You have no idea how freaking happy I am that Netflix is streaming the entirety of the first season of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” right now. I was afraid that due to living in a cord-cutter household and being on a very tight budget, I wouldn’t be able to justify spending the money to get the series on iTunes. And I couldn’t justify the ongoing cost of a Hulu Plus membership either. But now I can at least watch the whole first season and get caught up, so let’s pretend that an entire season and a bit hasn’t gone by, okay?
- Again, the “Previously on” is well-edited and after seeing it, I feel the same sense of satisfaction and excitement I did almost a year ago when I stopped watching the show.
- And let’s talk about May saying that “Fitzsimmons” was up. I’m not sure what to make of Fitz’s newfound steely-eyed nature when using his scanner drones as weaponry. Simmons’ dismay at the same thing is also a very nice character point for her.
- Victoria Hand is back! Thanks to a friend on Facebook, I now know why so many Marvel fen squealed in excitement when she showed up in “The Hub.” And now, I’m appropriately excited, too.
- I’m going to make a prediction that the reason why May answered “No” when she was asked if Skye would be an asset on the plane is that she knows that Skye works best when she’s not surrounded by the type of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who are currently with Hand on the plane.
- Aww, I love how this team has bonded, even to the point of where they’re willing to bend a few rules in order to let Skye have her shot at finding Coulson.
- Some points of order and questions regarding Skye’s escape sequence: 1) All of that? Took longer than 12 minutes. 2) I forget the reason why she can’t just take the bracelet off. Is it connected to her somehow? Is there a magnetized chip embedded in her skin under it, keeping it in place? 3) Why did she need the jacket? 4) Wouldn’t a newspaper have more recent intelligence on whose vehicle she could steal? 5) Why didn’t the air bags deploy in the SUV?
- Ugh, and now I remember why I have a love/hate relationship with this show.
- Aha, so that’s why she needed the jacket. And I love how the mark isn’t exactly dumb either, triggering the silent alarm like that.
- “No single agent is that important.” “Coulson is.” I think I love this conversation because it reveals a lot about how segmented S.H.I.E.L.D. itself is and how—spoilers for Captain America: The Winter Soldier—HYDRA was able to infiltrate it so deeply.
- Boom. I love it when I’m right about characters in general, and Melinda May in particular.
- It makes sense that Raina’s power (if we’re calling it that, and why not?) is that of persuasion. How else could she get reasonable people to agree to become Centipede’s playthings?
- Ron Glass! I’m glad that he’s back and that his character wasn’t in this just for the pilot.
- Why am I not surprised that S.H.I.E.L.D. has 3D brain matter printers? Also, is this the MCU version of a Life Model Decoy? If so, that’s pretty rad.
- No lie; my heart was racing during the entire sequence where Coulson confronts Ron Glass’ Dr. Streiten (Doctor Straighten?) about what happened to him. The “thunk” as the scene faded to the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo made me jump.
- When I think about it, I shouldn’t be surprised that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been working or has this kind of technology. How were they able to get Captain America out of his cryostasis without significant nerve and tissue damage, if they didn’t? However, it’s through reading other science fiction—specifically Old Man’s War by John Scalzi—that I’m able to accept the idea of consciousness being something that can be stored and moved or re-implanted somewhere else.
I think I’ll go ahead and make Sunday nights my time to review episodes of this and other TV shows going forward. Tune in next time to see what else I’m watching!