Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division, S.H.I.E.L.D. for short, protects us from what we shouldn’t know. They protect us from the gods, heroes and villains hidden among men.
ABC’s new drama, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” follows the life of Agent Phil Coulson, who died in The Battle of New York in the movie “The Avengers” but comes back from the dead in the new TV series. Coulson, played by Clark Gregg, assembles a new team of normal people to seek out the superhumans hidden around the world and shelter them. This TV show is roughly based on the comic series by Marvel of the same name.
The series premiere of the show reached more than 12 million views, more than any ABC drama in four years. To put that in perspective, it had two million more views than the series finale of the hit show “Breaking Bad.” It competed with the season premiere of “The Voice” and “NCIS” on other networks. It really shouldn’t be surprising that one of the sequels of the third highest grossing movie of all time had such strong television ratings.
Although the premiere was quite a hit, the plot was a little clichéd and predictable. The director of the pilot episode, Joss Whedon, kept the same Marvel humor that we see on the big screen and brought it home. However, Joss Whedon left the show after the first episode and moved on to Marvel’s next blockbuster, “The Avengers: Age of Ultron.” He left the direction and writing in the capable hands of his brother, Jed Whedon, who seems to keep the Marvel universe funny and exciting.
Nevertheless, the weak plotline was hard to look past. It feels like every episode will follow the same monotonous layout. Like a formula, S.H.I.E.L.D. learns of a superhuman, superhuman learns how to use his/her special ability, goes crazy, S.H.I.E.L.D. comes, and everyone is either happy or sad. Viewers can hope the show will move past this simple formula. Marvel needs to forget the thought that, “The method worked well for comic books, so why wouldn’t it for television?”
The actors themselves seemed more like dramatized models than the personable characters they were supposed to be. Agent Fitz, played by Iain De Caestecker, was more Scotty from “Star Trek” than a flight engineer. However, he didn’t even beam anyone up.
Skye, played by Chloe Bennet, put on a funny, yet a little lost, facade that seemed far unlike any computer hacker. Agent Hill, played by Cobie Smulders, from the Avengers and many other Marvel movies, was only in the first episode with a small part.
For a television show dedicated to the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the most famous ones were taken out and replaced by cheap renditions. Marvel also seems to be missing an opportunity that most movies are forced to skip over due to time constraints: character development.
The actors’ saving grace would be Agent Coulson. Gregg plays a terrific secret agent with a default expression of mysterious reassurance. Gregg, who often played a supporting character in the previous Marvel movies, gains a great sense of power and authority in the new show as one of its main characters. He looks like the average Joe, the everyday dad, or the car salesman down the street. But apart from all of that, he is a happy beacon of hope trying to save the world without taking any credit. He is the ideal S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and it shows.
Even though the other characters are not spot-on, the show is still entertaining and gives a more insightful view into the Marvel universe that has been built over the last several years. The show airs on Tuesday nights on ABC.
