Agents of Shield

[Darkniciad]

"Yeah, we're gonna have to kill the fish tank."

 

Still LMAO.

 

Really enjoying this series.  It already felt very much like a seamless part of the Marvel movie universe, but this week's cameo at the end really cemented that well.  Not going to say who the cameo was to prevent spoilers.

 

I'm fond of all the characters, and the threads they're establishing for the wider plots of the show are certainly intriguing.  Coulson is an utterly brilliant character, and whoever was the first to dream him up deserves a lot of credit for tying this entire universe together.

 

If you haven't given it a try yet, the first episode is available for free on Hulu ( amongst other places )  As soon as I saw that, I put the whole season on order at Amazon.

[Darkniciad]

Word of warning:

 

If you DVRd the latest episode and haven't watched it yet, ask yourself these questions.

 

Have I seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier?  ( Do see it.  Excellent! )

 

Do I plan to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier? ( Didn't I just tell you to go see it? )

 

If you answer "Yes" to both of the above questions, do NOT watch tonight's episode of Agents of Shield until you do.

[Darkniciad]

Tonight's episode threw another serious curveball.

 

Well, two really.  Ward is all over the frikkin' place.   LOL  I have no idea where they're going with him, but it's a fun ride.

 

Was seriously not expecting the end, though.  Every time you think you know who a character is, something else pops up.

 

This series doesn't remotely get the credit it deserves on its own merits, or as a part of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.

 

Looks like the speculation that "the city" is Attilan is wrong, though.  I seriously doubt they're going to reveal that so far in advance of "The Inhumans", and the previews for the next episode ( two weeks.... GRRR! ) seem to indicate they're going to find the city then.

 

Doesn't mean it isn't connected, though.  It could be an abandoned Inhuman city.

 

And while I'm talking Marvel, "Guardians of the Galaxy" hit digital today.  If you haven't seen it, you should.  Brilliant movie.  If Marvel manages to deliver in such a spectacular fashion with their other minor properties like the Inhumans and the Black Panther...

 

Stay tuned, True Believers.

[Darkniciad]

I really hope Marvel sees the value of producing mini-series to fill in the mid-season breaks of AOS.  Agent Carter is brilliant.  They have more money to spend per episode, and it shows.

 

Great action.  Great storyline.  Strong ties to the larger MCU.  Taking advantage of the opportunity to give backstory to a major character in the films.  ( I won't say who, in case you have it DVR'd and haven't watched it yet )

 

Because it's a mini-series, they're also not tied to doing a season 2 next year if they can't come up with a really good story for Carter.  They could produces a mini-series highlighting some other property, potentially filling in backstory for a character in some upcoming film.

 

I do hope they come up with a good story, though.  The chemistry between Peggy and Jarvis is great.  Wish we could see more of Howard.  The storyline doesn't support it, though.

 

It really alleviates the pain of waiting for AOS to return by being there in the same timeslot.

[Darkniciad]

Cut off one head, two more shall take it's place.  Fine, how about I cut off all the heads?

 

The mid-season premiere was brilliant.

 

While I'm at it, the finale of Agent Carter was as well.  That cameo at the end is one of the things that is so brilliant about what Marvel is doing.  Each and every thing is a part of a larger whole.

 

I remember reading comics back in the 90s and thinking there would never be even one good movie from Marvel.  Now we have this vast interwoven universe where everything is pure magic. ( Now, new and improved with 100% more Spider-Man! )

 

There's only one word that can sum up my feelings.

 

Excelsior!

[Darkniciad]

They keep going the other way, and that's exactly what makes me think Fitz and Simmons are going to end up together.  First, they tease Simmons and Trip.  Now it's Skye and Fitz.

 

I'm thinking season 3 ( there had better be a season 3!! )

 

Oh, and in your face, Cal.  "She'll see how they treat people like her..."

 

The team finds out about Skye's powers, instantly face off against a Kree warrior and Lady Sif to protect her.

 

That's how they treat people like her -- like family.

 

Love this show

[Darkniciad]

I love Coulson when he's funny, but those epic moments when he proves he's the Director ( like the teaser after the show tonight ) are just as good.

[Darkniciad]

I don't care if it's a spoiler, and I'm not afraid to admit that the end of tonight's episode where the FitzSimmons rift closed all but made me cheer.

 

So, I'm a romantic.  Haven't you noticed how many of my stories tend to end that way?  LOL

 

Lots of other good stuff that I won't spoil.  Once again, the teaser for next week is a biggie.

 

Lots of people talking smack about how the ratings aren't "good enough", but they're outperforming anything else ABC has had in the timeslot.  I'm betting on at least three and probably four seasons.

 

1) Disney owns ABC and Marvel.  2) The show is connecting a lot with the movies and filling in blanks that can't be expanded upon in the runtime of a movie.

 

Unless the ratings absolutely tank, I don't see it going anywhere, thankfully

[Darkniciad]

No previews of next week's episode at the end of this one.  Something BIG is going down.

 

It's going to be a long week.

[Darkniciad]

Oh, and "Theta Protocol"...  I think what Coulson is actually up to isn't trying to use the people on the Index.  ( Big surprise, huh? ) He's trying to hide them so Hydra can't find them, and where necessary, reverse the damage Hydra caused.

[DjP0n3]

blast it, having to join another online community. How dare you write good elit AND have good taste in television? Anyways, signed up to agree that Agents is definately in for a nice long run with movie ties. And I am personally quite glad that the Agent Peggy series didnt turn out like I fear a newer, Agent Blackwidow type show might have. Stands out while standing alone, imo?

[Darkniciad]

Have Agent Carter on Amazon so I can go back and watch it back-to-back again -- likely soon.  Enjoyed it, and hope it gets a second season as well.  It would be great to have it be a regular thing during the mid-season break.  Made it a lot easier to handle all those weeks without AOS

 

If you have Netflix and haven't seen it, you should give the Daredevil series a whirl as well.  Enjoyed that a lot.

 

With talk of a spin-off in the works, I'd say we can count on our Agents of Shield fix for quite some time to come.

[Darkniciad]

"Take me to your leader."

 

Coulson is so frikkin' awesome. LOL

 

Another long week of waiting for the next episode.

[Darkniciad]

"Spoiler alert"

 

LMAO.  Have I mentioned that I love Coulson?

 

Easter Egg:  Shield 616, the call sign for The Bus is also the number used to represent the mainstream plane of reality in the Marvel Comics.

[DjP0n3]

looks like the whole team is back together, right? heheheh...

[Darkniciad]

They do a damn good job of keeping Ward mysterious.  You're never really sure whether he's serious about wanting to make amends or whether he has something going on the side. ( such as inserting Agent 33 as a mole within Shield )

 

I have a feeling that along with Coulson, Ward will be a likely crossover character with the new spin-off series.  The spin-off won't have any of the original team members on it, so they won't have the bias against Ward, but they will recognize his skills.

 

Off to watch Age of Ultron at noon tomorrow.  W00t!

[DjP0n3]

i find that it may have been a bad choice for the characters, for Gonzales to go... but for the author, it was a perfect one. Joss Whedon has become known in previous shows for jossing an actor, for killing off a popular or influential face, to make a single point. that the bad guys are serious. With what happened to Gonzales, Im glad it wasnt COULSON there, but people are still complaining in forums that oh, it would have been different, if only the council trusted Coulson... Nope. Writer needed blood to start this war, and he does it well.

[Reject Reality]

Pardon my multiple-personality disorder LOL

 

It wasn't the death of Gonzales that brought me up short, but rather the ruthlessness of Skye's Mom.  I know the Inhumans are a deeply insular and xenophobic society, but they way they've built her up, there was just too much shock factor for my tastes.  There's also her sending Cal off with his Hyde formula.  She's essentially dropping a time-bomb off on Shield in him.

 

Ward was a shock in season one, but he was always ruthless.  Skye's mom had a Zen Master vibe going on.

 

I trust the writers to bring it all home in the season finale, but this certainly wasn't a favorite episode.

[DjP0n3]

Ward and Jaiying have different motivations, though. Jaiying has that feel about her, that she sees the others of the Inhumans as her children, hers to protect, hers to lead or scold. The vision from Raina might yet come true, from Jaiying meeting Shield... Just for slightly different reasons than we thought.

[DjP0n3]

i guess what Im saying is, I knew Jaiying was already treating those around her like a mother treats her children. She knows best, and the kids dont need to know what wont hurt them... And lets face it, she got triggered. hard.

[Reject Reality]

What bothers me the most is that she knows how Skye feels about Coulson, and everything in the preparation ( the foreshadowing of the scientist with the crystal, preparing Cal with his formula, etc. ) indicates that if Coulson had been sitting in that chair, her plan was the same.

 

I think I like the character too much for her to take on such an adversarial role  I also prefer the episodes where Ward is working with the team in some way shape or form for the same reason.

 

Some shocks are just a tad bit too much for me, I guess LOL  Up to that point, there were all sorts of positives.  The opening was funny and brilliant.  Tying into Age of Ultron once again naturally tickled me.  You know something all those teeming masses in the theater don't.  They have no idea Coulson pointed the Avengers to the scepter.  They also have no idea about the thing in the climax that I won't mention because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet.

 

( I just got back a couple of hours ago from my second viewing )

 

One thing people absolutely need to learn is not to watch episodes of AOS that follow the release of a new movie until they've seen the movie.  The tie-in here wasn't as big as it was with Winter Soldier, but it's still a reasonably significant spoiler.

 

Just noticed in my second viewing that the Shield agent with the most screen time ( other than the big two, of course ) was the same guy from Winter Soldier who wouldn't launch the Helicarriers on "Captain's orders".  That was a nice touch  

 

This will most likely be something similar to my experience with Iron Man III.  That revelation of the Mandarin completely destroyed my immersion, and I barely remember anything after that from my theater viewing.  It's only after repeat viewings ( and the Marvel One-Shot "Hail to the King" ) that I've been able to enjoy that movie.

 

The next time I watch my way through the whole series again, I'm sure I'll be less reactionary.

[Darkniciad]

Holy.  Fucking.  Shit.

 

LOL

 

Well, that solves my problems with the last episode.  The context overwhelms the build-up and justifies it completely.

 

Not going to say anything else because anything and everything else is spoilers.  In a couple of days.

 

The finale had a lot to say, and so do I.

 

It's going to be a long wait, but at least we know the mid-season break is going to be covered by Agent Carter again next year.  W00t!

[Darkniciad]

 

Check the new Bus!

 

Can't wait for Tuesday!
 

[Darkniciad]

Fitz at the end of the first episode was frikkin' epic!  I honestly don't know if I've seen a better portrayal of desperate rage.  His face in that final scream...  Damn.

 

Then we come around to tonight's episode, and once again it's Fitz and Simmons stealing the show.

 

Won't say anything in case anyone hasn't watched the episode yet, but the whole scene with them is brilliance from start to finish. 

[Darkniciad]

This season is one "Holy Shit" moment after another.  The end of tonight's episode was a big one for me.  I kind of saw Lash coming, but I never expected that.

 

Didn't say anything after the previous episode because -- as good as it was -- I love Fitz and Simmons together.  I know there has to be tension for a relationship to be interesting, but I really don't want this third player to be it.

 

Tonight's episode kind of said to me that what happened there was because of the situation she was in -- thinking she might never get home.  She feels compelled to go back and get him, but it's not necessarily because of the relationship they had.  It's just because that's who she is.  She helps people.  That's what she's all about.  Now that she's back home, with Fitz, where she belongs...

 

I'm kind of on the fence about Ward this season.  I don't know if he's really pulling off the big bad thing.  He seems more like a low-level thug.  He's not getting much in the way of screen time, either.  He seemed way more devious and dangerous last season when he was acting on his own, and not trying to build his own unauthorized branch of Hydra.

 

The one way I can see that going that will bring him back to the place where he was last season is for Hydra to betray him.  Having Ward as a spoiler who is just as likely to take on Hydra as he is Shield seems like a good fit for the character, and the way Brett has been portraying him.  It's where he shined his brightest last season in episodes like the Dirty Half Dozen and those that followed.

 

Come to think of it, that seems to be the way they're going.

 

All that aside, this was a great May episode, the same way the previous one was a great Simmons episode.

 

I can also get on board with a Daisy/Lincoln relationship.  They've had good chemistry since their first appearance together.  It could also serve as a serious flashpoint for Ward.  No matter how much he downplayed his feelings for her last season ( and the fact that she shot him several times LOL ) I think he's still obsessed with her.  Seeing her sucking face with Lincoln would probably send him over the edge, which is when he's at his most interesting.

 

I do think the cast is too big, though.  Nobody is really getting enough screen time.  The proposed spin-off would be a great way to pare things down.  I think Bobbie and Hunter could carry a show.  I'm up in the air about which way Mack should go.  He honestly seems like he's more connected to the regular cast, and filling the hole left when we lost Trip, who was in turn filling the hole left by losing Ward.

 

Now that I just typed that, I want Mack to stay with the team.  LOL  Let Bobbie and Hunter bring in some new players.

 

And the good thing is, when the dreaded winter break hits, we can once again look forward to Agent Carter rather than sitting around on Tuesday's counting the weeks until AoS returns.

 

Counting down to the digital release of Ant Man and the Netflix release of Jessica Jones as well.  As good as Daredevil was, I have high hopes for Jessica Jones.

 

And, of course, there's Deadpool next year.  And Civil War.  And X-Men Apocalypse.  And Dr. Strange.

 

It's truly the golden age of Marvel characters on the big and small screen.  I'm sure they'll burn it out eventually ( considering we're going to be getting three movies a year from Marvel Studios alone soon ) but for now, it's time for all us old comic book nerds to ride the wave.