Agents of SHIELD. Season 1 Discussion Thread

[DEWLine]

One more thing: Ward is a victim here. A survivor as well, and trained by both life circumstances and the SHIELD Academy to handle many kinds of trauma. This instance is going to be as tricky in its own way as anything else Ward survived as a child and an agent, though.

 

[DEWLine]

Oh, and those species Sif rattled off the names of?

http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/03/1...-d-all-the-blue-aliens-mentioned-by-lady-sif/

 

[Christopher]

I loved it how Coulson addressed Sif as "Your Ladyship." It wasn't sarcastic in any way, it was just his natural polite, respectful nature, and he even maintained it in the heat of combat. She's a member of nobility and a visiting foreign dignitary, so he addressed her in a manner appropriate to her station.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Adrian Pasdar as Major Glenn Talbot.

Awesome! Talbot for President!

 

[Greg Cox]

I loved it how Coulson addressed Sif as "Your Ladyship." It wasn't sarcastic in any way, it was just his natural polite, respectful nature, and he even maintained it in the heat of combat. She's a member of nobility and a visiting foreign dignitary, so he addressed her in a manner appropriate to her station.

Even better was "Phil, Son of Coul."

 

[Christopher]

Even better was "Phil, Son of Coul."

Well, that's a callback to Thor. I think Thor called him that in The Avengers at one point as well, though maybe that's wishful thinking.

And I think she said "Philip, Son of Coul."

 

[DEWLine]

I remember it from Thor, but not Avengers.

 

[Skywalker]

Thor only called him "Son of Coul" in Thor, but yeah, pretty obvious callback. He never used it in The Avengers, though.

 

[theenglish]

Yes, it was incredibly stupid and plot-convenient for them to send in male agents after Lorelai. I assumed once she told the team that she can control any men it would have been an all ladies mission.... but then she couldn't have taken over the plane...

I really thought Ward being captured was going to be all part of the plan.

I know the Kree are pretty obvious, but what if Coulson actually stumbled upon Mar-Vell or somebody close to him. I think it likely that Skye will be at least related somehow to the alien which is why her treatment was relatively smooth compared to Coulson's. Alternatively, what if she were actually the Rick Jones of the MCU?

 

[DEWLine]

Bringing in Talbot makes me think. There have been a lot of fan theories (that I originally discounted as nonsense) here and there that the real identity of the Clairvoyant would be the Leader. Now they introduce a Hulk supporting character. And if the guest star that Chloe recently "geeked-out" over was Mark Ruffalo?

Not impossible, given some of the factors others are already noting for future reference.

We'll see in due course.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

^ I just feel The Leader is associated so strongly with Hulk that the only way it would work is if the Hulk finished out the season (not just had a cameo in a single episode). And to have the Hulk solve the problem would detract from the stars of the show.

Thor only called him "Son of Coul" in Thor, but yeah, pretty obvious callback. He never used it in The Avengers, though.

I missed it the first time round, so I definitely appreciated it this time (had I remembered, I'd have placed the "it sucked" ahead in favorite quotes of the episode).

 

[Mr Light]

What if in the season finale they reveal the Leader has Ruffalo captive in his secret lair and they have to rescue him to unleash the Hulk, who of course does his rampage entirely off screen?

 

[Guy Gardener]

CGI is expensive.

Although Avengers 2 or Hulk 2 might "gift" 10 minutes of Hulk rampaging to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as an early Christmas present.

But they if they just show the aftermath of the rampage, like they showed the aftermath of Thor vs Malekith, they don't need a CGI Hulk or an actor for Banner.

 

[Gaith]

I missed it the first time round, so I definitely appreciated it this time (had I remembered, I'd have placed the "it sucked" ahead in favorite quotes of the episode).

I now want a supercut of all the "Tahiti... it's a magical place" moments, as well as Felicity's shout-out to Tahiti in Arrow, culminating with "it sucked".

 

[Alidar Jarok]

What if in the season finale they reveal the Leader has Ruffalo captive in his secret lair and they have to rescue him to unleash the Hulk, who of course does his rampage entirely off screen?

That would be an extraordinary copout. I'm not even opposed to having Bruce Banner without the Hulk. But having the Hulk offscreen is a dumb idea and contrary to their stated rule of not doing "oh you just missed Iron Man!" (although, to be fair, they've cheated slightly by having conversations with Fury described offscreen, but that's nowhere near on the same scale).

I also have no problem with investigating the aftermath of a rampage or something like that.* Basically, my objection is building to the moment of Hulk and then not showing the Hulk.

* My idea for an episode (or Hulk movie, really) is Fugitive-inspired. Basically, there was massive destruction blamed on the Hulk. Agent Clay Quartermain is assigned to a Hulk taskforce to track him down. At the same time, Bruce Banner is trying to hide from them, establish his innocence, and stay calm. In the end, they realize it's not the Hulk to blame and SHIELD and the Hulk save the day.

 

[Guy Gardener]

There was a point in the Hulk's History where the big green monster was a genius supersoliderscientist, but when he got angry the big green monster shrunk into a weedy pink dude with an IQ of 50 who wanted to smash and Rampage.

Imagine a shirtless Ruffalo stomping around stomping around thumping stuff.

 

[Mr Light]

<<That would be an extraordinary copout. I'm not even opposed to having Bruce Banner without the Hulk. But having the Hulk offscreen is a dumb idea and contrary to their stated rule of not doing "oh you just missed Iron Man!" (although, to be fair, they've cheated slightly by having conversations with Fury described offscreen, but that's nowhere near on the same scale).

I also have no problem with investigating the aftermath of a rampage or something like that.* Basically, my objection is building to the moment of Hulk and then not showing the Hulk.>>

Did you watch Heroes? They were constantly building to epic super battles that either didn't take place or happened off-screen

 

[Guy Gardener]

But on The Tick it was hilarious when they would talk about the battles with heroes and villains they didn't even have the licences for as they sat down in the diner and drank black coffee.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Well, I have to say that this is the first episode that didn't thrill me too much. The "battle of the sexes" dragged it down to the level of a bad 50s sitcom. It's embarrassing to hear a grown woman say something like, "I'm not saying you're weak, I'm saying men are weak." And to add to that, neither Lorelei nor Sif were very compelling characters. It was sad to see Sif re-imagined as a generic angry warrior.

It was even short on cool character moments, which is always the best part of SHIELD, although there were a few. Fitz slapping Ward on the back, Simmons' comment about Skye's accent and her confrontation with Coulson, Coulson casually asking Sif about blue-skinned aliens. And the offhand mention that May was not who Ward was thinking about-- we're supposed to think it was Skye, but I wonder. And, of course, there was the big conversation between Coulson and Skye. "I know nothing fazes you, but this should faze you." "You have the treatment months ago and you haven't grown a tail or anything." I loved the look on his face-- he's usually the one handing out perspective, but he got it from someone else for a change.

I was a little put off by his "make him pay" statement. Seemed a little over the top. And if he's talking about Fury, does that mean Fury will play a major part in an upcoming episode?

 

[Luminus]

This is how the show should have started.

Except it couldn't have been, since it depended on what's been established in the past to give weight to its character beats. It's like Whedon and Tancharoen said in that interview linked earlier: most shows get better over time because they need to lay the groundwork first before they can begin giving us the real payoffs. Which is why I try to be patient with new shows and give them time to find their footing.

I didn't mean literally. I meant the overall greatness of the episode. The feel.