blackzoid, on 09 December 2013 - 07:40 PM, said:
Oops, didn't read the full thread. So I assumed it was still poor. Show was too dull for me when I saw it. So even if it is getting better, has it reached the level yet at which "respectable" starts? Put it simply, if the Joss Whedon and Marvel Cinematic Universe links were taken away, would the show be able to stand on its own to bring in fans and henceforth be worth my time? For comparsion, I've been watching Arrow and have been enjoying that, Sleepy Hollow was very good too, though I have missed the last few episodes of that due to work. Both those shows have good character interaction and good cheesy fun plots. Is AoS at their levels of quality yet? Or is it still at early Star Trek Voyager levels of blandness. Not bad, not good. Just there.
Having been given the 22-ep full season order after Ep 2 by the network has given Joss and Co. the time to do what they do best. The long game. Therefore by around the 5th episode mark you can begin to see the team come together, and the characters begin to flesh...it's a marked improvement from ep to ep after that with various character plotlines progressing (albeit slowly)...there is one ep that concerns what we all imagine to be the overall plot arc (concerning some dude in prison called The Clairvoyant, and a mysterious woman named Raina played by Ruth Negga who appears to want to use folk with superpowers [like the guy from the pilot] to test some nefarious stuff)...that's only really been touched on...and that will apparently be the wraparound to the two-part Mid-Season finale, THE BRIDGE, which brings back the superhero (Mike Peterson) from the pilot as well (and I think he joins SHIELD)...so beyond that there will be another half season to go, the finale fo which is meant to lead into CAP 2 in theatres.
They have also introduced a heavier-weight side character or two like
Victoria Hand.
Could it stand on its own without the Marvel umbrella? Eh, probably as well as any Joss show would have midway through season 1...but no further. BUFFY mid-season 1 was a pretty standard monster of the week show that even at that point wasn't headed towards the final boss of that season (The Master). In that vein SHIELD is a decent spy-action show with a team that's beginning to come together. There have been some TRULY shining eps (5 and 6 are both amazing) and some relatively ho-hum ones.
My recco if you bailed out on it...would be to wait till after it comes back from mid-season finale and catch up...that would give you a good idea of whether or not you want to give it the time of day to the end of S1.
"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora
"Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone." ~Ursula Vernon