Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 Episode 2 "0-8-4" Discussion

[TheVileOne]

Overall I liked this episode.

I think this is a storyline that would've been better for the pilot honestly, but that's just me. Coulson got to do a lot more here.

The only character that kind of grates on me is the male scientist. I understand why people don't like the more Whedon-esque characters.

Leonor Varela basically played her same character from Human Target, but she is still hot.

 

[Just_Human]

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

 

[Xeno]

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

Skye needed a heroic moment so the laws of physics were jettisoned to give her one.

 

[mr. peasant]

Skye needed a heroic moment so the laws of physics were jettisoned to give her one.

Of course, you do realise that explosive decompression - while real - behaves very differently from what we see fiction.

While a big enough hole can generate enough force to suck people out of a plane, this only occurs in the immediate area around said hole. Once you're about a metre away, much of the force would have been dissipated and you're fairly safe from being sucked out. In addition, this only occurs so long as there is a large pressure difference between the inside and outside of the plane; which doesn't last long due to the big hole in the plane.

As such, the biggest dangers of explosive decompression (where it doesn't result in catastrophic failure of the plane's structure) are hypoxia and lung injury, hypothermia and the development of fog from condensation.

In fact, the plugging of the hole with a semi-rigid structure that is larger than the hole itself, such as by using the lifeboat, was probably the most realistic part of the incident.

So yes. Physics was thrown out the window in order to give Skye a heroic moment. Just not in the way you think.

And as this is fiction set in a world filled with aliens, gods and super science where the laws of the universe are guided more by the rules of cool and drama, I don't really see a problem here.

 

[Dark Raven]

Overall I liked this episode.

I think this is a storyline that would've been better for the pilot honestly, but that's just me. Coulson got to do a lot more here.

The only character that kind of grates on me is the male scientist. I understand why people don't like the more Whedon-esque characters.

Leonor Varela basically played her same character from Human Target, but she is still hot.

She seems to mostly play the same character all the time. Hard to believe she's 40.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Overall I liked this episode.

I think this is a storyline that would've been better for the pilot honestly, but that's just me. Coulson got to do a lot more here.

The only character that kind of grates on me is the male scientist. I understand why people don't like the more Whedon-esque characters.

Leonor Varela basically played her same character from Human Target, but she is still hot.

Of the two women who played Marta on Arrested Development, she's the hotter one.

 

[Shikamaru]

So I finally had the chance to sit down and watch the first two episodes.

Overall, I think the show is pretty good. But it is extremely limited and has protagonists that I'm just not that interested in.

Other than Coulson, none of these characters are interesting to me. I found Melinda really boring. The European Wonder Twins (a nickname they have that I'm seeing pop up a lot ) are not only boring but also really annoying and not that well acted (IMO). Ward and Skye are ok and likeable to an extent, but I don't think they're interesting enough to be able to carry an entire series for at least 4 to 5 years (assuming that's how long this will last).

And that's really my biggest problem with the show. I like it so far, but I don't think it is good enough that it can last on TV for long enough. They're extremely limited in what they can use. They can't use Spider-Man, X-Men, or the FF due to copyright reasons. They can only reference the Avengers. What exactly is there left to do? Even Arrow had way less restrictions than that.

 

[Dr. Evil]

So I finally had the chance to sit down and watch the first two episodes.

Overall, I think the show is pretty good. But it is extremely limited and has protagonists that I'm just not that interested in.

Other than Coulson, none of these characters are interesting to me. I found Melinda really boring. The European Wonder Twins (a nickname they have that I'm seeing pop up a lot ) are not only boring but also really annoying and not that well acted (IMO). Ward and Skye are ok and likeable to an extent, but I don't think they're interesting enough to be able to carry an entire series for at least 4 to 5 years (assuming that's how long this will last).

And that's really my biggest problem with the show. I like it so far, but I don't think it is good enough that it can last on TV for long enough. They're extremely limited in what they can use. They can't use Spider-Man, X-Men, or the FF due to copyright reasons. They can only reference the Avengers. What exactly is there left to do? Even Arrow had way less restrictions than that.

They could debut the Heroes for Hire in MCU via a recurring arc.

 

[Shikamaru]

They could debut the Heroes for Hire in MCU via a recurring arc.

As in these characters becoming the Heroes for Hire or the actual Heroes for Hire showing up for a few episodes? If the latter, then going back to these characters after introducing the Heroes for Hire would only make it more boring.

 

[Dr. Evil]

As in these characters becoming the Heroes for Hire or the actual Heroes for Hire showing up for a few episodes? If the latter, then going back to these characters after introducing the Heroes for Hire would only make it more boring.

The actual team, leading to a spin-off. I don't see it happening though. It's just a way how I would improve the show.

 

[Xeno]

So I finally had the chance to sit down and watch the first two episodes.

Overall, I think the show is pretty good. But it is extremely limited and has protagonists that I'm just not that interested in.

Other than Coulson, none of these characters are interesting to me. I found Melinda really boring. The European Wonder Twins (a nickname they have that I'm seeing pop up a lot ) are not only boring but also really annoying and not that well acted (IMO). Ward and Skye are ok and likeable to an extent, but I don't think they're interesting enough to be able to carry an entire series for at least 4 to 5 years (assuming that's how long this will last).

And that's really my biggest problem with the show. I like it so far, but I don't think it is good enough that it can last on TV for long enough. They're extremely limited in what they can use. They can't use Spider-Man, X-Men, or the FF due to copyright reasons. They can only reference the Avengers. What exactly is there left to do? Even Arrow had way less restrictions than that.

Where have you seen FitzSimmons called "the European Wonder Twins"? I haven't seen that anywhere so I'd appreciate a link. Someone on Tumblr called them the "Science Babies" but that was just one person. To be honest, I've seen more criticism of Skye and Ward than of the scientists.

 

[Shikamaru]

The actual team, leading to a spin-off. I don't see it happening though. It's just a way how I would improve the show.

Even then, how long would the show last? You can't use just the Heroes for Hire over and over again.

 

[Shikamaru]

Where have you seen FitzSimmons called "the European Wonder Twins"? I haven't seen that anywhere so I'd appreciate a link. Someone on Tumblr called them the "Science Babies" but that was just one person. To be honest, I've seen more criticism of Skye and Ward than of the scientists.

I see it a lot on YouTube.

I think it started on this podcast:

[YT]J3wF6xxE2yg[/YT]

 

[Dr. Evil]

Even then, how long would the show last? You can't use just the Heroes for Hire over and over again.

I know that can't use Heroes for Hire repeatedly. There are other scenarios.

- There could be an episode where Coulson and company to go New Orleans to investigate strange happenings and are aided by a New Orleans Police Detective named Monica Rambeau.
- The team could find Man Thing terrorizing people in the Swamps of Florida.
- They could do an episode where they find The Winter Soldier in SHIELD custody. He becomes Bucky Barnes again.
- Finding something that the US Military sees is of great importance, so they bring in James Rhodes.

Or they can always have the Avengers find out that Coulson is still alive.

 

[Shikamaru]

I don't think they can get any of the Avengers on board for a full episode (not counting cameos and brief appearances). I don't think they have the budget for that.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I don't think they can get any of the Avengers on board for a full episode (not counting cameos and brief appearances). I don't think they have the budget for that.

Of course not, but Rhodes, Bucky and Sharon Carter can easily make cameos. It's mainly because the three actors Don Cheadle (Rhodes), Sebastian Stan (Bucky) and Emily Van Camp (Sharon Carter) are on TV. Hell, Stan and Van Camp are on shows that are on the same network as AOS.

Of course, they would have to fit into the plot and story of the episode.

 

[TheFBI]

I think inf Disney wanted any of the Avengers in the show they would show up. They wouldn't even have to pay them upfront. Just add a few percent to their take from TA2 and youre good to go

 

[OB12]

I think inf Disney wanted any of the Avengers in the show they would show up. They wouldn't even have to pay them upfront. Just add a few percent to their take from TA2 and youre good to go

I think anyone who has signed on with Marvel in the last year probably has a clause in their contract for some TV work.

 

[Raiden]

Personally, I think they can introduce Ms. Marvel on AOS, then have her show up in Avengers 3, and finally launch a solo movie for herself in Phase 4. Of course, they should have her as an ordinary SHIELD agent first, before having her meet Capt. Marvel. Just some of the things they can do on AOS.

They can also introduce Mockingbird and other well-known SHIELD agents, and maybe have supporting characters like Falcon and War Machine show up from time to time to assist the team.

 

[gildedmuse]

So, I somehow managed to get into this weird schedule where apparently I'm going to watch every episode three different times with three different people: one who absolutely adores the show, one who kind of likes it but is watching and waiting for it to improve, and one person who almost seems annoyed with it but is likewise waiting to see how it plays out.

Anyway, this is just a quick observation made while on my third watch. I wasn't paying quite as much attention (I promised to watch it with my mom as part of our weekly hangout; I was mostly doing work on my laptop ) and felt I really knew the episode inside out by this point. And I pretty much did. This watching didn't reveal anything big and amazing. All it did was make every moment feel more familiar.

It's such a minor thing, but it really worked for the show. Whereas at first I found Fitz and Simmons annoyingly sameish and some of their behaviors just off, the second time I got it. Like in a way that made it so, upon this viewing, I was amazed I found them so sameish before since they spent the whole episode borderline arguing over Simmons pressuring Fitz into the field work. Ward stopped being as "just there" and came off more like a well trained, attentive agent. Even Skye clicked a little better. So while the episode itself didn't necessarily improve in anyway, I found myself paying a little more attention to these characters.

For me, that's a really positive sign since it's what draws me, personally, into a show. Plots change week to week, and even in a great series individual episodes' stories are going to vary in quality. But if I like the characters, then what I'm tuning in for is them - I want to see what these people are doing and just, you know, hang out for a while as it were. So far, Agents of SHIELD has been "okay not great" partly because people have not connected to the team. I mean, look at the complaints that commonly pop up: Ward is pointless/cliche agent man, Skye is pointless/boring, Fitz and Simmons are pointless/too alike. Well, the pointlessness is typically solved when you like the character and therefore want them to be there and that, as well as the other problems, is something the show needs to work on.

I'm going to sound like a Joss fangirl here. That's okay. I am. The first season of Buffy is a bit weak in points and while I'd seen one or two it never caught my attention. It isn't until I caught a few more episodes in seasons 2-3 that I sat down (with my mom - we're a family of Joss fans) to watch the full run, by which point I was watching for these characters and a lot of things that might have seemed weaker in the episode as a standalone were improved when viewed as passing character moments. Similarly, Firefly started out solid but slow until, about four episodes in, I really started to adore this crew. Rewatching the series, after I had really getting to know these characters, I loved every episode and I couldn't, for the life of me, say why I didn't immediately know this series was something special.

I'm not saying that a few moments of passing familiarity with a couple of the team is a series guarantee. But it has given me some hope that they could still get it together and give us something worth watching.

 

[Mysteryman]

Were there security cameras or montors on the plane?