Discussion of SHIELD 1.10 "The Bridge" - Aired 12/10/13 (ABC-US)

[Black Eye Guy]

In a shocking cliffhanger episode, Coulson takes the war back to Centipede, and this time he brings in Mike Peterson for some super-soldier support

I've come to the realisation that all the hype is ruining this show for me.

Since this aired on Tuesday in the states, I've seen all over the internet/twitter "amazing cliffhanger", "huge cliffhanger" etc. and while I didn't see the Mike double cross coming, there really wasn't anything huge about this episode.

This episode should have ended with Coulson being taken to see the Clairvoyant and revealing who that is, anyone with half a brain could guess that Centipede wanted Coulson to know why he's alive, that was obvious and shouldn't have been the final big moment of the show.

We know Wards not dead, and I honestly dont care if Mike is - I like his character, but we hardly know him, making us think there is a possibility he is dead when we dont know him, seemed a bit pointless, and grouping his possible death, with Coulsons capture and then Ward being shot just came a cross as the show yelling "LOOK HOW BIG WE CAN GO!!" rather then actually being a big show. I wish they'd stop trying to impress the audience with explosions, technology, effects and helicopters and worked on the story. This story really came across like the pitch was "Coulson gets captured, there's an explosion, then the car Coulson was put in explodes, then a helicopter rises up from behind the bridge and flies off" - then they built the story to fit their cool big scene.

Just practically this didn't even make sense:

didn't the team think it was weird two random trucks were parked/abandoned either side of the bridge?

Surely Ward saw they didn't get in the car? We, as the audience, saw Mike run back with his son - so only saw the implied move towards the car, but surely Ward wasn't watching that also?

Does Raina own any clothes that aren't floral?

What was the point of the drug to knock Coulson out, seeing it only lasts like 3 mins? He's knocked out from the bridge to the helicopter but is totally alert in the helicopter?

Why were the team in the car so slow, like the moment Mike walked towards the car and passed Coulson they should have been out of the vehicle.


I really hope I like the second half of this show more, I hope they calm down on trying to show us how impressive their budget is. I hope they keep Mike, It's nice having a superpowered person on the team, I know thats not what the show is about but it seems stupid not to have a superpowered person on the show as a regular.
I hope Coulson "death" is explained in the first episode back, cuz I'm sick of the giant-ridiculously-obvious-in-your-face clues about him.

I also found the music distracting, I know they hired a great music person, but I dont think everything is working together, it seems like each element (big budget, music, story) is getting a lot of attention, but they aren't working together cohesively.

I did like FitzSimmons though, I think they steal the show for me, their scenes with J were very funny.

 

[VisionGirl]

I liked the episode. But see, this is what happens when I hope that they bring a character on the team full-time! Although: no body, no death? We shall see. My jaw did drop during the big explosion. And I'm looking forward to the next few episodes.

I'm liking the series, the characters, & the plot, but they need to work on the dialogue. It's just not up to "Whedon-series" standards IMO.

 

[Kanazaka]

I have been disappointed with much of this season, but liked this episode and was impressed by the cliffhanger ending. I would like to see important plot points resolved either this season or early next season--namely, the identities of Sky's birth parents and the truth about Coulson's death. More character development from Ward would also be nice.

 

[white avenger]

The whole season so far has been rather underwhelming to me. I keep watching it just on the hopes that something really good will happen, whether it's bring in some of the so far unused Marvel characters, or introduce some really interesting new characters andor plot twists, but so far it just hasn't moved me.

 

[Octavia]

May and Coulson are such cute parents to Skye 😍 I appreciate the crew dynamics a lot more on the rewatch.

The eye bomb elimination is brutal. The Clairvoyant and Reyna stuff is annoying cos I remember who it is, its just frustrating and dramatically over done. Threatening the kid is horrid. The meeting is all very ominous. Gives me Angel vibes, but Reyna is not as appealing as Lilah. Coulson is such an understanding man. Mike shall not succeed. I bet the set guys have a blast making blasts.

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

I found Raina quite interesting. The Clairvoyant reveal was kind of annoying.