Agents of SHIELD. Season 1 Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Trekker4747, Sep 25, 2013.

  1. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    "Did I fall asleep?" "For a little while." That's it! Coulson is an Active! :lol:

    I was a bit surprised that the artifact was something hidden in a tree in Norway rather than a leftover weapon from the Greenwich attack, but the tie to The Dark World turned out to be more sociopolitical -- the intrusion of real Asgardians inspiring a neo-pagan movement. Which is an interesting idea, just the sort of thing this show is meant to be about -- the consequences on ordinary people living in a comic-book world.
     
  2. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, that call-and-response line from Dollhouse was either a giant clue or a giant red herring.

    Or just an homage.
     
  3. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Last week Coulsen figured it out, when he found himself compelled to say "It's a magical place" for the fortieth time. He stopped half way through realizing that he's been brainwashed and that it's a psychological trigger he can't not say in response to stimuli.

    No one else noticed that?
     
  4. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Probably an in-joke, hinting that "Tahiti" is an implanted memory.
     
  5. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    So, none of the agents noticed a registered Alpha was part of the group after the Berzerker Staff? ;)
     
  6. Gryffindorian

    Gryffindorian Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Great episode. My seven year old nephew hadn't watched this show until tonight. Having seen Thor 2, he really liked AoS and the various references to the movie.

    So did Ward's brother drown in the well even after he tossed him a rope? And who was the other kid who was trying to prevent Grant from saving his little bro? The sense of anguish one felt upon touching the Asgardian staff seemed to be unleashed and then amplified in the person who touched it, leading to superhuman strength.

    Regarding Ward and Agent May, that was unexpected but understandable. We saw Agent May holding a bottle of whiskey after having gone through the experience. I mean it must've been quite an ordeal for both of them, dealing with painful memories. To me, it wasn't necessarily like a booty call. It appeared to be more like a "Wanna talk about it?" moment, which would eventually lead to their doing the horizontal mambo. Besides, who could resist Ward anyway? Mmmmm... Loved his shirtless bod. :drool:

    I'll be in my bunk.
     
  7. kitik

    kitik Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Oh yeah, one other nice touch was Coulson mentioning the Portland Philharmonic.

    I wonder if we'll get to meet a certain cellist at some point this season.
     
  8. Venardhi

    Venardhi Vice Admiral Admiral

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    This strikes me as an episode retrofit to tie in rather than one intended as such from the start, but still one of the best they've had so far. Skye is such a useless character at this point that I can only hope she is used as sparingly in the future until they figure out a good time to kill her for dramatic effect.
     
  9. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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    I noticed that as well.
     
  10. kitik

    kitik Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I suspect its more a case of them sitting down 6-8 (??) months ago and saying "well, we know X, Y, and Z about Thor The Dark World, so let's build an episode around that". The episode was probably written with a somewhat limited knowledge of exactly how the movie would go, and quite probably no clue of what the final after credits scene would be.
     
  11. Venardhi

    Venardhi Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The script would have been done long before that, and this episode might not have been filmed until fairly recently. The way the opening scene was just sort of tacked on and they immediately head to another country without actually following up on the events of the film is kind of obvious to me. Were there even any mentions of the most recent events in the rest of the script?
     
  12. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    IIRC, his backstory in a previous episode mentioned an older brother who was cruel to him and his little brother.
     
  13. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    I think pretty much everyone did. :rommie:
     
  14. Icemizer

    Icemizer Commodore Commodore

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    So they cast a small smarmy guy as a legendary Asgardian berserker? Bwahahahahaha. After improvements in Fitz and Simmons the last few weeks they went back to incompetent again this week.
    Glad Coulson was programmed with Asgardian Anatomy 101. Also glad the writers were at least smart enough to go to fight scenes rather than stay with Coulson massaging the guys heart back to life.
    Wards story was good this week and I hope we will see more of it.
    Skye was as usual completely useless to the team this week.
     
  15. DEWLine

    DEWLine Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    A stonemason. Who wanted to get away from the life he had. Wanderlust affects many species, doesn't it?

    As to the cellist...one has hopes.
     
  16. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I'm afraid that explanation doesn't work, because movies take far longer to make than TV episodes. The Dark World finished principal photography in December 2012, a month before the Agents of SHIELD pilot episode began filming. So the movie would already have been mostly finished, except for post-production and reshoots, before this episode was ever written.

    What's probably going on here is that they're aware that many of the episode's viewers won't have seen the movie yet. So the idea was to do something that tied in enough to the film's general ideas (Asgard and whatnot) to work as a cross-promotion, but that was peripheral enough that it didn't spoil any of the movie's plot points -- at least, nothing beyond what's already been in the trailers, namely that there was an alien attack on Greenwich.

    Also, of course, it had to be peripheral because they probably couldn't afford to feature any of the film's cast but had to go with more TV-level guest stars. Which is too bad, because I would've loved a cameo by, say, Jaimie Alexander or Kat Dennings.


    And that was the point -- one, that legends are embellishments of the truth, and two, that the Berserker staff could turn anyone into a super-warrior. And it fits the focus of this series -- it's not about the big heroes, it's about the folks on the periphery who have to deal with the consequences of their epic battles. And so it's fitting that even the Asgardian was one of the little guys.


    On the contrary. He and his colleagues had seen Thor and Loki in action enough to deduce that they regenerated quickly, but he had no idea where the professor's heart was located and had to feel around for it. And he wasn't massaging it, just holding the wound closed long enough for the professor's own healing process to save him.
     
  17. DEWLine

    DEWLine Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'd have preferred SkarsgÄrd showing up, personally. Oh well. Maybe next season?
     
  18. Yanks

    Yanks Commodore Commodore

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    Another strong episode.

    Things are looking up!
     
  19. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    This show's "strong" episodes are not as good as other show's "weak" episodes, but it is getting better.
     
  20. Yanks

    Yanks Commodore Commodore

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    I wouldn't say it's that bad, but it most certainly didn't start as strong as Almost Human.