Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - S2E1 "Shadows"

[Lilbaz]

Thought the episode was ok. Liked the absorbing man, but think they missed the bus when introducing the new characters. It's still early days but the show doesn't have any memorable characters. I remember the A Team as a kid. Where's this shows BA or Murdock?

Also trying to be clever then ramming it in your face. Like where Talbot is cuffed to the chair and they get his finger prints from the arm rests. Then they knock him unconscious. Why not just take his prints while he was sleeping like a baby?

Better than last season and hopefully improves further.

 

[BETArayBill]

Really good episode tonight they cleaned up a lot of the problems I had with last season (Fitz Simmons Skye) had a great marvel villain and Peggy Carter always makes things better solid 8.5 out of 10. I hope the flash arrow and Constantine keep up the great starts that aos and Gotham had.

 

[Dugath]

Thought the episode was ok. Liked the absorbing man, but think they missed the bus when introducing the new characters. It's still early days but the show doesn't have any memorable characters. I remember the A Team as a kid. Where's this shows BA or Murdock?

Also trying to be clever then ramming it in your face. Like where Talbot is cuffed to the chair and they get his finger prints from the arm rests. Then they knock him unconscious. Why not just take his prints while he was sleeping like a baby?

Better than last season and hopefully improves further.

Because they were doing other things such as voice analyses. They were also trying to convince him that they could work together, which did not go so well.

 

[Lilbaz]

Because they were doing other things such as voice analyses. They were also trying to convince him that they could work together, which did not go so well.

I get that. But they actually say how clever it is that they got his finger prints off the arm rests then knock him out???

They did this last season as well. Stupid things like Hand wanting to kill Garrett (a top Hydra agent with god knows how much intel that they could use) then gets Ward his protege to do it with a gun in an aircraft?

They're only small niggles. But they do bug and just seem like careless writing. I know it is a family show but treat the audience with a bit of respect. You don't need Skye silently shouting he's Hydra. We got it, we know Skye got it you don't have to smash us in the face with it.

Anywho, looking forward to episode 2.

 

[Xeno-noesis]

I generally despise television shows, their structure/gimmicks and I've only watched programming twice in the past three years (the first two episodes of AOS last year) except for baseball. And I've got to say, I was VERY impressed with last night's season premiere.

The exposition following the flashback was mind-numbing and hard to follow but the episode took off like a twisty roller coaster the rest if the way. I bought the first season on bluray and I've watched through episode 7, hoping to finish before next Tuesday.

Creel was done amazingly well, regardless of medium/broadcast format. It's very difficult to establish a villain thoroughly in a short amount of time. And the materials he absorbed were practical and clever.

 

[StreetWarrior]

As someone who HATED season 1, I was pleasantly surprised by last night’s premiere. The tone of season 2 appears to be much more serious, Coulson’s team is beginning to act like a military unit, and the special effects seem much better. Previously irritating characters like Sky and Ward have been given overhauls and are much more likable (especially Sky). The Absorbing Man may have been the show’s most successful integration of an established comic villain. It’s still not perfect but AOS has transitioned from mediocre to great. I have to echo the sentiments that this episode felt like a different show entirely and I, for one, believe that this is a definite improvement. I never thought I’d find myself typing these words, but I can’t wait for the introduction of Mockingbird and to see where Coulson’s team goes next!

 

[Vartha]

grr the download pages are being blocked at the center

 

[Vartha]

By the way, Budapest was mentioned in this episode

3rd time in the MCU

popular vacation spot

 

[Silvermoon]

Xena was a ******.
Creel was surprisingly awesome, saw it on a crap stream but the effects looked much better than last season and give me a lot of hope.
Them Howling Commandos!
Thing about that is that Peggy is already director of SHIELD at that point, so that particular clip takes place after the show is going to be set? Weird.
.

Who said she was already director of SHIELD at that point? She still referred to it as the SSR, and none of the HC's referred to her as Director (Dugan still called her "Agent Carter"). Other than the flashback taking place in 1945 - I don't think we can say for certain where it falls in the timeline yet (only that it's after May 1945 since Cap & Skull are gone)

Also, was the use of the word '******' really necessary?

anyone think Talbot son is not normal? Could be why he is protecting him during his interrogation with Coulson...... I won't be surprise if he is a "miracle" he will be target by HYDRA and Talbot won't be able to stop him even with military support since he could be in a area where US military won't be able to invade and must turn to Coulson

I would hope that ANY father would protect his son (though I know not all do), I see no reason why Talbot's protectiveness would be evidence of his son being a 'gifted'. Just my opinion.

As for my general thoughts on the episode (given that it's an hour later, I'm a bit bummed because I won't be able to post my thoughts until the day after and will have to play catch up with everyone else, but oh well).

I feel it was an awesome episode and a GREAT way to start off the season, it just hit the ground running.

Spoiler tag for length (and spoilers)...... and reaction gifs...

Spoiler

Seeing Peggy & the HC’s first thing, I was all:

Side note: The photograph from the 084 file is, apparently, wrong - in the corner it was dated “AUSTRIA 1944" when the opening flashback was 1945, so someone made an oops

The look on my face when Dugan lifts up the lid to one of the boxes and you’re pretty sure what’s inside is the alien body from the “Guest House”/T.A.H.I.T.I?

Kind of funny to see that the whole “084” classification is simply because the first item that they didn’t know what it was item #84 out of all the of the stuff that Carter had the SSR crate up that day.

I like that the jump back to modern day just kind of threw us into the thick of it. Coulson running things from his office - hopefully we see him get out in the field as well.

The first time seeing Fitz

The first time seeing Ward

Coulson impersonating Talbot

I'm glad that Skye noticed the symbols that appeared on the Obelisk.

The whole thing with Izzy… I don’t know whether she’s actually dead or not (articles and stuff were making it seem like she’d be more than just a one episode part), so consider me

when it comes to what happened to her (at least for now)

Stealing the Quinjet….

…doing it because Fitz simply can’t figure out the cloaking problem

And then learning that Simmons isn’t really there with Fitz helping him:

So again, a fantastic episode, I definitely need to watch it again to see if there are any other little nuances that I missed. I think I’ll like the new characters [BLACKOUT](if Izzy is really dead, sounds like that’s going to be some powerful motivation for Hunter since he seemed to respect her)[/BLACKOUT].

Oh, and I do NOT think the 084/Obelisk is an Infinity Stone/Gem. I’ve already seen that being thrown out there as a possibility and, given that the symbols that were on it seem to be “Kree” in design (match what Coulson/Garrett was writing, symbols like that were visible in the background in Ronan’s ‘throne’ room in GotG) I don’t think an Infinity Stone is a possibility. Just my opinion

 

[BullMcGiveny]

But didn't CATWS itself show that Cap didn't defeat all of Hydra? Baron Von Strucker said that Hyrda's many bases will keep Cap and his colorful friends busy while they work on their real project.

All Cap did was expose SHIELD/Hydra(2 sides to the same coin). Cut off one head, and 2 more shall take its place.

Cap was supposed to have defeated most of HYDRA, with whatever was left were being stragglers.

I thought Strucker was willing to sacrifice those stragglers, but not because he had so many expendables, but because his main project (the twins, or whatever) was bigger than HYDRA.

 

[marcvader]

As someone who HATED season 1, I was pleasantly surprised by last night’s premiere. The tone of season 2 appears to be much more serious, Coulson’s team is beginning to act like a military unit, and the special effects seem much better. Previously irritating characters like Sky and Ward have been given overhauls and are much more likable (especially Sky). The Absorbing Man may have been the show’s most successful integration of an established comic villain. It’s still not perfect but AOS has transitioned from mediocre to great. I have to echo the sentiments that this episode felt like a different show entirely and I, for one, believe that this is a definite improvement. I never thought I’d find myself typing these words, but I can’t wait for the introduction of Mockingbird and to see where Coulson’s team goes next!

Not overhauls. They naturally progressed from where they were at the end of last season.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Cap was supposed to have defeated most of HYDRA, with whatever was left were being stragglers.

I thought Strucker was willing to sacrifice those stragglers, but not because he had so many expendables, but because his main project (the twins, or whatever) was bigger than HYDRA.

Where did you get the idea that Cap defeated "most" of Hydra? I didn't get that from TWS at all. He just exposed them and flung them out into the open. I'm fairly certain that just like the comics Hydra is one of those organizations that will never be defeated fully. The Avengers are still fighting them at the start of AoU. That's kind of Hydra's gimmick, even after you think they are defeated they always comeback, hence, cut off one head and two more shall take it's place

 

[fixxxer]

Interview with Jed Whedon and Tancharoen: http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/09/24/agents-shield-season2-spoilers/

Seems Isabelle Hartley (Lawless' character) is indeed dead. Looks like they were going for a "Coulson-like" character that was sacrificed for the greater good... and was sacrificed due to Coulson's decisions, which might weigh on his conscience going forward. Whether it was worth it, time will tell, I guess.

Not sure it completely worked though. If they were going for an impactful death, I would've fleshed out her character more, over the course of at least a few more episodes. Or at least given her a few more stand-out character moments. As it stands, I didn't really have too much of a connection to Hartley, which kinda diminished the impact of her death to me.

 

[Lilbaz]

Interview with Jed Whedon and Tancharoen: http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/09/24/agents-shield-season2-spoilers/

Seems Isabelle Hartley (Lawless' character) is indeed dead. Looks like they were going for a "Coulson-like" character that was sacrificed for the greater good... and was sacrificed due to Coulson's decisions, which might weigh on his conscience going forward. Whether it was worth it, time will tell, I guess.

Not sure it completely worked though. If they were going for an impactful death, I would've fleshed out her character more, over the course of at least a few more episodes. Or at least given her a few more stand-out character moments. As it stands, I didn't really have too much of a connection to Hartley, which kinda diminished the impact of her death to me.

Think they will use her death as a reason for her mate to stay on (sorry forgot his name, the one who cut her arm off) so he can get revenge.

 

[fixxxer]

Think they will use her death as a reason for her mate to stay on (sorry forgot his name, the one who cut her arm off) so he can get revenge.

Lance Hunter, I believe. I'm sure you're right, but it still seems like a somewhat hollow death. I mean, I really liked the episode and I'm not one of those "no one should die in the Marvel universe because we can't use them in <insert new Marvel property here>" people, but that was a minor issue I had with an otherwise very impressive episode.

 

[WildChild]

Yeah seeing Lucy go is sad.

 

[nogolf33]

This episode was a lot of fun, I enjoyed the pace and the sense I had that they are a covert organization that is trying to help the world against the Hydra threat.

I thought the Absorbing Man was well executed and seems to be credible in power level to what I have seen of other MCU heroes.

 

[Silvermoon]

Just some more thoughts (and if these have previously been brought up, my apologies - like I said, I'm having to play catch-up when it comes to the actual discussions of the episodes since I have to go to bed right after it airs due to my early morning work schedule)

Regarding Fitz (and Simmons). (again, spoiler tags just for those that haven't seen the ep. yet)

Spoiler

I've seen some people (maybe not necessarily here) kind of pissed that Simmons would just leave Fitz like that. I was actually okay with this. My guess is that, while she was there for his initial recovery, his progress may have started to slow and she started to realize that Fitz was relying on her way too much, that she was being used heavily as a crutch (much like we see him using the hallucination of her) and in the long run it wasn't doing to do Fitz any good. I doubt it was easy for her to leave, and I'm sure it's something that she's probably continuing to agonize over (whether she made the right decision or not)

He is on his way to recovery, though. Given that the hallucination knew the words/terms that Fitz was having trouble with, it means that Fitz himself knows the words/terms and I don't think there's as much of a mental block (in that regard at least) as he fears. He just needs to keep going and work through, maybe get a kick in the pants.

Hopefully we'll see realSimmons return soon though

 

[fixxxer]

^

You described the FitzSimmons situation really well. And I also have to say that the show did a good job communicating Fitz' situation, and not doing it through direct exposition, because that's pretty much exactly the same thing I took away from all of it.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Not true. Last season was a disappointment for tons of people and it's why the ratings were cut in half from the series premiere to season finale. It had tons of potential and I know plenty of people who, like myself, WANTED to like the show but it was way off. I continued to watch hoping it got better and it did in ways but I understood why people didn't like it.
Fast forward to this season and I loved this episode. I wouldn't label the people who hated last season and people who loved to hate it. It started out mediocre.

Yeah, last season started off really poorly and only picked up once the HYDRA/Captain America aftermath was inserted into the show. This season has started off MUCH better.

 

[chamber-music]

Ladies and gentlemen, meet General Reinhardt, alias Daniel Whitehall.

Unleash the kraken.

Should of guessed lawless non-comic character was a dead woman. I liked this take on lance hunter

 

[The Question]

I just have this feeling that

Spoiler

She's not Dead. Why bring somebody on just to kill them in the 1st Episode? would makee no sensee

Spoiler

To intentionally fake out the audience and make the point that they're not ****ing around this season. Makes sense to me.

 

[Silvermoon]

It's been mentioned in the GD thread, but initial ratings are in:

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...-debuts-ok-forever-flat-with-premiere/306630/

Agents of SHIELD:
18-49 Rating: 1.9
Viewers Live+SD: 5.6 million

I suspect it will probably adjust up (majority of last season tended to adjust up in final numbers by at least .1). So it just about matched season 1's season finale

 

[Whiskey Tango]

I think Simmons is dead and Fitz talks to her ghost.

Great premier, not very taken with the new characters but I loved the opening in 1945 and overall the production value looks like it's been given a boost.

 

[Mister J]

Pleasantly surprised by the tone of the premiere. A continuance could get me back to actually being excited about tuning in, rather than doing so out of interest in the underlying material.

I didn't even get annoyed by Skye last night; well, not nearly as much as usual.

Apparently, Ward passes the time in his confinement box by doing pushups. Was he a little more jacked or was that just me? Was it the beard? I found him a lot more interesting in terms of layers last night than at any point prior; even after the heel turn. I was hoping for as much when it became clear they weren't offing him.

I don't really care anything about Fitz, but if this brings about some development that goes further toward the character moving out of a box, bring it. Him aside, the sooner Simmons comes back, the better.

Sad to see Hartley go. For a while, I was harboring ideas on how she could text Rocket Raccoon about finding a suitable replacement cybernetic arm. Oh well. They could have built her up a little more for a greater impact. I feel more "That's it? " rather than "Oh, NO! "

Excited about Hunter and the Kraken and I'm still beaming over the Carter flashback. The alacrity and enthusiasm with which I screamed "Dugan!' was legendary.

I think Simmons is dead and Fitz talks to her ghost.

Don't do this to me, Whiskey.