The Small Screen: Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The first foray into television, this is as much an experiment as, say,
Guardians Of The Galaxy will be next year. Has it been a success? Well, with only six episodes under its belt, it's too early to tell. And I think people have to remember that it's early days yet. A lot of fans, myself included, had visions of another
Buffy The Vampire Slayer or
Firefly. With Joss himself helming the pilot, expectations were incredibly high and indeed, the next four episodes seemed weaker by comparison. The thing is, though, Joss is working executive producer - it's not a full-on Joss Whedon show. Writers like Marti Noxon. Jane Espenson. David Fury. They're not actually involved. And as such, this show should be considered on its own merits. The best comparison is probably
Arrow - the first batch of episodes on that show were fun but had plenty of awkward moments. Oliver Queen's continuous, righteous voice over? Thank God Diggle got on board quickly so that the narration went out of the window. Still,
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. still needs to iron out a few quirks. The balance between humour, drama and action (something that Joss balances perfectly) is off. The characters need development. We don't have that spark between them that
Firefly had from day one. Agent Ward needs to be more than just the action hero agent. Fitz and Simmons need to be more than just science geeks. Agent May needs to be more than just ambiguous and quietly dangerous. Skye needs to find her place on the team. Coulson. Well... he's great, isn't he? The other trouble is, after
The Avengers, this version of S.H.I.E.L.D. is so much smaller... though is that really surprising? If you want a bigger budget, then you get a mini-series. Maybe 10 episodes, even, as with the likes
Game Of Thrones. And perhaps there is an argument for quality over quantity. But with so many genre shows seemingly shorter and shorter in season length, I'm enjoying a fun superhero show that, like
Arrow, last a full 22 episodes (and really
Arrow is the most comparable show to this one). The episodes haven't been bad, exactly. They just haven't been great either. It speaks of a show finding its feet. A chance to introduce what I can only imagine are fun B-list villains and expand on the events that happen outside those big superhero battles. And this week, we get the
Thor: The Dark World/
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D crossover. That could be a blast. Or it could be indicative of a show that is still trying to find its identity if it relies too much on the film and less on its own story. If the latest episode, 'F.Z.Z.T', is anything to go by, maybe we're getting there. By changing direction from a procedural story line to a personal central character driven piece I saw the magic for the first time. When Simmons jumped out of the plane just as Fitz realised there was a cure, I was stunned. This show had me gripped for the first time. I doubt this show can be properly measured until we hit the final run of episodes of season 1. Think back to
Arrow again. Those final episodes. That season finale. That was bolder than I ever expected this show to be. And I am confident that
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. can get there, too. We just need to give it a little more time. Click "next" to continue reading...