Amph Agents of SHIELD Discussion Thread (and Slingshot)

Episode two was alright, not as good as the first. I think the production is kind of calling it in. I agree with Draconarius that the camera work left something to be desired. Some of the action scenes this week felt too forced and fake.

Sam Jackson was about the best thing about this week.

 

The show is good enough to watch as is. So was a lil show you might have heard about called Star Trek The Next generation. Is was ok, not great, but good enough for 3 seasons. Then after that it was incredibly well done.

So perhaps AOS is not great or awesome at the moment, but I like it and intend to keep watching. I liked that last scene in the 2nd episode a lot. There is good stuff to come not only strorywise but like ST TNG the actors will, hopefully, fall into their characters better.

 

I think the show's biggest flaw is that it's on a broadcast network. It's like ABC forgot that AOS is part of a multi-billion dollar franchise and think it needs to be dumbed down to reach a wider audience. There's a lot of potential in this show but they haven't even come close IMO.

 

I guess its nickname is "The Bus". Its call sign is SHIELD 616.

 

To be fair, we've only see two episodes, so I'm not reading very deeply into things yet, but I think the show needs an overt tie to the film canon. A reference to Extremis and a piece of HYDRA tech aren't enough. The point of the Avengers Program is that Avenger teams are only assembled when they are needed, the rest of the time, team members go their sepperate ways. A good way to do that would be to build a team around Black Widow and Hawkeye, in addition to Coulson. Hawkeye and Black Widow would be perfect candidates for a rapid response team, since you know they're only a pair of master assassins. And assassins make everything better. Then again, so does Scarlett Johanson in tight clothing.

 

Could be possible. Macchu Picchu appeared in Iron Man the Armored Adventures.

 

Not really. IMO, they're just a very blatant, very poorly thought, and very unsuccessful attempt to make the thing look 'cool'.

 

We are talking about a world where people use helicarriers.

Think of it.

Helicarriers.

 

Not to be confused with Starcraft, a world where people use hella Carriers.

 

Indeed. I'm rapidly beginning to think that we nerds are going to ruin our own good thing. The intensity of the whining about small stuff in this thread is indicative of a disappointing (but hardly new) trend I've seen with Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Comic movies and TV. It's like there's a race to see who can point out why it sucks the most. I mean, where's the excitement that we nerds used to get about seeing what we love brought to the screen?

I'm sorry, but I grin like a school boy when I see Lola convert into a hovercraft. I don't sit there and bitch about how it's "not original". None of this is. It's based on a ******* comic book. With a dude who flies around in an iron (well, titanium alloy) suit and a green goliath and a god. Oh. And helicarriers.

Can't we just enjoy it?

 

When a show is done well, such as in the case of Clone Wars or Battlestar, I get excited. I am also excited to see Marvel moving into live action television, but I do think that something is missing from AOS, I'm just not entirely sure what it is.

 

I think a lot can be blamed on the Internet for that. It's far easier to share disappointment and gripes along a high - speed connection than excitement.

 

Yeah, but since both are Avengers, that puts them out of the running. Not to mention that Black Widow is busy with what's going on in "The Winter Soldier". That's why it's about S.H.E.I.L.D. more than the Avengers.

To put it in the nicest of terms, it's been replaced by people's imaginations running away from them about what they think it should be, rather than accepting what is. Something I have been saying since I've started posting here with regards to the PT. This cynicism has become the default point for all things nerd. If there is a genuine fault, that's one thing. But complaining to complain, that's another thing.

 

Just watched the episode. LOADS of fun. Ward was annoying with his "can you repeat that in English?" - yes, you moron, how did you get to become a super-special agent without at least some elementary knowledge of science? Pay attention.

Agent May is now my favourite character after Coulson (only very closely, though).

The inflatable boat blocking the hole in the plane was ridiculous, but eh... I guess I managed to suspend my belief sufficiently.

I agree with Jello re: Mayan pyramids in Peru. Come on, people, do a bit of research.

 

I liked it. Much like The Avengers, SHIELD is just fun. I'm tired of the mopey, dark, superheroes of Batman and Arrow. I like something I can just enjoy. Does Skye's snarky Buffyesque way of speaking sound very similar to the Scoobie gang? Sure, but I like Joss' signature dialogue. I missed having it on my TV. I loved Skye's "Can I be Team Captain" and "See them proving the point I just made" lines.

The only character I don't like is Ward. He's a jerk. Which is fine, unless he suddenly becomes the romantic lead without first becoming, you know, not a jerk.

 

I got to say the two characters I like the most are Fitz and Simmons.

 

Coulson then.

 

I finally had occasion to see this show. While "disappointed" would misrepresent my expectations, it pretty well captures the emotional valence of my reaction.

The science experts on the show never struck me as particularly intelligent or tech-savvy. Despite this, it was very evident how hard they were leaning on the tropes that usually convey this expertise in action movies. Likewise, in the lead character's resurrection, I didn't get much of a sense that it was an actual mystery the show was inviting you to figure out. It did, though, contain lines that are often used to suggest such elements in an action film. Even the speech by the unemployed guy at the end of the episode, as on-the-nose as it was, seemed more like a belated attempt to infuse meaning into the whole affair than it did the final stroke of well-explored theme spread out across the entire sixty minute affair.

This pattern was my whole problem with the show. Everything seemed telegraphed, hastily sketched, and impressionistic. They were so busy trying to imply something and move on to the next point that they spent little time actually showing anything. All flash and little substance. If it's a little more excusable in a movie (and I'm not sure it is), I really don't like how it works in a television series. Is this the worst thing I've ever seen? No. But I didn't really enjoy it either. I'd like to see them slow down and engage with some of their material, if they hope to make a good show.