Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - "Pilot" - Review

Characters:

• Agent Phil Coulson - Played by Clark Gregg. Not dead. Leader of Level 7.
• Agent Melinda May - Played by Ming-Na Wen. Pilot.
• Agent Grant Ward - Played by Brett Dalton. Black Ops Specialist.
• Skye - Played by Chloe Bennet. Computer hacker. Member of Rising Tide.
• Agent Leo Fitz - Played by Iain De Caestecker. Engineering.
• Agent Jemma Simmons - Played by Elizabeth Henstridge. Biochem.
• Michael "Mike" Peterson - Played by J. August Richards. Main antagonist in the Pilot.
• Agent Maria Hill - Played by Cobie Smulders. Agent Nick Fury's right hand gal.

Review:

In my humble opinion as an avid TV watcher and reviewer, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Pilot" was stellar. Random dangling plot threads from The Avengers were tied up nicely, though with a bit of mystery. The characters were set up well, both those who appeared in the Marvel movies and those who didn't. The world around them was fleshed out well. Overall, we got a very solid "Pilot."

First and foremost, I have to talk about Coulson. I thought Clark Gregg did a great job reprising the roll. I liked the way Coulson's reappearance was explained, though I wonder what Hill was talking about and hope that gets explained at some point. It makes a very nice little mystery that I sincerely hope doesn't get dropped. I also really liked the way Coulson was portrayed. He's a nice mix of "secret agent" and caring human being. I like that he cares more about helping people than collecting them.

So far I like the team of Fitz and Simmons. They're wonderfully quirky and nerdy. Yes, those are two separate things. The way the pair interact with each other amuses me. I'm not entirely sure where I stand on Ward and May. They're cool, but I don't quite have a handle on them yet.

Skye kind of reminded me of a cooler, hacker-y version of Gwen Cooper from Torchwood... kind of. I just mean Skye is both in her element and out of her depth. She's different from Gwen in that she's full of that classic Whedon-y spunk. She's definitely got a lot more heart than Ward seems to. I really loved how she interacted with Coulson, Ward, and Mike. The bubbly nerdy-ness was awesome. I'm also intrigued by the fact that Skye seems to have deleted herself from a technology standpoint.

Last on my list of people to talk about is our antagonist for the episode, Mike Peterson. I thought J.August Richards really brought out the emotions of the character. Mike entered into the study-thing for all the right reasons, the effects of the study-thing just made him send up making the wrong decisions. He was extremely relatable in a way characters like Tony Stark and Thor just aren't. I'm glad he didn't end up dying at the end of the episode, though I totally fell for that fake out.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• S.H.I.E.L.D's tech was awesome and imaginative.
• Loved the nerd references. I caught Terminator and Snow White on first watch and a Harry Potter reference on the second.
• I love that Ftiz named his droids after the Snow White characters. It's cute.
• I was surprised and pleased that Lola flew.

Extras:

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Official Website - I know some people are probably wondering where they can get a S.H.I.E.L.D. badge like the one at the top of this post. Well look no further than the official site. I had a poke around and it's pretty cool. You will definitely need a computer or other device that can keep up with a lot of moving images and sound. I'm pretty sure the site runs on Flash so... make sure your device can handle that, too.

Favorite Lines:

"With great power comes... a ton of weird crap that you are not prepared to handle." - Skye

"Whedon-verse" Alumns:

Actor	AoS Character	"Whedon-verse"
J. August Richards	Mike Peterson	Charles Gunn
Ron Glass	Dr. Streiten	Shepherd Derrial Book

Love ya, Jessie