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

AliasBot

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undeadsuitor said:
The twin tech geeks (I know they aren't related, but they have the same skin and hair and accents they might as well be) at least were entertaining enough to hold them up for a whole scene
Not the same accents. The guy's is Scottish, the girl's is English. Similar, but not the same.

...other people have said this already (not sure if they have on this thread, but definitely elsewhere), but it reminds me of an American Torchwood (also known as the show where I learned to distinguish different British accents); a side-act to the main series on a smaller scale, but capable of being compelling in its own right. (Torchwood peaked in its second season. Guess we'll see how SHIELD measures up?) Also glad that they didn't go in-depth into everyone's backstories to kick things off - new guy joins team, new guy meets team members, new guy doesn't know much about team members, stuff happens. That said, I'm hopeful for an eventual episode that goes back and covers how everyone joined the team, the way both Torchwood (Fragments) and Firefly (Out of Gas) did - if done well, they don't necessarily fall into the "look at all of this exposition" trap.
 

Dedwrekka

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AliasBot said:
undeadsuitor said:
The twin tech geeks (I know they aren't related, but they have the same skin and hair and accents they might as well be) at least were entertaining enough to hold them up for a whole scene
Not the same accents. The guy's is Scottish, the girl's is English. Similar, but not the same.

...other people have said this already (not sure if they have on this thread, but definitely elsewhere), but it reminds me of an American Torchwood (also known as the show where I learned to distinguish different British accents); a side-act to the main series on a smaller scale, but capable of being compelling in its own right. (Torchwood peaked in its second season. Guess we'll see how SHIELD measures up?) Also glad that they didn't go in-depth into everyone's backstories to kick things off - new guy joins team, new guy meets team members, new guy doesn't know much about team members, stuff happens. That said, I'm hopeful for an eventual episode that goes back and covers how everyone joined the team, the way both Torchwood (Fragments) and Firefly (Out of Gas) did - if done well, they don't necessarily fall into the "look at all of this exposition" trap.
Shows occasionally have to do low budget clip and backstory episodes that take place entirely on set in order to make up for higher-budget episodes that include things like, say, exploding buildings. So, it's pretty much a given.
 

Cody Holden

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sleeky01 said:
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>

[/QUOTE]

Well, read what S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for on each logo, and I think you'll find your answer.
 

search_rip

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I'm already thinking that Coulson really died (and not just the few seconds they talked about in the show) and "the new Coulson" is either 1) A robot/AI with fake memories or 2) A clone made with tech that implies some level of genetic memory so he can remember everything he was before the original's dead...
 

AliasBot

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Dedwrekka said:
AliasBot said:
undeadsuitor said:
The twin tech geeks (I know they aren't related, but they have the same skin and hair and accents they might as well be) at least were entertaining enough to hold them up for a whole scene
Not the same accents. The guy's is Scottish, the girl's is English. Similar, but not the same.

...other people have said this already (not sure if they have on this thread, but definitely elsewhere), but it reminds me of an American Torchwood (also known as the show where I learned to distinguish different British accents); a side-act to the main series on a smaller scale, but capable of being compelling in its own right. (Torchwood peaked in its second season. Guess we'll see how SHIELD measures up?) Also glad that they didn't go in-depth into everyone's backstories to kick things off - new guy joins team, new guy meets team members, new guy doesn't know much about team members, stuff happens. That said, I'm hopeful for an eventual episode that goes back and covers how everyone joined the team, the way both Torchwood (Fragments) and Firefly (Out of Gas) did - if done well, they don't necessarily fall into the "look at all of this exposition" trap.
Shows occasionally have to do low budget clip and backstory episodes that take place entirely on set in order to make up for higher-budget episodes that include things like, say, exploding buildings. So, it's pretty much a given.
Yeah, I have no illusions as to why they happen, but I thought those two were very good examples of making a quality episode from that starting point (maybe I just like that type of origin story, who knows). At least they didn't resort to hour-long clip-shows like Stargate SG-1 did at least once a season (great show, but they loved their filler).
 

Ariseishirou

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I found it completely underwhelming. And most of the original characters were awful. Then again, it was a pilot, so I'll give it a few more episodes to catch my interest.
 

CrazyGirl17

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I liked it, but I might have to give it a few more episodes to really sink in. Also, the theories about Coulson's involvement are starting to sound very interesting...
 

Jaebird

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I was left feeling okay with the pilot. Can't say that I can name off any of the characters who are not named Agent Coulson or Maria Hill. I guess Sky was somewhat memorable, if slightly annoying; but not quite as annoying as the two techies. I was really, really hoping that the super-powered freak of the week was going to be Luke Cage, but I guess we're going to have to wait and see any for any actual Marvel characters to show up later on (a la Smallville).

Still expecting them to reveal that Coulson is an LMD (Life Model Decoy). Why else would Stark mention that classic Marvel trope in the Avengers movie? Cute reference? Or, FORESHADOWING! (&#9834;Dun dun DUNNNNNN!!&#9835;)
 

Nion

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My main problem with the episode is Ward being kinda bland and spineless. His new boss injects him with a truth-serum and he doesn't seem to mind at all.
 

Jaebird

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Nion said:
My main problem with the episode is Ward being kinda bland and spineless. His new boss injects him with a truth-serum and he doesn't seem to mind at all.
Unless I'm mistaken, he did appear to be disoriented from the serum, which could imply that it was suppose to relax the subject (and we see him passed out later). I do recall him being very annoyed by this, but by then he was already succumbing to the effects.
 

JSF01

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My biggest complaint is that it was too short, and I don't mean that in a good way. I might be wrong but must shows similar to this (at least that I have watched) usually have something like a 1 1/2-2 hour pilot (SG-1, warehouse 13, alphas, farscape...) Being only an hour really made every thing seem rushed. There was really no good introductions to the characters. Take Melinda May for example Obviously it is implied that that there was some mission or something that went wrong. It's also implied that she is in some way famous or infamous within the agency. That should mean that other characters would probably know about the "event" in question with the secret being there is more to the story. I feel as though there should have been a reference to the event, to at least give us an idea of why she is acting that way. I guess the best way to describe it is that it's like receiving an invite to a party, but when you show up all the people their all know each other and chatting amongst themselves, and no one is really bringing you into the conversation.


As a side not I do not believe that Coulson is a LMD. The shows creators have constantly been stating that this show is about "average" people in a world with super power related things and part of the appeal of Coulson was that he was an everyman. To have Coulson turn out to be a robot would kind of take away from that premise unless they are planning on dropping him from the show. So my bet is he is either a clone or some magical item brought him back.
 

Mr. Q

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I enjoyed the first episode. I liked the smaller reveals that there is more to Coulson than even he suspects. Hope that the rest of the season will be top notch while integrating itself into the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Plus I'm curious as to who is behind the centipedes used in the pilot. Could be A.I.M. picking up where it left off in Iron Man 3 or it might be the Leader briefly seen in The Incredible Hulk. Perhaps both.
 

Mr. Q

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sleeky01 said:
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>

 

shiajun

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I liked the episode but it wasn't incredible. I wante dto feel something like the pilot episode from Lost. It doesn't matter that Lost went o crap 2.5 seasons in, the pilot is nothing short of great. SHIELD has a good episode, leaves tiny bread crumbs all over, but didn't grab me as intensely. I love Agent Coulson's character to pieces, and Skye could work. Fitzsimmons is cute, but they have to work a little to make them feel more believable. Agent May I liked, reminded me of Black Widow in a way. The sore point for me is Agent Ward, who seems competent but bland. It's his acting, not really the character. I hope Maria Hill keeps chiming in every so often to keep the link to Nick Fury's management more present.

I somehow dont' want Coulson to be a robot. It may tie in lore-wise, but I think it would just kill the character.
 

Yojoo

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Storm Dragon said:
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.
Good catch! I didn't think too much about it, but now that you mention it there's nothing in Coulson's character history that would indicate he'd be capable of that move. Others got hit by the door, after all. It definitely speaks to something being new about Coulson.

Anyway, I was pleased with the pilot. Good humor, dialogue reminiscent of Avengers (unsurprisingly), and the characters felt more natural than they had a right to be compared to other, similar shows. My only complaint is that much of the length of the pilot was taken by introducing the new characters, which crimped the potentially interesting story. I would have preferred to have a later episode dedicated to it rather than it being part of the pilot. With so many links to the films in the Caterpillar technology, I would have liked to see more time dedicated to exploring it.
 

Yojoo

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undeadsuitor said:
Yojoo said:
but now that you mention it there's nothing in Coulson's character history that would indicate he'd be capable of that move.
Actually, he's always been hinted at being a super agent under his nice face

I mean, why else would he work directly with Fury?

Plus this [www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAMgkpQYOSQ]
I never got that impression. He's probably capable, but if he were "super" on some level, I would have thought we'd have seen something like that in the films.

I've never seen that short. Is it canon?