Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents including: Brett Dalton as Agent Grant Ward, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May and Chloe Bennet as the mysterious computer hacker Skye.
 
"Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." will premiere on ABC on Tuesday, September 24 at 8 p.m.

Season 1 cast promos

 

Odd one, this. It feels like Joss Whedon came up with an original TV series, which then had the Marvel label slapped onto it. I'll give it a shot out of curiosity, but my expectations aren't particularly high.

It was okay but nothing more than that. I hope the rest of the season will be better than the pilot otherwise I will not stick around.

 

The main problem is the cast. Apart from Clark Gregg and the girl who plays Skye, I found the rest of the cast rather boring (other than guest star Cobie Smulders).

 

The two science geeks (Fitz & Simmons) also lacked any chemistry, which is a bit of a problem for two characters who were designed to be a double act.

It kicks off tomorrow in the UK. I'm hearing that it's set after the Avengers movie, which for obvious reasons seems at odds with their making Phil the lead character. I'm on board though, at least for the time being.

It's up against NCIS in it's time slot and strangely enough drew a larger audience.

 

Don't know if that will continue though. Maybe something to do with Cote de Pablo leaving NCIS.

 

Or just more appealing to a younger audience perhaps.

I gave it a watch. Probably safe to say that the world is not in desperate need of another TV series about people who investigate things, but I do think it has potential, with some interesting ideas that could be fun to see develop. Hopefully the characters gain some depth in the near future, most feel a bit one-dimensional at the moment.

The dialogue this week seemed short on Whedon's usual spark, but all things considered, I'm quite enjoying it so far. It's like a family-friendly 'Fringe' and the Marvel spin goes some way to making the obvious cliches more palatable.

 

They really must start doing something interesting with Fitz and Simmons soon, though. They're not so much a double act as a collection of random quirks.

This show falls well short of Whedon's best work.

Having said that, Buffy took some time becoming Buffy, and Dollhouse wasn't exactly always brilliant either.

Firefly is probably the only exception, that show was great from minute one.

So I'm not giving up on it yet.

 

Also: Chloe Bennett, so very, very hot!

 

I've seen three episodes. They weren't all so bad. It simple tv series. For me is like replacement of Alphas. It would be nice if more someone of Avengers or other Marvel character showed up. Samuel Jackson was great when he was bit***ing with agent Colson.

Episode six was my favourite so far. Given how little we know about Fitz and Simmons as a double act, much less as individuals, it was far more gripping than it had any right to be. Thanks to Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecker's performances, the partnership felt lived-in and believable for the first time.

 

Here's hoping Ward becomes less of a blank canvas soon. As it stands, the guy might as well be called 'Jack Bland'.

Ward is the worst actor ever attached to a Whedon project.

Unless he is indeed a robot - which has been rumored already - in which case the casting of a wooden actor is evil genius.

Word is that the season finale will tie into 'Winter Soldier'. Perhaps they could explain Ward's robotic personality by making him the spawn of an Arnim Zola lab experiment or something.
 
Also, while on the subject of tie-ins, episode eight of 'SHIELD' will apparently be dealing with the aftermath of 'The Dark World'. It would have been great if the movie's post-credits scene had...
 

Spoiler

...just been Phil running after the escaped Jotunheim beast, shouting 'I got this!'

Despite the Thor tie-in amounting to little more than a clean-up operation in London, it was another decent episode. Ward even received a mild personality upgrade from the Asgardian staff, must have been made of some powerful stuff.
 
I can't believe it's taken me until now to figure out that Ming-Na Wen played Chun Li in the old Street Fighter movie. Finger on the pulse as usual...

Not sure if the show's UK pace is ancient history for everyone else, but it's just returned to our screens after a seemingly never-ending break. I went to see 'The Winter Soldier' on the morning of the train episode and thus, was treated to two Stan Lee cameos on the same day.

Watching this evolve into more character-driven stuff has been really enjoyable so far. 'Turn, Turn, Turn' was a legitimate game-changer, and would have been a risky move for a show that's taken a while to find focus.

 

Especially loved the Ward thing, the guy has spent so long playing 'Captain Cardboard' that it was the last thing I expected. His ruthless execution of Victoria Hand was particularly chilling.

This show has gotten shockingly better in its second half. This post Winter Soldier group of episodes has actually been straight up good. This might be the greatest mid-season turn around a show has ever had. Bill Paxton is absolutely fantastic as well. Every line out of his mouth is hilarious or ruthless. Great writing and delivery.

Paxton was great from the moment he arrived, and his character was key in the show moving away from the 'random villain of the week' procedural and developing some real forward momentum. He was always...

 

...going to turn out to be a villain, though. I mean, get a load of that polo-neck sweater.

I watched the first four or five episodes of AOS when they aired, and then gave up on the show because it just wasn't catching my attention. I recently gave the series another go this month, since I was craving a Marvel fix, and found myself seriously impressed by the Winter Solider tie-ins, and excited for the second season. 

 

In actual show related news, season two will premiere September 23rd, and will have a ten episode run before taking a hiatus while Agent Carter ( ) runs in it's time slot.  Brian Patrick Wade will be playing Crusher Creel/The Absorbing Man, the main villain in the season opener and Adrianne Palicki ( :yuckky: ) has been confirmed as Bobbi Morse. Henry Simmons, Kyle MacLachlan, Lucy Lawless(Isabelle Hartly), Nick Blood(Lance Hunter), Reed Diamond(Kraken) and Simon Kassianides will also appear. 

 

I want more Triplett.

Not liking the Palicki news myself, but the rest of the new castmembers seem alright to me.

 

It's hard not to associate Palicki with that total disaster of a Wonder Woman pilot.