Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. got off to a great start on Tuesday night but can this show survive without Joss Whedon running the ship…
By Trevor Dueck — Staff Writer
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Finally, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) premiered last Tuesday night on ABC and we finally got to see the pilot that had been advertised all Summer long. I don’t think I have ever seen a television show advertised on all mediums like Agents was. If you don’t know what I’m talking about you either don’t have a television or computer (not sure why you are reading this) or you just watch afternoon soaps.
Joss Whedon wrote and directed the pilot episode and is the man behind the whole series. The big question I have right off the top is, will the show suffer at any point when Whedon is at arm’s length and not writing or directing episodes? In fact after this pilot other directors will be at the helm and Joss’s brother Jed Whedon will be writing most of the series. It’s something to keep an eye on. Nonetheless, it’s great to see Joss back doing television. (RIP Firefly).
There was something in this pilot for everyone. I was curious on the story path and how the show would intertwine with some of the Marvel characters and plot lines we were introduced to in the films. For us comic book geeks, there were some pretty funny references about certain Avengers like Thor’s hammer and groupies hanging around Stark Tower. There are also a few scenes where we get glimpses of Iron Man flying around on screens in the background. This episode introduced us to some of the characters that we will get to know over the coming months.
The show begins after the ‘events in New York’ (aka what happened in The Avengers) and of course Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) is back from the dead. How? We don’t know, but apparently he took a trip to Tahiti. I get the feeling he wasn’t really relaxing on a beach. “He can never know the truth,” Agent Maria Hill says. Something is rotten in Denmark, and the circumstances surrounding Coulson’s miraculous revival from his supposed death at the hands of Loki in the Avengers movie, will most likely play out as the season goes on. For now he’s back and he has a flying car. Pretty damn cool.
Agent Ward (Brett Dalton) is a ‘firm’ and good-looking, but high strung super agent; I guess they needed one of those. There is Agent May (Ming-Na Wen) who used to work in the field but we meet her as a pen pusher working at a desk. Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) are science nerds. And lastly, there is the rogue hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet), who is trying to uncover the truth behind the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization and super heroes – Oh and she is also very good looking. Sadly, there was no cameo from Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). There are online rumors that Fury will show his face at some point and possibly a few others may get a cameo too…we shall see.
There were also some guest appearances by Cobie Smulders, who reprises her role as Agent Maria Hill from the Avengers, and if you are familiar with Whedon’s past work you would recognize J. August Richards (Angel), who plays Mike Peterson, a single father who was a part of a freak experiment that gave him superpowers.
There wasn’t much plot in this episode, mostly introduction to some of the key players. It appears that humans are now very aware that there are heroes in our world. You can even buy Hulk and Captain America toys! Skye has been investigating both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the mysterious hooded man she met who gained super-human strength thanks in large part to the Extremis virus, which was used by the villain Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3. The technology not only gives strength, it makes people explode. Skye is being pursued by S.H.I.E.L.D. because she may have some answers and is a pain in the ass. She will most likely become part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team. The bulk of this first episode revolves around this single plot line. We find out that there might be a way to fight the Extremis virus and that is what tech whizzes Fitz and Simmons are there for; they are looking to find an antidote.
Not a bad first episode to set up storyline and introduce characters. This is what a pilot does. There wasn’t much for action or explosions, but there was no need for it. Joss Whedon is a master with character development and dialogue. This is not going to be “Under the Dome” where we are treated to static characters presented to us by horrible dialogue and sub-par acting. The only thing I worry about is will this be a show devoted to fans of the Marvel universe? Or will this be a standalone program that anyone can pick up and watch without knowing much about the history?
The pilot was solid because it didn’t go over the top, instead it was chalk full of geeky references and self-aware wry jokes, pre-established context, and fun gizmos. I like what I read somewhere online that superhero fans finally have their own NCIS. It was a solid premier and to borrow a line from the teasers we were hammered with all Summer long, not all pilots have to be super.
Next episode is called 0-8-4 and is directed by David Straiton. While in Peru on a case with the team, Agent Coulson runs into someone from his past.
