Discussion of SHIELD 1.01 "Pilot" - Aired 9/24/13 (ABC-US)

[Buffy Summers]

Agent Phil Coulson is back in action and in order to track an unknown enemy, he has assembled a select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D.

Source: ABC

 

[Buffy Summers]

I thought it was pretty good. I still don't like Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, and I could have done without Skye.

J. August Richards had the best performance. Fitz and Simmons were the best characters.

Best thing was seeing the Mutant Enemy logo on tv again...

 

[The Scourge]

Fitz and Simmons were the worst part of the episode. Very grating. THe only good line either of them had was the Hermione line.

Loved everything else.

 

[brinkster130]

I didn't love it, it was interesting enough but it didn't grab me from the get go.

J. August Richards was great.

Fitz and Simmons reminded me of Topher so much so I thought it was a little distracting.

My least favorite character was Skye, not sure what exactly it was but something about her character was a bit off putting.

 

[white avenger]

I'm sure that it'll grow on me, and maybe it's just the let down from all the action in "The Avengers," but I kept waiting for the real action to begin. And why can't they use the Avengers' names? I did find it interesting that Coulson kept referring to Tahiti as "a magic place," and the hint that he isn't really what he appears to be. my guess is that he's actually a clone into which they somehow were able to transfer the real Coulson's memories and personality.

I loved Lola. Anyone who names their car is my kind of guy.

 

[Vamp Jenny]

I love it. Like LOVE IT! Can't wait to see what's coming next

Also, it was really cool to see J. August Richard again

 

[Buffy Summers]

My least favorite character was Skye, not sure what exactly it was but something about her character was a bit off putting.

TOTALLY agree. It's like she's the token "pretty girl" a la Kardashians but she's not believable in the role they gave her.

 

[For Bee and Sky]

I really liked the show in general. I was disappointed with a bit of the writing though. A lot of Skye's "joke" lines, specifically, seemed forced. They were obvious and not witty at all.

I loved having a lot of Coulson and I especially loved seeing Ron Glass.

From the minute the show opened, you knew it was a Whedon show. It remind me a lot of Dollhouse.

Coulson's Corvette (Lola) was a nice touch too, although the flying bit at the end was kind of cheesy. I hope it's featured a lot more in the future (the car, not the flying.)

 

[iShower4free]

I really enjoyed the show, and c'mon guys, Skye was hot and I think she will grow on us all as a character One character that did annoy me was Grant ward, the muscle.

 

[sk]

I enjoyed that. It had a nice, fun, tone that I liked.
Did kinda expect that though, it's written by Whedon after all.

Grant was the character I felt most indifferent to.
Skye I liked. Coulson was as cool as he should be.
Want to know more about May. Had hoped to see more of her.
Not sure what I think about Fitz and Simmons. But I think they can work.

Don't like to judge a series after its pilot though.
Want to see how a regular episode works before I know if I will follow it. But it sure looks promising.

/SK

 

[Black Eye Guy]

and I could have done without Skye.

I swear as I was watching this, I kept thinking she had a little bit of Veronica Mars, little bit of Willow and a little bit of Chloe from Smallville about her and said in my head (I SWEAR) "I bet Buffy Summers is gonna hate her"

I on the other hand LOVED her. By far one of the best characters in the show.

Really great cast, also loved Fitz and Simmons. Didn't care that much for May, she felt a bit like a caricature rather then a character, but maybe as we get to know more about her that will change for me.

Great story, it stayed away from The Avengers enough, but mentioned them in a roundabouts way just enough to connect the two, but not set us up that we're hoping RDJ shows up each week.

Was this serum connected to the Iron Man 3 exploding people? I only saw IM3 once in the cinema, and if it wasn't, then I actually like the story a bit less cuz it even had the same glowing skin look that was in IM3, so it was very similar.

HATED the flying car at the end. I bet that car never fly again, felt like something they stuck in there to have a cool effect and in a few episodes time when they have to get someone fast and they can't get there in time, we'll all be wondering why they didn't just fly - it felt like one of those times were no budget concerns is a bad thing for Whedon.

So are with thinking Coulson is a life model decoy? I call it now that Skye will hack "level 8" in the season finale and find that out.

Great to have a Whedon show back on the air, it felt a lot stronger then Dollhouse and has the foundation for a strong cast, so I'm very excited! also agree that seeing the Mutant Enemy logo at the end was a highlight (though did the grr arrg sound different??)

 

[Buffy Summers]

I on the other hand LOVED her. By far one of the best characters in the show.

What show were you watching? What did she even DO?

 

[The Chosen]

I am so very conflicted about this.

On one hand, I loved it. Seeing the Mutant Enemy logo again made my night -- I felt like I was home or something. Very much needed after a semi-gruelling first month at college.

But on the other, everything felt too flashy and fast-paced, but in a bad way. The show has heart but lacks substance and I can't put my finger on why. Clark Gregg was great as usual and I loooved seeing Ron Glass again. I can't even properly explain how excited I got when I saw the Shepherd on screen.

Skye was okay. I don't like the name and the actor is...yeah, she's just okay. For as much Whedonspeak she got right, I think she got just as much wrong. Disappointed. Fitz and Simmons were funny but seemed unbelievable in a SHIELD-setting.

And yeah, the flying car stuff was absurdly bad looking. Reminded me of the boat scenes in the Ringer pilot.

Overall I'd give the whole thing like a 6/10. Watchable, but incomparable to the best of Whedon's stuff...so far.

 

[Buffy Summers]

I thought it was much better than the Dollhouse pilot, not on par with Firefly but I wasn't expecting it to be lol

 

[Black Eye Guy]

What show were you watching? What did she even DO?

lol, She was cool and sassy, and she's gonna question stuff as we go along (I'm guessing) whereas everyone else is gonna do what their asked no questions, it also set up her up to be incredibly smart, with all the stuff she was doing, and how she thought of another way to get the audio from inside the building.

But she was also given the most amount of story. She's a geeky, smart fangirl who has a sketchy past which she's deleted from all records based on what she said and how Shield knew nothing about her, so we have no idea who she really is. At one point she dressed in cosplay and hung around outside Stark Towers, came to realize Shield was out there and decided to try and out them by hacking them multiple times and gathered a large volume of information on superheroes.

The only other new characters who got a hint of of a backstory were May - who was obviously a major field agent till something big happened and she sidelined herself to a desk job, and Grant, who Coulson mentioned has some kinda important family.

Skye is gonna be to SHIELD what River was to Firefly, every character has a past, but one characters is way bigger.

---------- Post added at 09:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:34 PM ----------

I thought it was much better than the Dollhouse pilot, not on par with Firefly but I wasn't expecting it to be lol

Completely agree, it felt like this was what Dollhouse was aiming for, but never got there. But it didn't have the same magic as Firefly!

 

[For Bee and Sky]

lol, She was cool and sassy, and she's gonna question stuff as we go along (I'm guessing) whereas everyone else is gonna do what their asked no questions...

I disagree. I think Ward picked up this role more than Skye did.

 

[Black Eye Guy]

I disagree. I think Ward picked up this role more than Skye did.

Yeah I agree he did, but I dont think that will last past the pilot, he might want to do things a different way but I dont think he'll be asking why they do stuff as much.

Forgot to say originally, the line Coulson says after coming out of the shadows was brilliant!

 

[NY State of Mind]

J August Richards was good to see. I'm still not sure how I feel about the show. Skye was getting a lot of air time and she looked good but theres nothing she said that interested me. If theyre going to keep her just for looks then they need to take away lines and clothes from her the rest of the cast was alright so far but I'm not really feeling Maria Hill

 

[For Bee and Sky]

but I'm not really feeling Maria Hill

Maybe if she was naked? Hey, we should have the entire cast naked. That'd make for an interesting show.

 

[Robb Stark]

I liked it. To be honest I wasn't expecting overly huge things, but it was better than I thought it was going to be. I was a little concerned going in about Coulson's return. I figured it would just be an eye-roller of a moment, but I thought they set the wheels in motion to make it cool and interesting.

Don't get the hate for Skye. Sure, she wasn't perfect, but I thought she played the role well. Coulson was the best part of the show for me. I know everyone is pumped about J. August Richards and all, and while I thought he was decent, I felt like he overplayed an already tired theme. The down-on-his-luck-great-guy-who-capitalism-screwed archetype is SO played out. He certainly wasn't bad, and it was great seeing him, but I thought they could have gone a bit, I don't know, deeper with him.

I liked Ward, but I can totally see him being the character moving forward who'll be a bit divisive to the fan base. I can see some loving him and some absolutely hating him. I dug him so far.

It wasn't a revolutionary pilot or anything, but it was solid. There are some pilots (to me at least), which are just spectacular, and which get you beyond pumped for the series. LOST, Smallville and Game of Thrones all had that element. Angel had an excellent pilot. BTVS had a very charming pilot considering the budgetary constraints. This one...if I wasn't already hugely invested in the Marvel franchise and Whedon projects in general, I would probably watch the next episode or two to give it a shot, but the pilot wouldn't have stoked me enough to be totally sold.