Agents of SHIELD. Season 1 Discussion Thread

[bbjeg]

...
I hope Patton Oswalt's character is more of a regular next season I really enjoyed him who I dub Agent Lanyard...

... Well, at least on a case by case basis.

 

[kitik]

The questions about Koenig seem like something they'll deal with early on next season, likely in the first episode. His existence is way too unusual for them all not to be asking questions about him.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

As you know that the mobile phone signal jammer can cut off the signals of the mobile phones and soon make it impossible to make phone calls or send messages. In this way when you need the peaceful condition and want to stay in it, you can just use the best mobile phone jammer to help you achieve your goal. And now as the technology develops with high speed the advanced jammer gsm has come into the market and are well welcomed by the group of people who need the jammer product.

Or, you know, you could just turn off your phone.

Also Spam! :P


And to stay on topic:

I enjoyed the season and will continue to support it with my wallet.
I found out mid season that itunes carries it and releases it practically in real time.
I tried streaming it on the official website which is not working though, since I'm not in the USA.

 

[RJDiogenes]

As to which episodes into which categories...that's going to be a continuing debate!

I suspect there will be some discussion, yes.

This. I'll boil it down even more: an episode is an episode.

I'll raise that to the level of profundity: An episode is an episode is an episode.

Well it's just semantics, but I don't think these are mutually exclusive concepts. When I think "filler", I think (badly done) clips shows, or episodes that have no storytelling value, either in terms of plot, character or thematically - though I fully admit that's highly subjective.

I will grant you that clip shows are mostly filler-- literally.

As you know that the mobile phone signal jammer can cut off the signals of the mobile phones and soon make it impossible to make phone calls or send messages. In this way when you need the peaceful condition and want to stay in it, you can just use the best mobile phone jammer to help you achieve your goal. And now as the technology develops with high speed the advanced jammer gsm has come into the market and are well welcomed by the group of people who need the jammer product.

And here we see the first indications of how SHIELD will raise funds in the interim.

 

[DEWLine]

Indeed. Rescuing a half-dozen generals and admirals from a fate that could've been anything from "Eye-Spy"-style enslavement to executed-hostage status will go a considerable length to establish Coulson's team's bona fides in the eyes of the Pentagon. That will be a Good Start in terms of influencing the powers that be.

 

[The Old Mixer]

As you know that the mobile phone signal jammer can cut off the signals of the mobile phones and soon make it impossible to make phone calls or send messages. In this way when you need the peaceful condition and want to stay in it, you can just use the best mobile phone jammer to help you achieve your goal. And now as the technology develops with high speed the advanced jammer gsm has come into the market and are well welcomed by the group of people who need the jammer product.

Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si luaP.

 

[Silvercrest]

.namgge eht ma I

There'll be as much of SHIELD left as is necessary to drive the plot.

• Where'd the chopper Fury was on come from?
• Who is watching over Fitz?
• Who was going to take away Garrett's body?
• Where is Ward going to be locked up?

Some of these are easier than others - random three-letter agencies can answer everything but the first pretty easily. There are obviously enough vestiges of SHIELD left (we certainly see not everybody turning HYDRA in CA: TWS) that they can some assets and resources still floating around.

I think the answer to the first is that Fury still has plenty of resources of his own.

If they turn themselves in, they're just rogue agents who are now under investigation.

Except they just averted a coup of the US military, if not the government. I think that would establish their bona fides and bring the investigations (of them, at least) to an end.

Good point. I was envisioning the world (or at least the U.S.) would be suspicious of them no matter what they do. I forgot there were some high-level officers and officials who were witness to it all and who have some pull.

And presumably part of Coulson's work will involve talking to governments and convincing them to lend their support, or at least accept his group's legitimacy.

Of course, it'd be easier to sell the world on that if they didn't call it SHIELD -- but then they'd have to change the name of the show.

Fury himself is about the only person with enough authority and force of will to make it happen. But he'd have to come back from being "dead" to do it.

Or turn the responsibility over to his trusted right hand, a man he considered so indispensable that he overcame death itself to bring him back.

Good way of looking at it!

And if they show (or at least acknowledge) Coulson performing some of that negotiation/convincing, then that will cover it. I just don't want to see the cast training new agents, setting up new security protocols, etc. and conducting "business as usual without corruption this time" and having government approval treated as a fait accompli.

On the other hand: It should really be an uphill battle to get governments to accept them at all ... but that's where Fury would come in. He'd still have a lot of pull and a lot of contacts to make it work. I'm not sure about a puppet regime exactly (as mentioned earlier), but to a great extent he'd make things happen from behind the scenes. He'd have chosen that route because a confirmed, bona fide hero running a new SHIELD is a lot easier to sell than anyone from the old regime trying to do it. At least publicly.

 

[Christopher]

Here's a thought... In the comics, a lot of hero teams are basically vigilante or private enterprises, often being uneasily tolerated by the authorities at best, if not actively at odds with them. You can say the same for entities in other fictional genres -- e.g. hardboiled private detectives who are always butting heads with the cops. Maybe that's the direction the show will go next season, with SHIELD as less of a massive government entity and more a sort of private security agency. Or maybe something like the IMF as it was implied to be in the early days of the original Mission: Impossible, a sort of freelance, garage-band spy operation with only limited and unofficial government backing which the government would disavow if they were exposed.

 

[Marsden]

And if they show (or at least acknowledge) Coulson performing some of that negotiation/convincing, then that will cover it. I just don't want to see the cast training new agents, setting up new security protocols, etc. and conducting "business as usual without corruption this time" and having government approval treated as a fait accompli.

Oh, I was hoping that they would be doing lots of paperwork and filing. Agents of Shield: Extreme Red Tape Edition

I wonder if General Ross and Colonel Talbot know each other in this incarnation, Talbot wasn't in Hulk, so he may not. But I think there is still an active Hulkbuster unit out there just waiting to go. I guess that wouldn't show up on the show, though. I wonder if they will have Ross become Red Hulk someday.

 

[LaxScrutiny]

Like Trekker, I'm just catching up. Most everything has been covered already. I could nitpick a scene or two, but really it was a great finale so why bother? Fitz and Simmons knocked it out of the park in their scene. SLJ was great (of course he would be) and the May/Ward scene was something we were all waiting for.

One point about Ward, and the potential for him coming back to the team: I think the episode with Coulson feeling betrayed by May and shutting her out was there for a reason, which connects to Ward. If Coulson couldn't handle May reporting to Fury, then how does he reconcile what Ward did all that time? There is no way Ward could be trusted no matter how many times he says "Sorry." I could see him being used in a Suicide Squad type of way. I don't think he's smart enough or motivated enough to be a recurring singlular villain, but I could see him working Flower Lady.

 

[Silvercrest]

Here's a thought... In the comics, a lot of hero teams are basically vigilante or private enterprises, often being uneasily tolerated by the authorities at best, if not actively at odds with them. You can say the same for entities in other fictional genres -- e.g. hardboiled private detectives who are always butting heads with the cops. Maybe that's the direction the show will go next season, with SHIELD as less of a massive government entity and more a sort of private security agency. Or maybe something like the IMF as it was implied to be in the early days of the original Mission: Impossible, a sort of freelance, garage-band spy operation with only limited and unofficial government backing which the government would disavow if they were exposed.

That's a logical direction, except neither the name nor the acronym fit well. "Agents of SNEAK", anyone?



Seriously, let's look at the name Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division for a security/spy/under-the-table operation.

• "Strategic", sure.
• "Homeland"... well, no opinion in this context, but re. previous questions about their scope, that sure screams AMERICA to me.
• "Intervention"... probably. Depends on how it's meant.
• "Enforcement"... not really. Previously they had serious muscle, both manpower and firepower. What you're proposing most likely wouldn't.
• "Logistics"... that's only worth calling out as part of the name when it's a large-scale outfit; i.e. managing resources of intelligence, manpower and materiel to permit quick response to multiple crises across the globe. Ties in nicely with the use of helicarriers as bases. Doesn't mean much with a smaller-scale outfit.
• "Division"... only works if they have acknowledged ties to some group that they're a division of. With limited/unofficial government backing, that's not really true.
  And really that "division" has always bugged me about both this version and the original version of the name. An outfit of that size is a "division"? Who are they supposed to be a division of, and what are the other divisions?

A good solution might be for them to adopt the name coined by Marvel in the 1990s: Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate. That fits your proposal almost perfectly, except for that troublesome "logistics" again.

Any better suggestions?

Oh, I was hoping that they would be doing lots of paperwork and filing. Agents of Shield: Extreme Red Tape Edition

Hey, I did say they could "at least acknowledge".

If Coulson couldn't handle May reporting to Fury, then how does he reconcile what Ward did all that time? There is no way Ward could be trusted no matter how many times he says "Sorry." I could see him being used in a Suicide Squad type of way.

I can see that, but the other possibility is he could have his brain wiped by some means (intentionally or accidentally). Something that would let him retain his skills or his value as an agent, but give him a clean slate otherwise. It might be interesting to see which path he goes down the second time around without Garrett's influence. They could do an arc where everyone suspects him while he tries to prove his worth (possibly culminating in a Heroic Sacrifice). Or he could gradually regain his memories and return to villain status without anyone noticing "...until it's too late!" Or they could have him gradually turn to the dark side for a second time because it's just his nature.

 

[Christopher]

Who says SHIELD has to stand for anything? As Ward said in the pilot, whatever full name they're given is really just an excuse; the ultimate point is to have an agency named SHIELD, because that's what it's for. And heck, it's not like HYDRA stands for anything -- it's really just a name that's styled to look like an acronym.

 

[bbjeg]

It would be neat if the went back to the 90's acronym as a way to tell the rest of the world they're not the same group (as well as a homage to the comics).

 

[Alidar Jarok]

The questions about Koenig seem like something they'll deal with early on next season, likely in the first episode. His existence is way too unusual for them all not to be asking questions about him.

What show have you been watching? Clearly they'll be dragging it out.

 

[Duncan MacLeod]

Seriously, let's look at the name Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division for a security/spy/under-the-table operation.

• "Strategic", sure.
• "Homeland"... well, no opinion in this context, but re. previous questions about their scope, that sure screams AMERICA to me.
• "Intervention"... probably. Depends on how it's meant.
• "Enforcement"... not really. Previously they had serious muscle, both manpower and firepower. What you're proposing most likely wouldn't.
• "Logistics"... that's only worth calling out as part of the name when it's a large-scale outfit; i.e. managing resources of intelligence, manpower and materiel to permit quick response to multiple crises across the globe. Ties in nicely with the use of helicarriers as bases. Doesn't mean much with a smaller-scale outfit.
• "Division"... only works if they have acknowledged ties to some group that they're a division of. With limited/unofficial government backing, that's not really true.
  And really that "division" has always bugged me about both this version and the original version of the name. An outfit of that size is a "division"? Who are they supposed to be a division of, and what are the other divisions?

A good solution might be for them to adopt the name coined by Marvel in the 1990s: Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate. That fits your proposal almost perfectly, except for that troublesome "logistics" again.

Any better suggestions?

I'd like to give it a shot if I may.

• "Special" used only for special situations and/or operations.
• "Hazard" that are hazardous and/or dangerous
• "Investigation" that require special and/or advanced investigation
• "Espionage" and spying techniques and/or technology
• "Law-enforcement" to effect the enforcement of the law
• "Directorate" for a small organization or directorate within a larger agency or department, possibly the US Department of Justice.

Thus the new SHIELD would be the Special Hazard Investigation Espionage and Law-enforcement Directorate.

 

[Reverend]

It would be neat if the went back to the 90's acronym as a way to tell the rest of the world they're not the same group (as well as a homage to the comics).

"Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate" would actually work quite well with the new (assumed) A-Team meets IMF type set up.

The "Homeland" part always sounded like a post-9/11 thing and to my mind never made much sense for a WWII era agency that appeared to be an intergovernmental organization, rather than a branch of any one government.

 

[Turtletrekker]

As I posted in the Guardians of the Galaxy thread...

An actor named Robert Firth is playing a character named "Dr. Fitz" in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Coincidence or Agents of SHIELD connection?

 

[bbjeg]

^Fitz's father maybe?

 

[Enterprise1701]

I wonder how long it'll take Coulson and how he will rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. considering that the films and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. appear to be setting up Stark as privatizing supernatural defenses in time for Avengers: Age of Ultron.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Was just rewatching "Providence". FWIW, Koenig mentioned having a brother with whom he'd been racking up Call of Duty hours. Doesn't mean he's a run-of-the-mill brother, but it was a bit of set-up....