Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

[Alan Cross]

I think Breaking Bad has ruined me for network dramas. I'm an old school comic book fan. I LOVE Marvel comics and thought Avengers was really fun and well done. But this Agents Of Shield show is so badly cast. It's like everyone was chosen first for their looks and any acting talent was an afterthought. Though that's my complaint with most network casting. Even Coulson is just "okay." He worked all right in the small role he had in the Avengers. Here? I don't get all the adulation and love he usually seems to get from the fans. He's not bad. But the charisma level is a five or a six tops. And I agree with everyone complaining about lame plot points, security lapses, etc. And the special effects are cheap! For how cool some of the SPFX shots were in Avengers, in the second episode, the shots of the jet in flight look so CGI fake. Really disappointed with this show so far.

 

[Kevin Gossett]

It's a network television show, not a big budget summer blockbuster movie...

 

[Paul Andrew]

I think its been fun and snappy, if not especially deep. I like a little fluff now and then. Also, it's a SHIELD tv show. So it's got that working for it.

 

[The Mad Professor]

I'll just leave this right here...

Agents of SHIELD: 10 Theories For How Coulson Returned From The Dead

I personally like #6

For those that don't feel like clicking on the link, here is Theory #6:

There's a reason Coulson is Cap's biggest fan - it's because he always wanted to be like him, and in a way he became him. Those Captain America cards Coulson collected? What if the "vintage" set is his from when he was a boy during WWII?

Coulson's character fits all of the requirements Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) outlined in explaining to Rogers (in Captain America: The First Avenger) why he chose him to be the one man to get the super soldier serum, so what if Coulson got some other version of it later, after Cap disappeared (we know the military still wanted a super soldier serum. See: Hulk)?

Fun fact: the kid in Captain America: The First Avenger who sports the painted garbage can Cap shield is named Phil. The serum explains the slower aging.

Verdict: A great idea that's true to the character. Why it's being kept secret from Coulson we have difficulty explaining unless it's something SHIELD isn't proud of because something went wrong.

 

[third3ye]

It's like everyone was chosen first for their looks and any acting talent was an afterthought.

It's much worse than that, since I don't consider AoS to have an attractive cast. Skye and Simmons are cute but nowhere near good looking enough to pull in ratings. I don't know anybody who thinks Ward is a hunk. Compare this to Arrow's Stephen Amell where girls are flocking to that show just for him. AoS was meant to have quality PG content rather than CW's eye candy formula, but it's not even delivering that right now, that's why their ratings took a hit in Ep2 and that's why I believe Ep3 will take another hit in its ratings.

 

[CutThumb]

This was better. Not hugely, but it was an improvement. Weakest element still remains Skye, I just really don’t like way the shows written around her characters POV. Which is strange because I never had a problem with either Buffy or River (its just struck me is that why shes called “Skye” as a kind of in joke?).
It doesn’t seem as half as sharply written as it could be, which I put down to just how quickly its been produced. Everything seems feels so naff and under written ,like it was a fan fiction production . I rewatched a couple of episodes of Firefly for comparison and its just in a different class altogether(and I did note the exploding stick shockwave weapon from Serenity used here again).
Half the difficulty with the show is that Coulson is now centre stage. And that’s a problem. Whilst in the Marvel movies his straight talking everyman point of view “cameos” play extremely well against the absurdities of the other superhero characters, with normal people it just doesn’t have the dichotomy ,so his lines die. Like the “use a coaster” on the plane, with Skye it’s a fail, but if it that had been with the Hulk or Thor its hilarious. Here he’s just playing sensible Dad to a bunch of squabbling teenagers.
The scientists’ continue to be horribly annoying, like escapees from the worst Star Trek engineering course . Ming Na’s flat faced ninja robot is as characterless as Wards disaffected “I work alone” field agent. The stereotyping is just so disappointing. Its like Warehouse 13 more boring cousin.
Better, but still no Cigar.

 

[Alan Cross]

CutThumb nailed it. Well said. On the other hand, I remember I didn't like Buffy at first and I wound up becoming a huge fan of that show. So maybe it is fair to give it time.

 

[rodneyfaile]

Lots of great TV shows weren't so great in their first season or two. You just have to be good enough to not get cancelled, let the actors and writers get to know the characters and get rolling. Seinfeld wasn't really good until season 3 or 4. Also, you never know when a new character could join the main cast, or if one of the current ones might get killed off.

Agents of Shield is definitely good enough to keep me tuning in.

 

[The Mad Professor]

I know that a lot of people have an issue with Skye, and I do as well. However, my issue with Skye is not her character being annoying or whatnot.

My issue is that Skye looks like she spends more time in front of a mirror, in a nail salon, getting veneers, and laying in a tanning bed than she does sitting at a keyboard hacking away or posting messages online in the name of Rising Tide. She just looks way too girly-girl and fashionable to be believed as a hard core hacker/pseudo-revolutionary. She looks like she should be on a runway, not on the run. Someone who has erased their entire identity and CURRENTLY LIVES IN A VAN should not look like they sleep on 800 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets every night.

Granted, as a member of the male side of humanity, I appreciate her looks, but it is precisely her looks compared to the character she portrays that irritates me. I've no problem with her being cast, but her getting all dolled up and looking breathtakingly beautiful (as the actress does) should be one of those "hidden gemstone" moments, like they did with Beth Riesgraf in Leverage. Parker was a socially awkward tomboy, yes (to say the least), but when she got out of her break-in type outfits and into a dress and heels... whoa MOMMA!!!

 

[laserpistol76]

The Mexican Myan pyramid in Peru did make me cringe just a little...

That part got me as well.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

The stereotyping is just so disappointing. Its like Warehouse 13 more boring cousin.
Better, but still no Cigar.

It's nothing like Warehouse 13! I kept watching through the second episode of this show.

 

[Feraud]

It's The Breakfast Club with awful (or worse?) dialogue.. Apparently someone watched an old screwball comedy on TCM and thinks they can write snappy dialogue.
I cannot bear another episode of this god awful adolescent scripted garbage.

 

[MaddMaxx82]

Apparently someone watched an old screwball comedy on TCM and thinks they can write snappy dialog.

I had a similar thought while watching the first episode. I said to my wife, who was watching with me, that it reminded me of a poor attempt at replicating Abbott and Costello's old 'Who's on First' routine. Which can be funny when done right...



Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ronan87]

Saw the first one, it's ok but VERY corny. Why would they do that? Coulson is corny enough and it works perfectly in the movies (balances out). But make everything corny? Then it's a joke. In a bad way.

I was expecting something a bit darker but then again... the movies aren't dark.

So yeah... disappointed but i'll give episode 2 a try i guess...

 

[streetjudge79]

I thought Spartacus was off to a slow start as well and it ended up being an amazing show. I'll give Agents of Shield the same chance. One or two episodes won't detract me from watching the rest of it. I like Coulson enough to watch no matter how cheesy the other actors are.

 

[Swatze]

Ok, so I've read the complaints and I have to ask... y'all do know this is based on comic books, right? I mean, it's not reality. This is not NCIS or CSI or some such, it's a fantasy world. Have you read a comic book? Tons of tropes and unrealistic happenings. Let it go, kick back and enjoy the ride.

That said, I will agree with the thing between Ward and Skye being forced.

You realize that NCIS and CSI are fake, I want to say even more fake, nothing on those shows is real in any way, few TV shows aren't fictional.

 

[Ronan87]

Episode 2 = MUCH better.

 

[Noeland]

Well, for an 8pm show that is kid friendly I don't have a problem with it. It'll never have the production value or narrative intensity of a feature film, or a darker cable show. It's a network TV show and it feels like a network TV show. I was a little surprised the pilot wasn't a more compelling story given that Whedon co-wrote and directed it, but I'll give him a pass.

My biggest issue right now is the lack of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in uniform. I think they should have a contingent of security troops on the plane that are well armed and in uniform. Kind of in the style of the howling commandos would be cool.

But anyway, I'm not judging the show too harshly. Just trying to enjoy it.

 

[CutThumb]

The solution to Coulson's return possibly lies in a couple of the Marvel films and comics.
Firstly when you see Thor leave Earth with Loki the Tesseract is in a container that doesn’t look like it ever could have originated from Earth. Its of Asgardian design. And he didn’t seem to have it when we first saw him in “The Avengers.” So either he returned to Asgard after to get it, Odin sent it on later or another Asgardian could have returned by Odin to Earth (remember it seems to be a two person activated device)to deliver it (and for who that could have been read at the end).
What you don’t see at all in the film was any of the bargaining between Fury and Thor for the return of the Tesseract. I’ll wager the reamination of Coulson was part of the deal, as was Thors return to Earth if there was further trouble of an Asgardian nature. Hence Fury’s assured comment at the end that “they’ll return when we need them” and thus Thors reappearance on Earth in “The Dark World” and his quick dismissal to the council saying "I didn't argue with the God that did." Not like Fury to give in that easily is it?
It would presumably be VERY easy to take Coulson back to Asgard or do any number of journeys once the Tesseract was working again in a short amount of time, hell they transported an entire Chitauri army to Earth with it so an Asgardian, a couple of people or a medical team would make little to no odds.
Healing Coulson, presumably if they had him on life support or in suspended animation could happen a number of ways. There are the healing rooms on Asgard (as mentioned in Thor), there is Mjolnir that restores Thor to life in the first film and could be possibly used on others and there is Idunn, Asgardian goddess of immortality ,whose not yet appeared in the films, but whose apples keep Thor in tip top condition and health.
I some what suspect we will get to see the actual answer of how Coulson actually came back AFTER “Thor; The Dark World” as, if the trailers are to be believed, there are a couple of scenes that suggest Thor takes some severe damage, and Jayne looks like she might possibly be in need of a reamination as well.

 

[rodneyfaile]

I've read a lot of theories regarding Coulson. Several of them make sense, and would work nicely in the story, but I haven't found one that addresses Maria Hill's line in the pilot, "He can never know."