Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

[Annihilus]

I never caught Fringe, but if they could get halfway to X-files they'd be doing great. What's amazing is that in the humongous world of Marvel, with the tremendous resources of Disney at their backs, they've managed to completely blow it and leave us without character, plot, or actors.

I think most fans of the movies were expecting an integration into the vast Marvel Universe (even the b or c characters) and they either have chosen to deliberately NOT do that (very poor choice, IMO), or they are doing it way too slowly (less poor choice, but still not great).

It also looks like they are taking a pseudo post 'Civil War' approach (a big storyline in the comics) where all vigilantes had to be registered with the government. Not sure I like that, if that's what they're doing.

 

[mooseontheloose]

Haven't caught it yet but friends who have tell me they dislike the fact that the show has chosen a very episodic nature of storytelling, centered around boring and unknown badguys (not even villains).

 

[Annihilus]

Haven't caught it yet but friends who have tell me they dislike the fact that the show has chosen a very episodic nature of storytelling, centered around boring and unknown badguys (not even villains).

No villains as of yet...but they set one up to appear down the road in yesterday's episode at the very end.

You are right, though...they are all unknowns as of right now. Hopefully that will change.

 

[ctpatsfan99]

Interesting that you guys are not finding it as well done as my 19 yr old appears to find it. Just curious if you think that is the age group they were aiming for?

I find it interesting but I was never into Marvel comics or the characters the way my son is. For me its one of those shows if it went off the air I would miss it but it is interesting and better than a lot of other cr@p that is on tv. Just my two cents.

 

[Annihilus]

Interesting that you guys are not finding it as well done as my 19 yr old appears to find it. Just curious if you think that is the age group they were aiming for?

I find it interesting but I was never into Marvel comics or the characters the way my son is. For me its one of those shows if it went off the air I would miss it but it is interesting and better than a lot of other cr@p that is on tv. Just my two cents.

Yep, I think that has a lot to do with it.

It's ok. Just not nearly what I was expecting given that it was spawned off of some of the greatest action movies ever made and based on one of the most storied fictional universes of all time. It's made very little use of the history that is available to it and is, as of now, just an average action show. The biggest disappointment for me is the squandered potential.

 

[king of kings]

Its starting to get boring to me. they need to do something. That makes it more interesting.

 

[mooseontheloose]

It's made very little use of the history that is available to it and is, as of now, just an average action show. The biggest disappointment for me is the squandered potential.

This is the exact reason I was hesitant about the show. I just don't trust network TV to do shows right these days, regardless of who works on the project.

Now if it were on AMC or HBO or something similar, I'd have been watching from day one.

 

[Captain Morgan]

The biggest disappointment for me is the squandered potential.

This!
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[anderson]

Yeah, I'm not so sure of Anderson now. He's the first person I've ever heard of that disliked Firefly.

We'll have to keep an eye on him now to make sure he's not a spy

Universe never worked for me and I still think Joss is a better comic book writer than anything.

 

[O_P_T]

This one very likely lost me already. Weak sauce characters, formulaic and poopy plot lines, and mediocre (at best) acting from 99% of cast led me to a decision that I'd rather be sleeping than watching that episode last night. The first 1-3 episodes of: The Walking Dead, Hell on Wheels, Justified, etc had me 100% roped in. This is the opposite, can barely hold my attention.

Well the scene with Skye running in the wet red dress held my attention.

 

[Annihilus]

Is anyone else still watching this show?

After a pretty slow start, the last few episodes have been pretty darn good. They are finally starting to dip in the vault of Marvel characters (Deathlok appearing this week). I am suspecting another in the next few episodes (I think Skye will be one of them).

The show's gotten a little darker and more serious, which has helped matters. I wasn't all that sure it'd end up making it, but I'm starting to think otherwise now. It still has it's issues, but it seems like they're starting to figure it out.

 

[Captain Morgan]

With everything this brand is planning in the way of movies... I'm happy to see it improving. There for a while I couldn't even make it through an entire episode. I really hope this show can succeed enough that there could be a spin off with a name brand character... pie in the sky? Probably but I can always hope.
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[O_P_T]

Is anyone else still watching this show?

After a pretty slow start, the last few episodes have been pretty darn good. They are finally starting to dip in the vault of Marvel characters (Deathlok appearing this week). I am suspecting another in the next few episodes (I think Skye will be one of them).

The show's gotten a little darker and more serious, which has helped matters. I wasn't all that sure it'd end up making it, but I'm starting to think otherwise now. It still has it's issues, but it seems like they're starting to figure it out.

Yeah, if only someone had predicted potential plot developments last October.

Have you ever watched Firefly on DVD, in the proper order?

I have, and the two hour pilot is comparable to what we've seen so far. One can just as easily claim that it was full of cliches and that their learning to work together as a team was the key plot element.

Simon treating Kaylee after she's shot by the "lawman", is but the most obvious part of that.

Yes, there was a bit more edge and unpredictability, Mal shooting said lawman comes to mind.

But you have to remember one key thing. Joss was working with a blank canvas in Firefly. Nothing about that universe existed before he wrote it.

The Marvel universe is already well defined, not only in movies, but in 60 odd years of comics.

So he has far less freedom to be unpredictable. He is constrained by those limits, to some extent.

Again, I repeat, the first few episodes of any show must introduce the characters, their universe and their relationships to the other characters. That's simply fundamental story telling.

Now that we know that the pilot agent doesn't want to fight anymore, we can explore that backstory more. To do that you had to establish two things: her skills and her reluctance to use them.

Now that we know the hacker chick is still spying for the other side, we can take that in two obvious directions. She can stay loyal to the other side or she can realize she shouldn't.

There is the whole question of agent Coleston's death and resurrection.

I don't claim to know the details of SHIELD in the Marvel universe, but there are plenty of opportunities to explore how much power they have and if anyone is taking it a bit too far with regards to civil liberties and sacrificing some to save others.

I have faith in Joss.

The first season of Angel was mostly forgettable, the middle few quite good, and the last season or two were epic. I still have the last four episodes on my DVR.

"Dibs on the dragon"

 

[Whaler53]

I still watch it and I enjoy it quite a bit. It's different, but I like it. It's developing some decent storylines and I'm interested in seeing where they go with it.

 

[Annihilus]

With everything this brand is planning in the way of movies... I'm happy to see it improving. There for a while I couldn't even make it through an entire episode. I really hope this show can succeed enough that there could be a spin off with a name brand character... pie in the sky? Probably but I can always hope.
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Marvel IS doing another TV series this fall, but not a SHIELD spin-off (and not a 'named' character)...they are doing a 1930's (I believe) show based on the female agent that appeared in the first Captain America movie...it actually sounded pretty interesting/fun (and she was a good character).

 

[Annihilus]

Yeah, if only someone had predicted potential plot developments last October.

I wasn't really all that concerned about plot developments and figured they were on track with those as a TV series in general. My concerns were that a.) they would not introduce/develop pre-existing Marvel characters (that was a big one for me) and b.) the writing was really sub-par in the first half of the season. It is obvious now that they intend to do at least a bit of 'a' and 'b' is shaping up nicely.

 

[O_P_T]

I wasn't really all that concerned about plot developments and figured they were on track with those as a TV series in general. My concerns were that a.) they would not introduce/develop pre-existing Marvel characters (that was a big one for me) and b.) the writing was really sub-par in the first half of the season. It is obvious now that they intend to do at least a bit of 'a' and 'b' is shaping up nicely.

My main point is what I put in bold.

If you look at Joss's body of work, it tends to follow the pattern I cited for Angel.

He will spend the beginning part of the series establishing who the characters are, and what they believe/think.

That's why I predicted the plot developments I did. They were pretty predictable for a Joss TV show.

Now that he's established just who these characters are, he can put them in situations where they face a conflict over their thoughts and beliefs.

Such stories make for good drama.

 

[Annihilus]

My main point is what I put in bold.

If you look at Joss's body of work, it tends to follow the pattern I cited for Angel.

He will spend the beginning part of the series establishing who the characters are, and what they believe/think.

That's why I predicted the plot developments I did. They were pretty predictable for a Joss TV show.

Now that he's established just who these characters are, he can put them in situations where they face a conflict over their thoughts and beliefs.

Such stories make for good drama.

I think that you think that I don't understand what you're saying... I do. What I'M saying is that they did a fairly crummy job of writing those setup stories. I'm a big fan of Whedon and have seen all of his stuff. IMO, the writing for the first ten episodes of SHIELD was pretty lame at best. Yeah, they were setting stuff up, but they could've done a lot better job of it.

It wasn't necessarily the content (though it was certainly part of it), but rather how it was laid out. The actors didn't have much to work with and it showed.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Marvel IS doing another TV series this fall, but not a SHIELD spin-off (and not a 'named' character)...they are doing a 1930's (I believe) show based on the female agent that appeared in the first Captain America movie...it actually sounded pretty interesting/fun (and she was a good character).

I thought she was good in that too.

I can't wait for Cap# 2. There is a rumor that Cap#3 was already given a green light.
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[king of kings]

They need to start doing a few marvels superheros . that people know in the series so far only Samuel l Jackson has made a cameo from the avengers movie.