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He's a member of Hydra! No, she is! No she ain't, it's that guy! And she is too! Wait, no she ain't! Well what about that guy there? He is! And that guy, ain't no way he could be! He is? Whaaaat?
I don't like to bag on Loeb because he, and Dini to some degree, were the guys who made Smallville, Lost and Heroes great. When Loeb left each show, they were much worse off.
But I had no idea Loeb was the one who axed Avengers:EMH. Save Ultimate Spidey, he's been a disaster for Marvel.
And I still don't understand why anyone involved thought Coulson could carry a show. He's just the latest in a line of fanboy overhype. I mean, he's a solid actor but he's a character actor, not a lead. If they had built the show around Paxton, or Michael Biehn, or hell pay Duchovny, then had Coulson reprise his movie stint as a shadowy figure like Smoking Man from the X-Files, it could have been X-Files meets 24.
At this point, Marvel would be better to let it go to Netflix or SyFy and reboot.
AOS is kind of like doing a Daily Planet TV show with spot cameos by Clark Kent and no Superman. I'm not saying a good show can't be made about either concept, but if you're not going to have any Superman, you better write some really compelling stories about news coverage or the media. It can be done. Lou Grant and News Radio were fine shows.
It could be argued AOS has played its Marvel card enough, but the show's writing is mediocre at best. Nearly a decade into its run, NCIS is a better show on autopilot than AOS. And The Americans probably is the best spy show ever aired on TV. NCIS is in direct competition with AOS and the Americans is a spy show done right. If I'm going to spend an hour of my week watching spies, I'll take The Americans.
To me, that Fantastic Four/Incredibles clone with Chickless and Julie Benze from a few years back was a more entertaining show than AOS has been thus far.
Maybe the HYDRA turn is something that can be built on, but I think the issue is in the writer's room not with the show's basic concept. ABC might consider finding the show a more favorable time slot if it brings AOS back.
Marvel has a proven formula for delivering on the big screen, but that goodwill won't save a so so show. The quality competition is more fierce on TV than it is in the cineplex today. Maybe the show would do better on SyFy or NetFlix, but the writing has to improve for the show to thrive no matter where it runs.
What a great episode! Full of surprises. AOS is one of the best shows on TV I don't see why all of the negativity. It is entertaining, I like the characters, got some good action...and I can't wait for the next episode.
What a great episode! Full of surprises. AOS is one of the best shows on TV I don't see why all of the negativity. It is entertaining, I like the characters, got some good action...and I can't wait for the next episode.
Maybe the HYDRA turn is something that can be built on, but I think the issue is in the writer's room not with the show's basic concept. ABC might consider finding the show a more favorable time slot if it brings AOS back.
Marvel has a proven formula for delivering on the big screen, but that goodwill won't save a so so show. The quality competition is more fierce on TV than it is in the cineplex today. Maybe the show would do better on SyFy or NetFlix, but the writing has to improve for the show to thrive no matter where it runs.
For me, it all ties into the Cult of Whedon. Fans tend to overlook that his shows couldn't draw. Buffy, Angel, Firefly never broke the top 100, let alone top 50. But the cult always implies Buffy was equal to X-Files. AoS is his show. Him, his brother and sister-in-law created this so he owns it. It's the reason I've never given him total credit for Avengers success. Favreau laid out the Marvel visual template and tone, Feige had been working on the inter-connection for years. Whedon's strength is his ability to balance an ensemble, which he is certainly better at than Favreau. But AoS sort of proves that without the big FX and charismatic lead, the audience won't buy in. Like you said Marva, too many options.
The exact same thing is going to happen to Gotham. No Batman, No Catwoman, no Joker, no chance. Does anyone really think Jim Gordon as a lead will bring in viewers? Batman will be nothing more than a Hardy Boy mystery character.
I really, really like AoS at this point but good God did it have a rough start. That, more than anything, is contributing to the ratings decline. The slow, awkward beginnings with an inexperienced team trying to feel their way around the world was too much to overcome for a society with the attention span of a guppy. Their initial refusal to incorporate "costumed" characters came back and cut themselves off at the knees. I truly hope they do get renewed and we get to see some resolutions to the storylines and not have to see them wrapped up in haste in the event they are not picked up for next year.
I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she dumped me before we met.
If anyone here believes in psychokinesis, please raise my hand.
I'm sure I'm not the first to notice this, but did anyone else pick up on how the last episode was a total "homage" to Star Wars?
Coulson at the targeting computer, like he was shooting down TIE Fighters.
Trapped in the tractor beam to the enemy base.
Use secret compartment under the floor to escape.
The group splits up: one to shut off the tractor beam, the other to rescue the princess... er... scientist
They get into the detention level by pretending to be a prisoner transfer.
Actually, I'm a little surprised they didn't go into the trash chute at some point...
The exact same thing is going to happen to Gotham. No Batman, No Catwoman, no Joker, no chance. Does anyone really think Jim Gordon as a lead will bring in viewers? Batman will be nothing more than a Hardy Boy mystery character.
I agree that it could happen with Gotham, but it doesn't have to. If they make a compelling cop show set in pre-Batman Gotham, it could work as well or better than any cop show. The key is creating compelling characters and telling good stories about them. But it can't bank on the Batman connection delivering an audience that will stick with a mediocre or inferior show.
I was enthusiastic and excited about AOS, but after about 4 episodes it lost me. Gotham may turn out the same way. Arrow's decent; better than AOS to me, but I don't watch it weekly, either.
If all the comic book shows make it to series next year, it's going to be interesting to see what works and what doesn't. Something like Constantine or iZombie might catch on with a general audience better than Gotham or Flash.
I hope AOS gets another season, works out its kinks and becomes a great show.
OK..I'm I the only one here not getting WHY the BIG SUPERHEROES are not here to help...hmmm...THOR ..the dude can travel to a different WORLD ,but we have a motley crew of young wanna be's trying to defeat HYDRA...
ONCE again ...the show is grasping....ahhhhh...its buggin moi !....still think the show is failing !...
All this intrigue may be too little, too late I'm afraid. I really like where this has gone in the last four weeks, but it should have gone this way before the mid-season break. I know they wanted to set up a lot of backstory to have stuff pay off now, but viewers are not the patient kind and turned away form this before it got good. Sure, it's the first real modern Marvel television effort, but someone should have known to go big early or go home at season's end. However, there were some cool reveals tonight.
Ward is seriously a bad dude, and hints point to that not being his real name. I'm guessing it's Tony Masters. Google that one folks.
The Cube is a thing now, leading to gamma related episodes next season if they survive to film them
Fury was not calling all the shots with Coulson. Also, how does soneome with all that deception keep his stories straight? Fury must be the best spy ever.
Garrett was shown with cybernetics. I bet he's got some implants similar to Deathlok and receives the same eyeball message orders from someone.
I thought Raina was going to morph into Viper at some point, but now it seems she's on the fence about everything.
I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she dumped me before we met.
If anyone here believes in psychokinesis, please raise my hand.
I couldn't get past how cheap everything felt last night. The sets, the copter attack, even the score. We've discussed this before, so it's not new. But I think I might have figured out why it keeps coming up.
Consider how forgiving we are to Arrrow, or any of the CW shows. Even Smallville had a tight budget, but it wasn't an issue - until they began to try and produce above their means in the last seasons. But since it was "Small"ville, we accepted the narrow premise. Now, with Arrow and Flash we expect more, but not a massive difference because it's still CW and they've been distanced from the WB properties.
But AoS is on a network that produced Lost and other shows that were big in scope and able to match the production values. Then, add-in the movie connection, and it's a double-whammy. For example, if the CW shows existed in Nolan's Bat-world, I think we would be just as harsh on them, especially the depiction of Metropolis and the character designs. But they don't and we're not expecting huge because, well, it's the CW.
I think that's what's going to kill AoS. I mean, look at the scale of SHIELD in Winter Soldier. I can't recall an episode that gave a similar impression. Consider how the snow bunker of HYDRA's lair was depicted last night. It would be five times bigger in a movie. I think the only way this works, and it's probably too late considering the storyline at work, but if they just focused on field agents at different locations, interconnected only by Coulson.
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