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Post by Marvel Boy on Sept 25, 2013 21:03:18 GMT -5
Anyone else excited to see the premiere of this long-awaited show?
I liked it, I thought they conveyed the sense of the movie world rather well. The cast was good but being the first episode, I imagine it will take a few shows before their roles really settle down.
I'm interested to see where all they go within this show.
Thoughts?
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Post by Shiryu on Sept 26, 2013 17:59:53 GMT -5
I liked it for a pilot, it started fleshing out the characters and there were some nice touches (the mentioning of Project Pegasus stood out!). The special effects were top notch for a tv series, and the humor was genuinely fun most of the times.
On the down side, most characters were somewhat stereotypical. Nerd scientists, a tough guy with no people skills, a former amazing field agent who has suffered from some sort of trauma and a supersmart hacker... it's nothing we haven't seen before. Coulson really carried the show this time.
But I agree it's going to take a few episodes to really settle. Everyone was probably over-characterized to make viewers remember them in such a short time. Hopefully more screen time will be given in the upcoming episodes.
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Post by spiderwasp on Sept 26, 2013 18:11:27 GMT -5
I liked it as well. It felt like there was a real respect for the source material which hasn't always been the case with tv shows based on comics. The only thing I didn't really like was the two British agents. I thought they were very hard to understand. I can't even really attribute that fully to the accents though. I have no problem understand the characters on British shows such as Dr. Who, Keeping Up Appearances, or Fawlty Towers. To me, the problem was that both of them mumbled horribly. I hardly understood a word from either of them.
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Post by starfoxxx on Sept 26, 2013 18:34:33 GMT -5
the two British agents. I thought they were very hard to understand. Once again, spiderwasp reads my mind! I couldn't understand them, and they talked over each other.... But I also liked the pilot; the end where everyone smiles at each other was super-cheesy, the whole thing was pretty predictable, but it kept me entertained. They went for a CSI/NCIS/detective/cop show route, but in the end the material is light and fun (and about super-heroes) rather than most TV dramas; dark, gritty, (and about serial killers, perverts, just the ugliest part of humanity)---- and that's why I don't watch those type of TV shows. SPOILER ALERT>>> I think the theory of Coulson being an android (Vision?) is correct. I hope the show lasts long enough to find out!
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Post by wundagoreborn on Sept 27, 2013 10:00:20 GMT -5
I hope the show lasts long enough to find out! He must never know, Maria Sherbotski said so. I had fun with it. I thought the hacker lady on-boarded a bit too easily, but OK. I'm looking forward to more.
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Post by humanbelly on Sept 27, 2013 11:35:12 GMT -5
I reallyreallyreallyreallyreally want this show to succeed, and overall I liked it okay. . . but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it will have to improve on this pilot episode pretty quickly, or it's not going to have any staying power. Ironically, I think its weaknesses are very much in line w/ the weaknesses you used to find in the 1st issue of a new comic book series: the writing has a very rushed, get-to-point-C feeling to it that sacrifices nuanced characterization and dialog for the sake of making the characters feel familiar to us and easily indentifiable. Thus, you get terribly cliche'd exchanges, statements, and character "snapshots"-- things that normally you NEVER get w/ Joss Whedon. He's always had a gift, in fact, for avoiding that very pitfall. There was just an edge throughought-- a feeling that the writing and characterization was trying toooo-hard to win our affection and approval. Skye's over-confident wise-mouth schtick is too much too soon-- and we need to be won over to her personally before we can appreciate it. The David Boreanaz-looking loner-guy?-- The whole truth-serum sequence falls very flat because we don't know him well enough to appreciate the apparent break from character we're seeing. Fitz & Simmons enter at too hyper a level and come across as frenetic "types" rather than people-- and again, we never get to know them first. It's like trying to get to the successful meat of Heroes or Lost w/out the requisite initial character exploration.
That all being said-- I think that if the writers settle down, and if Joss Whedon has time to keep steady control of it ('cause I see a lot of attempt at a "Firefly" vibe, here), then there's more than enough potential for a great, fun, engaging series.
Clark Gregg is indeed still great. Lordy, what a find, that guy. Coulson is gonna be an LMD, of course-- I do think that's the route they'd take down the road. I look forward to it--- what happens when the most human guy in the organization finds out he's not human anymore?
The music was quite good-- very cinematic feel.
And the cast is really fine. . . not generally as "super-model" as I'd originally believed. Still a little too pretty, though. The dilemma for the Michael Phillips character was handled with appreciable sensitivity as well-- SO glad to not have it go reflexively dark, as television is generally dedicated to doing these days.
HB
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Post by Marvel Boy on Sept 27, 2013 23:09:58 GMT -5
Good thoughts all.
I had trouble understanding Fitz-Simmons too. After years of watching PBS, BBC, and BBC America, I can usually understand the varied accents but they spoke too fast, mumbling while doing so, and their dialogue overlapped. I can see where Whedon wanted to show just how much of a team the pair are, but they need to slow it down some. For that sniper rifle that Ward fired at Petersen at the end, I didn't hardly catch any of their previous explanation for what it was so I don't understand why it worked on Petersen.
It's interesting that you mention the dark aspect of general TV nowadays HB. I've read other opinions of the show elsewhere and someone wondered just how dark (or serious) will Disney allow this show to get, especially if they are focused on it being a family show. So it will be interesting to see what themes and actions occur within the show.
How did you all like Lola the Flying Car? It was nice fanboy touch but considering the previous 50 minutes, it felt kinda....out of place. Like it pushed the suspension of disbelief a bit too far. I wonder how often we'll see Lola fly......
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Post by humanbelly on Sept 28, 2013 6:47:33 GMT -5
Good thoughts all. I had trouble understanding Fitz-Simmons too. After years of watching PBS, BBC, and BBC America, I can usually understand the varied accents but they spoke too fast, mumbling while doing so, and their dialogue overlapped. I can see where Whedon wanted to show just how much of a team the pair are, but they need to slow it down some. For that sniper rifle that Ward fired at Petersen at the end, I didn't hardly catch any of their previous explanation for what it was so I don't understand why it worked on Petersen. It's interesting that you mention the dark aspect of general TV nowadays HB. I've read other opinions of the show elsewhere and someone wondered just how dark (or serious) will Disney allow this show to get, especially if they are focused on it being a family show. So it will be interesting to see what themes and actions occur within the show. How did you all like Lola the Flying Car? It was nice fanboy touch but considering the previous 50 minutes, it felt kinda....out of place. Like it pushed the suspension of disbelief a bit too far. I wonder how often we'll see Lola fly...... With the accents, that thick Scots (do they call it Glaswegian, I think? It's also David Tenant's natural dialect. . . ) coming out of Fitz is simply an earful for us Americans. We just don't hear it very well. It's really fast, and it doesn't lend itself to proper, clear diction. I was kind of watching those two closely, having been forewarned, and I think a LOT of their interplay wasn't meant to be clearly discerned, anyhow. Mostly a ton of technical chatter and personal/tech conversational short-hand, I think. But it was still tough even when we needed to make them out. How many folks clearly caught that Fitz' little investigator-drones were named after the 7 Dwarfs? And. . . I'm not sure there actually was a previous explanation of the rifle, WGB. I think we were expected to piece it together in an extremely abbreviated fashion from the one VERY brief shot of Ward holding a different, high-tech rifle, w/ Fitz right on top of him, observing. That does convey all of the necessary info in context, but geeze, anyone who blinks or turns away for 1.5 seconds right there is going to be completely lost. I like Lola-! And honestly, my first thought was "hovercraft" as it transformed. . . and hovercrafts have been around for, like, 60 years. It almost seemed quaint, oddly enough, even in this hyper-tech, souped-up version. (Hmm-- wonder if Phil will bump into Fred MacMurray and a talking sheepdog in an old Model A up there at some point. . . this being Disney, and all. . . ;D) HB
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Post by wundagoreborn on Sept 30, 2013 8:34:28 GMT -5
I LOVED LOVED LOVED that they used an old-school flying SHIELD car! Those cars captured my imagination the first time I saw Nick Fury zip onto the scene in one and they have never let go.
I hope to see Lola again tomorrow. But after that I hope they continue to use her sparingly enough that they always have budget to make her flights look so good.
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Post by Marvel Boy on Oct 4, 2013 8:49:09 GMT -5
The second episode was decent, lots of action. Some hints and information about the activities of former HYDRA scientists after the war.
The team's bond grows stronger, I could actually understand most everything that Fitz-Simmons said.
Tahiti, a "magical place"....some allusion perhaps to Asgardian help in the revival of Coulson?
Surprised by the cameo at the end so soon into this season, still, pretty cool.
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Post by starfoxxx on Oct 4, 2013 13:51:17 GMT -5
I hate to be a naysayer so soon...... (you guys probably think I'm a pessimistic hater, but there are plenty of things I like, just few and far between these days.)
Well, I just don't like the formulaic, 1-hour network show approach. These are monumental, world-encompassing plotlines----and they are going to leave it up to these 5 or 6 "wack pack" players....
I always envisioned SHIELD as being a huge operation, hand picking special agents and experts from a huge pool of operatives. I would have liked more of a show that drew on many different agencies and characters to handle situations.... I know, I know, it works better for a TV show to keep the same characters and develop them, I think it's just that I don't really like this grouping.
Coulson is still a great character and well-acted, it's just that whole "I have faith in these lovable goofballs to save the world" time and time again just falls flat for me.
The SHIELD I grew up with (in comics) would send in the big guns. Just more of a military type operation than one that would leave it to rank amateurs.
I found myself just fast-forwarding my DVR to the action scenes, which were pretty good.
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Post by humanbelly on Oct 5, 2013 17:59:24 GMT -5
I dunno, SF-- that unnecessarily long jungle car-chase in the second episode REALLY grated on my nerves after about 10 seconds. It served no dramatic purpose whatsoever, and just seemed to go on forever. . . using up the all-too-precious content time allotted between the five-minute commercial breaks. It puts me in an immediately resentful frame of mind if they waste time that way, and actually takes me out of the story. Ugh.
No. . . as I've stated else-blog, there wasn't a single turn in the plot of the 2nd episode. . . not one. . . that I didn't see coming. And I'm no narrative genius. I mean, I hate to say this, but it REALLY reminded me of. . . the fifty jillion by-the-book shows and movies that (*gulp*) Disney used to churn out from the late fifties through the 80's.
I mean, I'm gonna be surprised if Dean Jones doesn't pop up in the next episode or two. . .
HB
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Post by wundagoreborn on Oct 5, 2013 20:09:41 GMT -5
I MISSED IT! I can't believe I missed it. Moreover, I can't believe WundagoreDescended forgot it too. Two generations of shame.
Our fanboy licenses are on probation.
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Post by spiderwasp on Oct 7, 2013 20:44:35 GMT -5
I am in agreement that the second episode wasn't as impressive as the first. I agree with SF that I picture SHIELD as bigger than just a few key agents, however, I see the need for that focus. Honestly, it reminds me a lot of Torchwood, even down to the new female agent joining on the first episode. On the other hand, I like Torchwood, so... I also agree that the stories could flesh out more if they weren't contained to one episode. I'm hoping that multi-episode stories will be coming later. I can actually understand why they wouldn't start with them though. They aren't inviting to people who discover the episode after the first couple. Once it has found it's audience, I think it will be safer to do that. Dr. Who, for example, increased its multi-episode stories as it moved along. Even serial dramas of a different nature, such as Dallas and Knot's Landing, started off with contained episode. It wasn't until they had people hooked that they started building those more complex stories.
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Post by humanbelly on Oct 8, 2013 20:44:39 GMT -5
So, third episode? Bleah. Aaaaaaand, I think I'm done. It's simply an excruciating way to spend an hour. The show just isn't clever or inventive or particularly engaging at all. And the dire-situation set-up for this episode took so horribly long, and was so unbelievably dry and uncompelling that it became incomprehensible--- especially when broken up by multiple long commercial breaks.
There are attempts at trying convey depth and personal growth and personal connection-- but it still comes across as largely forced to me. Contrived, pat, by-the-book, going-through-the-motions. Daggone it. This is doing the superhero genre' no good whatsoever (and actually, it really isn't super-heroic anyhow-- it's just another black ops/spy team type series.). Is there any risk-taking going on whatsoever?
HB
10/9/13I have to make one amendment, here. That opening sequence w/ the trucks getting mysteriously tossed willy-nilly was pretty darned good, and had me all ready for some kind of super-hero action. So the let-down when it proved to be some EXTREMELY technical, dryly-explained scientific whirlygig only served to make the rest of the episode seem even less remarkable.
HB
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Post by tomspasic on Oct 10, 2013 6:35:44 GMT -5
See, I'm much more forgiving of it than you guys. I think the team is reasonably engaging, being a brit the accents don't bother me at all. The action is good, the FX are good, the acting and direction are pretty good. It's funny, and grounded in enough classic comic/movie lore to fanboy me out. Did nobody but me realize ep 3 is the origin of Graviton, AKA Frank Hall? True, it's not yet a "Breaking Bad", or even a "Buffy" or a "Dollhouse", but these things take time to draw us in. I like it, it's a fairly entertaining way to spend an hour or so given most nights there is literally nothing on TV I want to watch (except the Simpsons).
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Post by starfoxxx on Oct 10, 2013 15:42:33 GMT -5
3rd episode.... better, but still pretty bad.
The biggest upside for me personally, is the lead actress (Sky, i think?). She is so extremely hot. But the show is just not good, and seems to be on a WB level budget. I want to like it, but I can't.
She is so hot, though.
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Post by humanbelly on Oct 10, 2013 21:07:39 GMT -5
3rd episode.... better, but still pretty bad. The biggest upside for me personally, is the lead actress (Sky, i think?). She is so extremely hot. But the show is just not good, and seems to be on a WB level budget. I want to like it, but I can't. She is so hot, though. Ohh, Starfoxxx, Starfoxxx, Starfoxxx--- just livin' up to your name, there, aren'tcha? ;D Skye's pretty good, I suppose-- I just still feel that writing is forcing the arc of her growth along much too quickly and unnaturally. She's also so much of an Eliza Dushku clone that I have trouble getting past it (which isn't one bit her fault, I admit). She does listen well, though-- takes in what other actors are saying to her. We're all over the map, though, on how we're receiving this show, though, aren't we? TomSp's a pretty smart fellow, so if he's still seeing something he likes maybe I'll give it one more round. I TOTALLY missed the likely Graviton angle! I think I'd like to see mission/event take a backseat at this point so we could have some interesting internally-directed story-telling take place. There's just a touch of it-- but that's really what drives a series like this these days. HB
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Post by Shiryu on Oct 11, 2013 11:37:17 GMT -5
I'm a bit surprised by the lack of love, I thought episode 3 was excellent. We saw Graviton being born, and Skye becoming more a part of the team. Considering the TV budget, the special effects were very good too. Having said that, I'm watching without commercials, which might be what makes me enjoy it more. And I'm also familiar with the British accent, so Fitz-Simmons aren't a problem at all. In fact, Simmons is great to listen to... and watch
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Post by Marvel Boy on Oct 11, 2013 17:44:58 GMT -5
Well, I have to DVR this show since the Mouse airs it directly opposite NCIS. (Jethro Gibbs comes first). So I don't bother with the commercials.
As such, I've seen the 2nd episode but not the third (I'm always behind when I come here, regardless if it's comics, trades, movies, animation or whatever. I'm perpetually late :lol: )
2nd episode was decent, the action scenes were nicely done I thought, especially given a TV show budget. Obviously, it was all about the team bonding. (Although I'm starting to wonder if there's more to Mays the pilot. She's almost acts and is almost perceived as perhaps a super-soldier. Hm.....)
I was surprised by the cameo at the end, happened sooner than I expected. I thought they would save him for a sweeps episode at least.
So good to know that Graviton is on tap next, I'm warming to the show, I think give Whedon some time to really settle these characters down and this show may be terrific watching by season's end.
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Post by spiderwasp on Oct 15, 2013 22:08:52 GMT -5
Well, let me be the first to weigh in on tonight's episode. Personally, I think it was the best one yet. I've enjoyed the previous episodes but felt that they were sometimes a little slow and have hoped for some improvement. However, I found tonight's episode to be an excellent blend of secret agent and super hero world. I'm optimistic about the future for the series.
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