I don't have cable and because of that, I'm not exposed to too many commercials or too much hype about brand new shows. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., however, has been plastered everywhere for the past five months. There was so much hype about this show, that I was a little worried it was going to pander to mainstream audiences too heavily. After the pilot episode premiered on Tuesday on ABC, I was not disappointed. I should have had a lot more faith, actually, seeing as how this series was created by Joss Whedon (and it shows).
There is definitely the "misfit crew" theme that permeates throughout much of Whedon's TV work. Part of me thought about the "Scoobies" from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and I also was reminded of the crew of the Firefly. It was also great to see a guest appearance from an actor on Firefly, who shall remain nameless. It's better off being a surprise. It was also great to see Maria Hill (played by Cobie Smulders or Robin Sparkles) to tie the show into The Avengers movie.
Don't be mad if I talk about Agent Coulson. He was obviously featured heavily in all the commercials for the show, so he is obviously alive. Don't take it as a spoiler though, because there is much secrecy about his "death" in The Avengers. It seems like the higher-ups of S.H.I.E.L.D. is telling him his death was faked, but it seems like there's a lot more to it than that.
It's comforting to see Marvel on TV on a weekly basis. The first episode definitely did not disappoint and I would recommend this show to pretty much anyone. If you don't like Marvel comics or superheros, you could at least be entertained by the humor and dialogue. I'm scoring the pilot 9/10 and I can't wait for next Tuesday.
