Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Review - Episode 1: Pilot

[sleeky01]

I am not completely sold that Agent Coulson will turn out to be a LMD robot. It makes sense, but I felt the repeated use of term "magical" hinted at less of sci-fi twist but a magic/fantasy one. However even that seems unlikely because this version of the Marvel universe has largely ditched magic, converting most of the magic things to super advanced technology.

Perhaps. But with the plan of Doctor Strange becoming the hub in Phase 3 that Iron Man was for Phase 1, I tend to lean to the introduction of magic coming into the marvel TV/movie universe in the future.

I like to keep in mind Arthur C Clarke's third law of prediction: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Marvel could take that idea and run with it.

 

[Roggen Bread]

Anyone else think that the characters are rather boring and one-dimensional?

The guy is "the lone wolf who needs to learn the meaning of team", melinda may is "the traumatized", skye is "the fangirl", the engineer dude is "the nerd", the biochemist is "the female nerd" (cant really put her into something), coulson is "the story hook".

However, I REALLY liked coulson's character. Good developement and believable.

The ending bothered me. In the nick of time they were able to create the magical anti-serum-shit saving kinda everyone (and "shooting" peterson, which I did not understand, because the way I understood this, he had himself under control by being calm now. If I am wrong - please explain). And with the way all of the guys were laughing in the end... close up laughing guy #1, close up laughing guy #2, close up laughing chick #1 [...]. In my opinion this was a typical NCIS scene.

The kind of scene that is the reason I don't like NCIS.

(I realize the NCIS comparison has been done before. Also it has been stated before the ending is super cheesy.)

Was entertaining enough to keep watching though.

 

[nekoali]

The 'Night Night' gun was Chekov'd in earlier when they were loading the plane. A project Fitzsimmons had been working on for a while. And then they showed them working on it earlier as a way to bring down Richards non-lethally. I dunno, it seemed like a macguffin that wasn't needed... Couldn't they have just used a taser or tranq dart guns? Those were also SHIELD issue in the comics, as I recall. It could be argued that they didn't know or think ordinary take down methods would work on Richards, with all those super-chemicals in his system.. but the same can be said for the Night Night Gun, plus the fact that it was completely untested and rushed to completion.

And as mentioned, Coulson had already done a very good job of talking Richards down, to the point he was pretty much about to turn himself in when Ward shot him. It seems necessary, and I really would have liked to seen Coulson dress Ward down for taking the shot when he didn't need to.

I do agree with other people though, that this show seems a very strong mix between Men in Black, X-files, NCIS and Warehouse 13, mixed together and dipped in Marvel Universe sauce. And I am totally okay with that, because I love all of those elements separately.

 

[Redd the Sock]

I need some more to be totally sold. The comic fanboy in me isn't seeing enough to not entirely dismiss the show as something given a Marvel comics coat of paint to cover the original series they pitched, but the standard fan likes that original idea, even if it's a bit cliche at this point.

Coulson is kind of a sticking point however. It makes some upcoming plots a bit obvious (of course there's corruption in SHIELD if you need an above accountability group led by your most idealistic agent) as well as the "he can never know" bit, pretty much telling you he will at some point and it won't go over well (begging the question, why did you do whatever in the first place). Being more cynical, I'm going the opposite route: Coulson is Ultron. This episode already had someone nearly become the villain while thinking they're a hero, and as cliche as it is, it makes more sense that Coulson would become disillusioned at learning the full truth about himself and SHIELD and go batshit than a lot of theories about Stark's butler or robot arm.

I don't expect it to happen as movies where you have to have seen a show, or direct to DVD thing don't go over well, but that's my theory.

 

[Souplex]

My guess is that Tahiti code for Valhalla?

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

Unless I missed ot, this should come wit a spoilers tag Bob

 

[Adamantium93]

I like to keep in mind Arthur C Clarke's third law of prediction: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Marvel could take that idea and run with it.

I'm pretty sure they already ran with that in Thor. Natalie Portman talks about Thor's magic and he says that in his world there is no difference between science and magic or something to that effect.

Yeah, I was expecting Luke Cage and I'm kinda disappointed that they didn't go there with it (although I don't think he's been released from SHIELD yet so maybe he'll get an alternate identity or something.)

As for the show...seems good enough for now. Not great, not amazing. Just good. Alright. Ok. But this is also the first episode, meaning we'll (hopefully) get to see it grow. I think it has potential.

Also, shout-out to Shepherd Book (don't remember the actor's name) making a cameo as a SHIELD doctor.

Looking forward to episode 2.



EDIT: Also, with Maria Hill running around, you know some shady government antics have to be brewing. And seeing a supernatural show that doesn't go whole hog on government conspiracies is a refreshing change of pace.

 

[Quiotu]

The show had me as soon as Coulson said the best line in the episode in the first ten minutes.

'Under 'people skills' she drew a... I think it's a little poop, with knives sticking out of it. That's bad, right?'

 

[sleeky01]

Just one nit-pick. Why the different style of shield logos?

<img src=http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/comicsalliance.com/files/2010/05/marvel-films-shield-logo.jpg>

[img src=http://hd.wallpaperswide.com/thumbs/marvel___the_avengers_shield_logo-t2.jpg>

 

[Necabo]

One word: Hovercar!!!

more words;
I liked it, good pace and nice characters. Nice to see that it ties in with the movies and all, that promises good things for the upcoming Marvel roster

 

[Darth_Payn]

Consider me hooked. I like this show already because it opens up the world of the MCU by showing it from the perspective of the "normal people" (as normal as you can get for agents of a government agency). I have a wait-and-see attitude to the characters because it's only been the pilot episode and they need room to grow, but I like the banter and antics of "FitzSimmons" and Coulson's just so damn cool. The shout-outs to classic elements from comics S.H.I.E.L.D. are just gravy, and I dare ANYONE to not crack a smile at how Lola the car [spoilers] can freaking fly! [/spoilers]

As for the whole X-Files "Government Conspiracy" vibe going mainstream: I don't know if the X-Files were the first to do that, but the sure made it popular to suspect "da gub'mint" is behind EVERYTHING bad in the world. Soon everyone else jumped on that bandwagon, and this day and age it sounds especially retarded. Conspiretards like the Truthers and anti-vacciners are the Vocal Minority, the small bunch who make up for their lack of numbers by the volume and frequency of their paranoid rants, and I just want them to shut the hell up. If shows, movies, and video games that paint the Government as the bad guy think they're being subversive (when it's more or less the norm now), then the main characters of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. being the good guys is subversive in its own right, and I thank them for it.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

I've seen a lot of people saying its decent but pretty bland. Judgments on only a pilot count for pretty much nothing though. I hope it develops a serialized story ark and doesn't turn out to be just a standard bad guy of the week show.

Edit after watching:

It was actually pretty good. The jokes were funny and not over used. The plot was good and the characters are better than people say. My point still stands that it may need to be serialized to stay interesting in the long term.

 

[GladiatorUA]

The ending bothered me. In the nick of time they were able to create the magical anti-serum-shit saving kinda everyone (and "shooting" peterson, which I did not understand, because the way I understood this, he had himself under control by being calm now. If I am wrong - please explain).

I doubt that the shot fixed it all. Just knocked Mike out reliably enough that he doesn't explode in the foreseeable future. It was mentioned that calming him down will only delay explosion for couple of minutes. And I don't think they came up with the cure on a spot. So they found a way to temporarily stop extremis from exploding.

I enjoyed the pilot, except for the 3,000 lbs of flying, red cheese at the end. ;P

That was the reference to Captain America. Howard Stark promised flying cars and here they are.

While that's a nice sentiment, Coulson stopped being that naive agent a couple of movie ago. Like Stark, he's been changes by the events of the movies.

I don't think Coulson ever was a naive agent in MCU movies. His behavior is aimed to put people who he is interacting with, at ease. No threat, no ego, no usual loveable jerk behavior etc. He doesn't look exceptional but he gets shit done.
I assume that he, at one point, was more of an active agent like Ward. But he got older and wiser and chose more of a management role instead of a regular soldier.

It seemed like a pilot had been longer, and some stuff got cut out. All of the cheese stayed in. I love cheese, but there was too much of it.

 

[Storm Dragon]

So did anyone else notice Coulson dodging that car door that was thrown at him near the end? The show didn't draw any particular attention to it, it took barely a second, but he demonstrated what seemed like superhuman reflexes and agility there.

 

[Remus]

"Fitzsimmons" made me think of the Luteces from Bioshock Infinite. I wonder if maybe they tried some sort of biotech experiment on themselves.

I was just about to say this. They even have that style, haircolor, and look similar enough to pass for "siblings". Creepy creepy siblings. Just another backstory looking to be exploited.

 

[prpshrt]

I liked it. Well done show. Although, didn't Tony Stark stabilize Extremis or w.e its called in Iron Man 3>

 

[Winthrop]

Thought it was a little slow, and i hate the lab techs and the crime scene stuff, they seemed like they were stolen out of ncis were they "are" a character but have none, although i hate ncis.

Was also hoping that August Richards was going to be luke cage so that we could finally get a black superhero from comic book continuity. His powers would be easy to do on a tv budget so i just feel they missed out on that to make up more of their own bland characters. (To my knowledge)

I was so hoping that at the end they'd give him a new identity, they'd give him his ID and he'd say something like "Luke Cage, huh?"
I guess they still could; there's plenty of opportunities to work the character back into the show.

I really liked it, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more. I'm with you especially on the last bit, Bob, on just how much the show will deal with the Fallout of the movies as they happen. Are we gonna see the team go to London and deal with people finding Dark Elf weaponry or something? The possibilities are very exciting!

Yeah when Skye deleted all records of him existing I thought she would give him a new identity and that it would be Luke Cage. Would have made sense and with the scene having him change identities I was sure it would happen.

 

[Dedwrekka]

Worth pointing out that there were blatant asides to the movies. In fact there's one at the end that's the kind of aside that earns loud shouts of "Neeeeerd". Lola to be specific. The reason why it can hover is because of Stark's experiments with hover cars, which is a reference to the movie Captain America, which is a reference back to the Iron Man movies' repulsor technology. The joke "people think new means better" is a reference back to the fact that Stark had made a hover car back when it was still considered a good idea.