Patience. It takes time to do characterization and in an ensemble show screen time is a limiting factor. These characters will be fleshed out and become better and more interesting in time, but it does take time.
I was forced to watch tonight's episode in the same room as noisy children and missed bits and pieces. Could you please explain this post? Clearly that's one of the things I missed.
And I agree with you about Simmons, I think she's easily the hottest one on the show.
I was forced to watch tonight's episode in the same room as noisy children and missed bits and pieces. Could you please explain this post? Clearly that's one of the things I missed.
I'm wondering as well. There was one line in the episode that really stuck out like a sore thumb and may as well have had the characters look directly into the camera saying "*HINT* THIS IS FORESHADOWING". Which may be what he's talking about.
I was forced to watch tonight's episode in the same room as noisy children and missed bits and pieces. Could you please explain this post? Clearly that's one of the things I missed.
I also find that the 'Government can do no wrong' message of the show really falls on deaf ears right now when our real government looks more like Big Brother every passing day.
Oh, the other shoe is going to drop. I'd bet big money on it.
Indeed. Wow, I mean that post-credit. And the last scene pre credit.
Not to mention the character building with fitz and mcvanilla
Actually, this was the first episode that I really thought didn't come together. The pieces they put in place where very, very good. The ideas they had were good. But the whole was less than the sum of its parts.
Splitting up FitzSimmons so they could play off other characters rather than each other? Excellent idea.
Fitz proving competent in the field, but realistically so, and not without making some mistakes? Well done.
The "conversation" between Coulson and May during her t'ai chi? Ming-Na's acting hits it out of the park.
Trying to present the "sometimes clandestine services do need to keep secrets" case alongside the more popular "secrets are bad" case? Daring.
But...
Saffron Burrows' character is apparently supposed to have been well-meaning, and to have planned for Coulson's team to have extracted Fitz and Ward all along. That's sort of nice, going back to what I said earlier about government agents being people instead of cardboard bad guys. But if this is the case, why didn't she just tell them they're the extraction team? They were quite obviously an agency resource available to be used - they weren't doing anything else. There was no reason to keep them in the dark, and very good reason not to. It doesn't even make sense as the sort of mistake a clandestine service might believably make. So the whole "secrets: good or bad?" conflict of the episode is based on a nonsensical secret.
Also, this is the first episode where the government agents have felt a little like cardboard bad guys. Repeating a thought-terminating cliché like "trust the system"? Sets off warning lights in every viewer's mind, and it should set off warning lights in every character's mind as well. Coulson should be able to explain himself to Skye better than that.
Also also, how is Simmons not in a holding cell somewhere? Everybody, including herself, acknowledges that she should be, but she just... isn't.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Vive, vale. Siquid novisti rectius istis,
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
Actually, this was the first episode that I really thought didn't come together. The pieces they put in place where very, very good. The ideas they had were good. But the whole was less than the sum of its parts.
Splitting up FitzSimmons so they could play off other characters rather than each other? Excellent idea.
Fitz proving competent in the field, but realistically so, and not without making some mistakes? Well done.
The "conversation" between Coulson and May during her t'ai chi? Ming-Na's acting hits it out of the park.
Trying to present the "sometimes clandestine services do need to keep secrets" case alongside the more popular "secrets are bad" case? Daring.
But...
Saffron Burrows' character is apparently supposed to have been well-meaning, and to have planned for Coulson's team to have extracted Fitz and Ward all along. That's sort of nice, going back to what I said earlier about government agents being people instead of cardboard bad guys. But if this is the case, why didn't she just tell them they're the extraction team? They were quite obviously an agency resource available to be used - they weren't doing anything else. There was no reason to keep them in the dark, and very good reason not to. It doesn't even make sense as the sort of mistake a clandestine service might believably make. So the whole "secrets: good or bad?" conflict of the episode is based on a nonsensical secret.
Also, this is the first episode where the government agents have felt a little like cardboard bad guys. Repeating a thought-terminating cliché like "trust the system"? Sets off warning lights in every viewer's mind, and it should set off warning lights in every character's mind as well. Coulson should be able to explain himself to Skye better than that.
Also also, how is Simmons not in a holding cell somewhere? Everybody, including herself, acknowledges that she should be, but she just... isn't.
Agreed. The only explanation I can think of is that maybe it was a test designed to see whether their team would perform and be willing to "break the rules" or "think outside the box" in order to rescue their fellow team members. Maybe even a test of Coulson himself to see if he would act "robotically" in trusting the system or not. Of course if that were really the case I would have expected them to come out and say so at the end of the episode.
Agreed. The only explanation I can think of is that maybe it was a test designed to see whether their team would perform and be willing to "break the rules" or "think outside the box" in order to rescue their fellow team members. Maybe even a test of Coulson himself to see if he would act "robotically" in trusting the system or not. Of course if that were really the case I would have expected them to come out and say so at the end of the episode.
Also, that's a really dumb idea. No paramilitary organization is going to encourage its agents to deliberately and massively undermine its own chain of command in the name of "thinking outside the box".
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Vive, vale. Siquid novisti rectius istis,
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
I enjoyed the episode but I understand the misgivings about it.
Nothing made any sense! Skye was allowed to walk around The Hub and she's not even a Shield agent. Her clearance is toilet paper and she should have been in a holding facility or restricted to the Bus for the whole episode. But she's the character that makes things happen so she got in. It was good that she learned something about her past though, even if it was a half-truth.
Coulson's behavior the whole episode made me feel ways. Why did he accept that two people from his team had to go on the mission? There must be hundreds of agents at The Hub with similar or better qualifications than anyone on Coulson's team. So sending in Ward and Fitz seems like a contrived plot point or someone in Shield is/was trying to make a point to Coulson. The lack of an extraction plan seems to hint at the latter. Someone wants Coulson to know something, probably about this magical Tahiti place we're always hearing about.
Seeing this episode made me wonder why Coulson got the team he did. He's got two green scientists who are just too damned young, a self-acknowledged hard ass who seemed to be a fine solo agent, an emotionally unstable raw recruit, and May. The fact is that Coulson should have gotten a team of Wards and Mays. I get that the scientists are supposed to be the stereotypical geeks but I bet there are more Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter type nerds, in short nerds who can handle their ****, than AoS lets on.
The team dynamic is so weird because it feels like there are two teams. Coulson and May and then everyone else. Even Ward is somewhat removed for them.
Regarding The Well: A weak Thor 2 tie-in but a cool episode overall. The idea of an ordinary guy taking up arms just to get away from home isn't a new one but the guy is Asgardian and had an awesome disco stick. I didn't see the professor being an Asgardian at all and so was pleasantly surprised. May's bit at the end was a bit too neat for me and I would have preferred to see Ward finish this one on his own.
Regarding Repairs: A slightly better nod to Thor 2. Either the Bus is huge or there's some tech involved to make it bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. How does a plane have a basement?! I wasn't a fan of Robo May but I can see why she acted the way she did. Whatever the Berserker Staff made her see is still affecting her and I'm thinking it has to do with how she got her nickname.
Misc: May and Ward is the most boring and uninspired ship ever. I get it, Ward is smoking hot and May is the only female he can get with without feeling weird about it. But in the end Ward is merely a means to an end for May and he is much more emotionally vulnerable than he would like to admit to himself. That's the reason he won't talk to Skye for more than a few minutes unless its about the job. May and Ward aren't sexy or scandalous or any other good adjective. They're just sad and human.
The midseason finale: A great episode. The big bad surfaces and all those pesky plot strands are finally starting to get woven together. I do have some questions though. The biggest one is: did Michael survive the explosion? His serum was stabilized and he seems to be able to recover from situations that would kill any other person.
Naturally I'm curious to why they snatched Coulson rather than Michael. Shield has access to all sorts of technology that could explain how Coulson was revived but the thing is that he has no conscious memories of what happened and any subconscious memories would be hard to interpret because the mind uses symbolism as its language. This clairvoyant might be able to sift through Coulson's mind though.
The continuing drama that surrounds Skye just keeps getting more interesting. Coulson agreed to help her find the truth but then decides not to tell her when he finds it. May is downright rude and a little defensive in Skye's presence and yet she seems to feel sympathy for Skye. I think May is connected to her in some way. Heck, May and that high up woman from the buddy cop episode are my favorite candidates for Skye's mother. I've seen speculation that Coulson could be her father but he's a big rule follower and I can't see him endangering a woman and child because he wants to have it all.
The reason I suspect May is because of what Coulson said about her in Repairs in regards to how she became known as The Calvalry. No one knows exactly what she did to get the agents free and yet she managed to do so with no weapons or backup. We know May is a capable fighter and has a cool head under pressure. She would have done whatever it took to free her fellow agents and perhaps that included sleeping with the enemy. She wasn't the same after that operation and probably hates being called The Calvalry because it reminds her of it. Also, this may be a reason for the casting of Chloe Bennet, as she is half-Chinese. Its far-fetched as far as theories go but my idle mind just won't let me rest.
I agree with your thoughts on May. I think she's definitely connected to Skye somehow and I suspect is most likely her mother. I think she probably treats her badly because she's wracked with guilt and can't find a better way to deal with it.
So far I'm liking the show and I look forward to seeing how the cliffhangers will get resolved. I do worry though that the inability to use the term "mutant" could hurt the show in the long term.
So far I'm liking the show and I look forward to seeing how the cliffhangers will get resolved. I do worry though that the inability to use the term "mutant" could hurt the show in the long term.
Yeah the last two episodes have been excellent. If the show can maintain this quality, it deserves another season at the very least.
How does the lack of "mutant" hurt? Just because people have superpowers doesn't make them mutants.
I think the show is starting to come together, it's just taking its time finding its footing. The show itself is figuring out what works and the actors are still growing into their parts (well, aside from Coulson and May), which is pretty much the norm.
Unfortunately, the show isn't really appointment tv for me yet. I'm still watching, but I'm still waiting for it to really engage me. The Ward/May hookup was a curveball that got my attention (I feared the show was going to go with the trite cliche of Ward/Skye), but overall the show is building itself slowly.
I'm watching the show every week hoping that it gets better. So far, it hasn't really gotten there for me.
The characters seem rather bland imo. May is the only interesting character in my opinion, she has some interesting secrets and she often does things that make me go O_o followed by a "woah"
Ward seems too friendly given the fact that he was suppose to be the guy that has a porcupine rating under people skills. Skye will be boring until we get her full backstory. Fizt and Simmons need more action. They're boring when all they do is sit back and do what they're good at, throw them into a pit of lions so to speak and things will get really interesting. Until we find out what really happened to Coulson in the time between the Avengers and the show, i'm going to withhold judgement. If he really is the real Coulson, then I say he is rather dull compared to the Coulson we saw in the movies and in the Marvel one shots.
I think what they need to do is bring in more Avengers side characters into the story. The Maria Hill cameo in the beginning was awesome and that needs to happen more, and Nick Fury would seem like a good addition in the main story as oppose to a cameo in the end. I would also like to see Black Widow and Hawkeye helping the team out occasionally, both of them aren't overpowered and would make for some interesting "support" for the team
I think what they need to do is bring in more Avengers side characters into the story. The Maria Hill cameo in the beginning was awesome and that needs to happen more, and Nick Fury would seem like a good addition in the main story as oppose to a cameo in the end. I would also like to see Black Widow and Hawkeye helping the team out occasionally, both of them aren't overpowered and would make for some interesting "support" for the team
I wouldn't expect this to happen in the first season. Right now AoS still has to prove it can pull in viewers and pay the bills. Also, does ABC have the money to pay for Scarlett Johansen, Jeremy Renner, and Samuel L. Jackson to be more than cute cameos? I'm guessing no. The Widow and the Hawk are high level assets and highly unlikely to interact with anyone on the team save May and Coulson. The others would never be allowed to know how or why they were even working with them! Of course everyone but Skye would accept it as a matter of course.
AoS brings the truth about Shield to the fore. While in the movies and comics we see their big guns there are countless agents who are engaged in activities as dangerous as the heroes we've come to know and love. AoS is the story of the little guy, just a level or two above the Netflix Marvel series concerning street level superheroes, and its a story worth hearing. For every Black Widow there are several Grant Ward's out there and for every Stark or Banner there are the Fitz's and Simmons' of the world.
I think what they need to do is bring in more Avengers side characters into the story. The Maria Hill cameo in the beginning was awesome and that needs to happen more, and Nick Fury would seem like a good addition in the main story as oppose to a cameo in the end. I would also like to see Black Widow and Hawkeye helping the team out occasionally, both of them aren't overpowered and would make for some interesting "support" for the team
That's exactly the last thing they should do. It was cute as the show started, but the series would be shooting itself in the foot if it propped itself up on occasional cameos from the films (cameos which I would not expect if I were you). It needs to develop its own characters and stories, not hitch itself to what the movies are doing. Should the show reference the bigger events from the films? Absolutely, but relying on that draws focus away from the actual characters and stories on the show, and that's very detrimental. As it is, the show draws a lot of criticism for using the MCU as a crutch rather than finding its own footing.
That said, it looks very possible that Cobie Smulders could head back to the show in some capacity as Maria Hill once How I Met Your Mother finally ends this year. But I don't think she's a cameo quite on the same level as Fury, Black Widow or Hawkeye. She's much more in line with the other SHIELD agents we've gotten from the MCU and one-shots. The bigger characters from the MCU? I wouldn't bet on seeing much of them if anything. We may see Fury from time to time.
AoS brings the truth about Shield to the fore. While in the movies and comics we see their big guns there are countless agents who are engaged in activities as dangerous as the heroes we've come to know and love. AoS is the story of the little guy, just a level or two above the Netflix Marvel series concerning street level superheroes, and its a story worth hearing. For every Black Widow there are several Grant Ward's out there and for every Stark or Banner there are the Fitz's and Simmons' of the world.
The interaction between the big guys and the little guys is what people like. It's one of (if not) the reasons why Phil Coulson was such a popular character in the movies, IMO he is at his best when he interacts with Tony Stark. Without a big guy around, the little guys are boring.
That's exactly the last thing they should do. It was cute as the show started, but the series would be shooting itself in the foot if it propped itself up on occasional cameos from the films (cameos which I would not expect if I were you). It needs to develop its own characters and stories, not hitch itself to what the movies are doing. Should the show reference the bigger events from the films? Absolutely, but relying on that draws focus away from the actual characters and stories on the show, and that's very detrimental. As it is, the show draws a lot of criticism for using the MCU as a crutch rather than finding its own footing.
I never said that we should do cameos. I said we should have them as people participating in the story. It's like how they requested Mike Peterson as team muscle for one episode. It would be interesting to use one of the bigger guys for that role. That way, the interaction between that person and the series regulars can lead to the development of the series regulars. I agree the cameos were cute, but they didn't lead to anything other than a chuckle.
I never said that we should do cameos. I said we should have them as people participating in the story.
Oh. Well that's even worse, and almost certainly not going to happen for the reason Bitsy mentioned earlier: you're not getting movie stars to slum it on tv. The show was lucky to snag SLJ for a cameo.
That way, the interaction between that person and the series regulars can lead to the development of the series regulars.
I honestly don't see it going that way. You bring in a big gun, they're going to be the focus. I just don't see bringing in a character like Black Widow leading to development for the series regulars.
Oh. Well that's even worse, and almost certainly not going to happen for the reason Bitsy mentioned earlier: you're not getting movie stars to slum it on tv. The show was lucky to snag SLJ for a cameo.
Some of the main actors in the MCU like Jeremy Renners has been on TV before, it wouldn't be completely unreasonable. Sure it would be a bit costly, but if done right, it could turn out great for the show and boost its ratings and viewership. I'm pretty confident that Whedon could write something amazing for an episode like that.
I honestly don't see it going that way. You bring in a big gun, they're going to be the focus. I just don't see bringing in a character like Black Widow leading to development for the series regulars.
A big gun like Thor, Hulk, and Iron Man would steal all the focus, someone like Hawkeye or Widow would work because they don't have superpowers or some cool technogizmo. They are on about the same level as Agent May in terms of skill and armament so it won't be like "hey look a giant green rage monster, lets ignore everything else and watch it smash", it would just be another SHIELD agent.
As for the character development, each of the main series cast members have their individual flaws and history to work with. An episode with Hawkeye could have the premise of bringing him in for firepower support and at the same time, he gets to work with one or two members of the main cast and either point out their flaws or create a reasonable setting for the main cast to open up to him like how Peterson brought out some Coulson development in the latest episode. Just a neat idea is Hawkeye and Ward interaction where the obviously more social Hawkeye could teach Ward about how to not be so cold and yet still be skillful as a SHIELD agent. Another idea would be to have him and May talk about what had happened in the incident that gave her the nickname "the Calvary", it would be believable for May to confide in Hawkeye as he is an equal if not higher rank than her and would obviously have more experience that May could draw on.
Another idea would be to have him and May talk about what had happened in the incident that gave her the nickname "the Calvary", it would be believable for May to confide in Hawkeye as he is an equal if not higher rank than her and would obviously have more experience that May could draw on.
That actually isn't believable at all. May didn't even tell Coulson about what happened in Bahrain and they're bbf's! Why would she tell Hawkeye, who is clearly not from the same generation of agents, anything at all about an extremely person incident in her life? Widow would be more appropriate because she's been a spy practically her whole life and its hard to tell how long she's been in Shield. A Hawkeye/Ward episode would be more interesting anyway. May and Widow would be hilarious, as it would be quite a sight to see who can be more taciturn and stoic and who can singlehandedly take down the most baddies.
Some of the main actors in the MCU like Jeremy Renners has been on TV before, it wouldn't be completely unreasonable.
Actually, most of them have been on television before early in their careers. Ruffalo had The Beat, RDJ was on Ally McBeal, Chris Evans had a pretty good teen show back in 2000, Hemsworth started in tv back in Australia, Renner had that quirky cop show with Amber Tamblyn. The only one with no real television experience is Scarlett. But that doesn't change the fact that it's unlikely any of them would want to slum it now. Most of them simply don't have the time to fit in 4-6 days of television shooting that they'd basically be doing as a favor in between projects to actively build their careers.
RDJ has the same sense of "I do what I want" fun as SLJ, so he may actually be a possibility, but I really don't think the show can afford Iron Man effects.
Sure it would be a bit costly, but if done right, it could turn out great for the show and boost its ratings and viewership.
A big name would boost the episode he or she would be in with some trickle down to the following episode, but a big name leading to longterm, sustained ratings growth is a crapshoot. Sometimes a big name can save a show from ratings hell or even cancellation (Britney Spears on How I Met Your Mother is a great example of that), sometimes they make a big splash but the show itself can't retain the influx of viewers. I don't think AoS is a strong enough show to retain much if they had an MCU star guest on it. Honestly, the show had massive brand recognition at the outset with huge hype and still couldn't hold everyone's interest. Until the show itself is stronger, having a big name guest star may not lead to sustained growth.
I'm pretty confident that Whedon could write something amazing for an episode like that.
I have seen no indication that Joss is coming back to the show, especially not now that he's tied up in Age of Ultron pre-production. He's still the Marvel Consigliere so he has influence with the show in terms of making all the pieces of the MCU fit cohesively, but he's not writing it. So the only Whedon writing for the show is Jed.
To put it bluntly, if they're going to do some deft writing to shoehorn in an MCU star for a cheap ratings grab, I'd rather they just expend that energy on writing a better show overall, it's probably cheaper and far more sustainable anyway. And considering one of the major criticisms of the show is that they're substituting cute MCU references to string along movie fans rather than build a solid standalone show, I don't see dropping a big star as a guest as a valid way of addressing that.
As for the character development, each of the main series cast members have their individual flaws and history to work with. An episode with Hawkeye could have the premise of bringing him in for firepower support and at the same time, he gets to work with one or two members of the main cast and either point out their flaws or create a reasonable setting for the main cast to open up to him like how Peterson brought out some Coulson development in the latest episode.
That would really take some superb writing to not come across as a cheap, inorganic deus ex machina. Again, the show should be developing its own core cast and using their own connections to propel character arcs, not looking to big name guests to do that.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
Indeed. Wow, I mean that post-credit. And the last scene pre credit.
Not to mention the character building with fitz and mcvanilla
I was forced to watch tonight's episode in the same room as noisy children and missed bits and pieces. Could you please explain this post? Clearly that's one of the things I missed.
And I agree with you about Simmons, I think she's easily the hottest one on the show.
I'm wondering as well. There was one line in the episode that really stuck out like a sore thumb and may as well have had the characters look directly into the camera saying "*HINT* THIS IS FORESHADOWING". Which may be what he's talking about.
Actually, this was the first episode that I really thought didn't come together. The pieces they put in place where very, very good. The ideas they had were good. But the whole was less than the sum of its parts.
Fitz proving competent in the field, but realistically so, and not without making some mistakes? Well done.
The "conversation" between Coulson and May during her t'ai chi? Ming-Na's acting hits it out of the park.
Trying to present the "sometimes clandestine services do need to keep secrets" case alongside the more popular "secrets are bad" case? Daring.
But...
Saffron Burrows' character is apparently supposed to have been well-meaning, and to have planned for Coulson's team to have extracted Fitz and Ward all along. That's sort of nice, going back to what I said earlier about government agents being people instead of cardboard bad guys. But if this is the case, why didn't she just tell them they're the extraction team? They were quite obviously an agency resource available to be used - they weren't doing anything else. There was no reason to keep them in the dark, and very good reason not to. It doesn't even make sense as the sort of mistake a clandestine service might believably make. So the whole "secrets: good or bad?" conflict of the episode is based on a nonsensical secret.
Also, this is the first episode where the government agents have felt a little like cardboard bad guys. Repeating a thought-terminating cliché like "trust the system"? Sets off warning lights in every viewer's mind, and it should set off warning lights in every character's mind as well. Coulson should be able to explain himself to Skye better than that.
Also also, how is Simmons not in a holding cell somewhere? Everybody, including herself, acknowledges that she should be, but she just... isn't.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
"How was the sandwich?"
"It... was delicious"
Nothing made any sense! Skye was allowed to walk around The Hub and she's not even a Shield agent. Her clearance is toilet paper and she should have been in a holding facility or restricted to the Bus for the whole episode. But she's the character that makes things happen so she got in. It was good that she learned something about her past though, even if it was a half-truth.
Coulson's behavior the whole episode made me feel ways. Why did he accept that two people from his team had to go on the mission? There must be hundreds of agents at The Hub with similar or better qualifications than anyone on Coulson's team. So sending in Ward and Fitz seems like a contrived plot point or someone in Shield is/was trying to make a point to Coulson. The lack of an extraction plan seems to hint at the latter. Someone wants Coulson to know something, probably about this magical Tahiti place we're always hearing about.
Seeing this episode made me wonder why Coulson got the team he did. He's got two green scientists who are just too damned young, a self-acknowledged hard ass who seemed to be a fine solo agent, an emotionally unstable raw recruit, and May. The fact is that Coulson should have gotten a team of Wards and Mays. I get that the scientists are supposed to be the stereotypical geeks but I bet there are more Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter type nerds, in short nerds who can handle their ****, than AoS lets on.
The team dynamic is so weird because it feels like there are two teams. Coulson and May and then everyone else. Even Ward is somewhat removed for them.
Regarding The Well: A weak Thor 2 tie-in but a cool episode overall. The idea of an ordinary guy taking up arms just to get away from home isn't a new one but the guy is Asgardian and had an awesome disco stick. I didn't see the professor being an Asgardian at all and so was pleasantly surprised. May's bit at the end was a bit too neat for me and I would have preferred to see Ward finish this one on his own.
Regarding Repairs: A slightly better nod to Thor 2. Either the Bus is huge or there's some tech involved to make it bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. How does a plane have a basement?! I wasn't a fan of Robo May but I can see why she acted the way she did. Whatever the Berserker Staff made her see is still affecting her and I'm thinking it has to do with how she got her nickname.
Misc: May and Ward is the most boring and uninspired ship ever. I get it, Ward is smoking hot and May is the only female he can get with without feeling weird about it. But in the end Ward is merely a means to an end for May and he is much more emotionally vulnerable than he would like to admit to himself. That's the reason he won't talk to Skye for more than a few minutes unless its about the job. May and Ward aren't sexy or scandalous or any other good adjective. They're just sad and human.
Naturally I'm curious to why they snatched Coulson rather than Michael. Shield has access to all sorts of technology that could explain how Coulson was revived but the thing is that he has no conscious memories of what happened and any subconscious memories would be hard to interpret because the mind uses symbolism as its language. This clairvoyant might be able to sift through Coulson's mind though.
The continuing drama that surrounds Skye just keeps getting more interesting. Coulson agreed to help her find the truth but then decides not to tell her when he finds it. May is downright rude and a little defensive in Skye's presence and yet she seems to feel sympathy for Skye. I think May is connected to her in some way. Heck, May and that high up woman from the buddy cop episode are my favorite candidates for Skye's mother. I've seen speculation that Coulson could be her father but he's a big rule follower and I can't see him endangering a woman and child because he wants to have it all.
The reason I suspect May is because of what Coulson said about her in Repairs in regards to how she became known as The Calvalry. No one knows exactly what she did to get the agents free and yet she managed to do so with no weapons or backup. We know May is a capable fighter and has a cool head under pressure. She would have done whatever it took to free her fellow agents and perhaps that included sleeping with the enemy. She wasn't the same after that operation and probably hates being called The Calvalry because it reminds her of it. Also, this may be a reason for the casting of Chloe Bennet, as she is half-Chinese. Its far-fetched as far as theories go but my idle mind just won't let me rest.
Nope, I'm enjoying the show quite a bit so far.
I agree with your thoughts on May. I think she's definitely connected to Skye somehow and I suspect is most likely her mother. I think she probably treats her badly because she's wracked with guilt and can't find a better way to deal with it.
So far I'm liking the show and I look forward to seeing how the cliffhangers will get resolved. I do worry though that the inability to use the term "mutant" could hurt the show in the long term.
I'm still watching too!
Yeah the last two episodes have been excellent. If the show can maintain this quality, it deserves another season at the very least.
How does the lack of "mutant" hurt? Just because people have superpowers doesn't make them mutants.
Unfortunately, the show isn't really appointment tv for me yet. I'm still watching, but I'm still waiting for it to really engage me. The Ward/May hookup was a curveball that got my attention (I feared the show was going to go with the trite cliche of Ward/Skye), but overall the show is building itself slowly.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
The characters seem rather bland imo. May is the only interesting character in my opinion, she has some interesting secrets and she often does things that make me go O_o followed by a "woah"
Ward seems too friendly given the fact that he was suppose to be the guy that has a porcupine rating under people skills. Skye will be boring until we get her full backstory. Fizt and Simmons need more action. They're boring when all they do is sit back and do what they're good at, throw them into a pit of lions so to speak and things will get really interesting. Until we find out what really happened to Coulson in the time between the Avengers and the show, i'm going to withhold judgement. If he really is the real Coulson, then I say he is rather dull compared to the Coulson we saw in the movies and in the Marvel one shots.
I think what they need to do is bring in more Avengers side characters into the story. The Maria Hill cameo in the beginning was awesome and that needs to happen more, and Nick Fury would seem like a good addition in the main story as oppose to a cameo in the end. I would also like to see Black Widow and Hawkeye helping the team out occasionally, both of them aren't overpowered and would make for some interesting "support" for the team
I wouldn't expect this to happen in the first season. Right now AoS still has to prove it can pull in viewers and pay the bills. Also, does ABC have the money to pay for Scarlett Johansen, Jeremy Renner, and Samuel L. Jackson to be more than cute cameos? I'm guessing no. The Widow and the Hawk are high level assets and highly unlikely to interact with anyone on the team save May and Coulson. The others would never be allowed to know how or why they were even working with them! Of course everyone but Skye would accept it as a matter of course.
AoS brings the truth about Shield to the fore. While in the movies and comics we see their big guns there are countless agents who are engaged in activities as dangerous as the heroes we've come to know and love. AoS is the story of the little guy, just a level or two above the Netflix Marvel series concerning street level superheroes, and its a story worth hearing. For every Black Widow there are several Grant Ward's out there and for every Stark or Banner there are the Fitz's and Simmons' of the world.
That's exactly the last thing they should do. It was cute as the show started, but the series would be shooting itself in the foot if it propped itself up on occasional cameos from the films (cameos which I would not expect if I were you). It needs to develop its own characters and stories, not hitch itself to what the movies are doing. Should the show reference the bigger events from the films? Absolutely, but relying on that draws focus away from the actual characters and stories on the show, and that's very detrimental. As it is, the show draws a lot of criticism for using the MCU as a crutch rather than finding its own footing.
That said, it looks very possible that Cobie Smulders could head back to the show in some capacity as Maria Hill once How I Met Your Mother finally ends this year. But I don't think she's a cameo quite on the same level as Fury, Black Widow or Hawkeye. She's much more in line with the other SHIELD agents we've gotten from the MCU and one-shots. The bigger characters from the MCU? I wouldn't bet on seeing much of them if anything. We may see Fury from time to time.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
The interaction between the big guys and the little guys is what people like. It's one of (if not) the reasons why Phil Coulson was such a popular character in the movies, IMO he is at his best when he interacts with Tony Stark. Without a big guy around, the little guys are boring.
I never said that we should do cameos. I said we should have them as people participating in the story. It's like how they requested Mike Peterson as team muscle for one episode. It would be interesting to use one of the bigger guys for that role. That way, the interaction between that person and the series regulars can lead to the development of the series regulars. I agree the cameos were cute, but they didn't lead to anything other than a chuckle.
Oh. Well that's even worse, and almost certainly not going to happen for the reason Bitsy mentioned earlier: you're not getting movie stars to slum it on tv. The show was lucky to snag SLJ for a cameo.
I honestly don't see it going that way. You bring in a big gun, they're going to be the focus. I just don't see bringing in a character like Black Widow leading to development for the series regulars.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
Some of the main actors in the MCU like Jeremy Renners has been on TV before, it wouldn't be completely unreasonable. Sure it would be a bit costly, but if done right, it could turn out great for the show and boost its ratings and viewership. I'm pretty confident that Whedon could write something amazing for an episode like that.
A big gun like Thor, Hulk, and Iron Man would steal all the focus, someone like Hawkeye or Widow would work because they don't have superpowers or some cool technogizmo. They are on about the same level as Agent May in terms of skill and armament so it won't be like "hey look a giant green rage monster, lets ignore everything else and watch it smash", it would just be another SHIELD agent.
As for the character development, each of the main series cast members have their individual flaws and history to work with. An episode with Hawkeye could have the premise of bringing him in for firepower support and at the same time, he gets to work with one or two members of the main cast and either point out their flaws or create a reasonable setting for the main cast to open up to him like how Peterson brought out some Coulson development in the latest episode. Just a neat idea is Hawkeye and Ward interaction where the obviously more social Hawkeye could teach Ward about how to not be so cold and yet still be skillful as a SHIELD agent. Another idea would be to have him and May talk about what had happened in the incident that gave her the nickname "the Calvary", it would be believable for May to confide in Hawkeye as he is an equal if not higher rank than her and would obviously have more experience that May could draw on.
That actually isn't believable at all. May didn't even tell Coulson about what happened in Bahrain and they're bbf's! Why would she tell Hawkeye, who is clearly not from the same generation of agents, anything at all about an extremely person incident in her life? Widow would be more appropriate because she's been a spy practically her whole life and its hard to tell how long she's been in Shield. A Hawkeye/Ward episode would be more interesting anyway. May and Widow would be hilarious, as it would be quite a sight to see who can be more taciturn and stoic and who can singlehandedly take down the most baddies.
Actually, most of them have been on television before early in their careers. Ruffalo had The Beat, RDJ was on Ally McBeal, Chris Evans had a pretty good teen show back in 2000, Hemsworth started in tv back in Australia, Renner had that quirky cop show with Amber Tamblyn. The only one with no real television experience is Scarlett. But that doesn't change the fact that it's unlikely any of them would want to slum it now. Most of them simply don't have the time to fit in 4-6 days of television shooting that they'd basically be doing as a favor in between projects to actively build their careers.
RDJ has the same sense of "I do what I want" fun as SLJ, so he may actually be a possibility, but I really don't think the show can afford Iron Man effects.
A big name would boost the episode he or she would be in with some trickle down to the following episode, but a big name leading to longterm, sustained ratings growth is a crapshoot. Sometimes a big name can save a show from ratings hell or even cancellation (Britney Spears on How I Met Your Mother is a great example of that), sometimes they make a big splash but the show itself can't retain the influx of viewers. I don't think AoS is a strong enough show to retain much if they had an MCU star guest on it. Honestly, the show had massive brand recognition at the outset with huge hype and still couldn't hold everyone's interest. Until the show itself is stronger, having a big name guest star may not lead to sustained growth.
I have seen no indication that Joss is coming back to the show, especially not now that he's tied up in Age of Ultron pre-production. He's still the Marvel Consigliere so he has influence with the show in terms of making all the pieces of the MCU fit cohesively, but he's not writing it. So the only Whedon writing for the show is Jed.
To put it bluntly, if they're going to do some deft writing to shoehorn in an MCU star for a cheap ratings grab, I'd rather they just expend that energy on writing a better show overall, it's probably cheaper and far more sustainable anyway. And considering one of the major criticisms of the show is that they're substituting cute MCU references to string along movie fans rather than build a solid standalone show, I don't see dropping a big star as a guest as a valid way of addressing that.
That would really take some superb writing to not come across as a cheap, inorganic deus ex machina. Again, the show should be developing its own core cast and using their own connections to propel character arcs, not looking to big name guests to do that.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains