Because of an awesome mother, I learned to read when I was three. I went from the book of fairy tales she read me every night to “The Witch Who Went for a Walk” to… Dazzler #2. Like, I’m not even kidding. I have no idea where it came from, how it ended up in my house, or why in the name of all that is holy my mother let me read it. My point being I have been a Marvel fan since I was a toddler. Couple that with my love of the Whedonverse and the joy all the current Marvel movies bring me, my further point is that this might be the most excited and anxious I have ever been for a television show. I’ve seriously been sitting here thinking about it, trying to prove myself wrong, but I’m not exaggerating. I was a-quiver. I had read and watched very little about the show, and I didn’t even read Androidika’s review of the sneak peak from SDCC. I wanted to experience this show.
I think we’ve been friends and neighbors long enough for you to know what I likes, but before I get to the meat of things I’ll throw some new favorites your way. I love:
- Epic scores
- Fist fights
- Edit Piaf
- The word “poop”
- Shepherd Book
“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” had all of those things. In the first ten minutes. And in the remaining 42 it had a good 90% of the standard Things I Love: Chicks that kick ass, well choreographed fight scenes, gadgets, a Scottish accent, and a twist I didn’t see coming. Episode one tells the story of how a rag tag team (Whedon’s specialty) of agents – leader, mysterious veteran, hothead, nerds, civilian – combined efforts to seek out “unregistered gifteds.” The pilot implies that the show will take place in multiple locations, and might take the tried and true freak-of-the-week format born of the X-Files and perfected in Buffy.
There is an awful lot I loved about the pilot. In addition to the aforementioned ass-kickery, I think the special effects were pretty damn good for network television. I watch a lot of genre TV but haven’t really watched anything too FX heavy since “Smallville” and well… yeah. So I don’t really have a good gauge, but the tech was pretty out there and only twice was I distracted by a somewhat hokey effect. I probably don’t even need to talk about Clark Gregg’s Coulson. He’s the reason the show exists and his performance continues to be engaging and charming. And can we just talk about Ming-Na Wen? I was not a fan when she was on “E.R.,’ and haven’t really followed her career, but she was amazing. She plays the character as weathered, weary, and absolutely done with your sass. Her character, Melinda Mays, has a Past, and I’m curious to see how that plays out.
When the show ended and I got overwhelmed with emotion from seeing the Mutant Enemy logo on my television again it took a few minutes for the stars to clear from my eyes. But they did, and I can report a couple flaws. And really “flaw” might have too negative a connotation, but there are a couple issues. I’m not in love with Skye. She’s so far a little too Faith-y, and I’m sorry you can flame me all you like, I never liked Faith. Skye is most definitely not (as of tonight) a “bad girl,” but she’s a little too smirky and wisecracky. Those traits can be amazing and work well in an ensemble, or they can be distractingly annoying. I’m not going to call a judgment there based on the pilot.
And for those of you that know me and my favorites well, you are probably also familiar with my frowns. What do I dislike more than any other trope in a show or movie? To be smacked over the head with a metaphor. And damn y’all, that third act was preachy. It had a smart tie in to the “Iron Man 3” release today, was well shot and performed, but damn. Preachy.
When all is said and done I am absolutely happy and can’t wait for next Tuesday. This was a great time, it met all my expectations, and I really only want to have fun while watching a show like this. Keep the messages at bay and I think “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” has an abundance of potential. It is a pilot after all, and what’s the last show you recall that had a perfect pilot? OK, that started off as rhetorical but now I really want opinions on that one. But I digress, and will leave you with my fanservice demand: Super. Hero. Cameos. Namely one Alison Blaire, if you please.
I’m saving this for the end, because it’s the only semi-spoiler I’m including. If you don’t want to know anything, even a theory, stop right here.
At 8:11 I decided Coulson is a Life Model Decoy, and you can’t convince me otherwise.