Review 435: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 1)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is the first of many TV shows that would be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) that would try to expand/extend the MCU while also attempting to provide thrilling entertainment in a post-Avengers world and the result for its first season is fair at best and underwhelming at worst.
Following the Battle of New York, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) having, apparently survived his death before the battle assembles together a team of highly trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to investigate strange new cases, supherhumans and other related phenomena, which are now public knowledge and haven't been classified yet.
The team consists of straight arrow Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), an expert in combat and espionage; pilot and martial artist Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) and brilliant but socially awkward scientist Agents Leo Fitz (Iain De Caesteker) and Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), thought they're later joined by a computer hacker known only as Skye (Chloe Bennet).
Together they follow a bread crumb trail of mysterious cases that are centred on Project Centipede and its shady leader known only as the Clairvoyant all the while Coulson searches for answers concerning her resurrection following the Chitauri Invasion.
The story is an uneven mix of arc driven episodes coupled with what can be best described as anemic standalone stories.
Following the Battle of New York, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) having, apparently survived his death before the battle assembles together a team of highly trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to investigate strange new cases, supherhumans and other related phenomena, which are now public knowledge and haven't been classified yet.
The team consists of straight arrow Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), an expert in combat and espionage; pilot and martial artist Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) and brilliant but socially awkward scientist Agents Leo Fitz (Iain De Caesteker) and Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), thought they're later joined by a computer hacker known only as Skye (Chloe Bennet).
Together they follow a bread crumb trail of mysterious cases that are centred on Project Centipede and its shady leader known only as the Clairvoyant all the while Coulson searches for answers concerning her resurrection following the Chitauri Invasion.
The story is an uneven mix of arc driven episodes coupled with what can be best described as anemic standalone stories.
The first half suffered from an over reliance on standalone episodes
These separate standalone stories just feel like distractions from the bigger arc at hand as though the show is stalling until it finds its footing and making the characters feels very static. (May is the stoic, seasoned badass, Fitz/Simmons are the smart guys, Ward is the black ops guy who doesn’t follow rules)
The Pilot, specifically, (mostly due to Joss Whedon's involvement) is laced with one-liners and snappy dialogue and they're often very funny and clever. The connection to The Avengers (one of the highest grossing films of all time) is both a blessing and a curse. Good because it can lean heavily on something that’s been a success but bad in that feels like it’s using that as a crutch. TV shows are at their best when they feel like they’re operating from a unique premise and a strong hook that makes the audience want to watch on.
Because of these pacing issues, several overreacting plotlines throughout the course of the Season such as the mysteries of Coulson's resurrection and Skye's parentage move at a snails pace and cause us as an audience to quickly loose interest and tune out as a result.
When the main arc of season comes back into play it's ok. The writers set up a mystery with Coulson’s resurrection.
Thankfully, the pace starts to pick up around the second half with more focus on the mysteries surrounding Coulson's resurrection, the Centipede project and the Clairvoyant, fewer standalone episodes, the characters become more developed and the actors grow more into their roles.
A running gag/catch-phrase throughout the Season is that Coulson says the words "It's a Magical Place" whenever he hears mention of the word Tahiti - this
A running gag/catch-phrase throughout the Season is that Coulson says the words "It's a Magical Place" whenever he hears mention of the word Tahiti - this
I have no doubt that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to be a phenomenon, joining the likes of Game of Thrones, Doctor Who and even Joss Whedon’s Buffy as one of the most talked about “geek shows”. But I also feel that it needs time to settle into its groove.
That is until we get to the Captain America: The Winter Soldier tie-in and that just changes the status-quo of the Season from Ep 17-22 for the better. Certain events and revolutions that take place in the film have a profound effect on the Season and the ramifications are felt through the final 5 episodes of the Season and how it effects the characters, certain secrets are revealed about them, they're not sure who to trust, they're stripped of their armour and their resources and have to scramble to survive and along the way they try to figure out whats left to believe in.
Of course those last 5 episodes can't match Captain America: The Winter Soldier's political intrigue, topicality or its jaw dropping twists & surprises. But it's how the events and revolutions of the film play out and effect the characters and the show and seeing the emotional impact it has on them that make those remaining 5 episodes that make the Season so riveting to watch.
Directors Joss Whedon, David Straiton, Milan Cheylov, Bobby Roth, Vincent Misiano, Billy Gierhart, Kevin Hooks, Roxann Dawson, Paul Edwards
Overall the acting throughout the season as a whole is fine to say the most, while none of the supporting cast were bad per say, their characters ranged from ok, to regular, to painfully generic especially for a Marvel/Whedon show.
The star of the show is easily Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, if nothing else. It is an utter joy to see him back in action. Following his mysterious resurrection, he's been assigned by S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury to put together a team to go and investigate strange new threats and technologies. Alien tech is out there in open following the Battle of New York, The Avengers have gone their own separate ways and who you gonna call?
He's just the perfect leader for this ragtag team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents because he's the quintessential everyman. He goes about things in his by-the-book and improvisatory manner.
He is ultimately the glue that holds this season together as well as the reason we care about the
This makes father/daughter relationship between him and Skye feels completely natural. Both of them are outsiders: Coulson as he's in the dark as how he came back to life following the Battle of New York and Skye because she's only a hacker who's been plucked from the outside to assist them in their assignments so she does a lot of thinking outside the box and provides an outsiders perspective to
What's intriguing about Ming-Na Wen's Melinda May is how she is a seasoned agent with a dark past but that's never given any food for thought.
Iain De Caesteker and Elizabeth Henstridge's Leo Fitz & Jemma Simmons collectively known as "FitzSimmons" grew on me very slowly. Initially they seemed primarily defined by their gimmicks of finishing each other’s sentences and acting so similarly which only reinforced the idea of these characters feeling the same. But gradualy over time, they began to feel more individualised with Fitz, in particular, becoming his own man and his ultimate fate by the end of the season leaves room for some very intriguing and interesting developments.
And then, there's to the issue of Skye (Chloe Bennet) and Grant Ward (Brett Dalton). Their characters were arguably the most uneven during the first half of the season. Ward seemed to embody the typical archetype of
Thankfully however, there are a handful of great guest stars to help the show along such as Bill Paxton, Saffron Burrows, Titus Welliver, David Conrad, Ian Hart, Elena Satine & Ruth Negga. The former two play high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents John Garret & Victoria Hand.
Overall this first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is pretty uneven, particularly during the first half
but when it hits the right notes, it hits them and hits them hard. The show hasn't quite yet figured out its own identity but shows plenty of promise for future seasons. Lets just hope that it can live up to it, 3/5.
The Anonymous Critic.
That is until we get to the Captain America: The Winter Soldier tie-in and that just changes the status-quo of the Season from Ep 17-22 for the better. Certain events and revolutions that take place in the film have a profound effect on the Season and the ramifications are felt through the final 5 episodes of the Season and how it effects the characters, certain secrets are revealed about them, they're not sure who to trust, they're stripped of their armour and their resources and have to scramble to survive and along the way they try to figure out whats left to believe in.
Of course those last 5 episodes can't match Captain America: The Winter Soldier's political intrigue, topicality or its jaw dropping twists & surprises. But it's how the events and revolutions of the film play out and effect the characters and the show and seeing the emotional impact it has on them that make those remaining 5 episodes that make the Season so riveting to watch.
Directors Joss Whedon, David Straiton, Milan Cheylov, Bobby Roth, Vincent Misiano, Billy Gierhart, Kevin Hooks, Roxann Dawson, Paul Edwards
Overall the acting throughout the season as a whole is fine to say the most, while none of the supporting cast were bad per say, their characters ranged from ok, to regular, to painfully generic especially for a Marvel/Whedon show.
The star of the show is easily Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, if nothing else. It is an utter joy to see him back in action. Following his mysterious resurrection, he's been assigned by S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury to put together a team to go and investigate strange new threats and technologies. Alien tech is out there in open following the Battle of New York, The Avengers have gone their own separate ways and who you gonna call?
He's just the perfect leader for this ragtag team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents because he's the quintessential everyman. He goes about things in his by-the-book and improvisatory manner.
He is ultimately the glue that holds this season together as well as the reason we care about the
This makes father/daughter relationship between him and Skye feels completely natural. Both of them are outsiders: Coulson as he's in the dark as how he came back to life following the Battle of New York and Skye because she's only a hacker who's been plucked from the outside to assist them in their assignments so she does a lot of thinking outside the box and provides an outsiders perspective to
What's intriguing about Ming-Na Wen's Melinda May is how she is a seasoned agent with a dark past but that's never given any food for thought.
Iain De Caesteker and Elizabeth Henstridge's Leo Fitz & Jemma Simmons collectively known as "FitzSimmons" grew on me very slowly. Initially they seemed primarily defined by their gimmicks of finishing each other’s sentences and acting so similarly which only reinforced the idea of these characters feeling the same. But gradualy over time, they began to feel more individualised with Fitz, in particular, becoming his own man and his ultimate fate by the end of the season leaves room for some very intriguing and interesting developments.
And then, there's to the issue of Skye (Chloe Bennet) and Grant Ward (Brett Dalton). Their characters were arguably the most uneven during the first half of the season. Ward seemed to embody the typical archetype of
Thankfully however, there are a handful of great guest stars to help the show along such as Bill Paxton, Saffron Burrows, Titus Welliver, David Conrad, Ian Hart, Elena Satine & Ruth Negga. The former two play high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents John Garret & Victoria Hand.
Overall this first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is pretty uneven, particularly during the first half
but when it hits the right notes, it hits them and hits them hard. The show hasn't quite yet figured out its own identity but shows plenty of promise for future seasons. Lets just hope that it can live up to it, 3/5.
The Anonymous Critic.
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