As the debut of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” approached, a thought crossed my mind: how stoked would a ten-year-old version of me be to watch a Marvel TV show? Combining superheroics, acronyms and witty repartee into one network television broadcast is pretty much all I could ever hope for from a TV show, and as I sat down to watch I couldn’t have been more excited about how fun the idea really was.
Sadly, the debut that was written and directed by “The Avengers” writer/director Joss Whedon was far more entertaining conceptually than it was in actuality, as a fair dose of amusing Whedonisms and an array of charming performances only go so far to cut the procedure and the predictability.
Let’s start with the good, however.
Say what you will about the rest of the show, but Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson is in many ways the heart and soul of the Marvel universe, even if he ends up being a retrofitted life model decoy as they sort of tease in this episode (only Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill and a doctor/scientist played by Ron Glass (aka Shepherd Book!) Know the truth about Tahiti!)). In this show, his charm manages to elevate most every scene he’s in, whether he’s dealing with too-cute-in-anyone-elses-hands-but-perfect-for-Gregg lines like his intro remark from the shadows of “Welcome to Level 7…sorry, that corner was really dark and I couldn’t help myself. I think there’s a bulb out” or simply interacting with new character Skye. Gregg makes this show work, and with a cast that is a bit uneven so far, they really need him.
Other standouts include the remarkably charming and rock solid future Whedon player of Chloe Bennet as the aforementioned Skye. I had never experienced her work before, but her Rising Tide group which quickly got snuffed out was at first hugely intriguing, and then just entertaining and engaging once she was brought out to the dark and shadowy government sector. The show gets going whenever she and Gregg are working together, as they really get the cadence of a Whedon script, and it makes the show crackle all the more.
I also enjoy Agents Fitz and Simmons, even if the play-on-words nature of their names is perhaps a little overly cute. While Iain de Caestecker as Fitz is a bit overly frenetic at first, he and Elizabeth Henstridge play off each other well, and manage to be a bit of a combination Q for the show while adding a bit of comic relief at the same time.
The script and story overall is solid, as there is a lot to introduce and a lot to develop in one episode, and Whedon makes sure to lace it with plenty of great little lines that take it up a notch. Comments about sweaty cosplay girls and science meeting magic are both amusing and amusingly metatextual, and Whedon often knows how to hit well with his audience in that regard.
Sometimes, things spin a bit out of control though, as there were a number of groan worthy lines particularly from the hero/villain hybrid Mike Peterson who introduces the nefarious Centipede group. When the doctor from Centipede (who later shows up with the true T-1000 magically out of the hospital) states out of frustration how Robertson showing up is a disaster, Peterson’s response of “No. It’s an origin story.” before leaping out a presumably high window almost made me close up shop and go home. Other parts where cutesy “Journey into Mystery”, insider type references are made draw eye rolls, but origin story? Come on Joss, you’re better than that.
I like tying the Project Centipede deal to the advent of new superpowered beings being created through the usage of alien tech, gamma radiation, super soldier serum and Extremis, and that has the potential for good things going forward. It’s a great way to build depth into the film world if they so desire, while giving the opportunity for its own supers to vex S.H.I.E.L.D.
However, its debut with J. August Richards as Peterson was a little too much on the inauspicious side, if only due to Richards’ hammy performance and his underwritten character. In fact, Peterson as proxy for all kinds of groups (including but not limited to the 99% and the Average Joe in the Marvel film universe) dialed back the excitement of the show whenever he appeared, and made the show feel like “Smallville” 2.0 at times.
Continued belowThat is not a compliment.
Meanwhile, the sort of “lead” of Agent Ward – as played by the oh so broody Brett Dalton – is what you’d expect for the show, but save for the choreographed fight scene earlier (with the vampy, lingerie wearing villainess looking on, who will almost certainly come back later on) and the part where he’s dosed with a truth serum by Coulson to gain the trust of Skye, he’s given very little to do and he doesn’t do much at all with it. While I think they’re establishing building blocks that he’s a lot more than just some sort of broody superhero type (after all, the “Gramsy!” line while dosed seemed pretty real and hilarious), after one episode I didn’t have much of a connection at all.
Poor Ming-Na Wen though? She barely did anything at all, save for briefly getting her ass kicked and then kicking some ass herself. Give her something to work with, people.
All things considered though, the biggest issue for me? It just wasn’t that fun. Ten-year old me would shrug and move on to something else.
As fun as flying cars and zippy dialogue can be, there was plenty of seriousness and self importance that took us away from something that should be a blast to watch. Shouldn’t this show be a great way to bring in the Marvel fans of tomorrow? Shouldn’t this be a – forgive the lack of a better term – gateway drug to draw in both new film fans and new comic fans while engaging the existing audience? It should be, but isn’t.
Yet.
The zest of the film universe isn’t really here, but the foundation for it is.
Here’s hoping they work on having more fun going forward with the show, because the opportunity is there. Maybe now that introductions are out of the way, they can spend more time making us fall in love with this world and its characters, and less time on slow motion team bonding moments.
