Anyone that has yet to watch
tonight’s episode of Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D., entitled ‘The Hub’, I suggest you do that now before reading
ahead. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.
Not a bad episode this week. It
was enjoyable, had some nice emotional moments to it, and progressed a few
storylines intriguingly well. Still, I think this series only amounts to a
solid B rating, and I think I’ve finally figure out why. It’s the music. The
music is constantly something out of a superhero flick, with rarely any
emotional down time, and that takes away from the series. All of Whedon’s other
series have been strong with the music in each episode, but this one doesn’t
seem to have that flare. The big, hero-type instrumentals are too over the top
for this series because they seem to be the only music this show falls back
onto. I know this is about a team of everyday kind of superheroes, but that
doesn’t mean the music can’t be real and gritty sometimes too.
There were a lot of good, funny
parts to this episode, something Whedon’s series always seem able to do, to
wrap the funny into the dramatic. I loved how Fitz got stuck with the cart
trying to go through the door; the guy is such a dorky character. I also loved
the one-sided conversation Coulson had with May. She’s just doing her tai chi,
and he’s basically just bouncing off his thoughts at her to work things out,
and it just worked perfectly. While I don’t quite think May is realistic a lot
of the time, I do like her and Coulson’s relationship. Also, the greatness of Simmons
and Skye working together was wonderful. Skye is such a delinquent kind of
influence on goody two shoes Simmons that it was fun to see this interaction
play out. And, finally, the scene where Fitz is fixing the power for the Marta
was just fantastic. This series is definitely capable of throwing funny moments
into scenes.
We also were given some steady
progression with a couple of storylines this series is developing. We learned
Skye was dropped off at an orphanage by a Shield agent that may or may not have
been her mother. Unbeknownst to her, the woman most likely ended up dead, by
the photos we were able to see. If the woman is dead, my money is on her having
been Skye’s mother; why else would she have dropped her off at an orphanage and
possibly ended up dead because of it? We were also able to see some development
with Coulson and his recovery in Tahiti. He’s finally beginning to question the
fact of his recovery, and trying to learn what really happened to him. The fact
that he wasn’t cleared, even though he is level 8 (which I’m guessing is the
highest level), makes him question things even more. I’m definitely excited to
see where they’re going with this.
One other thing to take note of, my
reasons for why I think I like Skye so much. She questions the system,
something I also like to do, and she’s inherently curious about everything,
also something that is true of myself. Through her eyes we are able to question
this whole system of Shield, and my problem is that I don’t trust the system,
so I like being able to watch Skye trying to figure things out for herself.
She’s a very smart girl, and through her eyes we’re able to get a different
approach to this world of Shield. We already have the matcho Ward who thinks
he’s great at combat, May who knows she’s great, Fitz and Simmons who don’t
want to question authority and are good at the science of the matter, and
Coulson, the leader of this little unit. Skye trying to find her place in this
unit, and how she fits in is something that is often true of anyone in society.
All in all, I like this show. I
won’t go as far as to say that I love it, or that it’s Whedon’s best work, but
it is a good show to watch. It still has some kinks to work out, but what series
doesn’t? The problem, I think, with trying to do something so large is that it
often needs to be rooted in reality, and I think this series has trouble with
that, and the audience can obviously see it. I do hope that this series is able
to work out its issues before the season ends, because I’d like to see it get a
second season. Buffy didn’t have the
strongest first season, but it was able to bounce back with a great second
season.
My rating: 7 out of 10.
Best Lines:
“How attached are you to your pinky?” – Ward asks Fitz.
“If I’m right, give me a signal by not saying anything.” – Skye
tells Coulson.
“Fitz! More boarder patrol.” – Ward shouts. “Already moving,
hurry up!” – Fitz yells back as he’s running.
“This is going to take a while.” – Fitz says. “You have ten
minutes.” – Ward tells him. “I thought you’d say five.” – Fitz replies.
“And I’m bloody starvin’.” – Fitz ends his speech. He really
does love his food.
Okay, I’m off to watch Trophy
Wife now, so check back soon for that. After that it’s The Originals and Supernatural.
Stay tuned.
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