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

[greenlantern248]

No prob, Question.

 

[ares834]

Wow, surprised by how overwhelmingly positive the reception to this episode was. After a hand full of strong episodes this seemed like a big step back. Outside of the ending, I didn't find this episode compelling. But yes, the ending was quite good and is a nice hook for the remaining half of the season.

 

[Ragnaroknroll]

I thought this was the best episode since the one with the Asgardian. I have a few issues with some of the writing decisions but the end climax with Peterson was the most emotionally connected I've felt since the show started.

I hate nit picking things and am enjoying the show. I have been looking forward to Tuesday nights if for nothing else than to see the MCU flushed out in greater detail. The characters are all still growing on me but you have to admit Coulson is solid. I've even warmed up to Skye. Peterson is a really nice addition and I hope he isn't dead.

Can't wait to see the Coulson resurrection mystery explained.

However this:

Watching this now. The bulldozer is a Liebherr PR 764. Operating weight: 97,488 - 116,150 lbs (aka 48 to 58 tons)

How in the world does Cap push that dozer??? Maybe that sod is really muddy. And Peterson does have a running start. But then he tries to pull it?? I dunno. That's a head scratcher to me.

 

[metaphysician]

in hawkeye's case the absence is logical he is on suspension awaiting trial for his actions under loki's mind control in the avengers

Oh good lord, not this again. Hawkeye is not going to face any trial.

 

[metaphysician]

How in the world does Cap push that dozer??? Maybe that sod is really muddy. And Peterson does have a running start. But then he tries to pull it?? I dunno. That's a head scratcher to me.

Presumably, Cap would push it with the superhuman strength the MCU version possesses. The issue is less that, and more. . . if those weight values for it are accurate, it seems like pushing it would be a step too far for Cap. I can easily buy Cap pushing it if it weighed 5-10 tons ( note that "pushing" is not the same as "lifting" ). 50 tons? Seems a bit much. I haven't really seen anything in the movies to point to Cap being Spider-man strong; he seems more a step down from that.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Why would the weight not be accurate? I linked to the companies website.

 

[Vartha]

Presumably, Cap would push it with the superhuman strength the MCU version possesses. The issue is less that, and more. . . if those weight values for it are accurate, it seems like pushing it would be a step too far for Cap. I can easily buy Cap pushing it if it weighed 5-10 tons ( note that "pushing" is not the same as "lifting" ). 50 tons? Seems a bit much. I haven't really seen anything in the movies to point to Cap being Spider-man strong; he seems more a step down from that.

You would have to be that strong to force the shield through a cold steel lock on a tank hatch, and throw the shield hard enough to lift ANYONE off their feet.

 

[Imjenn]

Not to mention he traded blows with Loki. He struck Loki with his bare hand (okay, he was wearing a glove) at least once and I'm sure Loki either kicked or punched him. Considering just how powerful Asgardians can be, that should speak to his relative strength level. He's close enough to Asgardians to not be crumbled when hit.

 

[Adamu]

Wow, surprised by how overwhelmingly positive the reception to this episode was. After a hand full of strong episodes this seemed like a big step back. Outside of the ending, I didn't find this episode compelling. But yes, the ending was quite good and is a nice hook for the remaining half of the season.

The only very strong episode was the first. There have been a few high points here and there, but it's basically been all downhill since ep. 1.

I thought it was interesting seeing the hooded hero return. I use the term lightly as he is clearly being written as an emotionally weak, impulsive and short sighted individual. It's really quite sad.

You think he's going to redeem himself? Gotcha! Now he's a lowdown snake in the grass in addition to having anger management issues!

I'm realizing almost none of the dramatic moments work in this series at all. The violence is cartoon like. The fight sequences laughable.

What works are the lighter, comedic moments. The wry, awkward humor of coulson. The orange county narcisstic rantings of skye. The show is best when it's light hearted and funny. Coulson's tahiti angle is intriguing as well.

It's very odd, but the series is much better than the sum of it's parts. I can't pin it down, but this is one of the few tv shows I have watched regularly in a long time: 'v' being the other.

I don't know why I like the series, but I do.

 

[mkilban2]

I think you're watching a different show... Every episode downhill since the first?? It's only gotten progressively better each week in my eyes lol.

 

[Xeno]

congratulations, you just won the Chauvinist ******** Award for outstanding achievments in The Most Stupid Thing Ever Written On The Internet

He keeps posting the same thing in every thread. It's like Ming-Na personally insulted him by living past the age of 25, Scarlett Johansson's gorgeous body taunts him at every curve and Melinda May shot his (pretend) dog. The whole idea of having female characters in films and TV shows is a liberal feminist conspiracy (just getting that in before he repeats it for the hundredth time).

 

[Adamu]

If some of you haters think Skye is getting killed off,better to get your crying towels out sooner rather than later.t:

Be careful, you're going to get a throng of frumpy overweight librarians with superherohype forum accounts showing up at the emmys next year to pelt her with their andrea dworkin textbooks!

 

[Adamu]

He keeps posting the same thing in every thread. It's like Ming-Na personally insulted him by living past the age of 25, Scarlett Johansson's gorgeous body taunts him at every curve and Melinda May shot his (pretend) dog. The whole idea of having female characters in films and TV shows is a liberal feminist conspiracy (just getting that in before he repeats it for the hundredth time).

Cool. Let's give the psycho nutjobs calling for characters to be killed off a free pass. "She's too hot! Kill her!"

 

[Rishi]

this show is so inconsistent.

this week was one of the most interesting plot-wise, with an incredible amount of expositionary dialogue and clunky writing.
why didn't ward try to find a better position?
why did they shoot the hidden sniper but not the group of people in plain sight?

damn if I won't watch the next episode tho

(the melinda / ward stuff was excellent)

 

[Savage]

The awesome thing about productions from Whedon is how character driven they are and this show is no exception. This show only gets better with each episode for me and I feel that's because there's a better handle on the characters. Even Skye has grown on me in a Shadowcat/Jubilee of the team sort of way. I dig it. Great episode. I feel like ante has been upped on the action and the characters have been well done enough for an emotionally impactful cliffhanger. Good stuff. I hope Mike isn't dead.

 

[Xeno]

this show is so inconsistent.

this week was one of the most interesting plot-wise, with an incredible amount of expositionary dialogue and clunky writing.
why didn't ward try to find a better position?
why did they shoot the hidden sniper but not the group of people in plain sight?

damn if I won't watch the next episode tho

(the melinda / ward stuff was excellent)

The writing is pretty weak on this show, which is the main problem. Every week someone turns into Basil/Bessie Exposition, or they all have a go at it in the same scene. They don't do well with action, either, though it's been good enough to get by.

Ward's poor position on the bridge I can buy since it was under construction and might not have had many good vantage points. Also, Po and Raina chose that location for their own tactical advantage knowing that the SHIELD team would try to position a sniper with a clear line of sight. Picking a place with large equipment obstructing the view from multiple angles was their way of ensuring their safety during the hand-off.

When the chopper was leaving it made perfect sense to target the sniper instead of the obviously unarmed group on the ground. He was the only one who posed a clear threat and they weren't going to waste time waiting for the effects of the explosion to clear so they could take out the others.

One thing I wondered about was why Coulson didn't bring in a SHIELD backup team with orders to observe the situation closely and maintain radio silence. SHIELD's technology has been made to look ludicrously simple to hack in this series, but surely they have methods of communicating and remotely observing people that are undetectable.

 

[Human Torch]

I admit the Ward thing kinda bugged me.That's the ONLY place he could've set up?Eh,not really a big deal,but still....

 

[Vartha]

hahahaha

 

[henzINNIT]

Worst, secret agents, ever. I can't get over how stupid everyone is in this show. Why didn't Ward take a shot? Why didn't Mike tell them the real situation, when Coulson was obviously dedicated to getting his kid back? Urgh, this whole situation was painful to watch.

I'm done with this show now. Only watching for the Geekvolution podcasts that follow.

 

[Xeno]

Worst, secret agents, ever. I can't get over how stupid everyone is in this show. Why didn't Ward take a shot? Why didn't Mike tell them the real situation, when Coulson was obviously dedicated to getting his kid back? Urgh, this whole situation was painful to watch.

I'm done with this show now. Only watching for the Geekvolution podcasts that follow.

Ward didn't take the shot when he first drew a bead on Raina and Po because they still had Mike's little boy at the time. Po chose that site well so that the sniper only had one possible vantage point that would be obstructed by the explosives-laden construction equipment during the hand-off.

Once the bad guys started to cart Coulson away May ordered Ward not to shoot because that would have cost the agent his life. She made the right decision since Coulson would have died when the bomb in the limo exploded even if Ward had taken out all of his captors. I've got my problems with the show but that scenario wasn't one of them.

 

[Adamu]

Worst, secret agents, ever. I can't get over how stupid everyone is in this show. Why didn't Ward take a shot? Why didn't Mike tell them the real situation, when Coulson was obviously dedicated to getting his kid back? Urgh, this whole situation was painful to watch.

I'm done with this show now. Only watching for the Geekvolution podcasts that follow.

Great points. Completely valid. You might be banned for posting criticisms of the show, however.

The writers are in a pickle quite frankly. They're forced to string an oddball cast of "super agents" along for 10-15 hours of action every season, and at some point it must become impossible to provide plausible scenarios in which the team a) faces a deadly threat, then b) escapes, more or less unscathed only to repeat the formula for the next week's episode.

This formula would be believable if the agents indeed were super-heroes with super human strength and intelligence, but they are not. They are normal, fallible human beings.

To be honest, the series become a joke almost immediately, from ep. 2 on. Not very believable to have the team both ambushed and outnumbered 10 to 1, by an entire swat team with machine guns, and yet somehow fight to a draw.

 

[Human Torch]

Ward didn't take the shot when he first drew a bead on Raina and Po because they still had Mike's little boy at the time. Po chose that site well so that the sniper only had one possible vantage point that would be obstructed by the explosives-laden construction equipment during the hand-off.

Once the bad guys started to cart Coulson away May ordered Ward not to shoot because that would have cost the agent his life. She made the right decision since Coulson would have died when the bomb in the limo exploded even if Ward had taken out all of his captors. I've got my problems with the show but that scenario wasn't one of them.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Maybe it's just me, but the actor playing Po has that creepy "child molestor" look to him. It must be his eyes.

 

[mkilban2]

Adamu, can you chill with the whole "you against the world" attitude. We get it you don't enjoy the show, but you also need to be ready to listen to the other side.

 

[Evil Twin]

Ward didn't take the shot when he first drew a bead on Raina and Po because they still had Mike's little boy at the time. Po chose that site well so that the sniper only had one possible vantage point that would be obstructed by the explosives-laden construction equipment during the hand-off.

Once the bad guys started to cart Coulson away May ordered Ward not to shoot because that would have cost the agent his life. She made the right decision since Coulson would have died when the bomb in the limo exploded even if Ward had taken out all of his captors. I've got my problems with the show but that scenario wasn't one of them.

The bomb in the limo was pointless. Coulson was never in the limo, he was in the helicopter. Why they blew up the limo while revealing that they're in a helicopter is the "it looked cool" dynamic that doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

It would make sense if they blew up the limo to disguise their getaway. It makes no sense to blow it up just to announce they're getting away in a helicopter.