Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. : Episode 1 Review

[IamLEAM1983]

I just saw Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s pilot episode and, well...

I'd have to say my takeaway is a bit mixed. Happy, satisfied even – but still mixed.

See, the hook has been dangled in front of comic book geeks or fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for years, now. Agent Phil Coulson (Joss Whedon's neighbour, Clark Gregg) is secretly a full-fledged badass in his own right and behind the meek and mild appearance lies a capable team leader. That much was obvious. We saw him die in The Avengers but – surprise – he isn't dead! How can that be?!

“Dun dun DUUUN” is the only answer the pilot provides, with vague clues eluding to the fact that Coulson's professed healing trip to Tahiti hides something more complex and sinister that even he seems to ignore.

So what's the deal? Agents is shaping out to be Heroes in Marvel rebranding, more or less, with the addition of a crack team of Super Special Strike Team character tropes and stereotypes that swoops in and deals with whatever needs to be dealt with. S.H.I.E.L.D. is still referred to as the crack team of Badass Normals who are the only sanctioned goverment arm capable of dealing with the likes of Iron Man, Thor, the Chitauri and other demigods and critters of that general nature. The figureheads of the Cinematic Universe are referred to or name-dropped in order to provide context, for instance – as Tony Stark now has cosplaying fangirls parked outside Stark Tower, apparently – but none of them make an actual appearance. The bio-weapon of Iron Man 3, however, the chlorophyll-based Extremis, makes a return as the primary motivator.

The hook for the episode is fairly simple. Gods live among us, now, and everyone who has enough understanding of biology secretly yearns for a shot of alien fluids or nanomachines or, well, virtually anything else that's been pulled out of the miraculously cleaned-up Chitauri wreckage in New York. Some people are willing to skip a few safety procedures, natch, and are looking to level the playing field. In comes Michael Peterson (J. August Richards), a devoted father who's had the misfortune of being recently sacked from his job at the factory. Unable to cope with this and the simultaneous divorce procedures he's going through, he turns to a super-hasty research project based on Extremis to try and twist his fates around.

As can be expected, we learn that slapdash supersoldier formulas have deleterious effects on the brain-noodle. As devoted a father as he is, Peterson is starting to think that he's involved in an origin story of his own, and aches to right all the increasingly insurmountable wrongs his corroding sanity is having him perceive. Naturally, when Coulson and co. show up, all efficient and excessively MIB-like, he doesn't take too kindly to it.

Through it all, sexy sexpot hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet) acts as the fountainhead for a group calling itself the Rising Tide, a sort of Anonymous knock-off focused on the full disclosure of metahuman and superhuman activities to the public. With very little in the way of surprise, we learn that Rising Tide consists of essentially nothing else but Skye and a ratty laptop, and that she can dance around S.H.I.E.L.D.'s security protocols like nobody's business.

The writing is excessively Whedon in spirit, which might please longtime fans or annoy those who thought that his insistence at having everyone come off as quirky and a little witty at times might dull the delivery. Your mileage will definitely vary. I, personally, enjoyed it immensely. Coulson is true to himself, and it's fun to see the quirky sentient narrative device from the films evolve into an actual character – someone whose mind is far more dangerous than any self-conscious posture and meek little smiles of his might suggest. Jokes fly left and right, none miss their mark – but it's also a bit odd, largely because everyone else outside of Coulson feels like an Action Team stereotype. The Cute Hacker Chick, the International Spy, the Nerd and Techie Duo, the Scrappy Pilot - to the point where their mobile command center (a repurposed cargo plane) starts to feel Star Trekky in corners. Obviously, smaller budget means smaller effects, and smaller effects means less tangible superheroics. That might jar some people, if you happen to come into this expecting a miraculously low-budget take on the Stark whiz-bang genius or Thor's Kenneth Branaugh-worthy tirades.

It's essentially the Cinematic Universe – pared down to a super-slim and low-fat package that offers less visual spectacle but more money to spend on things like additional episodes – or perhaps extra seasons. As with any TV series, time alone will allow Agents to blossom.

So why is my overall impression mixed? Largely because Michael Peterson is an antagonist who's been gifted with Extremis on the very first episode, which gives me rather bad memories of Smallville's earlier focus on Villain of the Week structures. I'm sincerely hoping that we quickly move on to more drawn-out investigations, as it'll be hard to maintain a consistent level of investment if every episode means you have to become acquainted with another flawed character with other problems to solve and another puzzle for Coulson to tackle.

I'll personally expect at least two seasons from the premise – at which point Whedon will have to have worked out the kinks in the formula. Weekly Aesops do not a viewership retain, especially when you consider how the TV spectrum has dramatically changed between Whedon's penultimate series and the current one.

Buffy or Firefly could make with self-contained episodes and self-contained bad guys, as that was the era's scheme of reference. Now, however, series such as LOST have spoiled the viewship rotten, and people will expect to see more than an upteenth lecture on the nature of hubris and the seductively destructive appeal of superhuman technology.

Whedon has to deliver – and this is by what Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will live or die.

[Weirdlet]

That's twice now I've seen Michael Peterson referred to as the 'villain' of the episode- and I don't think that's what he is *at all*.

Yes, he becomes dangerously unbalanced and antagonistic. Yes, he has to be talked down, and provides the impetus of action for the latter half of the episode. But he's to the end of things a loving father and desperate to do good, even if he's fucked up about it. He speaks to things that *I* feel and hear my friends saying, about feeling powerless in a rigged game, and that's what the serum exacerbates in him (like it did Schmidt's entitlement and conquest-oriented desires, and Rogers' desire to help others). And he's considered worth saving.

The real villains I'm seeing are the people who experimented on him and then tried to kill him to cover up their own mistakes. And that's what I'm thinking is going to be the thing for this team, is saving the hapless who get caught in the middle while hunting down those who want to do damage- and I like that Mr. Hot-shot agent called Skye on the whole anarchists-not-caring-who-gets-hurt thing. And- yeah, I'm just gonna go with I like this show, a lot, and I can deal with Whedonesque dialogue if it gets me more awesomeness. As for Peterson- what I twittered/facebooked after I watched it was "I didn't realize crying in relief was even an *option*."

[IamLEAM1983]

Oh, I'm well aware that Peterson isn't a villain per se, but he still is a guy who needs to be reasoned with. All I'm hoping is that the show doesn't ultimately revolve around the idea of the battered ordinary good guy who turns to excessive use of superpowers to turn his life around.

I'm hoping Peterson will be a good jumping-off point for research regarding unsanctioned uses of Asgardian/Chitauri tech.