The Marvel Cinematic Universe TV Thread

[Gabriel]

This week's episode was way too slow after last week's awesome one.

Last week's episode was faster paced, but I didn't feel like this week was slow. Maybe I'm just riding the wave of momentum, but I thought it was another solid episode... and especially enjoyed the POV switching back and forth from SHIELD to HYDRA.

This show started off extremely iffy and slow... but I am so happy that I stuck with it. I figured it would get better, as Whedon's trademark is the slow burn... but man has it ever gotten better. Bill Paxton is season one's MVP, by far.

[TKz]

Yeah, Paxton has really made the show for me. I joked at first, but he's the first character I've actually really liked. He's the first one that really had an interesting personality that didn't feel totally cookie cutter. I'm hoping that next season ends up being basically the remnants of SHIELD cleaning up the mess of Hydra controlled SHIELD stuff that's left, with Paxton and Ward as the main villains. Though I doubt those two survive the last few episodes.

[Gabriel]

I'm expecting Paxton to bite the dust in an ambiguous way, so as to leave it open for him to return at some point. If the arc from this season carries over, I see Ward as the face of the antagonists to start out season two.

Did I mention that Ward is supremely more interesting now because of the last two episodes? Because he really is.

[Benjamin]

Well, there was zero interesting things about him in the episodes before, so...

[tristy]

Why should I care about gravitonium? Why should I care about Graviton being a major villain (probably) in the next season? Ian Hart is the least most physically imposing person to play a "bad guy". Although I guess it's kinda cool that they didn't forget about stuff from the early, shitty episodes. But, still, I was expecting like, Mar-Vell or something on the bottom level of the Fridge. Also, it looks like Garret might have some Deathlok technology in/on his body, if the 1 second glance at his torso says anything.

I love me some Patton Oswalt, but I'm kind of conflicted on his character. It's basically just Patton playing himself in the Marvel Universe, which works since he's a guy that's been underground in a secret compound since the events of The Avengers. So he's kinda quirky and odd, but I think there's already too much comic relief, at times, on the show as it is.

[TKz]

You really wanted Captain Marvel wasted as a throwaway character on Agents of SHIELD?

[Benjamin]

Patton Oswalt will be the comic relief along with Fitz and Simmons, I'm guessing, as Coulson and Ward are probably going to be shedding all of that in their system for the next few episodes. Graviton is pretty boring, though, although it was really lame because Coulson already mentioned him being at the Fridge.

I guess it's cool they have their own bat cave now, though.

[Gabriel]

Blackout escaped from the fridge, so he's a new villain coming up. Garrett specifically looked at him and told him to follow his dreams when he busted the prisoners out.

Graviton will most likely get some air time as a legit villain with his powers on AoS, but if they manage to make the character work with Ian Hart, I would expect him to be a throwaway baddie in an upcoming film. Just someone with huge power levels for one of the Avengers or the whole team to take out in the beginning of a movie. I wouldn't expect him to be a world-breaker to start though. They'll probably have him vastly de-powered from what he is in the comics, at least at first.

Also in the Fridge, Ward showed Garrett something beneath the bottom floor that we didn't get a look at.

Other villains of the week went to other locations, so who knows what characters could have been in there. Donnie Gill is at the Sandbox, and it's safe to assume that The Abomination is at the Cube because it houses gamma-powered superhumans in the comics and exists within the MCU.

While we have established that Garrett is the Clairvoyant, and that HYDRA was behind everything, it still seems like someone else is calling the shots. I feel like it's either going to be the Red Skull, needing a new body, hence the massive ploy to find out how Coulson is alive... or it's going to be Strucker, tying next season into the build-up for Age of Ultron.

The show is infinitely better than it was in the first bunch of episodes, and the happenings on the show are starting to feel like they matter in the larger context of the MCU.

EDIT: I also doubt that the Providence location is going to be around for more than a couple episodes. Skye gave Ward the location of the bunker. Unless he's a triple agent, that means that HYDRA knows or will know where they are.

[Your Mom]

You guys did notice they had a whole room full of stuff they stole right? They can be plucking things out of there forever if they want

[tristy]

I thought the thing that was in the hole in the floor on the Fridge was Dr. Hall inside the gravitonium? That's what it seemed like to me, anyway.

[TKz]

There's no way that any of the MCU Film villains are going to be behind this. They're not wasting Skull on the show, nor are they going to introduce one of the major players of Avengers 2 in Agents of SHIELD.

Maybe if this was a huge hit that was getting monster ratings, then yeah, we might see some crossover both ways. But as it stands now? No chance we get anything more than vague connections and spin-off stories. Which is what I'm expecting the next season to consist of mostly: clean up from the fall of SHIELD.

And yeah, I'm pretty sure the thing in the floor was the Gravitonium.

[Gabriel]

Oh, just because someone bigger is behind everything doesn't mean that they're going to be on the show.

I just think that, this would make sense to give a story and reason as to how the Red Skull returned, without just glossing over it in a five minute segment of a film. He wouldn't need to be on the show for them to reveal that he's been behind the whole operation, or that the whole thing was about getting him back after being displaced in The First Avenger.

Also, it's worth mentioning that the first season was planned out and hasn't been changed, and they've already said that they've planned to the end of the second season. The show's ratings won't have much of an effect on where they're taking it. Marvel is behind this 100%. If they signed off on a story, they're going to see it through to the end... kinda like how everyone involved with the show was telling people to calm down earlier in the season and to wait for it. They stayed the course, and the show is better for having done that. The whole MCU is better for it.

Because of the relationship between Marvel, Disney and ABC, I highly doubt that we'll ever see knee-jerk reactions with the show. This isn't like any other show on network television. Agents of SHIELD is operating with all kinds of leniency that no other show is going to be given, especially in regards to their ratings. Marvel knows the end-game. Disney is milking their cash cow, and there's no reason for them to ever stop.

[Benjamin]

This week plus a tiny Winter Soldier spoiler.

So I guess Cobie Smulders is going to make an appearance, eh? Weird considering I thought her next showing up would be Avengers 2, as she's in Stark Industries now.

[Lint]

This week plus a tiny Winter Soldier spoiler.

So I guess Cobie Smulders is going to make an appearance, eh? Weird considering I thought her next showing up would be Avengers 2, as she's in Stark Industries now.

Yea, it was confirmed a few weeks ago she'd be back on the show.

[GoGo Yubari]

Fifteen minutes in thusfar and this episode is really good.

[Lint]

Fifteen minutes in thusfar and this episode is really good.

Yea, overall it was a good episode IMO. Few things I thought though

When Deathlok is causing Ward to have a heart attack, I was expecting Skye to have a line like "I didn't think he had a heart" or sometghing like that.

And obviously Coulson made the video about Project TAHITI. But how much did they rewrite his memories to make him forget about it? Had to have been made before The Avengers, and he remembers all that..

[Benjamin]

Yeah, that was a pretty bad ass episode.

[GoGo Yubari]

And renewed. Yay! It really has gotten good.

[Gabriel]

Agents of SHIELD has picked up in a big way. The ratings will come if the show continues to be steady in its quality.

ABC also picked up the Agent Carter tv series, and there's talk of the Howling Commandos, Howard Stark and possibly young Hank Pym being included.

This week's SHIELD was good, and stands on its own as a great episode, but I can't wait for next week. It feels like some major things are happening on the show that are going to have an affect on the rest of the MCU... something which a lot of people laughed at me for saying might happen with the show.

The quality of what Marvel's been doing, weaving everything together to keep it all connected, allows for them to do things on TV that have consequences in the films. This isn't some hack movie studio just looking for cash... this is a grand design of quality product, and in the end, they'll all (Marvel, Disney, ABC) be laughing at the other companies that claimed something like this wasn't feasible. It's happening right now, and they're just proving that these other companies aren't willing to find the right minds and put in the work.

[Benjamin]

Seriously, I hope whatever happens affects the movies (especially the mashups) in a big, big way. It'll start getting people to watch the show.