Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 Episode 10 "The Bridge" Discussion Thread

[Human Torch]

May can't even spell tact, much less display it towards anything with more feelings than a concrete wall. She's about as sensitive as a bag of hammers to the face.

So true.

 

[Adamu]

The May character is a disaster pretty much on all fronts.

I haven't seen Wen in any films or tv shows prior, so this is my only exposure to her work. I can't say whether it's her acting or the writing that's at fault, but this character is far and away the least interesting in the series. It just doesn't work.

You can't have a character just sulk and brood non-stop and expect them to be interesting.

Even if the writers create a compelling backstory as an explanation (highly unlikely given what we've seen so far), it doesn't make up for the fact that may has been a total dud throughout the entire series to date.

It makes you wonder if the casting was nepotistic or an otherwise politically motivated appointment (is could wen be close to one of the producers, or to anyone involved with this project behind the scenes?).

It's inconceivable that anyone who was thinking straight would think that having a character pout in every scene and mumble a few odd lines here and there could somehow be interesting.

Shoddy work on their part. Too bad that may will hang around and drag the series down indefinitely.

 

[Docker2.0]

The May character is a disaster pretty much on all fronts.

I haven't seen Wen in any films or tv shows prior, so this is my only exposure to her work. I can't say whether it's her acting or the writing that's at fault, but this character is far and away the least interesting in the series. It just doesn't work.

You can't have a character just sulk and brood non-stop and expect them to be interesting.

Even if the writers create a compelling backstory as an explanation (highly unlikely given what we've seen so far), it doesn't make up for the fact that may has been a total dud throughout the entire series to date.

It makes you wonder if the casting was nepotistic or an otherwise politically motivated appointment (is could wen be close to one of the producers, or to anyone involved with this project behind the scenes?).

It's inconceivable that anyone who was thinking straight would think that having a character pout in every scene and mumble a few odd lines here and there could somehow be interesting.

Shoddy work on their part. Too bad that may will hang around and drag the series down indefinitely.

Whoa! You are about to cross a line dude!

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Oh the irony.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Wen was the only good thing about Street Fighter.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Ejecting the tape from the vcr was the only good thing about Street Fighter.

 

[Adamu]

Whoa! You are about to cross a line dude!

Understood. There seems to be a strong contingent of politically correct liberals who absolutely insist upon a female heroine. Maybe they still dress up as xena: the warrior princess at comicons?

Then, there are the skye haters. This faction (of librarian types) hates seeing a hot young gal strut her stuff, getting all of the attention. They write several posts a day recommending her character be killed off. They pose as may fans, but really they just hate hot girls.

Some of these forum members have been known to break out in hives or even engage in violent outbursts immediately upon hearing the word "sorority."

Third in line are the 'defend the avengers universe at all costs' dogmatists. Whedon can do no wrong. Everything in the avengers universe is uber cool. Criticizing anything related to the avengers is like inviting salman rushdie as a guest speaker to your local mosque.

Group 4 consists of the 'suspend disbelief at all costs' ideologues who cannot tolerate any criticism of any fictional character, for any reason.

I'm sure there are other 'forces' at play, but those are the most prominent among the supporters and pseudo-supporters of the may character.

 

[starwolf_oakley]

The May character is a disaster pretty much on all fronts.

I haven't seen Wen in any films or tv shows prior, so this is my only exposure to her work. I can't say whether it's her acting or the writing that's at fault, but this character is far and away the least interesting in the series. It just doesn't work.

Ming-Na Wen was awesome on ER, and certainly showed a lot more range there than she has on AOS so far. She has shown some of the humor she had on "The Single Guy" (NBC's first attempt at a "Friends" knock-off back in 1995) ut not much.

Basically, Ming-Na Wen has the range, but this show isn't giving her much a chance beyond grouchy and grouchier.

 

[Xeno]

Fitz-Simmons also made fun of Ward behind his back.It is something in human nature to have such reactions to stiff personalities like May and Ward.Don't act like it's just something Skye has done.

FitzSimmons' comments about Ward were good-natured but Skye was deliberately demeaning when she talked about May in Repairs. Skye went far beyond just making fun of May. She disparaged May's tactics, second-guessed her every move even though May was right and accused the agent of deliberately hurting Hannah when in fact May defused the mob confrontation by tranking the woman. The crack about May needing to get laid was the sort of catty low blow insecure women use against powerful ones, though that will blow up in Skye's face very soon.

May can't even spell tact, much less display it towards anything with more feelings than a concrete wall. She's about as sensitive as a bag of hammers to the face.

May's brutal honesty is refreshing. It's great to have a character who doesn't suffer fools, gladly or otherwise.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

I like a little personality in my fictional characters. Combat monsters with cardboard personalities were fun when I was 12 but these days I require a little more.

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

Define 'personality'...

Being habitualy silent, reserved and not prone to conversations can also be counted as a personality.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Define 'personality'...

Someone who doesn't get mistaken for a brick with perpetual constipation.

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

If that how you see her character because of her 'brooding'...

Then you must've hated character such as...Batman for example.

* look at your sig*...nevermind

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Neither Batman nor my sig have anything to do with Agent May being a boring and unlikeable character.

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

Well...they share the same character traits.

Both being taciturn person...display very little emotions, not saying anything much at all.

In fact, if you look up the word 'brooding'in dictionary, you'll probably see a pic of Batsy right beside it,

 

[Adamu]

Well...they share the same character traits.

Both being taciturn person...display very little emotions, not saying anything much at all.

In fact, if you look up the word 'brooding'in dictionary, you'll probably see a pic of Batsy right beside it,

Does may have a backstory? Is she an established character?

The comparison doesn't make sense at this point since batman is a very familiar character to most all of us, whereas may is more or less an unknown.

Unfortunately, her character is so dour and dark and flat, there seems little hope of rescuing her and establishing her relevance. Aside from a 'bombshell' such as revealing that she is skye's mother.

Actually, I don't think anything can be done to redeem a character once they are written (off) as a catatonic.

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

It should be obvious that i wasn't talking about May character as a whole. Just her personality traits, which WT was reffering to as 'cardboard personality'...

 

[Adamu]

It should be obvious that i wasn't talking about May character as a whole. Just her personality traits, which WT was reffering to as 'cardboard personality'...

The batman may comparison doesn't make any sense. Batman/Bruce Wayne are given character development. There is a backstory. Motivations are clear.

With may, there is nothing. Just a series of grunts, some deadpan, mumbled statements here and there (and not even that sometimes) and that endless, catatonic stare.

It's really impossible to become emotionally invested in a 'character' like that. There is nothing to get attached to, or to react to. You have a few possible ways to 'react' to may then, if that's an appropriate term here:

1. with sheer boredom
2. you can speculate about who she is and what moves her (a dull and futile enterprise, given the lack of info made available to date)
3. you can support her because you hate skye (a bizarre motivation, but clearly floating some people's boats on this forum).

I like this show. It's entertaining. But you can't excuse bad writing. Call a spade a spade and be done with it. Stop the excuse train.

 

[fixxxer]

The batman may comparison doesn't make any sense. Batman/Bruce Wayne are given character development. There is a backstory. Motivations are clear.

With may, there is nothing. Just a series of grunts, some deadpan, mumbled statements here and there (and not even that sometimes) and that endless, catatonic stare.

It's really impossible to become emotionally invested in a 'character' like that. There is nothing to get attached to, or to react to. You have a few possible ways to 'react' to may then, if that's an appropriate term here:

1. with sheer boredom
2. you can speculate about who she is and what moves her (a dull and futile enterprise, given the lack of info made available to date)
3. you can support her because you hate skye (a bizarre motivation, but clearly floating some people's boats on this forum).

I like this show. It's entertaining. But you can't excuse bad writing. Call a spade a spade and be done with it. Stop the excuse train.

Pot, Kettle. And this little reactionary missive doesn't reek of an attempt to tarnish one character just to make the one you have a soft corner for look better in comparison?

May is both well written and well characterized. Being stoic and internalizing emotion is not equivalent to being bland, boring or poorly written. It clearly is the same for you, which is extremely subjective. The character isn't working specifically for you... which, for the most part, is not really relevant.

The Skye character is not well written, completely unlikable (this might be a subjective call, but I think more of the show's audience agrees than not) and most crucially, thus far, completely unnecessary. She seems straight out of a show meant for very young children. The reasons I've heard in defense of Skye's presence are: (1) Audience proxy (2) She's hot (3) Witty banter. These have nothing to do with the internal logic of the show. And no... "social media expert" is not a thing. Certainly not in the context of an elite team tasked with ridding the world of various serious threats.

Even if it is revealed down the line that Coulson had some overarching master plan in place all along with Skye's inclusion in the team, they've basically burned 10 episodes and counting of good will (with respect to the Skye character) in which she's been nothing but deadweight.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

The character isn't working specifically for you... which, for the most part, is not really relevant.

It's just as relevant as any feelings you or I or anyone else have.

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

Pot, Kettle. And this little reactionary missive doesn't reek of an attempt to tarnish one character just to make the one you have a soft corner for look better in comparison?

May is both well written and well characterized. Being stoic and internalizing emotion is not equivalent to being bland, boring or poorly written. It clearly is the same for you, which is extremely subjective. The character isn't working specifically for you... which, for the most part, is not really relevant.

The Skye character is not well written, completely unlikable (this might be a subjective call, but I think more of the show's audience agrees than not) and most crucially, thus far, completely unnecessary. She seems straight out of a show meant for very young children. The reasons I've heard in defense of Skye's presence are: (1) Audience proxy (2) She's hot (3) Witty banter. These have nothing to do with the internal logic of the show. And no... "social media expert" is not a thing. Certainly not in the context of an elite team tasked with ridding the world of various serious threats.

Even if it is revealed down the line that Coulson had some overarching master plan in place all along with Skye's inclusion in the team, they've basically burned 10 episodes and counting of good will (with respect to the Skye character) in which she's been nothing but deadweight.

Bingo.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

The batman may comparison doesn't make any sense. Batman/Bruce Wayne are given character development. There is a backstory. Motivations are clear.

With may, there is nothing.

And here is where you fail.
Batman had 70 years to develop that traits, 70 years for writers to give him an elongated backstory and the little character development he had. May had ten 45 minutes episodes and the writers just started to scratch the surface of what the character is. we still don't know what exactly happend to make her change to that stoic, brooding character she is now, but it is clear that something severe happend to her.

 

[Adamu]

And here is where you fail.
Batman had 70 years to develop that traits, 70 years for writers to give him an elongated backstory and the little character development he had. May had ten 45 minutes episodes and the writers just started to scratch the surface of what the character is. we still don't know what exactly happend to make her change to that stoic, brooding character she is now, but it is clear that something severe happend to her.

You're agreeing with me but you don't realize it. Reading comprehension fail.

 

[Adamu]

Gives fixxxer blank, catatonic may stare. Uuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

huh.

Pot, Kettle. And this little reactionary missive doesn't reek of an attempt to tarnish one character just to make the one you have a soft corner for look better in comparison?

May is both well written and well characterized. Being stoic and internalizing emotion is not equivalent to being bland, boring or poorly written. It clearly is the same for you, which is extremely subjective. The character isn't working specifically for you... which, for the most part, is not really relevant.

The Skye character is not well written, completely unlikable (this might be a subjective call, but I think more of the show's audience agrees than not) and most crucially, thus far, completely unnecessary. She seems straight out of a show meant for very young children. The reasons I've heard in defense of Skye's presence are: (1) Audience proxy (2) She's hot (3) Witty banter. These have nothing to do with the internal logic of the show. And no... "social media expert" is not a thing. Certainly not in the context of an elite team tasked with ridding the world of various serious threats.

Even if it is revealed down the line that Coulson had some overarching master plan in place all along with Skye's inclusion in the team, they've basically burned 10 episodes and counting of good will (with respect to the Skye character) in which she's been nothing but deadweight.

 

[Xeno]

Pot, Kettle. And this little reactionary missive doesn't reek of an attempt to tarnish one character just to make the one you have a soft corner for look better in comparison?

May is both well written and well characterized. Being stoic and internalizing emotion is not equivalent to being bland, boring or poorly written. It clearly is the same for you, which is extremely subjective. The character isn't working specifically for you... which, for the most part, is not really relevant.

The Skye character is not well written, completely unlikable (this might be a subjective call, but I think more of the show's audience agrees than not) and most crucially, thus far, completely unnecessary. She seems straight out of a show meant for very young children. The reasons I've heard in defense of Skye's presence are: (1) Audience proxy (2) She's hot (3) Witty banter. These have nothing to do with the internal logic of the show. And no... "social media expert" is not a thing. Certainly not in the context of an elite team tasked with ridding the world of various serious threats.

Even if it is revealed down the line that Coulson had some overarching master plan in place all along with Skye's inclusion in the team, they've basically burned 10 episodes and counting of good will (with respect to the Skye character) in which she's been nothing but deadweight.