Instant Coffee: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Pilot

SHIELD-cast

 

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. takes place after Marvel’s The Avengers. The first episode does an excellent job tying the movie into the show. Cobie Smulders reprises her role as Agent Maria Hill, Nick Fury’s second in command of S.H.I.E.L.D., from the movie in the pilot. Again, Smulders is excellent as the character. Of course, the world is a lot weirder after the events of the Avengers and the Battle of New York. As noted by Agent Hill, “A little while ago, most people went to bed thinking that the craziest thing in the world was a billionaire… in a flying metal suit [Iron Man]. Then, aliens [the Chatiuri] invaded New York and we’re being backed by, among others, a giant green monster [Hulk], a costume hero from the 40s [Captain America], and a God [Thor].” While it appeared that Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) died when Loki put his spear through him, we learn that Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., faked Coulson’s death to galvanize the Avengers into becoming a team. While Coulson believes he was nursed back to health by S.H.I.E.L.D medics and spent time in Tahiti to relax and recover, Agent Hill makes a remark to S.H.I.E.L.D’s doctor that Coulson can never know the truth. The mystery around Coulson’s resurrection will definitely be something that the series will trickle bits and pieces of as it progresses. Regardless, Coulson is forming and leading a team of agents that will focus on dealing with the new world and potential threats.

The pilot introduces the key agents for the series. The first is Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton). He is great at fighting and espionage. In fact, Agent Hill gives him the “highest marks since Romanoff [Natasha Romanoff/ Black Widow who is played by Scarlett Johansson)” for his espionage skills. Of course, it is high praise as we saw Agent Romanoff’s exceptional skills in action during Iron Man 2 and The Avengers. However, he lacks people skills and likes to go on missions solo. His abilities are showcased at the beginning of the episode as he goes to Paris to recover a Chatiuri neural device to keep it away from the wrong people and beats up multiple henchmen along the way. The next agent on the team is Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen). She is working a desk job and reluctant to go back in the field. Nevertheless, Coulson is able to coax her into joining his team. It is also hinted that she is a great agent but we will have to keep on watching to find out what she is known for at S.H.I.E.L.D. Next, we meet Skye (Chloe Bennett). She is a hacker that is part of the group known as the Rising Tide. While her goal is to expose the secrets S.H.I.E.L.D. is covering up, we will have to wait to learn whether there is more to the group Rising Tide. However, she is recruited by Coulson to join the team and accepts the offer.

Moreover, we are introduced to Mike Peterson. While he lost his job after suffering a serious injury, he is given a serum that grants him superpowers such as super strength. We learn that he is given Extremis, which is formula featured in Iron Man III. As shown in the movie, Extremis is unstable and eventually causes the individual to explode. It is unclear which group is responsible for experimenting with Extremis. In Iron Man III, it is A.I.M. It could be revealed that A.I.M. is still the culprit or another group could have taken over the reins. While Mike appears to be a good person, he is becoming violent due to Extremis. As such, he is a danger because of his powers and anger as well as the fact that the unstable formula could cause him to explode. The episode deals with S.H.I.E.L.D trying to contain Mike and determining whether he is friend or foe.

While it is difficult to predict how good a series will be based on the pilot episode, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is off to an good start. Clark Gregg is excellent as Agent Coulson. Consequently, I like the idea of a series centered on him as the main protagonist. Moreover, I really enjoy how the show links back to the universe created by the movies. The tone and style of the series reminds me a lot of Smallville, which is my favorite superhero television series of all time. The success of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will depend on how well they develop Agent Grant Ward, Agent Melinda May, and Skye as characters. The development of Ward is off to a good start as he appears to be a super agent in the mold of a James Bond lite. May can be a good character depending on her back story as the first episode hinted that she has a decorated past as an agent. Skye is a very beautiful woman and an enthusiastic go getter. She reminds me of Chloe Sullivan in Smallville who had her moments but also was irritating at times. I definitely think this show has a lot of potential and it is worth watching the first few episodes to see how it develops.

Pat Wong

About Pat Wong

Patrick is a contributor for Rookerville. He is an avid sports fan. Before joining Rookerville, he was part of a defunct New York Yankees message board, NYYankeefans, where he was its top poster and was inducted in its Hall of Fame for his contributions. Patrick is also a passionate fan of movies. He has enjoyed reading movie reviews over the years and is excited about the opportunity to review movies.

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