Agents of SHIELD. Season 1 Discussion Thread

[Christopher]

Personally I find Almost Human kind of mediocre so far. Its cast certainly isn't as engaging yet as this bunch, and it's lacking strong female leads in a way no Whedon show ever would. Not that AoS couldn't stand to improve, but I wouldn't say AH is better.

 

[sojourner]

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

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

Or Sleepy Hollow, Arrow, Hannibal, Elementary, Grimm, Once Upon a Time, ...

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

How Professor Biscuit, the Asgardian Berserker overcame his rage (and apparently he doesn't know Thor but is a close friend of Iron Man)
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1-9vw8cUi8[/yt]

 

[JD]

Really enjoyed the episode. I was a little surprised that we didn't get a more direct tie in to The Dark World, but that was covered pretty well up thread. I did like getting to see more of Ward's history. I was really surprised by the ending, I wonder what kind of repercussions that will have. The Tahiti dream was interesting. I'm glad you guys mentioned the Dollhouse reference, it seemed familiar but I couldn't place it.
I really enjoyed seeing Alpha's Erin Way, and Peter MacNicol.

 

[Greg Cox]

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.

Given that the view through the open door was aimed straight at May's bed, which was front and center in the background, I think "booty call" was very much the implication. (Nice directing, Mr. Frakes.)

And since when does May ever feel like talking?

Meanwhile, as one of the few people on Earth who hasn't had time to see the new THOR movie yet (and, yes, it's killing me), I was grateful that the ep wasn't too spoilery regarding a new movie that only opened two weeks ago . . . .

And, yeah, I was amused to see the Alpha girl among the neo-pagans. And for a few moments there, when she grabbed the staff, I found myself briefly hoping that she would be possessed by the Valkyrie from Marvel's DEFENDERS . . . .

 

[bbjeg]

I'm enjoying SHIELD more each episode. Fitz and Simmons did feel a bit less than they were previously but their skills weren't needed in that episode. The Tahiti scene was awesome and I can't wait to see where that goes. I also think May and Ward might just be venting steam at the end, not forming a relationship. They both faced their worst fears.

 

[stj]

Nerd has now officially been named "Monkey." Doesn't seem very nice. The official plot about Ward rather suffered for me from Enraged Ward not being very different from Regular Ward. I wonder if they put the line in the script when they saw Dalton's performance? But I suspect they knew on some level the story was weak and wrote it ahead of time.

But on the plus side, I loved seeing Dragonslayer, and Coulson namedropping...twice! And the god of cleaning up after yourself is one might break down and worship.

Tahiti is still a bore but the last scene, not so much. Two things impressed me, I didn't know Ward had the sense and May could do better. If May keeps wearing the same black leather, does it ever get smelly?

 

[Turtletrekker]

Is May still "The Cavalry" or is she now "The Cougar"?

 

[Marc]

I'm enjoying SHIELD more each episode. Fitz and Simmons did feel a bit less than they were previously but their skills weren't needed in that episode. The Tahiti scene was awesome and I can't wait to see where that goes. I also think May and Ward might just be venting steam at the end, not forming a relationship. They both faced their worst fears.

We just don't know what May's is (or have I missed that bit?).

 

[DEWLine]

They didn't face their worst fears.

They faced their moments of deepest shame.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I think that, with the appearance of Jasper Sitwell (whose name I keep mixing up with Farley Stillwell, the guy who created the Scorpion), the show has now featured every SHIELD comics character who's appeared in the movies and isn't technically a superhero (like Black Widow or Hawkeye). Plus we get a comics character who hasn't been in the movies, Victoria Hand.

Here's one we all missed-- Agent Tyler, who actually had more lines in "The Asset" than he did in The Avengers.

 

[Agent Richard07]

When I saw Peter MacNicol's name, I was expecting Peter MacNeill.

 

[Gryffindorian]

I'm enjoying SHIELD more each episode. Fitz and Simmons did feel a bit less than they were previously but their skills weren't needed in that episode. The Tahiti scene was awesome and I can't wait to see where that goes. I also think May and Ward might just be venting steam at the end, not forming a relationship. They both faced their worst fears.

We just don't know what May's is (or have I missed that bit?).

It was not shown, but I seem to recall her saying that she has to live with the feelings every day of her life.

They didn't face their worst fears.

They faced their moments of deepest shame.

Shame, fear, whatever it was, it triggered a feeling of rage, thus the adrenaline rush.

 

[stj]

They didn't face their worst fears.

They faced their moments of deepest shame.

The dialogue referenced their rage and hate. Also, unless I misunderstood who was who, young Squarejaw went ahead and dropped the rope down to his brother despite the threats, which is not as shameful as giving in.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Another great episode, possibly the strongest so far. The subtlety of the character dynamics, particularly between Skye, Ward and May almost demands a repeat viewing or two. Normally, I just enjoy this show for what it is and don't feel any special connection to Marvel, but this week's plot and style of characterization somehow had the feeling of old-school Marvel writers like Englehart or Moench. So many things to love: The neo-Pagan terrorists and the Joe Six-Pack Asgardian, the conversation between Skye and May at the beginning, Jemma seeing through Ward's ploy, Ward's flashbacks to childhood, Ward turning himself in to Coulson as compromised, Coulson figuring out the Asgardian and name-dropping Thor, May trying to help Ward multiple times, Ward finally getting what he was doing wrong and turning to May, Skye trying to help Ward but not understanding how, and, of course, Coulson's dream about Tahiti. It's kind of ironic to see something so tight and intricate in the era of "decompressed" storytelling in the comics; this is how comics and TV shows should be.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

And, yeah, I was amused to see the Alpha girl among the neo-pagans. And for a few moments there, when she grabbed the staff, I found myself briefly hoping that she would be possessed by the Valkyrie from Marvel's DEFENDERS . . . .

I thought the same thing, but about May. When she finally held the fully assembled spear, I thought we would see the Valkyrie armor shimmer around her, or maybe some variation on Dani Moonstar's Valkyrie costume. Instead, we got her kicking ass and totally owning that spear -- a pretty cool consolation.

 

[Mr Light]

I was severely disappointed we didn't see the alien monster from the Thor 2 tag scene! That would have been a perfect action episode opener, or the entire episode could have been a monster hunt.

I was really surprised the episode didn't do a more direct tie-in to Thor 2, but it was nice to see people with powers tossing each other around, and I hope to see more of the retired Asgardian!

 

[DEWLine]

Wondering if the London office had their hands full with that beast alone...?

 

[Turtletrekker]

I can't help but think of Peter MacNicol as "The God of Biscuits".

 

[Trekker4747]

How can anyone not tripping on acid watch "Once Upon a Time?"