Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Review - Episode 3: The Asset
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
Out of the 3 episodes so far, I like this one the most. It felt like it finally is starting to catch its balance. I watched Avengers over the weekend and was sad for this series because I felt like if they took the feel of the movie and tried to instill it in the series, it could be so much better. I felt a lot better for the series after this episode.
The jokes and quips didn't feel as forced. They were a lot lighter and less "HERE'S A JOKE, LAUGH!!". The actors didn't feel as wooden. Even Coulson felt like the Coulson I knew from the movies. It was all around smoother.
So, I suppose it's because I'm blissfully ignorant of the comings and goings of our political system, but I didn't feel any political agenda is being force fed to me through this series. The "I'm working against he government mandate" excuse is used by any great madman. And the "Fight the power" hacker type has been around forever. I've been playing Cyberpunk and Shadowrun long enough to know that.
The jokes and quips didn't feel as forced. They were a lot lighter and less "HERE'S A JOKE, LAUGH!!". The actors didn't feel as wooden. Even Coulson felt like the Coulson I knew from the movies. It was all around smoother.
So, I suppose it's because I'm blissfully ignorant of the comings and goings of our political system, but I didn't feel any political agenda is being force fed to me through this series. The "I'm working against he government mandate" excuse is used by any great madman. And the "Fight the power" hacker type has been around forever. I've been playing Cyberpunk and Shadowrun long enough to know that.
I am really enjoying these things, Bob. I like having place where I can get a detailed look at things I don't have the background knowledge of.
And I did enjoy this episode best out of the three. I felt at least some of the characters were interacting more naturally, especially Skye and Ward. And I didn't think much on Ward's "defining moment" thing until you mentioned it could just be a reference to something worse.
I'm still up to watching more, even if its just to see where they go with all this stuff for Coulson. Keep up the analysis stuff, Bob~!
And I did enjoy this episode best out of the three. I felt at least some of the characters were interacting more naturally, especially Skye and Ward. And I didn't think much on Ward's "defining moment" thing until you mentioned it could just be a reference to something worse.
I'm still up to watching more, even if its just to see where they go with all this stuff for Coulson. Keep up the analysis stuff, Bob~!
Yay, the espionage agency actually did some espionage. Easily the best of the three, still more room to grow but practically every Wheadon project I remember (discounting Avengers) starts slow and sets plot elements before the main plot kicks in. So I'm optimistic and now that they've set themselves up for a super villain, I feel better about them showing more B and C grade heroes like Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, Daredevil (seriously, how hard would it be to put an attorney named Murdock in an episode?), Luck Cage, and Iron Fist. Hell, Pym is getting a movie down the road, introduce him here before Phase III kicks in.
I'm starting to think they're hinting too hard at Coulson being a decoy for it not to be a misdirect. Especially when in the preview for the next episode someone (Skye, I think?) flat out calls him a robot.
Unfortunately I think I like Bob's recaps of the show better than the show itself. I guess part of that is that Agents of Shield, like many ill-fated shows(particularly "superhero" ones), sounds a lot better on paper than it is in reality.
I'm still rooting for it, this episode was better than last week's, but a lot of the show seems really cheesy and/or cheap. I don't know if it a result of poor writing, acting, cinematography, or some combination there of but the show just really falls flat on many occasions and is really hard to get immersed in.
The writers of the show particularly seem to struggle with subtlety. The Ward Skye dynamic seems solely to exist to ham-handedly explain the shows themes to the audience. The Coulson/Robot thing is also a mess. Good twists are the ones that surprise you but make complete sense in retrospect. Bad twists either make no sense at all, or are so heavily projected and predictable that they are not surprising at all. Agents of Shield appears to be lining up for the latter. If Coulson stares straight into the camera and slowly says "magical" one more time I am going to throw something through the tv.
Oddly, Bob just straight stating the various themes and potential twists in the show somehow seems more subtle than the show itself.
Side note/nit pick: Bob, please don't say "how much of a nerd am I" in one of these recaps again. We are all thoroughly convinced of your nerdiness and extensive knowledge of comic books or we wouldn't be reading the column to begin with. It is just a pet peeve, plus it brings to mind the whole "fake gamer/nerd" boogeyman that causes so many people to pointlessly rage at Big Bang Theory fans and the like.
I'm still rooting for it, this episode was better than last week's, but a lot of the show seems really cheesy and/or cheap. I don't know if it a result of poor writing, acting, cinematography, or some combination there of but the show just really falls flat on many occasions and is really hard to get immersed in.
The writers of the show particularly seem to struggle with subtlety. The Ward Skye dynamic seems solely to exist to ham-handedly explain the shows themes to the audience. The Coulson/Robot thing is also a mess. Good twists are the ones that surprise you but make complete sense in retrospect. Bad twists either make no sense at all, or are so heavily projected and predictable that they are not surprising at all. Agents of Shield appears to be lining up for the latter. If Coulson stares straight into the camera and slowly says "magical" one more time I am going to throw something through the tv.
Oddly, Bob just straight stating the various themes and potential twists in the show somehow seems more subtle than the show itself.
Side note/nit pick: Bob, please don't say "how much of a nerd am I" in one of these recaps again. We are all thoroughly convinced of your nerdiness and extensive knowledge of comic books or we wouldn't be reading the column to begin with. It is just a pet peeve, plus it brings to mind the whole "fake gamer/nerd" boogeyman that causes so many people to pointlessly rage at Big Bang Theory fans and the like.
2 things:
-I think (hope) the bigger twist on Coulson's "resurrection" will be not that he's an LMD, but the REASON why he was brought back at all. Seriously, if the Avengers suddenly found him apparently alive, wouldn't that cause a massive riff in their trust in Shield and derail the whole initiative? And why bring back an operative? Coulson may be good at what he does, but I would think agents die all the time and not warrant spending millions to "replace" them. What makes him special enough to keep around?
-The quip about friendly big government being possibly "creepy" coincides with my emerging distaste at the realization that The Dark Knight was essentially pro Bush-era skull-duggery. I'm not necessarily against writers propping up a valid argument and there aren't enough examples to officially make this a trend just yet (unless maybe you count government-based shows like Homeland and such), but I'm worried this could become some sort of propaganda.
-I think (hope) the bigger twist on Coulson's "resurrection" will be not that he's an LMD, but the REASON why he was brought back at all. Seriously, if the Avengers suddenly found him apparently alive, wouldn't that cause a massive riff in their trust in Shield and derail the whole initiative? And why bring back an operative? Coulson may be good at what he does, but I would think agents die all the time and not warrant spending millions to "replace" them. What makes him special enough to keep around?
-The quip about friendly big government being possibly "creepy" coincides with my emerging distaste at the realization that The Dark Knight was essentially pro Bush-era skull-duggery. I'm not necessarily against writers propping up a valid argument and there aren't enough examples to officially make this a trend just yet (unless maybe you count government-based shows like Homeland and such), but I'm worried this could become some sort of propaganda.
Don't really know much about LMD's, but can they bleed?
'Cause agent Coulson clearly bled in episode 2.
'Cause agent Coulson clearly bled in episode 2.
Coulson wasn't trying to reload the gun, he was trying to do that cool "grab the slide to disassemble it" trick. Which is why Ward just chucked it into the force field...it was an easier way to get rid of it than waiting for Coulson to pull the trick off.
And yeah, as has been mentioned, Coulson's lack of "muscle memory" was this episode's hint towards LMD/Clone/Skrull/whatever the hell Coulson really is. Of course it could be that this is a fake out and he really is the Phil Coulson we know who really is just rusty, and the "he can never know" is about how he was brought back from the dead rather than what he is now. I'm guessing it was way more involved than just some crash cart.
And yeah, as has been mentioned, Coulson's lack of "muscle memory" was this episode's hint towards LMD/Clone/Skrull/whatever the hell Coulson really is. Of course it could be that this is a fake out and he really is the Phil Coulson we know who really is just rusty, and the "he can never know" is about how he was brought back from the dead rather than what he is now. I'm guessing it was way more involved than just some crash cart.
I'm in the "third time's the charm" camp too. I like that they are now starting to delve into parts of the source material that isn't just a reference to one of the bigger movies, the character interactions are still fun and a bit more fluid than previously and I liked that they got a bit creative with the set when gravity got all wonky. Character development felt a bit hamfisted, but after reading Bob's take on Ward's backstory I feel much better about it.
Overall, I say the show is still solid and really starting to come into its own. Definitely a must watch for me this fall.
Overall, I say the show is still solid and really starting to come into its own. Definitely a must watch for me this fall.
Show is getting better, but it hasn't grabbed me yet. I'm a Whedon fan and that's carrying me through.
It's not a blind loyalty thing mind you, it's the fact that every show he's done save for Firefly has taken a good while to get good (Firefly was his most realized show right off the bat). And when they get good they get really good. Buffy The Vampire Slayer took a season and a half, Angel took til the end of season one, Dollhouse took five episodes.
Whedon writes slow burns. He inhabits his worlds with fairly stock characters, giving you time to get comfortable with the archetypes til he pulls the rug out from under you. I'm confident that even the most stereotypical roles in this show will end up heavily subverting expectations sooner or later. Fitz and Simmons aren't going to remain just the quirky twee info dumps. Ward won't remain just the stern straight man. Skye won't remain just the happy go lucky fish out of water with a 'tude. God I hope not anyway. She can be grating.
Just hurry up already, SHIELD. We've had enough shows from Whedon and Co. cancelled before their time.
It's not a blind loyalty thing mind you, it's the fact that every show he's done save for Firefly has taken a good while to get good (Firefly was his most realized show right off the bat). And when they get good they get really good. Buffy The Vampire Slayer took a season and a half, Angel took til the end of season one, Dollhouse took five episodes.
Whedon writes slow burns. He inhabits his worlds with fairly stock characters, giving you time to get comfortable with the archetypes til he pulls the rug out from under you. I'm confident that even the most stereotypical roles in this show will end up heavily subverting expectations sooner or later. Fitz and Simmons aren't going to remain just the quirky twee info dumps. Ward won't remain just the stern straight man. Skye won't remain just the happy go lucky fish out of water with a 'tude. God I hope not anyway. She can be grating.
Just hurry up already, SHIELD. We've had enough shows from Whedon and Co. cancelled before their time.