreshadowing to suggest the atlantians. (or this is the foreschadow)
Look at this still from the Gardians of the Galaxy of ronan the accuser
http://www.punchdrunkcritics.com/2013/08/1st-look-at-michael-rooker-in-guardians.html
I see some similarities there.
The kree make sense
Also this could imply that skye is indeed an inhuman.
Skye as Namorita would make a lot more sense than Ms. Marvel. MM is a little too tightly tied to the Avengers, and is probably on the short list for potential additional female characters to be added in A3. And as adorable as Chloe Bennet is, I can't see them dropping her into Avengers next to Robert Downey Jr to be one of the teams hardest hitting badasses. Namorita is obscure enough to fit her. (although trying to mentally squeeze her into Avengers I now can't shake the thought that she would make an amusing Tigra.)
My two current theories. (assuming this in any way ties into comics lore) Either the alien is Atlantean and Skye is a TV version of Namorita. a child found in fishing nets by a Chinese village. (was the village she was found in coastal?) Or the Alien is Kree, and Skye is some form of Mantis. I actually lean towards Kree, just because it opens the door for them to do some teaser and tie in stuff to Guardians of the Galaxy. Whereas Atlantis reeks a little too much of things like Aquaman and Man From Atlantis etc. Granted the show tends to maintain a very 80's-90's sort of vibe and feel for how it is written and shot. It's much more old school 80's adventure TV than many darker more modern offerings.
PS did it really seem wildly out of place for our favorite SHIELD team to actually kill two apparent government or SHIELD officers in order to save Skye? Also why would Coulson freak out over the use of some sort of Alien by product for medical treatment? he was SHIELD's resident point man on Alien crap. he was one of the few people that knew about the Cube, and the followup reconstruction of the Hydra weapons. He's the only person that chose to actually USE them. He's been up close with Gods, Dark Elves, Chitauri, who knows what else. Why would he freak out over injecting alien blood goop? That's kinda the weird world he has long lived in (and died in, and lived in again, etc).
A few other interesting questions ofr thoughts (well to me at least)
T.A.H.I.T.I. ? Hmmm? could the T stand for Terrigen? The Kree mutagen that created the hybrid Inhumans? Now that would be fun.
How long has the safe house been there? What other things have its excretions been involved in? Project Rebirth? Dr. Bruce Banners work?
They said this was not a SHIELD base and it was really low staffed. If it wasn't SHIELD who was it? Since it was obviously where they rebuilt Coulson it probably is not AIM or Hydra? But SWORD maybe?
My two current theories. (assuming this in any way ties into comics lore) Either the alien is Atlantean and Skye is a TV version of Namorita. a child found in fishing nets by a Chinese village. (was the village she was found in coastal?) Or the Alien is Kree, and Skye is some form of Mantis. I actually lean towards Kree, just because it opens the door for them to do some teaser and tie in stuff to Guardians of the Galaxy. Whereas Atlantis reeks a little too much of things like Aquaman and Man From Atlantis etc. Granted the show tends to maintain a very 80's-90's sort of vibe and feel for how it is written and shot. It's much more old school 80's adventure TV than many darker more modern offerings.
PS did it really seem wildly out of place for our favorite SHIELD team to actually kill two apparent government or SHIELD officers in order to save Skye? Also why would Coulson freak out over the use of some sort of Alien by product for medical treatment? he was SHIELD's resident point man on Alien crap. he was one of the few people that knew about the Cube, and the followup reconstruction of the Hydra weapons. He's the only person that chose to actually USE them. He's been up close with Gods, Dark Elves, Chitauri, who knows what else. Why would he freak out over injecting alien blood goop? That's kinda the weird world he has long lived in (and died in, and lived in again, etc).
A few other interesting questions ofr thoughts (well to me at least)
T.A.H.I.T.I. ? Hmmm? could the T stand for Terrigen? The Kree mutagen that created the hybrid Inhumans? Now that would be fun.
How long has the safe house been there? What other things have its excretions been involved in? Project Rebirth? Dr. Bruce Banners work?
They said this was not a SHIELD base and it was really low staffed. If it wasn't SHIELD who was it? Since it was obviously where they rebuilt Coulson it probably is not AIM or Hydra? But SWORD maybe?
Thats what i had originally thought has well but I don't know I haven't read enough of the comic (or any of them) to know whats what. I just watch the show because i like it. I also agree with others who liked this episode. It wasn't action packed but I usually like these race against time/fight the power sort of things sooooooShadow_Kid said:
Some good theories on who our blue man in the tank was, Bob. While it was an interesting episode, I can see why everyone is losing interest in this show. As I said in the recap article, this is a show that truly needed more time to develop than the slap-dash method television shows rely on and it should have gone to Netflix or any of the other online streaming sites. If this show, by some miracle, is granted another season, I really hope they take their time to really plan out the show's next course of action.
Okay, so I wasn't the only one who didn't know what the blue guy was? That's good. The way the show revealed him, I was afraid I was missing out on something very important because I'm not all that familiar with Marvel stuff. Glad to see that's not the case.
Did anyone else feel really sorry for those two guards? I mean, S.H.I.E.L.D has non-lethal weapons. They didn't need to kill them. And they seemed like they had a sense of humor (do you want right or left?). I thought maybe they were special guest stars or something. Like the lead writers playing a role.
Did anyone else feel really sorry for those two guards? I mean, S.H.I.E.L.D has non-lethal weapons. They didn't need to kill them. And they seemed like they had a sense of humor (do you want right or left?). I thought maybe they were special guest stars or something. Like the lead writers playing a role.