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The 100 and Marvel: Agents of Shield
Dec. 12th, 2014 11:26 pmJust watched Marvel Agents of Shield and The 100 back to back tonight, which did not bode well for Agents of Shield. The 100 is by far the better acted, written, produced, and directed of the two efforts, not to mention the more innovative. The 100 feels a bit like a combination of various sci-fi tropes told in a new way, and it actually has something to say, I'm not real sure Agents of Shield has much of anything to say and what it does say...I'd rather not think about too deeply.
That's not to say that Shield isn't fun, it is. Just don't bring your brain to the party. Also while suspenseful in places, it's become rather predictable in the later half of the season. ( eh vague plot spoilers behind the cut )
Like I said, it's fun, just don't think too hard about it. Watch it for what it is meant to be - fluff.
The 100 on the other hand, I find rather gripping and compelling, it also plays with my head. The series is exploring some interesting themes and clearly has something to say. The characters are insanely complex, and there really are no clear good guys or bad guys - every time you think you got someone pegged, suddenly there's a switch up. What it does, and I've seldom seen this done on tv series, is show how people are capable of doing horrible and wonderful things depending on the situation and their motivations. That there really are no good guys and bad guys in life - just people. Also how people justify or rationalize those horrible or wonderful things. It also comments on what we are capable of when pushed against a wall or into a corner - what atrocities humans will commit in the name of survival. It's a rather grey world, and the story does at times delve into the horror trope of torture and cannibalism. It reminds me a little of the Walking Dead - but far easier to watch, and I think better written or more complex in its characterizations. (I've watched both.) Also, unlike The Walking Dead, The 100 does an interesting job of flipping gender tropes, and subverting various sci-fi tropes - one that it did something interesting with was the zombie or "Reaver" trope - nice twist there, which I hadn't guessed. It's oddly less comic bookish, and less predictable. I know, you'd think it would be the opposite?
The set up is a post-apocalyptic world. Earth several years after bombs have been dropped. Three groups have survived.
( vague plot spoilers )
Each group does horrible things to survive. And the series constantly asks the question - is this justifiable? As opposed to the Walking Dead, where people are just nasty to each other, here - it's a series of Machiavellian style questions. What sacrifices are you willing to make to save yourself? To save others? To save humanity?
Will you sacrifice your children? Your ability to see the sunlight? Your soul?
And the people who make the nasty decisions...aren't always who'd you'd expect. The guy who tried to broker peace and hated violence in S1? Ends up killing an entire village of grounder women and children - in a grief-stricken rage, desperate to avenge the friends he believes they took. The man who was going to sentence an entire group of people to die by suffocation in order to save hundreds, turns around and tries to sacrifice himself to broker a peace. Characters I despised one week - I find myself sympathizing with the next. Reminding me that no one is all one thing, that everyone can be saved, and we all are capable of good and evil...and but for the grace of god go I. Few series really delve into the murky gray lines between good and evil to this extent. There are no moustach-twirling evil Nazis here, like on Shield. No comic book villains.
( more vague plot spoilers )
It's a great anti-war series or rather a series that questions our tendency to resolve problems through violence and warfare - and the inherent consequences to ourselves, our world, and our own survival as a result - and it reminds me a great deal of BattleStar Galatica and to a degree LOST, except without all the Judeo/Christian and Greek/Roman religious imagery/mythology which grated on my nerves. (In some respects, I like it better than the other two series, in others not as much. The writing is not quite as crisp and sharp as it was in LOST and BSG, nor is the direction.) Television doesn't do religious mythology all that well in my opinion (which is part of my problem with Shield, Constantine and Sleepy Hollow, actually). Also it seems to have a lot of the writers and cast members from those series in various supporting roles.
It may well be the best cult sci-fi series that I've seen in a while or rather since BSG, Caprica, and Lost, outside of maybe Doctor Who (which I have a love/hate relationship with). It's underground, and not many people seem to be aware of it - because it's on the CW and appears on the surface to be marketed to the teen demo. But the themes and situations are actually more adult than most of the tv shows I've seen within this genre.
If you haven't checked it out? Do. And thank me later, or not as the case may be.
Mileage does vary on these sorts of things.
That's not to say that Shield isn't fun, it is. Just don't bring your brain to the party. Also while suspenseful in places, it's become rather predictable in the later half of the season. ( eh vague plot spoilers behind the cut )
Like I said, it's fun, just don't think too hard about it. Watch it for what it is meant to be - fluff.
The 100 on the other hand, I find rather gripping and compelling, it also plays with my head. The series is exploring some interesting themes and clearly has something to say. The characters are insanely complex, and there really are no clear good guys or bad guys - every time you think you got someone pegged, suddenly there's a switch up. What it does, and I've seldom seen this done on tv series, is show how people are capable of doing horrible and wonderful things depending on the situation and their motivations. That there really are no good guys and bad guys in life - just people. Also how people justify or rationalize those horrible or wonderful things. It also comments on what we are capable of when pushed against a wall or into a corner - what atrocities humans will commit in the name of survival. It's a rather grey world, and the story does at times delve into the horror trope of torture and cannibalism. It reminds me a little of the Walking Dead - but far easier to watch, and I think better written or more complex in its characterizations. (I've watched both.) Also, unlike The Walking Dead, The 100 does an interesting job of flipping gender tropes, and subverting various sci-fi tropes - one that it did something interesting with was the zombie or "Reaver" trope - nice twist there, which I hadn't guessed. It's oddly less comic bookish, and less predictable. I know, you'd think it would be the opposite?
The set up is a post-apocalyptic world. Earth several years after bombs have been dropped. Three groups have survived.
( vague plot spoilers )
Each group does horrible things to survive. And the series constantly asks the question - is this justifiable? As opposed to the Walking Dead, where people are just nasty to each other, here - it's a series of Machiavellian style questions. What sacrifices are you willing to make to save yourself? To save others? To save humanity?
Will you sacrifice your children? Your ability to see the sunlight? Your soul?
And the people who make the nasty decisions...aren't always who'd you'd expect. The guy who tried to broker peace and hated violence in S1? Ends up killing an entire village of grounder women and children - in a grief-stricken rage, desperate to avenge the friends he believes they took. The man who was going to sentence an entire group of people to die by suffocation in order to save hundreds, turns around and tries to sacrifice himself to broker a peace. Characters I despised one week - I find myself sympathizing with the next. Reminding me that no one is all one thing, that everyone can be saved, and we all are capable of good and evil...and but for the grace of god go I. Few series really delve into the murky gray lines between good and evil to this extent. There are no moustach-twirling evil Nazis here, like on Shield. No comic book villains.
( more vague plot spoilers )
It's a great anti-war series or rather a series that questions our tendency to resolve problems through violence and warfare - and the inherent consequences to ourselves, our world, and our own survival as a result - and it reminds me a great deal of BattleStar Galatica and to a degree LOST, except without all the Judeo/Christian and Greek/Roman religious imagery/mythology which grated on my nerves. (In some respects, I like it better than the other two series, in others not as much. The writing is not quite as crisp and sharp as it was in LOST and BSG, nor is the direction.) Television doesn't do religious mythology all that well in my opinion (which is part of my problem with Shield, Constantine and Sleepy Hollow, actually). Also it seems to have a lot of the writers and cast members from those series in various supporting roles.
It may well be the best cult sci-fi series that I've seen in a while or rather since BSG, Caprica, and Lost, outside of maybe Doctor Who (which I have a love/hate relationship with). It's underground, and not many people seem to be aware of it - because it's on the CW and appears on the surface to be marketed to the teen demo. But the themes and situations are actually more adult than most of the tv shows I've seen within this genre.
If you haven't checked it out? Do. And thank me later, or not as the case may be.
Mileage does vary on these sorts of things.