Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (SPOILERS)

[Lagmonster]

I broke my long-standing feud with cable and bought an over-air digital antenna to watch this show.

The quality of the picture bothers me. Really, really bothers me. And it shouldn't, but when I'm watching, I get the urge to adjust the picture so it's out of focus slightly. I'm afraid I've gotten old enough that I need a kind of humming softness to the quality of my television images for me to like it. Kind of like how my father preferred the rasping of a needle on a record player over the crystal-clear sound of digital music, which he claimed was too jarring a transition to be enjoyable.

The people just look *too* realistic, when I'm used to forty years of "TV ugly". And I keep asking myself why it disrupts my enjoyment when I can tell that the main characters have minor facial blemishes.

[Crossroads Inc.]

You know what? I think I just figured out what those extra engines are for...
Given what we know about doing stuff for the "AWESOME" factor, I am willing to bet they are used for the inevitable moment when the SHIELD Plane does a VTOL.

Can't you just see it? The six engines swivel up dramatically and Up Up and Away it goes!

[Almightyboredone]

Nah, the engines are just all repulsors, so they don't actually need air intakes.

My idea on Coulson is mostly the Valhalla one, just less "Awesome Asgaardian Warrior" and more "Really fancy Asgaardian Medical Tech"; maybe they stuck him in Odin's magic bed

[Dalton]

I'm pretty much hooked on the series but I had a pretty big WTF moment with the life raft. I mean, really? They couldn't come up with something better?

The Fury cameo was killer though.

But seriously, Coulson is altogether far too trusting.

[Batman]

'We're gonna have to kill the fish tank'
If they can keep this quality up, consider me a regular.

[Broomstick]

If the engines couldn't run well normally, is it possible they're there as some form of backup? As I understand it, a four-engine plane already has redundancy, but perhaps a bit more considering how often SHIELD deals with the unexpected?

Just try not to think about it too much. Rule of Cool.

[Broomstick]

I'm pretty much hooked on the series but I had a pretty big WTF moment with the life raft. I mean, really? They couldn't come up with something better?

It's no more implausible than the length of time the plane continued to depressurize, or the fact anyone remained conscious in the thin air at 30,000 feet.

[Crossroads Inc.]

On the Nick Fury Cameo...

Anyone else get the feeling that, with how he reacted to the plane getting trashed.. That it was somehow "His" plane? Like he had been in command of it, or piloted it at some point?
Just a random thought.

Oh speaking of random... Anyone else annoyed that the captured piece of tech was basically shot into the sun?
I mean, that "Laser powered by pure evil" didn't seem all that much more powerful than the "energy blasters" from the original 'Captain America' movie, and they had no problem keeping tons of those around after the war.

[Iroscato]

On the Nick Fury Cameo...

Anyone else get the feeling that, with how he reacted to the plane getting trashed.. That it was somehow "His" plane? Like he had been in command of it, or piloted it at some point?
Just a random thought.

Oh speaking of random... Anyone else annoyed that the captured piece of tech was basically shot into the sun?
I mean, that "Laser powered by pure evil" didn't seem all that much more powerful than the "energy blasters" from the original 'Captain America' movie, and they had no problem keeping tons of those around after the war.

Maybe Fury's had some influence in changing the policy of SHIELD keeping hold of and replicating weapons. I imagine the success the Avengers experienced in defending New York had something to do with it.

[Alkaloid]

Quick question. Why does everyone keep referring to FitzSimmons as the twins? They have different surnames and accents? Do you all know something I don't.

[Hawkwings]

I'd be more concerned with ingesting all that dirt and dust upon landing on a dirt runway in peru or wherever. Also notice that in the depressurization scene, the debris and bodies conspicuously go around the engine as opposed to being sucked into it (like what would actually happen). It's not like Whedon hasn't done "getting sucked into a huge engine" before. So my theory is that those aren't really jet engines, they are some exotic form of propulsion that, y'know, lets the plane fly in space or something.

Also: engines on/near the tail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_VC10

I really did get the feel of Serenity 2.0 for the plane/show. Wonder if the plane has a name yet?

[Crossroads Inc.]

Also: engines on/near the tail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_VC10

Yes, but let me know when you find one with engines on the tail AND on the wings, again thats the wierd bit people are remarking on.

I really did get the feel of Serenity 2.0 for the plane/show. Wonder if the plane has a name yet?

Yup!

I got that feeling SEVERAL times in the 2nd episode. Firstly when they were fleeing from the rebels and dashed up into the cargo hold on their jeep. Later again when they were all tied up in the cargo hold and the one lady was talking about chucking them out, my brain actually substituted 'Airlock' when she said cargo doors. And the one "Calvary" lady has given off a strong River vibe, what with some of the super human ninja moves she's pulled off.

Not that its a BAD Thing. I mean, given what happened to Firefly, can anyone blame Whedon for wanting to do a Firefly 2.0? I mean I am sure he had loads of stories and plot ideas when they pulled the plug.

[Dalton]

On the Nick Fury Cameo...

Anyone else get the feeling that, with how he reacted to the plane getting trashed.. That it was somehow "His" plane? Like he had been in command of it, or piloted it at some point?
Just a random thought.

It was probably a retired SHIELD mobile air command or somesuch that Fury used before the Helicarrier.

Oh speaking of random... Anyone else annoyed that the captured piece of tech was basically shot into the sun?
I mean, that "Laser powered by pure evil" didn't seem all that much more powerful than the "energy blasters" from the original 'Captain America' movie, and they had no problem keeping tons of those around after the war.

It was a Tesseract-powered, highly unstable and very dangerous laser, produced by post-HYDRA scientists in Peru and full of deadly radiation. In other words, it was made in less than ideal conditions with probably little to no quality control. I wouldn't keep it around either.

Quick question. Why does everyone keep referring to FitzSimmons as the twins? They have different surnames and accents? Do you all know something I don't.

Nah, just think a little more figuratively. Two young geeky scientists with UK accents that do all the science legwork; of course they'd get a nickname like that.

[Forgothrax]

Just caught up on the pilot and 0-8-4. I like the show, but I think I'm going to become a lot more sympathetic to the Rising Tide unless they turn out to be really, really evil at some point, which is likely. I'm hoping for a more morally grey overarching plot, though; it could be truly interesting.

[Ahriman238]

The unstable laser that apparently effortlessly bored through 50 meters of rock to wind up in it's resting place (as said among Fitz's technobabble)? Sure, I'll buy that it's dangerous. Not sure about dangerous enough to launch into the sun, but it's not like the US and SHIELD don't have plenty of firepower on tap, they can afford to worry about this sort of thing falling into the wrong hands.

Coulson explicitly said the plane was a mobile command center used before they got the Helicarrier. It's not a huge stretch to it being Fury's baby. That said, I didn't see the cameo, are they adding after-credits to the TV show?

Coulson doesn't get to name the plane, all I ask.

[Forgothrax]

Actually, I'd like to argue that the laser is the type of technology SHIELD absolutely should be recovering. The giant snake-monsters in the Avengers would've been the perfect use for that sort of tech, dangerous or no... and with the sudden Disclosure of alien beings and technology on Earth, the mundanes are going to need to scramble for equalizers.

[The Romulan Republic]

They have an equalizer. The Avengers.

[Iroscato]

They have an equalizer. The Avengers.

Exactly, I reckon their successful defense of New York forced a policy change within SHIELD, probably guided and encouraged by Fury. They don't need these dangerous weapons anymore, as they have an elite team of methumans to kick all the ass that comes their way

[bilateralrope]

Just caught up on the pilot and 0-8-4. I like the show, but I think I'm going to become a lot more sympathetic to the Rising Tide unless they turn out to be really, really evil at some point, which is likely. I'm hoping for a more morally grey overarching plot, though; it could be truly interesting.

Same here. I can't see how Shield trying to keep everything secret helps the public they are supposedly protecting.

[Eleas]

More to the point, S.H.I.E.L.D could probably put a team of Stark-lites to work on Chitauri warfighting tech for the next decade or two and still not make much of a dent in the artifacts recovered from New York.

[Forgothrax]

The Avengers are useful front-liners, but relying on six people to guard against a host of potential threats seems... unwise at best. Of the six, Thor is only available some of the time and it's unknown as to whether or not SHIELD *can* summon him from Asgard, or if he'd even respond regularly to summonses. Iron Man is dependent on Stark, who is neither stable nor reports to SHIELD directly. Banner is definitely unstable at best. The only two reliable assets under SHIELD's command are Black Widow and Hawkeye, maybe Cap, and the three of them together are not as effective without their truly superhuman comrades with them to form the team.

In short, the idea that giving up the ability of humanity to potentially protect itself in exchange for putting the responsibility in the hands of six part-timers with mixed loyalties and reliability is asinine from any reasonable standpoint. I can see it from the perspective of a story about heroes, but in no other way.

If SHIELD intends to actually, well, shield humanity from significant threats, acquiring advanced technology to compensate for the fact that they are baseline human beings would definitely help with that. A laser that's man-portable and can cut through meters of stone apparently by accident could be very valuable, because laser tech can be mass-produced and issued to units based everywhere in the world. The Avengers can only be in one place at one time, and require time to assemble. Massed-produced tech doesn't.

[Kojiro]

The Avengers are useful front-liners, but ....

I think one thing that needs to be considered with the 'launch it into the sun' bit is whether or not it was even on that rocket. Near as I can tell Tesseract weapons were on SHIELDs to do list because of Thor and other potential threats and last nothing has happened to make Fury (or anyone else) really think the Earth is safe, save perhaps Thor's claim to being Earth's protector. I wouldn't be surprised if they threw away parts of the device (the old, outdated bits) but kept that fuel cell.

That does lead to another thought though, regarding the safety of Earth. Assuming that they can call on Thor- and that the Bi-Frost is back in action (as it clearly is as of Thor 2) would it not be conceivable not only to get Thor to defend Earth but a ton of Asgardian warriors? They've done it previously and that was before their crown prince declared us under his protection.

The Fury cameo was awesome. I didn't think we'd see him in person until a season finale. Maybe we'll get one of the low powered (can be shown of TV without a massive CGI budget) Avengers for that.

And yeah, it is feeling a little more like Serenity in some ways but also decidedly different. No one is a direct analogy which is good but it does feel like they're missing something in the group make up. Fitz and Simmons really feel almost like one character which doesn't feel quite right and Ward still feels a bit cardboard. He's like Jayne but less funny and he complains more. I'm sure he's far more intelligent but that hasn't really been demonstrated yet so he comes off, to me at least, as just a beat stick.

As for the tail engines, my money is on them being something special which will be used only when they really need to motor somewhere.

[Alkaloid]

Actually, I'd like to argue that the laser is the type of technology SHIELD absolutely should be recovering. The giant snake-monsters in the Avengers would've been the perfect use for that sort of tech, dangerous or no... and with the sudden Disclosure of alien beings and technology on Earth, the mundanes are going to need to scramble for equalizers.

Given that mucking about with the tesseract was what provoked some lunatic aliens into invading in the first place, I'd say not poking a weapon fueled by it until you can reliably beat back an alien invasion isn't a bad idea.

[Kojiro]

Given that mucking about with the tesseract was what provoked some lunatic aliens into invading in the first place, I'd say not poking a weapon fueled by it until you can reliably beat back an alien invasion isn't a bad idea.

That's hardly a reason to destroy it though. The Tesseract sat on Earth for Odin knows how long without drawing anyone attention. Hell SHIELD had it in storage since the 1940s when it was located while searching for Captain America. The device has sat, powered, for some time without drawing any attention. By all means don't poke/activate/duplicate it but why destroy it?

[Alkaloid]

Nuking Manhattan wasn't a brilliant idea either, but orders we're given to do it. I'd say it's pretty clear fury doesn't trust his bosses and is making sure they have no way to screw up.