Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. What didn't you like?

[SuperFerret]

Ward was a very low rent Micheal Weston, and Skye was the typical Whedon girl who will be ridiculously irritating but also be pivotal to most of the overall plot, thus enhancing the irritation.

 

[Teelie]

There weren't any mutants in the pilot.

Nope but they thought the guy with Extremis was and referred to him as "possibly gifted" and it turns out the writers said the one word they are specifically prohibited form using in the series is "mutant" to refer to anyone. So they alternated it with the word "gifted" instead.

There won't be any mutants in the series either because of that same licensing thing I'm assuming and if there are they won't be referred to as such but instead "gifted."

 

[The Question]

Nope but they thought the guy with Extremis was

I didn't get the impression that they thought he was anything. They knew he had powers and they didn't know how an the team's job was to figure that out.

 

[Teelie]

Which is why they called him possibly gifted.

 

[The Question]

Which is why they called him possibly gifted.

I don't think "gifted" is replacing "mutant" to refer to people born with their powers. I think "gifted" is what they call people with powers when they don't know how they got their powers. Kind of like how the FBI calls criminals "unsubs" before they can attach a name to the crime.

 

[Teelie]

Except the writers themselves said it...

Blastr

"We can't ever say 'mutant,' Tancharoen said, when asked about the rules the show must abide by.

"There's a database that's tailored to our show with the properties we can use as well as the properties that are owned by other studios and things that are flagged for major franchises," Whedon said. "There are certain areas we can't go because we don't want to step on the toes of the movies. We've had free reign. There are certain rules in terms of the Marvel brand. Marvel is very focused on being grounded -- and it is our world with the one twist that they're superheroes. There's no Metropolis, there's no Gotham. It's New York City and Chicago, and in the cinematic universe the process of powers is pretty young. They say it's only been a couple years since Iron Man in terms of our timeline in the universe. So the idea in our world that powers exist is new to the population and SHIELD's job description. It used to be keeping those things secret and that has now changed, so we're dealing with some of that."

But what would they know? They're only the writers.

 

[SuperFerret]

All mutants would fall under the "gifted" category, but not all "gifteds" are mutants. As shown in The Avengers, which has no mutants.

 

[jonathancrane]

Except the writers themselves said it...

Blastr

But what would they know? They're only the writers.

Well said.

 

[Xeno]

Except the writers themselves said it...

Blastr

But what would they know? They're only the writers.

Yes, most of us knew that already. In fact, it was known long before Marvel Studios began making films that Marvel cannot legally use the word mutant. Nor are there ever going to be any mutants in Marvel's properties, save for Wanda & Pietro, who cannot be referred to as mutants and whose powers must be explained another way.


Marvel has trademarked the term "Registered Gifted" to use as an umbrella term for human beings with powers in its properties. That is both an expedient and a clever marketing ploy. It's not replacing "mutant" because Marvel Studios doesn't have mutants. The term seems to be a problem for you but it's what they're using in their movies and shows. It works just fine as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Teelie]

Let's go back to my first post since apparently some of you are struggling with understanding what this is over.

I don't like that mutants are now referred to as "gifted" although I understand the reasoning behind this is because of licensing issues due to Fox.

I said this, then someone else decided to ignore the last part of the sentence "licensing issues due to Fox" then I had to say it again three times and quote the writers directly and still people want to argue the point.

Here's the entire thing for easy reading:

There weren't any mutants in the pilot.

Nope but they thought the guy with Extremis was and referred to him as "possibly gifted" and it turns out the writers said the one word they are specifically prohibited form using in the series is "mutant" to refer to anyone. So they alternated it with the word "gifted" instead.

There won't be any mutants in the series either because of that same licensing thing I'm assuming and if there are they won't be referred to as such but instead "gifted."

I didn't get the impression that they thought he was anything. They knew he had powers and they didn't know how an the team's job was to figure that out.

Which is why they called him possibly gifted.

I don't think "gifted" is replacing "mutant" to refer to people born with their powers. I think "gifted" is what they call people with powers when they don't know how they got their powers. Kind of like how the FBI calls criminals "unsubs" before they can attach a name to the crime.

Except the writers themselves said it...

"We can't ever say 'mutant,' Tancharoen said, when asked about the rules the show must abide by.

"There's a database that's tailored to our show with the properties we can use as well as the properties that are owned by other studios and things that are flagged for major franchises," Whedon said. "There are certain areas we can't go because we don't want to step on the toes of the movies. We've had free reign. There are certain rules in terms of the Marvel brand. Marvel is very focused on being grounded -- and it is our world with the one twist that they're superheroes. There's no Metropolis, there's no Gotham. It's New York City and Chicago, and in the cinematic universe the process of powers is pretty young. They say it's only been a couple years since Iron Man in terms of our timeline in the universe. So the idea in our world that powers exist is new to the population and SHIELD's job description. It used to be keeping those things secret and that has now changed, so we're dealing with some of that."

But what would they know? They're only the writers.

It's ridiculous to pick this to argue and nitpick over.

 

[Mysteryman]

The pilot had a bit of a cluttered feeling.
But, it was a pilot.
They can be like that sometimes .
while watching it, I kept wishing that I could skip to the second episode .

 

[Wine-N-Cheese]

Ward was a very low rent Micheal Weston, and Skye was the typical Whedon girl who will be ridiculously irritating but also be pivotal to most of the overall plot, thus enhancing the irritation.

I'm guessing the only Whedon thing you've seen is Firefly/Serenity?

 

[Docker2.0]

I'm really trying to like this show but they are dropping the ball. The cast is so forgettable, the humor is over done, the scientist are freaking annoying, so is Skye......to be agents and espionage masters, they are not serious at all. Here's hoping they get better because right now the only thing keeping me watching right now is the Marvel name. They have truly missed the ball thus far.

 

[psylockolussus]

I don't think the writing could make the cast 100% better. Because if it does, then TV series/movies don't really need a casting department anymore.

I think for the next season, they should replace 4/6 of the cast.

 

[Frodo]

I'd basically say just the cast, which I felt was weak aside from Coulson and Melinda May.

The plot was meh, but that can be overcome if your cast interesting and engaging actors and actresses , in addition to have interesting and engaging characters. If that doesn't work , the show doesn't work imo .

I can pretty much agree with the critique that it doesn't need to be gritty, have all the characters from Avengers appear, have to be movie quality, or appeal to a more mature audience.

But the characters have to work and the actors have to be interesting enough to get viewers to want to tune into the show beyond just name dropping and fan references. I don't think that simply being a Marvel/Disney property is enough to keep non fans tuning in week after week, and that includes the target demographic.

 

[Docker2.0]

Agreed. Plus what's the point of having a SHIELD show with not one Marvel hero or comic regular? This would cut down on all the movie references. It could be a C or D level guy like Gauntlet. But that would only help the show and its not required for it to be great. The cast/writing/chemistry just doesn't fit. If the next couple of episodes don't get better, I can see it getting below 5 million views, which means it will probably get cancelled. I can't believe the show went this route.

 

[roach]

As other people have said the writing on this show leaves a lot to be desired.
The cast outside of Coulson is not interesting. In fact I believe they have too many characters that are almost duplicates. There's not much of a difference between the two techies and probably could have been merged into one character. The alpha male and alpha female characters could have been merged.

The constant references to the Marvel movies is starting to get on my nerves. Yes I expected it in the pilot but continuing into the 2nd episode was a mistake.

 

[Thundercrack85]

The constant references to the Marvel movies is starting to get on my nerves. Yes I expected it in the pilot but continuing into the 2nd episode was a mistake.

That's the main thing this show has going for it. It's got a (rather limited) connection to the Marvel movies. Might as well use it.

Without that... what would this show be?

 

[OB12]

I have no problem with the references that have been present in the first two episodes, as they want to firmly establish that connection. That said, going forward I like to see the references be more towards things we have not yet seen in the MCU such as a mention of a masked vigilante trying to clean up Hell's Kitchen or something like that. Give us a tease of things to come.

 

[roach]

That's the main thing this show has going for it. It's got a (rather limited) connection to the Marvel movies. Might as well use it.

Without that... what would this show be?

I get that it's connected...they just don't have to mention it all the time. I expected it in the pilot, I rolled my eyes in the second episode. I hope they leave out the references in the third episode. This show needs to be it's own entity in order to grow.
I look at the Star Trek series as an example...TNG, DS9 and Voyager each had a member of the cast from the previous show come on the pilot and then they went off and forged their own shows.

 

[roach]

I have no problem with the references that have been present in the first two episodes, as they want to firmly establish that connection. That said, going forward I like to see the references be more towards things we have not yet seen in the MCU such as a mention of a masked vigilante trying to clean up Hell's Kitchen or something like that. Give us a tease of things to come.

I agree with this.
I just don't see a need to firmly establish a connection. Is anyone watching this not knowing this is in the MCU???

 

[Thundercrack85]

I think this show is extremely limited by its... well, overall concept.

It's essentially riding on the coattails of the Avengers, but it can't really even that too much - since it's a budget TV show, and all the movie stars aren't going to bother with a TV show. So, we will only get references. At best, there might be a few goodwill cameos.

Add the fact that all major Marvel characters which aren't already in the movies are effectively off limits, and you have a show that's destined for mediocrity.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

This last episode was... OK. But that is the problem. It was passable at best. Shows need time to gel, true, but there are not a lot of promising seeds for anything all that interesting yet. Yet. Ward is still just there. The Fitz and Simmons are not that well thought out. They could have just been one character. So we get the excitement of TWO easily flustered academics that are not prepared for field work? Joy. As for Skye... The actress is performing at NICKELODEON sitcom level as far as I am concerned. The character itself is problematic and now that problem is married to a truly subpar performer. Coulson again is the center of the show. When he is on I am at full attention mode. When he's not? I just don't care.

It's a second ep though, so there is so much more to see. But I have a feeling that if the next two eps don't grab me I will be out.

 

[Just_Human]

lol at that ir lifeboat covering a hole in a plane at 2000 feet what the ****

 

[roach]

This last episode was... OK. But that is the problem. It was passable at best. Shows need time to gel, true, but there are not a lot of promising seeds for anything all that interesting yet.

The problem with this line of thinking is that networks don't usually wait that long...as evidenced by Lucky 7 being cancelled only 2 episodes in. I am not proclaiming doom and gloom...only that a show should hook us with the first episode. Right now the strongest hook is it's in the same universe as Avengers. There will be a time when that will not be enough.