Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1.05 Review: Broken Trust

For any that have yet to watch tonight’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., titled ‘Girl in the Flower Dress’, I suggest you vacate the premises until such time that you have done so. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

What Skye has been holding back finally came to a head in this week’s episode, where her hacker boyfriend sold information to the group known as Centipede. This definitely happened earlier than I would’ve expected. I’m not sure if it’s much withheld information when we’re given the answers three episodes later. The writers probably would’ve been smarter to hold this to the halfway point of the season, but then I’m not privy to their season long plan.

This is definitely a solid B series. The writing isn’t as great as it could, the villains not as interesting as I’d like, and the progression is a little too rapid for my taste. Plus, half the time the characters are very superficial in their acting; they don’t feel like fully developed people. Maybe that’s the acting, or maybe it’s the writing, but the only one to show emotion other than anger that is too subtle to really be able to see was Skye. She’s kind of the best thing this series has going for it right now.

For a Joss Whedon production, I have to say I’m disappointed with how this series is turning out. Usually his work is so great at developing real people, real villains, real emotions, but I’m not getting much of that here. Maybe he’s just not as able to be as hands on with this project as he was for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Dollhouse (I’ve tried watching Firefly, but I’ve never been able to get into it), but he’s usually great at picking a team out to work on his projects, so I really don’t know what’s going on here. This certainly has the superhero kind of feel to it, but even in the Marvel films, real emotions gripped at the characters, and we were really able to dissect who they were in a two-hour span. We’ve had five hours (okay, minus commercials) with this series, and haven’t gotten much. Little pieces to little mysteries solved, but almost no big picture to really try and grasp at.

When Skye’s hacker boyfriend and Ward both basically said the same thing, they gave each other a look, which I suppose could be read as jealousy, but there wasn’t enough of that to really be able to see. Fitz also complaining about not knowing all these things about Skye to Simmins, it was like he also had a bit of a crush on Skye, but again there was no depth to it. Whedon, really, get your act together on this project; I have higher standards for you.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“And I like board games.” – Ward makes an offhand comment.

“Awe, crap, they gave him a name.” – Coulson mutters about the name Scorch – which I have to say was a terrible choice, but then I suppose the Torch is already taken.

Okay, I’m off to struggle through New Girl, which I’m very close to calling it quits on, a good few seasons earlier than I gave The Big Bang Theory. After that it’s Trophy Wife, The Originals, and Supernatural, again not necessarily in that order. Stick around.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1.04 Review: Everybody Deserves a Second Chance

Anyone that has yet to watch tonight’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., titled ‘Eye Spy’, then now would probably be a good time to do that. As always, this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Certainly not the best episode that I expect this series will produce, but it was an interesting one. I really liked getting to see Skye and Ward’s chemistry, and then to see – to put it like Skye – AC and Skye bouncing off each other. It’s easy to say Skye is my favourite character in this series. She’s such a funny, bubbly, dorky, smart girl that just works well on camera.

The way this episode began, I was a little weirded out by the suited men in masks. It almost felt like the opening to one of those dance movies. Don’t get me wrong, those movies can be quite entertaining, but I didn’t understand the need to include that in an episode of this series. Thankfully, that was explained away in a nice little way, so no big issues with that.

There were some great moments to this episode, though, that were rather comedic. I absolutely adore Fitz. His love for snacks, shown at the end of the episode and in his desire to have them in the van, was great. I also really loved when he did that yes fist motion in the van, when he learned he wouldn’t be going out on the op, just staying in there. The name they gave the van was also perfect, short bus suited it perfectly, particularly because Coulson didn’t seem to like it, which was funny in and of itself. It was also really great to learn Ward is ticklish behind the ears, so randomly funny. And a number of lines were quite hysterical in this episode as well.

While I don’t think this series will ever win valued awards, it is a fun little show to watch. Some interesting topics are broached in regards to the human condition, though not always done to the best of their abilities. This show seems to favour lighter tones, rather than the grittier temperaments. My issue with that is that darker, serious topics sometimes need a bit more drama to them, and I haven’t seen that quite concretely in this series. Don’t get me wrong, the characters sometimes come across that way towards each other, and the situations, but the grandeur to the rest of the aspects of this show – like music, lighting, cinematography – seem to take away from those real moments. It very much feels like a superhero movie, where the music swells and you know the hero will make it out alive. Perhaps that’s the difference between this series and Joss Whedon’s other series’, before he was never afraid to push the envelope, to kill a valued character just to show that anyone could be killed. So that needs some work this time around.

This episode definitely added a bit to the mystery surrounding Coulson. The fact that Akela had noticed Coulson had come back too different than would be reasonable for the situation, helped to produce alarm bells regarding the mystery. I continue to question what they did do to him. I just hope that mystery isn’t prolonged for too long that people begin to lose hope that it will ever be solved, and simply give up on watching this show.

There are still many questions I have, other than the one about Coulson. Who is Skye? Who did she have to erase from technological existence? Was it her identity? Is she still working for the Rising Tide? From next week’s promo, it seems like she is, but wasn’t that resolved in last week’s episode? What was the Cavalry? What happened that made May dislike combat so much? So many questions, not enough answers.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“She stop saying bang when she pulls the trigger?” – Coulson asks Ward, regarding Skye’s training.

“I owe you one.” – Coulson. “More like three.” – May.

“Bang?” – Skye mutters, right before the van is hit.

“Even though she tried to kill me, and I kind of hate her guts.” – Skye says, regarding Akela.

“Help.” – Ward mutters weakly, after learning he’s supposed to seduce the guard.

“Which way’s South?” – Skye questions, after Ward tells her to meet him South of the building.

All right folks, I’m off to watch New Girl, Trophy Wife, Supernatural, and The Originals next. Stay tuned.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1.02 Review: Fighting the Common Enemy

Let’s get this out of the way, if you have yet to watch Tuesday night’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., entitled ‘O-8-4’, then please exit the premises immediately. As always, my blog may contain some amount of spoilers in reference to that episode, as well as the episode before it. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

As I expected reviewing last week’s pilot episode, there was a noticeable dip in the budget, evident in the quality of this episode. I understand that they are now working with a lower regular episode budget now, rather than a pilot episode budget, but when a series like this strives for greatness, there are tricks around lower budgets.

Along those lines, I don’t think this episode was quite as good as last week’s. These characters are just beginning to get to know each other, but their lack of believing in each other’s talents is disheartening, when you take into account the events of the last episode. Not only that, but the character development for some of them – particularly May – was somewhat lacking. I need to get to know these characters, and I’m only being given hints to who they are, that needs to hit a deeper level.

One of my least favourite lines in this episode was when Skye asks, “What do we got here, guys?” Not only is there terrible grammar in that statement, but the way she says it just isn’t convincing to me. The tone to that question just feels like she doesn’t really care to know very much. Last week she got all excited over superheroes, but this week she could care less about an unknown object. Uneven acting, that definitely needs to be worked on.

Similarly, I wasn’t so fond of May in this episode. When she first tells Ward not to call her the Cavalry, I don’t really feel that she doesn’t want to be called that. There’s something about that term that reminds her of a bad past, but I still need to see it in her. She’s certainly badass, and much better on in the episode when she tells the others they talk too much, but early on in the episode she isn’t quite convincing as her character.

On that note, what is it with this Cavalry business? I’d really like to know what that’s all about. And why does May hate being reminded of it so much? I’m picking up that something bad happened, from where she was recruited from, but why not deal with it? It certainly makes her character a bit more interesting, but I’m still not feeling it completely.

These are definitely intriguing characters, but they need to be developed a great deal. I’m not seeing a full depth to most of them. It comes out at moments, but it’s not always evident in each character. To me, it’s like they aren’t entirely rounded out characters with a full set of emotions. There are little bits of emotion from time to time, but it’s like they are just surface emotions, and nothing much deeper. The subtle acting cues and facial changes really need to be worked on in this series. Yes, it’s about everyday heroes, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need to feel like real people. Show the world anyone can be hero in their own right.

Ironically, this week’s episode of S.H.I.E.L.D. had a bit of a parallel with a show on the same night Trophy Wife. In that episode, it was about finding her place as the new stepmom, in this show it was about Skye kind of trying to use her talents and find out what her place in this group is. It was an intriguing similarity that I found to be perfectly fitting.

Yet another parallel, or possibly an Easter egg, to the movies was the mention of uniting the group together by having them fight a common enemy. Although it was a clever idea to throw into the episode, the fact that they’d thrown in a heavy amount of Easter eggs in the last episode, made it unnecessary to include it just yet. Especially with the cameo at the end. Plus, I’d have liked to see this group struggling to become a unit for a few episodes before it strengthened because the audience isn’t really able to see them trying to work out their issues so much. Throwing in a common enemy to unite over was a little premeditated being that we haven’t quite seen the faults of each character fully yet, and it’s only the second episode. This series needs to try to withstand storylines.

A couple little tidbits that intrigued me. One was the fact Fitz was right, the 0-8-4 was somewhat manufactured by the Germans. The other was the little Chuck move, where May breaks her wrist – although in that series it was thumb – to get out of her restraints. Those were nice little hurrah moments for those characters.

From future episodes, I do expect a little more effort going in. This is a Joss Whedon series, run by a crew that has worked with the man on numerous projects, I expect more out of this than a regular series. Although, I am slightly excited by the previews for next week, getting to see Ward and Skye work together, and seeing chemistry between characters.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Best Lines:

“Do you need anything else before I go check on the device fueled by evil that’s sitting in our cargo hold?” – Coulson.

“See them proving the point I just made?” – Skye. I really liked the way she said this to Coulson, her tone was remarkably spot on.

“And Fitz, you are a rocket scientist.” – Coulson, trying to get the crew to get it together.

“Talking to me about authority?” – Fury rhetorically asks himself.

“Yeah, we’re going to have to kill the fish tank.” – Coulson radios in, after having to fix up his plane just six days in.

Okay, I’m sorry I didn’t post this yesterday, but I was too tired after watching the episode, so here it is now. I’m off to go watch Nashville, then it’s the real excitement, Revolution! Stay tuned.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1.01 Review: You Don't Have to be Super to be a Hero

Let’s get this warning out of the way first. For anyone new to my reviews, and for all those that have forgotten (although I don’t know how you could), this is the point where I suggest that any of you that have yet to watch Tuesday night’s series premiere of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that now would be the point to turn away. As with all my reviews, there is a chance that there are spoilers below. THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Can I just start by saying how awesome that opening was? The series introduces us first to this down-on-his luck guy with a son that’s fascinated with the superheroes that were introduced to the world in completeness in The Avengers. And then there’s an explosion, and we learn he’s more than meets the eye; he’s actually a superhero himself, of some sort. I’m incredibly happy to be introduced to this world on TV with a Whedon alum. The first thing I did was yell Gunn when I saw the promo to this series. I know he won’t be sticking around, but I hope the guy can pop in every now and again.

From watching the entire episode, I’m a little anxious about whether or not they can keep this show up, cost wise. This was a pilot, and those are notorious for having more money spent on them, in order to sell the show to a network, so I’m not sure if future episodes will be able to keep the same kind of quality that we saw in this one. There was a definite sort of extravagance to this pilot, though not everything in the episode was amazing quality. Was I the only one whose sound quality was a little high, and clarity a little low? If I was, it could’ve just been my DVR recording, but I’m not sure. Maybe to level costs, some things had to be lowered. I don’t know.

The way this world was introduced, I do think there will be a lot of mayhem and excitement to contend with. There was a lot that had to be established in this pilot, and I certainly think it was done quite well. The episode was very grand, but well put together. It wasn’t all over the place, and filled with chaos. There was a nice balance, where there easily could’ve been too much going on, but that never seemed to happen. The only parts I couldn’t quite understand were the interactions with Fitz and Simmons, and I believe that was intentional and unnecessary for them to be understood. Whedon has yet to let me down with a series – though I never could get into Firefly, I loved his other three series – I’m always able to trust things that have his name’s stamp of approval. I know he won’t be as constantly involved in this series like he was with Buffy, Angel, and Dollhouse, due to his commitment to The Avengers sequel, but that there is a crew on this series that he trust, including members of his family, it makes me trust that this show will retain a good quality not always true of shows.

Now to review the characters and the actors that portray them. Being that he was apart of the film series, I’ll start with Phil Coulson and his portrayer Clark Gregg. While I greatly enjoyed his humour in this episode, something that is always so fluent in a Whedon series, I do think the character appeared more full of himself than he did in the films. Maybe it’s because he was a supporting role and had less screen time in the Marvel films, whereas in this he’s more of a lead character, and has almost taken on a Nick Fury kind of role for the agents he brings onto his team. Or maybe it’s that the actor has gained more fame from this role, something I’m almost leaning towards after watching his interview with the rest of the cast over on TVLine. I’m desperately hoping that it’s either my imagination, or that Gregg or the showrunners get it in check, because if it grows it could become greatly distracting.

A large part of this pilot follows Skye, played by Chloe Bennet. I have to say, I wasn’t that excited to hear she had gotten the role, after watching her over on Nashville last year, but I was happily surprise after watching this pilot. It just goes to show you can’t judge an actor based on one role, it appears I only didn’t like that character she played, not the actress herself. She did quite well in this pilot. The character was played with a lot of pizzazz (yes, I like that word and use it a lot, that’s three reviews now, I believe), and wasn’t done over-the-top. I think she was definitely the right choice, which shows I need to trust Whedon a bit more, casting wise, why did I think he wouldn’t pick the right cast? I can easily see her carrying a series of her own, and she the perfect pick for this ensemble cast. I’m looking forward to learning more about her as the series progresses, especially what she meant by having erased an identity before.

Now I’ll swing around to Grant Ward, portrayed by Brett Dalton. There’s an obvious chemistry between him and Skye, and I think the actor plays the characters loner-ness and almost cockiness very well. I don’t believe the pilot perfectly strengthened this character, I do think some flaws will need to be brought to attention, to make him more human. He’s definitely more of the straight-man type character, but I’d like to see more diversity in him than the stereotypical lone wolf he seems to be. This was only the pilot, so I really hope they go more detailed into these characters’ lives and their pasts.

Then there’s Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons, commonly known to their team as Fitzsimmons. They’re played by Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstride, respectively. They seem to be supporting type characters in the team, at this point, and the ones that will provide a fair amount of comic relief, as well as the go to gadgets. They’re obviously smart character, and the quirkiness they appear to have does lighten up the series, although it wasn’t all that dark to begin with. I would like to learn more about their backgrounds, and how they came to work together. I also hope they don’t end up romantically involved, because that would be a fair bit cliché. They also need a bit of depth to them, that I hope develops over the course of the series, at this point they’re not very three-dimensional.

And lastly, to round out the team, there’s Melinda May, portrayed by Ming-Na Wen. As someone who has never quite been into comics, I’d like to know more about this character. It’s implied in the episode that she’s well known, and for some reason ended up at a desk when she’s obviously trained for combat. I hope that the audience members that weren’t comic book readers get to learn who she is, and why all of this is where it is. It shouldn’t be necessary to understand a separate type of medium in order to be able to be enveloped by this series, so I’ll trust that we’ll come to know the answers about her. I do like the actress they chose for the role, she’s got a certain amount of attitude thrown into the character that I’m interested in seeing more of. I’ll just have to trust we’ll get to know all these people more as the series progresses.

Now, not a member of the team, I do hope Cobie Smulders, and her character Agent Hill, is able to pop up every now and again, despite being committed to the last season of How I Met Your Mother and the other Marvel films. Possibly even becoming a recurring character, at least if this series gets a second season – and at this point I don’t see why it wouldn’t but it is a little early – after her sitcom wraps. I also hope some of the film characters could pop in once or twice as this series continues, just to give a nice little nod, or Easter egg.

While this series isn’t exactly a mystery series, there are nonetheless questions that do need answering. The one specific question that comes to mind is what Hill meant by Coulson never being able to find out where he actually was. If he wasn’t in Tahiti, where was he? Perhaps he did die, and this Coulson is actually a clone. But that’s an unlikely theory of mine. I do hope we learn the answer to this question eventually. Knowing Whedon’s series, continuity is more than often answered, at least the big questions tend to be.

My rating: 4 out of 5.

Best Lines:

“You haven’t been near his arms.” – Agent Hill referring to the question of whether Thor is actually a god.

“Sorry. That corner was really dark, and I couldn’t help myself.” – Coulson, revealing he is in fact alive and kicking.

“With great power comes… a ton of weird crap that you are not prepared to deal with.” – Skye, giving a nod to a well known Spiderman line, with a bit of a twist.

“And by luck, I mean unappreciated genius.” – Fitz mumbles, about a complicated task he is about to perform.

That’s all for now. Really sorry for lying about publishing this yesterday, but I was all reviewed out after writing six reviews. Next week I’m going to try to do more of my Monday reviews after I get home from work, the only problem is that it’s my fourth day in a row, and I tend to get tired and have little brain function. Anyways, stay tuned for my review of Revolution, and possibly of Nashville, though I might just watch that episode tonight, and review it tomorrow. But I will be back with Revolution at the very least.