S.H.I.E.L.D.

[cactuswatcher]

There is something exciting about the disorientation of being thrust into a totally new situation, going to a new school in a new neighborhood (which I never experienced), starting high school, beginning college or grad school, starting a new job. One of the first things that happens is that new personalities jump out all around you. Personally for me, names come later but faces, personalities and even voices start separating themselves almost immediately. It quickly gives points of reference for moving forward. The same kind of thing usually happens when I watch a new TV show. I'd say the biggest reason I'm not very positive or negative about SHIELD is that I didn't feel any of that watching the pilot.

I didn't see the movie that SHIELD developed from. I don't know whether people who saw the movie know more about some of these characters. But after one episode, I find the whole cast kind of a faceless mush. The one person who really stood out was J August Richards, who I knew from the credits was just a guest star. The 'jewel-thief' guy is kind of blah. The two scientists are stolen from a video game series called Assassins Creed, a slightly annoying guy with a British accent and a giddy girl, neither of whom have the zip of the video game pair. Mysterious Asian lady is okay, but cookie cutter.

Having watched the pilot I have no idea why the leader is in charge. He didn't seem to display any leadership qualities. Does playing Kirk to Scotty show any? "Scotty, we need more power to the Barrangasfarger." "Captain, the Barrangasfarger canna take any more!" "Find a way! We've got ten seconds to live!" I've been there, playing Scotty in real life. A third of the time you've been working on the final details anyway and it works out very well. A third of the time you manage to muddle through, and the results are okey-dokey. A third of the time the Barrangasfarger blows up as you predicted. A good boss has been following your progress and is prepared. A bad one just expects you to get it done and gets mad when the laws of nature don't bend, blaming you for not carrying out his omnipotent will. The guy on SHIELD didn't impress me as a good boss.

I'm willing to give it a try or two more, but SHIELD is definitely on probation with me.

Comments

[atpo-onm.livejournal.com]

I think it's a pretty fair bet that 90% of the people who tuned in this pilot have see Marvel's The Avengers.

I also suspect that this kind of, for want of a better word, "multi-phased" methodology of presenting new entertainment will continue to grow. That is, it will be expected that people will have seen and/or read the comic book(s), movies, related TV shows or films, books, etc.

It isn't even new-- the Wachowski Bros. took some heat when the 2nd and 3rd parts of the Matrix trilogy were released, because some things were only really clear if you had seen The Animatrix which was released in the interim between initial and later films.

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

I feel pretty much the same way. I am totally unfamiliar with the whole Marvel universe, so didn't have a clue who all these people were, and why I should care about them. On the other hand, I loved seeing Gunn, I mean J.August, again. Made the whole hour for me.