Let me say it right out of the gate: I'm impressed.
And (despite how much of a Marvel shill and geek I am), I admit that I did not expect to be. That's why your regular Indie Wednesday post has been replaced by this review of the
Agents of Shield
pilot.
Trust me, this will not be a weekly feature. I just wanted to share in the post-debut excitement and follow up on some of the questions I posed on
.
My fears were that the show would be slow and hokey due largely to the restrictions of a TV budget. (Heck, even
The Avengers
has some moments of strong hokeyness.) I also didn't have a firm grasp on what the show would be.
Was it going to be CSI with vague occasional references to superheroes?
Almost all my major doubts were put to rest tonight. The effects work and action didn't outreach their means (i.e. Once Upon a Time) and were actually very respectable. At no point was I distracted by any effects looking cut-rate. The pacing was great and the balance between action and character dynamics seemed spot on as well. And Coulson is a very tricky character to navigate. He's built on dry wit and little else in the movies and it works well there. To take that character and bring him front and center in a 45 minute episodic seems difficult to say the least. But, once again, I feel like the producers passed the test.
Geek it up.
There were also more nods than I expected to longtime nerds like myself.
Using Coulson as a conduit between ultra-modern SHIELD and throwback Kirby designs and tech is brilliant.
Another word I wouldn't have anticipated using in regards to this show. (I knew they'd want to make Lola an old-school flying SHIELD car, I just didn't know if they'd have the guts to go for it.) Coulson-as-collector bridges the SHIELD of 60s comics with the cinematic version we know now, not only turning me into a raging geek monster but also creating the sense of the organization's history for the average viewer. Plus, meshing those two worlds of design simply has the potential to create great set pieces and a very cool aesthetic.
I think potential is actually the word of the day.
What I saw was a strong effort for a pilot. Much better than I expected. Now we need to see if those production values maintain throughout the season and if future episodes flow as well without Joss Whedon in the director's chair. Most of my excitement stems not from how good the first episode was, but from what this show
can
be. I saw a lot of moments that made me flash back to fun adventure television of the 70s and 80s. This show could take all the best elements of so many shows and genres and turn into something special. Think about shows like Remington Steele and The Incredible Hulk and The A-Team and Knight Rider at their best. Agents of Shield can create moments like that for this generation. This foundation is definitely strong enough to build something special on, now we'll have to wait and see how good the architects are.
PS -
I'm 90% sure I know what happened to Coulson.
I won't ruin it. ...Unless you want me to.