By
Phantom Troublemaker
Since I started the Needless
Things Podcast the frequency of my commentary and speculation pieces
has been dwindling. I enjoy talking a lot more than I enjoy writing and I enjoy
conversation more than I enjoy tossing lengthy essays out into an unresponsive
void.
Plus, now that I have paying supporters on SupportPhantom.com
(few though they may be) I feel a little more obligated to post stuff there
when I am taken with the desire to write.
But every once in a while I still get the itch to post
something here that’s a little broader and more interesting than a toy review.
Which is why I’m here today.
I want to talk about Marvel – comics, TV shows, movies;
everything. Or at least, everything I’m qualified to talk about. Obviously I
can’t read every comic book Marvel publishes and right now I’m choosing to read
even less than I normally do because a lot of them seem to be terrible. And I’m
going to discuss that, too.
Today I’m going to write about Marvel TV. Live action TV,
that is. I’m not getting into cartoons because they’ve been around so much
longer and also because Spectacular
Spider-Man and Avengers: Earth’s
Mightiest Heroes were so perfect and what has replaced them is, in my
opinion, hot garbage.
Superhero
Squad was great, too.
This post was originally going to encompass everything – Agents of SHIELD and all of the Netflix
stuff – but it turns out SHIELD gave
me plenty to go on about on its own. Stay tuned for what might be individual
pieces for the Marvel Netflix shows.
Like most modern, 22-episode shows that maintain
season-long arcs SHIELD tends to drag
in the middle. The seasons almost always start big and go out with near-cinematic
events that tie up loose ends and open new storytelling avenues, but the
in-between time can involve some noticeable padding.
For last season and the current season a new emphasis on
mid-season finales has helped this a bit. I’m all for cutting all of these shows into two distinct
arcs per season, though some elements could carry over.
Where this show shines is in its treatment of characters.
Well, the ones it doesn’t kill or shoo off, anyway.
The individual story arcs and personal journeys on Agents of SHIELD are remarkable. When
you take each of the original primary cast members – Coulson, May, Skye/Daisy,
Ward, Fitz, and Simmons – and look at where they were three years ago versus
today, it’s remarkable. These individuals have been challenged, hurt, and
rewarded and have changed in an organic and fascinating way over the course of
the show. They learn and grow and change their worldviews. I don’t know that I
can think of very many “primetime dramas” where such real and significant
change has occurred amongst so many characters. If you look at the history of
evening television, charatcers tend to just stay mostly the same.
Certainly we haven’t often seen anything like what SHIELD did with Grant Ward, one of my
favorite characters/storylines in television history. I don’t think Bret Dalton
gets enough recognition for what he did on this show.
For whatever reason, SHIELD
doesn’t compel me in the same ways that the CWDC shows do, even though I
consider it to be a superior product. It looks slicker, the stories are
tighter, the characters are much more relatable and human and don’t behave like
shits. But it isn’t destination viewing and I cannot figure out why. Typically
a couple of episodes will build up on the DVR and I’ll watch. I just don’t have
that itch to see it every week.
Although that did change with this season. I couldn’t get
into the first episode because this isn’t “my” Ghost Rider, but once I sat down
and took in the first three episodes I was hooked. I really liked where Daisy
was and liked her working with Robbie. And Gabriel Luna was great. He played
tortured without being annoying, a trick that not many actors can pull off.
I’m very satisfied with where Daisy – ostensibly the main
character of the show – ended up at the break. She has come from being an angry
hacker to an agent in training to a full-fledged agent to a person devastated
by new, Inhuman powers to a representative of a newly known species to an
outcast and now back to being an agent of SHIELD. Her journey has been
incredible and Chloe Bennett has been absolutely killing it the whole time. I
actually got a little misty when the new Director, Mace, said “Agent Johnson”
at the end of the last episode.
The way that the Ghost Rider story unfolded was excellent,
as was pretty much every other aspect of the season so far. I love where our
main characters are now. Seeing Fitz and Simmons operating not only
independently but with such competence is so rewarding for those of us that
have been with them from the beginning.
Coulson is still very much the man he was, but with a lot
more pain to carry around. While his character may seem unchanged at first glance,
it’s only because his job is to be a rock. Above all else, he must maintain. He’s
the rock and that’s why he went to Tahiti in the first place. He is needed. That’s the hardest part of
watching terrible things happen to him – you know he’s just going to have to
carry on. And as much as Mace is the new Director, Coulson is still the Man.
Speaking of Mace, I’ve been enjoying Jason O’Mara as
Batman in DC’s animated movies for years now and am loving him on screen as the
new Director of SHIELD. He started off with this ambiguity and seemed to almost
certainly have something to hide. But he was charismatic and genuine enough
that I didn’t want him to be another
villain hidden in the ranks (a story which this show has hopefully done for the
last time).
I’ve just now realized that we’re only eight episodes
into the current season rather than the eleven I had assumed, which explains
why things feel like they’ve moved along so efficiently. I wonder if the show
could use a model of two eight episode arcs and one with six to eliminate the
drag. We know the next storyline is about the Life Model Decoys and that Ghost
Rider is (seemingly) done. Perhaps the LMDs could be the six middle episodes
and another eight episode arc could finish things up. Or perhaps another six
with a two episode finale story.
Whatever the case, I am as excited about this show
returning next year as I am any other; more than most. While I’ve always
followed, this season’s start has reinvigorated my enjoyment and made me love
these characters all over again.
Agents
of SHIELD is brave and ballsy. I feel like they don’t compromise
their stories or their characters. From its beginnings as an offshoot of (and
cash-in on) the successful Marvel Cinematic Universe to becoming its own entity
with an almost independent narrative impetus, this show has done an admirable
job of telling stories and cultivating interesting characters. Regardless of
its interconnectedness with the MCU, it has earned my fandom. I’m on board.
And remember - my blade is plenty sharp. And an ax.
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