Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Review - Episode 12: Seeds

Johnny Novgorod

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Makabriel said:
Johnny Novgorod said:
So the answer to Coulson's mysterious resurrection is... he got resurrected? That's it? How underwhelming.
And no I don't think there's any reason for it other than "audiences like the guy".
Yeah, it's actually a lot more complicated than that.
Surgeons revived him and planted false memories. How's that a complicated explanation?
 

Jeroenr

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Nov 20, 2013
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why the 2 week break?
This is the second episode after the last break.

Ian Quinn first seemed genuinely surprised to get Coulson on the phone, and doesn't seems to know him.
But he does have a message from the Clairvoyant.

This makes me think that the Clairvoyant doesn't see/predict the future but is hyper aware of the present.
By eye-implant maybe, it wouldn't surprise me if Ian Quinn and/or other ring-leaders have one.
 

Winthrop

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So I'm thinking Skye is in some way related to the Clairvoyant. Like maybe his daughter or something. Just seems like what the show would do with her.
 

sneakypenguin

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In more interesting news Arrow the good superhero show that actually has villains and an interesting story (minus some CW drama)is back tonight.

AoS has just taken way too long to get rolling.
 

medv4380

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Feb 26, 2010
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I'd bet that Skye an Inhuman and is Luna the Daughter of Quicksilver. Since they used Blizzard who is also an Inhuman. No sense in utilizing one Inhuman if you're not going to use more in the near future.
 

grigjd3

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It seemed to me that Skye is being built as Summer Glau's character from Firefly. The whole show has seemed like a take on Firefly. The Bus == Serenity, Skye == River Tam, Coulson == Mal, May == Zoe. This one is just not nearly as good.
 

PuckFuppet

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Again an entire episode where Simmons did nothing of note and where the dialogue would have been more significant to the characterisation of many of the characters involved if she was dead.
 

WhiteFangofWhoa

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Lots of close attention to detail in this one. I like. Surprised you didn't comment on the shout-out to A.I.M. I didn't recognize his name but I figured Donny Gill might have been listening closely to that part of the lecture and hearing 'hai guiz if you don't like SHIELD there's other super-science acronyms in town you can be a part of'.

Also enjoying the slow reversal here as Coulson has drastically changed his standpoint from 'trust the system' after previous events while Skye goes the opposite way. We're not given any sort of itinerary but surely there must be a way to work in Skye going to classes at the SHIELD Communications Academy while also staying in contact with the team as an outside information source whenever some hacking needs doing.

Can't be sure if it was intentional, but the blue glow in Ian's eyes at the end might have been pointing to another eye implant. While I like continuity I hope this doesn't get to the point where every bad guy turns out to have one of those and is killed by the Clairivoyant if they are caught.

10 more episodes? How's that work? Not a TV buff but I thought the formula was 13 per season.
 

PuckFuppet

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WhiteFangofWar said:
10 more episodes? How's that work? Not a TV buff but I thought the formula was 13 per season.
22 per season is the norm, 13 is often the original order. AoS's first order was 8, extended straight to 22.
 

RedDeadFred

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May 13, 2009
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I like to check in every now and then to see how this show is doing. I stopped watching after the first 5 episodes because I hated the characters. I really wanted to like this show so I keep checking to see if it's any better. My most hated character getting super powers is not a good sign...
sneakypenguin said:
In more interesting news Arrow the good superhero show that actually has villains and an interesting story (minus some CW drama)is back tonight.

AoS has just taken way too long to get rolling.
Oh really? Didn't realize it was back tonight. I am extremely excited after the big reveals of the first half of this season. Arrow took a long time to start getting good too (not this long though and even before that it at least at glimpses of awesomeness) so I was still hoping that this show could pull off the same thing. After last night's reveal though, I think my hopes of that are pretty much gone.
 

TiberiusEsuriens

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Grenge Di Origin said:
So I watched the first episode and thought it was kind of self-assured, looking more pretentious than potential.

Can anyone tell me if the rest of the series is worth watching, without spoiling?
I think Movie Bob hit it on the head when he said it felt like an awkward Whedon show. Just like all his others, the first half of the season has been swing and a miss, but it has done so much world building that the second half of the season could get crazy.

I like Whedon's shows, but like Dollhouse and Firefly he never has an "OMG did you watch this one particular episode!?" (no I'm not saying Firefly is as bad as Agents) Once you put them all together though, it paints a really cool picture. The problem is that there is no established point to any of it yet. Bob was talking about how Gravitron existed, but I had completely forgot because the show doesn't care to remind us that by this point there are like 5 superheroes. Currently the show's reason for being is simply "because Marvel," so I'm really looking forward to a solid declared story arc. At least that's my opinion.
 

azriel2422

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Granted this is just my opinion... :)


I enjoy this show for what it is, and also enjoy the way they continue to build the over-arching comic book world. There has never been anything in television or movies like this before. It's like seeing the comic world come to life. Just like that comic book world, where the stories occasionally gave a nod to another superhero (Spiderman often gave nods to other superheros also in New York City for example), you can literally just pick up at any place in the series and you will get a bit of the big picture. But just like the comic world, if you want to truly understand you have to go back and watch (or read!) from the beginning. It's awesome

Personally, as a lifelong comic book fan I love the little fan service these movies and Agent of Shield throw in there. It's harmless, it doesn't take away from the story nor is it distracting to those that remain unaware of the inside information. I honestly don't even think the majority of people watching knew who Donnie Gill is or that he was Blizzard (a nice, not too obscure villian in the mythos).

I like Arrow as well, but there really aren't that many shows that are worth my time to watch. This is a great time in movies and television to get to see the comic heroes we grew up reading about in the way they were meant to be seen. Yeah it might not please everyone with every decision, but all in all I think the Marvel material has been handled pretty well. I'm even getting excited about the Ant-Man movie...and I've never liked that character (always thought he was a pompous douche-canoe version of Tony Stark).

This one gets my time at the moment, and there are still a few hours in the week left for the return of Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead ;)
 

faefrost

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So if we were to guess at likely comic counterparts to Skye, knowing what we know now?

Mantis - pre GoG, pre cosmic, pre green, original flavor Mantis from the Avengers. Half Vietnamese orphan with cosmic destiny. Ties to Zodiac.
Carmella Black Scorpion - secret daughter of AIM Scientist Supreme Monica Rapaccinni, this one matches up to sky in a lot of ways, and could have some interesting possibilities. She is a sub D list Marvel character who has only appeared a handful of times. She is of Asian extraction (Madripoor in the comic universe), she was a secret AIM experiment given over to adoption, only late discovering that her mother was the leader of AIM. She is a low level super powered SHIELD special operative, and her father is George Tarleton, later evolved into MODOK.
Nico Minoru, Runaways - unlikely. Magic using Japanese goth chick, daughter of super villains. Doesn't fit in well to AoS and Marvel has been talking up a Runaways project for ages. She would be crucial to that.
Jessica Drew, Spider Woman - unlikely. Too associated with Avengers these days. Too associated with tight spandex. Too convoluted of a backstory. If we see her it will be as an Avenger.
Zuzha Yu, Puck 2, Alpha Flight - half Chinese super powered daughter of the Marvel character Peter Dinklage should have been tapped to play, Alpha Flights Puck. Honestly a virtually unknown fairly un memorable character. Even the most die hard Marvel Zombies would be scratching their heads over this one. Unlikely that the writers of AiS have even heard of this character.

My 2c for leading contender. Carmilla Black, Scorpion. SHIELD Civilian special agent. AIM, MODOK, right age. If Skye is any existing ?Marvel character I would bet this one.

As far as a new character? Maybe Asgardian or more likely Vanaheim (Hogun's people from Thor movies)?
 

Lizardon

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Mar 22, 2010
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Mr. Q said:
One more guess for Skye: Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman. She has one of the most absurdly convoluted, over-retconned backstories in all of Marvel (at one point, she believed that she was actually a common spider evolved-up into a humanoid-looking form by The High Evolutionary) but it usually involves receiving powers at a young age somewhere remote. She's been both a S.H.I.E.L.D and HYDRA agent, and also has connections to The Skrulls ("Chitauri" in the movieverse.)
Wait, can Marvel Studios do Spider-Woman? I kinda figured that, with her namesake, it would tie into the Spider-Man franchise bundle now being held by Sony (for now). Or is she one of those characters, like Namor, is in a gray area on who owns the rights? Either way, good theory.

And now I'm curious to see you cover Spider-Woman in a future Big Picture episode. If only to see you try to make sense of a character with an origin way more confusing that Supergirl's.
Spider-Woman, unlike most "female version of male hero", actually has zero connections to Spider-Man. Her origins are independent of him and her stories are more associated with SHIELD and SWORD(organisation like SHIELD but deals with aliens).



Spider-Woman: All right. Looks like I'm a super hero again.
Iron Man: Well, Agent Drew...in the most P.C., non-threatening, professional way I'd like to say...
Luke Cage: Damn, girl.
Iron Man: Exactly
Spider-Woman: Thanks guys. How's your arm, Pete...?
Luke Cage: Oh yeah, you two know each other.
Spider-Man: Kinda
Luke Cage: Spider-Man, Spider-Woman... you guys related?
Spider-Man: No
Luke Cage: You gave her your powers or something?
Spider-Man: No. She's totally unrelated to me in any way.
Luke Cage: So she ripped off your name?
Spider-Man: Exactly
 

faefrost

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Oh and one or two Easter Eggs that I think Bob was too numb to realize with this episode. Which actually seemed kind of clever.

"Bucky Barnes", Skye didn't just pluck that name from the list of dead SHIELD people at random to plug Winter Soldier. I think we were meant to realize that Bucky was the first name on the list. Captain America's anti Hydra team from the second half of Captain America, First Avenger? That was the beginnings of SHIELD. Cap, Bucky, Dugan and the Commando's were the original "operations" section. Howard Stark was "science", Peggy Carter was "Intelligence". Bucky was the first SHIELD casualty. Steve Rogers was the second. At least that is sort of the implication from CA1 and Nick Fury's scenes in Iron Man 2.

Ian Quinn, he is starting to feel more and more a bit like a blending of the comic versions of Justin Hammer and (out of costume) Norman Osborne. Which makes one wonder where Victoria Hands loyalties lie, and whether we might see SHIELD become HAMMER?
 

Diddy_Mao

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Agents of Shield is a decent enough show, hurt largely I think by not being as large scale as the cinematic counterpart.
It's a fun show and worth watching, but I'm not going to pretend it's the next "must watch" anything.

That being said, they need to start wrapping up some loose threads PDQ. Shows like X-Files and Lost soured a lot of folks on the never ending mystery and I think Agents of Shield would do well to put a few more of it's cards on the table.


As for Skye's identity. I'm not familiar enough with Marvel minutiae to know if there's anyone that fits the bill but I'm going to assume that her powers will end up being some sort of Technomancy...Technokinesis...Technopathy?
She can "speak" to or control computers.

She has a throw away line pretty early on in the series where she says that computer science comes naturally to her, and that she never really "learned" any of it. Maybe it's nothing.

There's also been some speculation that "The Clairvoyant" is going to end up being The Mandarin. Or more specifically the leader of the 10 rings taking up the name after having AIM and Slattery make a mockery of his organization.
 

faefrost

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Lizardon said:
Mr. Q said:
One more guess for Skye: Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman. She has one of the most absurdly convoluted, over-retconned backstories in all of Marvel (at one point, she believed that she was actually a common spider evolved-up into a humanoid-looking form by The High Evolutionary) but it usually involves receiving powers at a young age somewhere remote. She's been both a S.H.I.E.L.D and HYDRA agent, and also has connections to The Skrulls ("Chitauri" in the movieverse.)
Wait, can Marvel Studios do Spider-Woman? I kinda figured that, with her namesake, it would tie into the Spider-Man franchise bundle now being held by Sony (for now). Or is she one of those characters, like Namor, is in a gray area on who owns the rights? Either way, good theory.

And now I'm curious to see you cover Spider-Woman in a future Big Picture episode. If only to see you try to make sense of a character with an origin way more confusing that Supergirl's.
Spider-Woman, unlike most "female version of male hero", actually has zero connections to Spider-Man. Her origins are independent of him and her stories are more associated with SHIELD and SWORD(organisation like SHIELD but deals with aliens).



Spider-Woman: All right. Looks like I'm a super hero again.
Iron Man: Well, Agent Drew...in the most P.C., non-threatening, professional way I'd like to say...
Luke Cage: Damn, girl.
Iron Man: Exactly
Spider-Woman: Thanks guys. How's your arm, Pete...?
Luke Cage: Oh yeah, you two know each other.
Spider-Man: Kinda
Luke Cage: Spider-Man, Spider-Woman... you guys related?
Spider-Man: No
Luke Cage: You gave her your powers or something?
Spider-Man: No. She's totally unrelated to me in any way.
Luke Cage: So she ripped off your name?
Spider-Man: Exactly
It gets even weirder. Spider Woman was specifically created to NOT be associated with the Spider-Man property. The same with SHE HULK. In the 70's Marvel had several TV licenses in production. Most well known was the Bill Bixby Incredible Hulk show (queue sad slow walking away music). But there was also a short lived Spider-Man show and an even shorter lived Captain America one. Marvel got wind that the Hulk producers were going to create a female hulk character, which could have given them rights to a female version of one of Marvels flagship characters. (This pre dating the modern practice of Marvel getting the rights to all derivative characters from the licensed movies and TV shows) . So Marvel being the geniuses that they are quickly Ms. pacman'd a good chuck of their line up. Just to be safe, get the characters in print, and block anyone outside from getting a claim. Hence the sudden surge of female themed new characters within a matter of a month or two. Spider Woman, She Hulk, Ms. Marvel (fearing some exposure from the old Shazzam Captain Marvel properties) . Dazzler also came out of that surge, but I think that was just a weird disco thing. Spider Woman and She Hulk were specifically designed to be distinct and separate licenses from their male counterparts. To insure that the TV shows would need to pay to use them as well. When Sony got the Spider-man movie rights. Spider Woman was specifically not part of it.
 

Makabriel

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Johnny Novgorod said:
Makabriel said:
Johnny Novgorod said:
So the answer to Coulson's mysterious resurrection is... he got resurrected? That's it? How underwhelming.
And no I don't think there's any reason for it other than "audiences like the guy".
Yeah, it's actually a lot more complicated than that.
Surgeons revived him and planted false memories. How's that a complicated explanation?
How about " It's more complicated than the rest of the Fanboy theories"? LMD? Clone? Pretty much all one dimensional. This idea has much more to it. We don't know why he was brought back. How he was brought back. The lasting implications of his revival. And surgeons didn't just revive him. He'd been dead for days. Something more brought him back.