Marvel - Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D - yay or nay poll

[shadowkat]

Take a tv poll:

[Poll #1935529]

Discuss in the comments. I've seen it, so no worries spoiling me. But won't be able to respond until tomorrow evening. No access at work.

Comments

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

So far, meh. It's not horrible, but it not particularly good yet either.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Had the same reaction. I didn't find it compelling, just sort of light and frothy.

Be curious to see if it improves. Not sure it can, since it doesn't appear to have a good cast. The weakest of Whedon's series to date. (Note - J. August Richards was the best thing in it, and he was this week's B-plot line guest star.)

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

J. August Richards was the best thing in it

Agreed!

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

And unfortunately he won't be back next week. Although quite a few people on lj seem to think he will be for some reason. I don't know why people think he's a regular. Did I miss something? Because they are going to be disappointed.

[ann1962]

I liked it. Not perfect, but I wasn't expecting perfect. I laughed more than I do at most Whedon shows. A few troublesome bits, but I have a feeling they were diversions, sleight of hands, about the truth that will come out.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

It is lighter than most of his series (excluding Buffy). And the quippy dialogue while watered down from previous series, is still there.

[atpo-onm.livejournal.com]

I liked it, but with what is probably a very odd caveat.

It's very well written (no surprise there), the cinematography is very sleek and professional, it moves like crazy so you certainly won't get bored, you need to pay attention to understand what is going on-- a number of sneaky little twists and turns in there for sure...

and you really need to watch it on a big screen, with at least DVD quality video, and a good sound system. For sure, that was a very-movie-like score running under most of the action.

None of which I happen to have. So I kept getting the feeling I was watching this on a telephone screen, like everything is bigger than life and is being kind of squeezed in.

In short, if this was in a movie theater, it would be... a very short movie, but much more involving.

Second odd thing-- Sleepy Hollow is much like AoSHIELD in these same characteristics, but I don't feel like that show needs to be bigger than my little 27" analog TV, although it might be nice.

When I tune in during the next few weeks I'll see if I get the same reaction. Is it possible AoSHIELD is too "big" for TV?

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Sleepy Hollow weirdly was more compelling than this was. And it got you more involved in the characters - far quicker.

I tend to agree with you - too much for a small screen. Movies can be busy, tv shows really can't be that busy - it's hard to see everything. TV is a more intimate experience - for dialogue and relationships, less big F/X. That's often why people go to the movies now to see the big splashy special effects.

Arrow works better - in some respects, because it is less into the F/X and the gadgets and more into the characters. I think SHEILD goes too far into the geeky, and not enough into character.

[atpo-onm.livejournal.com]

I think SHEILD goes too far into the geeky, and not enough into character.

I agree, but being that this is only the pilot ep, I'm quite willing to give the showrunners a chance to correct this, or even allow that they understand this aspect already. I'm very sympathetic that they need to get a gihugic audience dragged in quickly to satisfy the suits, or arguments about character development won't mean diddly. AS I mentioned in a recent reply to cactuswatcher, I suspect probably 90% of those who tuned in for this pilot have seen Marvel's The Avengers. And I suspect most of those people expect a lot of fast-paced action.

I also suspect that Whedon learned lessons from Firefly and Dollhouse-- give the suits what they expect, and then if the money rolls in, only then do you get to be an auteur on their dime.

On the plus side, Whedon has always been great at developing characters over the longer haul, and hopefully he still is. Plus it's obvious in their writing that his brother and sis-in-law have picked up more than a few of his tendencies.

There was just too much happening for a mere 40-some minutes. I was frankly surprised that this wasn't a 2-hour pilot.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

It worked. Scored highest ratings so far this season.

[treadingthedark.livejournal.com]

J. August Richards being in it made it a win for me.
Other than that, it was interesting, engaging, it went by fast, I wasn't bored. Didn't get into any of the characters one way or another, but will continue to watch.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately J. August is just a guest star. He won't be there next week.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

I liked it a lot more than I was expecting. Some of the characters annoyed me a bit (although it might have been the actor/actress rather than the characters), but I didn't hate anyone. Some nice snappy dialogue that wow... I can't believe how much I've missed! The writers also managed to slip a few twists in there that I really wasn't expecting, which is nice.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty much waiting to see if anyone thinks it's worth the bother. There's always OnDemand if I "have" to see it.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Give me about five more episodes, and I'll let you know. Right now...eh.
Although it is telling that Sleepy Hollow's characters and plot was more compelling, albeit darker and definitely not light and frothy.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

It would have worked a lot better if the regular characters who are not Coulson were even remotely interesting. I think the plot is potentially interesting, J August Richards was good, the humour worked... but if I can't even remember what the actual leads look like, let alone care about them, it's not a good sign.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Had the same reaction - or close to it. The problem is J August Richards - who was the most interesting character and the most charismatic actor in the episode, was only a guest star. He won't be in it after that episode.

And Clark Gregg who plays Coulson - while interesting, isn't a big enough draw. The rest of the cast didn't resonate at all.

Also it's a wee bit on the busy side - so you're not really given much chance to get to know any of them. I felt I was watching a comic book - which may be the point? Did make me miss Buffy, Angel and even Firefly.

At any rate, giving it a few more episodes. It was light and frothy, which I need right now.

[sophist.livejournal.com]

It was fun to watch, and I suspect that's pretty much all it was intended to be. Based on previous Whedon shows, he starts slow and builds up. It's always hard to tell where he's going, just as it was always hard to tell from a Buffy season opener where the season would go -- there were always hints, but they were buried. I'm willing to be patient.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Except, Whedon isn't really that involved, his sibling's running the show. It's misleading, I know. They've put Whedon's brand-name on it.

So, keep that in mind.

[sophist.livejournal.com]

Well, I can be patient unless it takes too long. :)

[avrelia.livejournal.com]

it was a solid pilot, but not very exciting. The show seems too sure of itself, almost. As if knows that we are going to watch no matter what. And I will, until I get bored.

I was glad to meet old Joss-folk and Marvel-folk, but the new ones were kind of... whatever. Skye reminded me too much of Eliza Dushku.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Agreed there was a bit of smugness to it or a, we know we are cool - that shouldn't have been there.

This is what happens when you have not one but three executive producers with big-egos created by sizable fandoms and insane cult success. Fandom is not necessarily conducive to a healthy creative ego. Particularly internet fandom. You either get really cocky or too self-conscious and can't write a thing.

And yes, Skye reminded me too much of Eliza Dusku as well. Guess she was unavailable? Because it was definitely an Eliza role. Even looked a bit like her.

Like you, I'll stick with it until it bores me. OR gets cancelled, whichever happens first.

[sophist.livejournal.com]

The scary thing is, I saw others on the internet who also said Skye reminded them of Faith/ED. My patience may run out very quickly if that turns out to be the case.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

She even says the same dialogue. "I'm don't exactly do teams" - and with the same mannerisms and vocal inflection, making me wonder if he'd written it for Dusku and she just wasn't available?

I don't know how long it will keep my attention. It is however doing VERY well in the ratings. The most watched pilot so far this season.
So it's hitting its demographic (which is I'm not sure is me).