Oh, by the way, nobody spoil the new Westworld for me, please. I haven't seen it yet.
Agents of Shield - Season 4
- Thread starter MarsWeeps
- Start date
Spoiler alert: there are robots.
Seriously, I haven't seen it yet either, although I remember liking the original movie back in the day. The sequel . . . not so much. And I barely remember the old TV show.
Come to think of it, I don't recall if I've ever seen the original Westworld either. Maybe on TV when I was a kid, but all I remember about it is what's in pop culture.
Yeah, the concept might have been around since the beginning, but how about the storyline of all of a SHIELD Team being replaced, without any of the team's knowledge or permission?
I think the question was is the push for having human-like robots a storyline that the writers of AGents of Shield come about spontaneously, or did they notice the success of Westworld (and perhaps AMC's Humans show) prompt them to do something for Agents of SHIELD? Or just a coincidence?
And yes, Westworld might have been around since we were born, but like you, I never actually saw the original or the new series (despite hearing about it). And perhaps the SHIELD writers hadn't either...they just knew that human-like Androids have become popular (again), so they might have been inspired by that, and created the LMD storyline.
I guessing that they're just expanding on the MCU's mention of LMDs by Stark, Coulson, et al. I believe when Coulson first came to Stark about the "Avengers Initiative", when Phil rang the door bell, he answered thru the intercom that "This is a Life Model Decoy. Tony is not available" (not exactly those words, but similar). When Coulson was killed and then the internet heard he was heading up the AoS show, they postulated that an LMD was actually "killed" or that the Coulson in AoS was an LMD.
Writing for a season of a show scheduled for the fall, typically commences in late spring, with filming starting in June.
HBO's Westworld debuted Oct 2. AoS S4 debuted Sept 20. Plans for the season (comprising 3 arcs), were mapped out long before the new Westworld was shown, and became a critical darling. Mutant Enemy ain't copying nobody. Grr, Argh, Grrr....
HBO's Westworld debuted Oct 2. AoS S4 debuted Sept 20. Plans for the season (comprising 3 arcs), were mapped out long before the new Westworld was shown, and became a critical darling. Mutant Enemy ain't copying nobody. Grr, Argh, Grrr....
No, they're doing LMDs because it's a SHIELD show. LMDs have been part of SHIELD stories in the comics since the very first SHIELD story. They're as integral a part of the SHIELD mythos as kryptonite is for Superman, only debuting much sooner. It was inevitable that a show about SHIELD would get around to dealing with LMDs eventually.
Give or take 14 years....
Oh, I misread the attribution. It was issue #135 of the anthology Strange Tales, which began in 1951. Sorry about that, Chief.
Great Caesar's Ghost...!
Wrong Chief. Missed it by that much.
Ah, the old confuse-me-with-a-vague-cross-reference trick!
FTFY.
Exactly. Some of us have been waiting for LMDs since episode one. People started speculating that the Koenigs were LMDs the moment we found out there was more than one of them. LMDs are a fundamental bit of SHIELD lore and always have been.
Heck, one of the very first IRON MAN comics I read as a kid (circa 1969) had Tony Stark replaced by a rogue LMD . . . back when comics were only fifteen cents apiece. So, yeah, this has been a stock Marvel plot since before even the first WESTWORLD movie, which I remember seeing at the Mid-Way Drive-In on its original run.
Everything old is new again.
(And, trust me, Yul Brynner was plenty scary as the robot Gunslinger back in '73.)
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^^ Yul Brunner was scary no matter what he did. 
Well, that was a mighty interesting episode.
The flashbacks were interesting on a couple of levels. They showed the origin of the Superior, of course, but they also showed that the romantic aspect of Coulson and May's relationship has a history. They had once considered getting involved, and even had at least one intimate encounter (although that was in the line of duty). I wonder if the next few episodes will get more deeply into their past. Perhaps they actually were involved for a time. Maybe they made some kind of deal not to get involved. In any case, it was fun seeing younger versions of both of them-- Coulson not quite so hyper-competent, and May quite a bit happier.
Mack was quite harsh with Fitz this week. Mack is a real nice guy and he saved Fitz from giving up when he had brain damage, but he can be pretty narrow minded at times.
Simmons was pretty sharp to pick up on the timing anomalies. And now we have a total of five main characters replaced by android doubles. Very cool. The android double replacement plot is a classic and we haven't had one in a good long while. I wonder if all the kidnapped characters will be in the same framework together. I wonder if the real Mace actually survived. I was thinking that he wouldn't live to see the end of the season, but now I wonder if his body will die, but he will survive in the framework with Agnes. Perhaps a little virtual romance will evolve.
Oh, I also liked how Radcliffe set up his virtual world in the model of SETI At Home. It certainly goes to show the potential of the idea, for both good and evil.
Well, that was a mighty interesting episode.
The flashbacks were interesting on a couple of levels. They showed the origin of the Superior, of course, but they also showed that the romantic aspect of Coulson and May's relationship has a history. They had once considered getting involved, and even had at least one intimate encounter (although that was in the line of duty). I wonder if the next few episodes will get more deeply into their past. Perhaps they actually were involved for a time. Maybe they made some kind of deal not to get involved. In any case, it was fun seeing younger versions of both of them-- Coulson not quite so hyper-competent, and May quite a bit happier.
Mack was quite harsh with Fitz this week. Mack is a real nice guy and he saved Fitz from giving up when he had brain damage, but he can be pretty narrow minded at times.
Simmons was pretty sharp to pick up on the timing anomalies. And now we have a total of five main characters replaced by android doubles. Very cool. The android double replacement plot is a classic and we haven't had one in a good long while. I wonder if all the kidnapped characters will be in the same framework together. I wonder if the real Mace actually survived. I was thinking that he wouldn't live to see the end of the season, but now I wonder if his body will die, but he will survive in the framework with Agnes. Perhaps a little virtual romance will evolve.
Oh, I also liked how Radcliffe set up his virtual world in the model of SETI At Home. It certainly goes to show the potential of the idea, for both good and evil.
I'm guessing no more than two episodes because that will be the two-thirds mark and we've been told that there are three distinctive storylines this season.
An LMD also served as vice-president between 1993 and 2001, and won the popular vote against Dubya.
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