Agents of SHIELD. Season 1 Discussion Thread

[Venardhi]

I'm not asking for it to be realistic, just not blatantly contrary to some very basic scientific concepts. Super-powers are inherently unrealistic, but if I'm going to accept them as part of the rules of the universe I need something either somewhat plausible or so outside my field of knowledge that I can just accept it without questioning (magic, nanobots, etc). If that line was a joke, the director clearly didn't know it. If it was serious, someone should have called them on how implausible it sounds or provided a reason why it wasn't. Otherwise, just don't bring it up.

 

[The Old Mixer]

FWIW, the last time that I read, the official Marvel Comics explanation for people who get their powers through radiation accidents and such was that they possess a latent mutant gene that needs some stimulus to get it going. All of this goes back to when giant, cosmic beings called the Celestials paid Earth a visit during prehistoric times and experimented on humans.

And it was just a throwaway line...the only unusual thing in his past that they knew of that might have something to do with his powers.

This would probably be the show's first step in attempting to establish that yes, some people have something in their genetic makeup that allows them to develop powers in conditions that others wouldn't...but we won't use the M-word...we won't even call it an "X-factor"....

 

[bbjeg]

If it works for Daredevil and the Ninja Turtles, it can work for Chan. I liked the last episode. It showed the restrictive side of Shield.

Their hitting all of Shields bases if you ask me. Handling the super powered, employing the exceptional, spy vs spy, and the last episode's mistrust thrown every which-a-way is what I expect in Shield series would have.

 

[DEWLine]

So...the Winter Soldier trailer's up on YouTube, via Marvel's official channels.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Yeah, it looks cool. More on topic, I'm curious what interaction the Captain America people and the Agents of SHIELD people have had together and if they plan to incorporate anything from there into the show.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Yeah, it looks cool. More on topic, I'm curious what interaction the Captain America people and the Agents of SHIELD people have had together and if they plan to incorporate anything from there into the show.

I was wondering the same thing, especially after seeing SHIELD (the organization) being featured in nearly every frame of that trailer.

 

[RAMA]

Cool Captain America trailer. So far this was the best SHIELD episode, though it's not quite good enough to be called "good". Still, headed in the right direction. More espionage please..

RAMA

 

[Corran Horn]

Yeah, it looks cool. More on topic, I'm curious what interaction the Captain America people and the Agents of SHIELD people have had together and if they plan to incorporate anything from there into the show.

I hope there's some mention - heck, I hope there's Thor 2 content/mentions after that movie opens. Otherwise, what's the point?

 

[Christopher]

I hope there's some mention - heck, I hope there's Thor 2 content/mentions after that movie opens. Otherwise, what's the point?

The point for any show or movie is to tell a worthwhile story in its own right. Crossovers and allusions to other parts of the same universe are a nice bonus, but they shouldn't be the raison d'etre.

 

[Corran Horn]

I hope there's some mention - heck, I hope there's Thor 2 content/mentions after that movie opens. Otherwise, what's the point?

The point for any show or movie is to tell a worthwhile story in its own right. Crossovers and allusions to other parts of the same universe are a nice bonus, but they shouldn't be the raison d'etre.

If they didn't have the carrot of the larger MCU to dangle in front of people there wouldn't be any reason to watch this show over any other Generic Government Agents Doing Good program--particularly since the acting & writing so far hasn't been stellar in my opinion.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I hope there's some mention - heck, I hope there's Thor 2 content/mentions after that movie opens. Otherwise, what's the point?

The point for any show or movie is to tell a worthwhile story in its own right. Crossovers and allusions to other parts of the same universe are a nice bonus, but they shouldn't be the raison d'etre.

If they didn't have the carrot of the larger MCU to dangle in front of people there wouldn't be any reason to watch this show over any other Generic Government Agents Doing Good program--particularly since the acting & writing so far hasn't been stellar in my opinion.

This is absolutely a good point. The Government Agents shows are a dime a dozen these days, aren't they.

 

[stj]

Whedon's into deconstructing conventional notions of good and evil? Smells like BS to me. Ordinary guys can't handle power but the killers in authority can? Anyone who sounds radical is just a venal hypocrite? Sky is really okay because she was just troubled and her real motivation is personal? SHIELD is admirable because it's against change?

The only positive note was the belated discovery that an international organization might at least have local personnel, even if local people have no human rights that need be respected.

Done with this.

 

[Christopher]

Really, the main point of this show is to be a star vehicle for Clark Gregg. Fans were clamoring for a Coulson spinoff even before he was killed in The Avengers. This show does not exist to be a commercial for MCU movies. It exists to be the adventures of Phil Coulson. Sure, it can be both, but how shallow and mercenary would it be to make a show that had no other purpose except to be an extended commercial for the movies? That's a ghastly notion.

 

[Silvercrest]

Ah the dreaded centipede rears its evil legs once again. Led by the evil Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend...oh wait I must have crossed shows again, my bad. Really, Centipede is the best name you could come up with? Sad.
That said I liked this one a bit more than the others. The story was just better. Would have liked to have seen Scorch saved and placed in containment setting up some kind of Shield vs Bad guys season ender but maybe he can come back as a complete flame being.

"Hail Centipede! Cut off a leg and... well, two more won't grow in its place, but there are plenty more where that one came from!"

But "Centipede" is a far more dramatic and impressive name than "Scorch."

Liked this episode a lot more than the last, even if it was hard to get excited about yet another guy who can (yawn) shoot fireballs out of his hands.

And heck, they didn't really care whether it did enhance his abilities or not. They just wanted to lure him in to harvest his platelets. If the injection hadn't boosted his powers, they would've still found an excuse to harvest his blood.

Exactly. The flame guy wasn't the point; the point is that this story just upped the threat level. Centipede now has his platelets. If they can replicate those and put them into future assassins, we might see Extremis villains who do not self-destruct.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

This show does not exist to be a commercial for MCU movies.

I certainly wasn't suggesting it was, and I didn't read Corran Horn as suggesting it was, either. Dangling a carrot does not imply giving the carrot. A fan dance can be titillating without being revealing. There don't have to be explicit walk-ons or even explicit references for the fact that the show is in the MCU to be exploited for the show's advantage.

It exists to be the adventures of Phil Coulson.

In terms of narrative structure, what we've gotten so far is the adventures of Skye.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Wouldn't it be cool if they were laying groundwork for CA:TWS in AoS?

So, who is "The Clairvoyant"?

I am, it would seem...

So, how cool is that?

Sure, it can be both, but how shallow and mercenary would it be to make a show that had no other purpose except to be an extended commercial for the movies? That's a ghastly notion.

Oops. Well, I am going to go with, "Sure, it can be both".

 

[bbjeg]

No one did this yet. I paused that Shield redacted sheet:

S.H.I.E.L.D. Classified - Redacted 04-23-89
St. Agnes Orphanage
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
Re: Medical - - - - - - -

Medical Examination Results regarding female infant - - - - - - - dropped off at the St. Agnes Orphanage on - - - - - - -

Preliminary results indicate that - - - - - - -

The infant was found to have - - - - - - - expressing minimal - - - - - - - no - - - - - - -

Notes filed by the resident pediatrician - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
Blood pressure - Normal - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Nutrition - Normal - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Indication of heart disease - None - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Heart rate - Normal
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Checked for injuries or indications of - - - - - - - no mal-
nutrition - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - To see the records regarding the situations discussed in this document, please contact - - - - - - -

Are they hinting that Skye is something more? I bet the contact at the end is Coulson too.

 

[Trekker4747]

Hmmmm... certainly seems like it.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Dropped off at the orphanage as an infant? Didn't she once say that she remembered hearing her parents arguing? I guess the easiest explanation is that she was lying, but still...

 

[LaxScrutiny]

And what could the "toy soldiers on the shelf" possibly be? A HYDRA robot army stashed away somewhere? The inactive Chitauri invaders in cold storage in Area 51 or the Marvel equivalent?

Sleepers, although I'd rather see them in a Captain America movie.

But "Centipede" is a far more dramatic and impressive name than "Scorch."

How about "Human Scorch?"