Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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When it comes to the ratings, you've got to trust the system.
My latest take is that this is Alias, but without the awesomeness of Jennifer Garner playing sexy dress-up every episode. Also, her nerdy tech guy > FitzSimmons.
Barring the unexpected and dramatic death of half the existing characters, I don't think I'm destined to watch this show for much longer.
Heroes are more heroic when they work w/o a safety net. Having agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. working w/o being sure how much of the agency is really on their side gives our protagonists a chance to stand out and shine instead of being just a few more cogs in the big machine.
That's really just the latest wound in a process that began with Vietnam and Watergate. You're probably too young to remember the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg was that era's Snowden.
This is why the NSA revelations have been so damaging. They destroyed the people's trust in the government - completing the work that George W. Bush's problems had started. (And showed that Obama is not so different from his predecessor.)
I'm 50.
Yes, I was alive (though still a kid) during Watergate.
Which might be the biggest reason for Fury giving Coulson's team such a high level of autonomy. If there is something Rotten in SHIELD and Fury knows it, then Coulson MK2 and an elite team floating just outside the normal organization hierarchy might be just the thing he needs.
This does make a lot of sense.
It also explains why neither Skye or Simmons will not face discipline (except from Agent Phil Coulson) for what they did. If Agent Victoria Hand tried to push the matter, she might get screwed because she may well have exceeded her authority in sending two of Coulson's agents on what amounted to a suicide mission.
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| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
When it comes to the ratings, you've got to trust the system.
My latest take is that this is Alias, but without the awesomeness of Jennifer Garner playing sexy dress-up every episode. Also, her nerdy tech guy > FitzSimmons.
Barring the unexpected and dramatic death of half the existing characters, I don't think I'm destined to watch this show for much longer.
Jennifer Garner was never awesome.
Jennifer Garner was never awesome.When it comes to the ratings, you've got to trust the system.
My latest take is that this is Alias, but without the awesomeness of Jennifer Garner playing sexy dress-up every episode. Also, her nerdy tech guy > FitzSimmons.
Barring the unexpected and dramatic death of half the existing characters, I don't think I'm destined to watch this show for much longer.
Everyone might agree with you there.
However, getting Ming-Na Wen into some "sexy dress-up" is a fine idea!
Ming-Na is awesome. Aside from being a very pretty woman (not girly pretty but pretty nonetheless), she is a good actress and her roles are most of the time very interesting and have depth.
I actually liked her as Camile Wray in SGU.
Good point(s).
I knew I recognized her from somewhere, but could not remember where.(And am usually far too busy to be bothered with, you know, actually looking it up on teh interwebs. So it must not have bothered me that badly.) ;P
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Clark Gregg speaks Cantonese? He's even more awesome. ;-)
(Seriously, my cousin is a polyglot* and speaks Japanese, Mandarin, Tagalog and at least 3 other languages, and he can't do Cantonese well)
*
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| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Jennifer Garner was never awesome.When it comes to the ratings, you've got to trust the system.
My latest take is that this is Alias, but without the awesomeness of Jennifer Garner playing sexy dress-up every episode. Also, her nerdy tech guy > FitzSimmons.
Barring the unexpected and dramatic death of half the existing characters, I don't think I'm destined to watch this show for much longer.
Never before has this message board needed an "unfavorite" button as much as now. Jennifer Garner was, throughout the majority of Alias, the definition of awesome.
And while her roles these days may not be as awesome, she herself seems to be one of the most down-to-earth and genuinely happy people in Hollywood.
Are we talking about S.H.I.E.L.D. or Alias in this thread?
Are we talking about S.H.I.E.L.D. or Alias in this thread?
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s alias? H.A.M.M.E.R.?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
That's really just the latest wound in a process that began with Vietnam and Watergate. You're probably too young to remember the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg was that era's Snowden.
This is why the NSA revelations have been so damaging. They destroyed the people's trust in the government - completing the work that George W. Bush's problems had started. (And showed that Obama is not so different from his predecessor.)I'm 50.
Yes, I was alive (though still a kid) during Watergate.
Which might be the biggest reason for Fury giving Coulson's team such a high level of autonomy. If there is something Rotten in SHIELD and Fury knows it, then Coulson MK2 and an elite team floating just outside the normal organization hierarchy might be just the thing he needs.This does make a lot of sense.
It also explains why neither Skye or Simmons will not face discipline (except from Agent Phil Coulson) for what they did. If Agent Victoria Hand tried to push the matter, she might get screwed because she may well have exceeded her authority in sending two of Coulson's agents on what amounted to a suicide mission.
My thoughts is it was a test for Skye(and maybe the whole team). If she had not been a team player and went after the infomation on her and her parents she would have gone to jail.
Instead she showed that she can place the needs of the team above her own...and showed she trusted Coulson to get the info about her family.
Just my humble thoughts about this.
Hmmm, if Agent Coulson does suspect he is in fact an LMD it would explain why he was so eager to get a full physical so he could spot any anomalies. And now they have me totally paranoid about Tahiti ... the magical place.
Are we talking about S.H.I.E.L.D. or Alias in this thread?S.H.I.E.L.D.'s alias? H.A.M.M.E.R.?
That is what Nick Fury is afraid of.
That is what Nick Fury is afraid of.Are we talking about S.H.I.E.L.D. or Alias in this thread?S.H.I.E.L.D.'s alias? H.A.M.M.E.R.?
hah. I read "what Nick Fury is afraid of" at first in the context of Kthulhu's reply "The Internet"
Likely, the episode where Coulson asks Skye to hack into hack SHIELD to find out what really happened to him is where I predictably drop the show. Or is it I drop the predictable show?
Because, God forbid he wants to know what really happened to him. Sometimes people are predictable. That doesn't mean everything about the show will be. It also doesn't follow that she will be successful or that there aren't deeper levels of secrets inside secrets.
Any show where the team is composed of specialists will need major opportunities for those specialists to 'strut their stuff'...
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Because, God forbid he wants to know what really happened to him. Sometimes people are predictable. That doesn't mean everything about the show will be. It also doesn't follow that she will be successful or that there aren't deeper levels of secrets inside secrets.
Likely, the episode where Coulson asks Skye to hack into hack SHIELD to find out what really happened to him is where I predictably drop the show. Or is it I drop the predictable show?
I guess you missed that last episode. Anyway, the inference was on "asks Skye to hack into SHIELD", not "to find out what really happened to him", which basically would turn him into a Do As I Say, Not As I Do kind of guy.
If people want to nitpick the show to death they can always replace it with a reality TV show. People should be damn grateful that they're putting this out at all. Like every show there are things that I would do differently but I feel the positives way out weigh the negatives.
Indeed. Somewhat inexplicable, too, since AoS blows the living poo-poo out of Arrow (though I don't mind Arrow) and (though I loathe to mention it at all because it is truly a horrid show) The Tomorrow People.
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If people want to nitpick the show to death they can always replace it with a reality TV show. People should be damn grateful that they're putting this out at all. Like every show there are things that I would do differently but I feel the positives way out weigh the negatives.Indeed. Somewhat inexplicable, too, since AoS blows the living poo-poo out of Arrow (though I don't mind Arrow) and (though I loathe to mention it at all because it is truly a horrid show) The Tomorrow People.
I'd have to disagree here Arrow is much better in my opinion (though at a similar stage I'd probably say its more of a slight edge but it also started to get better much quicker around this many episodes in.) That being said I'm seeing improvement in AoS its more gradual and I'm not altogether sure its going to hit a decent quality before season 2 also they really could do with actually tapping into the Marvel mythos a bit more.
Totally agree on the Tomorrow People though.
My new theory after tonight's episode: Asgardian tech LMD.
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I liked the new episode. Too bad there weren't any dark elf stragglers, although, a single Dark elf would wipe the floor with Coulson, Mae and Ward in seconds.
And i loved the fact that
Also shows that Asgardians are people like us, not just a stereotype.
I dont have to nitpick and i dont have to be grateful its on. In fact its the other way around. I have so many choice that i only watching for a WOW moment, i like Marvel, and because he's had a decent tv track record. If the show was called something else i have a feeling even the hardcore sci-fi fans would leave. This will get bumped next year to a friday night death slot or worse.
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Awesome episode. If every single episode would have been like this, the show would be one of the best in TV.
I'm a bit unclear about what happens to those who touched the Asgardian weapon though - are they going to continue facing rage all the time? or can we forget about that details in future episodes?
Also, the, aham, romantic night between the pilot girl and Ward came out of nowehere, I feel. I certainly didn't see it coming.
The show continues with the pattern of "dedicate last 5 minutes of episodes to bait people into watching the next episode by revealing a tiny bit of personal information about a crew member"... but it works, I suppose, and this time was really cool. So I'm fine with that.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Awesome episode. If every single episode would have been like this, the show would be one of the best in TV.
I'm a bit unclear about what happens to those who touched the Asgardian weapon though - are they going to continue facing rage all the time? or can we forget about that details in future episodes?Also, the, aham, romantic night between the pilot girl and Ward came out of nowehere, I feel. I certainly didn't see it coming.
The show continues with the pattern of "dedicate last 5 minutes of episodes to bait people into watching the next episode by revealing a tiny bit of personal information about a crew member"... but it works, I suppose, and this time was really cool. So I'm fine with that.
I fear it will be shoved under the rug, but MM showed it can be dealt with. I'd guess it's akin to an Asgardian inflicted PTSD (holding the stick focuses the trauma into rage, but afterwards you have to deal with it).
I would like to see it affect Ward though, boy needs some character development.
The link with the Thor: The Dark World film was kind of thin though.
I wish it had been a bit stronger.
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I think it's gradually been getting stronger. The writing staff seems to be loosening up a bit and getting more capable at showing some character development over the course of the story... and Fitz/Simmons are beginning to be allowed some individual characteristics.
Plus, despite the fact my wife and I pick at it we keep reminding ourselves that ten or twenty years ago we would have been thrilled that ANYTHING like this was on TV. It ain't Firefly, but we're enjoying it.
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Yet Firefly got canceled pretty quick...
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Flimsy tie-in to The Dark World but, by far, not the worst episode this week.
I kind of wonder if the staff was inspired at all by Wrecker's crowbar. Sure, the berserker thing is a legitimate legend and Wrecker and his crew have a way different origin than what was shown but, superficially, there were some similarities (Asgardian magic, a steel bar with the ability to grant superhuman abilities to anyone holding it, a bunch of angry meatheads who want to break stuff.) There was also a vague resemblance to how Wrecker stole the power by knocking out Loki to having the Viking Project Mayhem guys punch out the Asgardian dude and take the staff section he was holding. It also seems weird that the berserker's weapon was a staff and not a more traditional viking/Asgardian weapon like an axe, sword or spear. Staffs, even magical rage staffs, aren't what I think of when I picture berserkers or vikings. To me, that only further ties it to the crowbar idea. I'd have rather seen the actual Wrecking Crew, but I get how most non-comic reading members of the audience might not immediately buy into the idea of a magic crowbar.
Flimsy tie-in to The Dark World but, by far, not the worst episode this week.
I kind of wonder if the staff was inspired at all by Wrecker's crowbar. Sure, the berserker thing is a legitimate legend and Wrecker and his crew have a way different origin than what was shown but, superficially, there were some similarities (Asgardian magic, a steel bar with the ability to grant superhuman abilities to anyone holding it, a bunch of angry meatheads who want to break stuff.) There was also a vague resemblance to how Wrecker stole the power by knocking out Loki to having the Viking Project Mayhem guys punch out the Asgardian dude and take the staff section he was holding. It also seems weird that the berserker's weapon was a staff and not a more traditional viking/Asgardian weapon like an axe, sword or spear. Staffs, even magical rage staffs, aren't what I think of when I picture berserkers or vikings. To me, that only further ties it to the crowbar idea. I'd have rather seen the actual Wrecking Crew, but I get how most non-comic reading members of the audience might not immediately buy into the idea of a magic crowbar.
Still, you're right though. It might have been cooler to have the first piece of the "staff" found accidentally by a construction crew. (Would have been better then some kind of weird "Neo-Pagan Hate Group.")
That section would then lead them to the other ones - with the Agents then racing against them (S.H.I.E.L.D. having the unwilling help of the Asgarian).
That would have allowed them to use the "Wrecking Crew" without directly naming them. :)
But, I sense that the writers are not into "playing" with the Marvel Universe lore that much.
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But, I sense that the writers are not into "playing" with the Marvel Universe lore that much.
That's a real tragedy with this show. I don't need guys like The Constrictor or the Purple Man showing up every week or even name-dropping Project Pegasus or The Raft on occasion, but it'd be nice to see just a teensy bit more established Marvel lore in Agents of Shield rather than the slew of nameless goons we've seen. I have a feeling Marvel Studios is playing it close to the chest with their properties right now because they might not want to tie, say, Deathlok, to Agents of Shield if there's a chance the character would be better served with his own movie or stand alone show like what they're doing with Cage and Iron Fist on Netflix. If they bring a character in and the show tanks, it might stain that character or make it harder to use them later.
That said, it was nice to see the Roxxon Oil sign in the preview for the next episode.
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Except that most viewers won't 'get' those kind of Easter Eggs--not enough, anyway, to assure the necessary viewer-ship for the show to have legs...
