I look back often to most TV shows and realize just how rare a solid pilot is. LOST had one, and for as many problems as it might have gone on to have, that first two hours was phenomenal. The Walking Dead as well – as ambivalent as I am on the series, the pilot is solid). But other shows, like Breaking Bad, The League, and other shows I genuinely enjoy had a much rougher start before stabilizing.
Most show’s premiere episode leaves something to be desired – characters who haven’t found themselves, writers without purpose, or actors not comfortable in their roles. In fact, as I rewatch pilots of shows recently finished or see new pilots this season, I am reminded that once, almost every show had a mediocre pilot and little else going for it, or in some cases a bad pilot that is nothing like the show I might come to love (I’m looking at you, Parks and Recreation). ABC’s Agents of SHIELD, the newest part of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, or Universe 199999, has just released a pilot.
The opening of the show, then, needs to prove itself on a different level than most episodes of television, and even on a different level from a film such as Thor (which, for the record, I think was a lot worse than Agents of SHIELD).
So, let’s talk Agents of SHIELD – because god knows someone else didn’t. Casting was – well, casting was not very impressive for a Marvel/ABC-backed drama.
Agent Coulson I like – though I have to wonder if his whole reason for existence was always to headline his own show. He isn’t exactly a breakout character, but his charm and boyishness mirrors most longtime Marvel fans and is a great jumping on place. Can he headline an entire show? I think he deserves a chance. If we get any more of the kinds of speeches we got about Coulson’s anger, fear, and problems with being the one guy in the room without superpowers, I think he’ll prove himself an interesting character with enough deadpan observations, wit, and savvy to lead the group.
The Intelligence Agent, I didn’t like. I don’t remember his name, I barely remember his skill set, I don’t care about his romance with Skye, the hacker, and I can probably predict his character arc three seasons ahead of the writers. Because we’ve seen it before. He’s boring. Is there somewhere his character can go? I sincerely hope so. What I worry most about is his becoming a second Black Widow – only he doesn’t seem particularly clever, and any agent with metahuman abilities would instantly outclass him in everything he does, unlike Natasha Romanoff. Hopefully, he subverts his role in the show, and we see a new side to him beyond an annoying, predictably gruff exterior. I can only hope he is given more to work with – a backstory beyond a dossier, an actress to have a semblance of chemistry with (he sure as hell doesn’t have any with Skye), or even just more scenes where he shoots people in the head to save them. Anything but being attractive, precocious furniture.
Skye, the hacker who sees the rising tide, was less problematic, but not developed enough to call a fine character yet. Hackers are generally underutilized characters, relegated to back rooms to let the physically able handle the real problems. Will Skye follow this trend? Perhaps. The problem with a pilot with this many characters introduced at once is that you can’t concentrate much on any one team, member. I like that she may mirror the younger generations activist streak, some kind of metahuman 99%. Will it go anywhere? Time will tell. But she was one of the less annoying characters – which in a pilot, is something.
The Driver. I like her. She was the least developed character, but also the most intriguing because of it. She has a past, but we know we can learn about it later – the writers didn’t waste too much time telling us about her. It’s basic fiction – show, don’t tell. Here, she is perhaps the only character who was shown to us without being told more than we need to know. She has skills, but we’re not sure where they end. Hopefully the writers know how to utilize her mystery and don’t prematurely blow their knowledge all over the audience. A mystery is always appreciated.
Fitz and Simmons – what the fuck are two Brits doing in SHIELD, an American Intelligence agency? This is really grating me, even though it’s not very important. Why are two people this young in charge of technology? I don’t know – but I want to. They had decent interactions, were entertaining enough, and they didn’t anger me as much as I feared they would. I think they might be good characters – and I’ll be very interested in seeing their technological solutions pushing the show into sci-fi territory.
And finally, the guest stars. Holy shit, the guest stars. Any fan of pop culture in the past ten years can appreciate them. They made me hopeful for future guests, and weren’t half bad doing it. I can only hope they’ll become recurring characters. J. August Richards, for instance, was more enjoyable as a flat (though compared to The Intelligence Agent, well-rounded) character if only because he isn’t afraid to commit and the writers gave him more development and agency than half of the titular agents on the damn show. The main characters weren’t just reduced to following orders, they were reduced to making bad decisions. Only one of these is forgivable.
I’m torn on whether or not I want this to stay the case. Obviously, this is a problem. A show with flat main characters and dynamic surroundings can only be so good (outlier status of The Walking Dead notwithstanding), and one which relies on guest stars and monster of the week tactics is outdated in the heavily serialized TV world of today. If anyone can do it, though, I think Marvel has a good chance- they have a pretty long history of it, after all.
Of course, that brings us to plot. I was not impressed with nine tenths of this episode. I’d wager to say it bored me.The introduction to five characters at once is rushed. We should have been introduced to them incrementally – seeing Coulson build a team would have been great to individually introduce the team. The reintroduction to SHIELD and the movies is, though minimized, probably a necessity. That doesn’t excuse the fact that I expect a wink every time someone mentions HYDRA or how New York changed everything or the goddamn Rising Tide. The monster of the week was mediocre, treading on territory virtually any comic book int he last twenty years has covered better and bolder. Despite that,. he was more enjoyable than half the cast. That bodes poorly. And for most of the episode, I was nearly cringing,
But then we got to the end. We got a brief – very brief – look into the heart of the show and what it can be when it comes together. We got an exceptional speech, a fantastic look into the psyche of a character continuously marginalized by Universe 199999, and a reason for the very existence of a superhero team without any actual superheroes. And I really liked it.
Sadly, the episode was very visually lacking. Too much green screen, too little practical effects. No chances taken in the art direction, and no impressive choreography. For a show based on a comic books series with sixty years of art to draw on, that was more than a little disappointing. What should have been done to enhance it? A lot – you’d think with how much money The Avengers made some of that could maybe be funneled into making the show look like it shouldn’t star David Hasselhoff.
Finally, for pilots, I like to imagine what the show could work in to the season to make it more enjoyable. This is where Agents of SHIELD has a chance to shine greater than any show on TV. Not in a long time, if ever, has a TV show crossed over with a film series, and not ever in quite this way. If ABC is smart, they can drive viewership with stunt casting the likes of which haven’t been seen in years. I could see an episode where the Rising Tide crosses over into Stark Industries, or ends up with a minor god on their hand out of Asgard. We could see the effects the increase in metahuman population is having on Bruce Banner’s work.
More interestingly, however, is the potential for reinterpreting some of Marvel’s more memorable stories, or even their characters. We could very well see a superhero registration arc (hinted in the pilot), or a rising of anti-mutant sentiments. We could meet Doctor Strange (my personal favorite superhero), or introduce characters and concepts to speed up narrative in the upcoming Universe 199999 movies. I just sincerely hope the show, if it continues, doesn’t sink to the insulting-to-not-just-fans-but-any-viewers-intelligence that Smallville did after its first season.
Above anything, though, I’m excited to see the use of new media and cross-platform integration. Could we see plots pay off in the movies that start in the show? Could we see web-series integrate into the movies into the show into comics? I certainly hope so, and I think more than a few people will be out of a job if such a thing isn’t at least given a good shot.
So, did the show live up to its predecessor? Did it meet expectations after the box-office Juggernaut that was The Avengers? No – it didn’t. But asking for a pilot to be near as good as the Avengers is like asking Kenny G to play Kind of Blue – it could happen, but not in this lifetime. For now, we have to wait for the show to find it’s Gem of Cyttorak. Which sucks.
But could Agents of SHIELD become a show I watch weekly, hoping for new plots, send-offs to classic story lines, and set-ups for blockbusters? I think it could. Even if I have to put up with a bit of smooth jazz before the good bebop starts.
What did everyone else think of the show? What would you want to see happen in the season leading up to the Marvel movies?
Rule of three 