[Serenity]

acesn8s, on 15 October 2014 - 06:10 PM, said:

Last night's episode was a lot of fun.

"She wanted to get coffee."

"Did you punch her in the face?"

Loved that, and also the bit with the laser alarm: "They already know we're here"

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

A little disappointed that Talbot is a Hydra asset. Shows like these are always more interesting when you have 3 parties working against each other, instead of just 2.

EDIT: Well, nevermind then!

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 21 October 2014 - 09:08 PM

[amphibian]

They are putting in a ton of new characters in this season.

On one hand, that's good, but on the other hand, it means losing touch with the existing set we have now. The show also seems to be spending much, much more time in the base or small sets (which usually means budgetary savings for a big blowout episode or... that the funding is getting cut).

[QuickTidal]

I KIND of wish I didn't know who Bobbi / Mockingbird was before I watched Tuesday's ep. It would have made the reveal better. Still, it will be nice to see her in her proper outfit with her proper short blonde hair.

Fitz reunion with Simmons was quiet, and understated and just what I wanted. though I'll admit I thought they were going to have her walk in and have him not realize she was ACTUALLY there, and talk to her like she was in his head even though she wasn't.

And I'm calling it:

Skye's dad is

Spoiler

Mister Hyde, probably retconned to be an Inhuman as well, to explain the alien DNA in Skye

making Skye's real name

Spoiler

Daisy Johnson AKA Quake

[amphibian]

I have no idea who Bobbi is, but I like her/Adrienne Palicki already.

Plus it helps that she has honest to goodness real boots - none of the high heel crap May and Skye run around in.

[QuickTidal]

http://en.wikipedia....arvel_Comics%29

[Primateus]

Briar King, on 24 October 2014 - 04:25 AM, said:

Isn't she the one at the end of Simmons epi that was Compling though?

Nope, that was someone else known only as "Agent 33"

[WinterPhoenix]

The one thing that bugs me about this show, is the same thing that has always bugged me about the marvel universe in general (both comics and cinematic) and that is the difficulty I have in believing that if a 'extinction level threat' was looming the only people involved in trying to stop it are a ragtag band of fugitives. The reason behind the creation of The Avengers is to fight the threats no single superhero can face alone, except by their very creation and indeed by the recognisation that these heroes live and breathe in the same universe it invalidates the idea that such a large threat could exist and not be faced by all of who have a vested interest.

Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely not complaining about the awesome shared universe that has been brought to both our cinemas and now the small screen, I love the MCU as well as Marvel comics. On top of that seeing as I cannot see a method of creating a shared universe that doesn't have this problem - after all superheroes need to have standalone adventures for team-ups to be in any way special - I'm really just airing a thought that sticks in my mind every time I see world-changing events going down and just one guy trying to stop it, even though he knows he has a bunch of mates who'd be perfectly positioned to provide expert assistance - it seems reckless for Captain America not to think 'Ooh perhaps I should give my buddy Iron Man a call'.

Completely pointless post really, I can't see an alternative and it doesn't affect my ability to enjoy both the films and this show (or indeed the comics), just wondered whether anyone else feels this way from time to time?

P.S. This post was brought on by the latest episode for obvious reasons.

[amphibian]

My take on this:

The thing about being an extremely capable person - which almost everybody on a spy/superhero show purportedly is - is that they/we are often extremely bad at judging how far our limits of competence are. This basically turns everything into a "deal with [THING] until you can't - and then someone superhumanly (even better than extremely) capable steps in to deal with [THING]". The usual cost of failure of an extremely capable person is a handful of deaths, which is surprisingly efficient.

When dealing with an itty bitty nascent threat to the world (Bill Paxton last season), a couple of people did a good job of stomping it into the ground, never to rise again (after it rose again and Coulson stomped once more with feeling). Well... what makes this itty bitty nascent threat any different?

The big superheroes are already dealing with stuff like world governments being overthrown, killer robots trying to murder them and their families, dark elves and intergalactic trips. It's a pain in the butt to contact them. It's less of a pain in the butt to go ahead and deal with it, even if one's own life and a handful of others are at risk.

There is also well established precedent in how heart disease, diabetes, drug abuse, cancer and so on are killing humans off by the millions and we real life humans are haphazardly dealing with them. These are real things that are killing lots of people every single day and the people in charge of humanity's response are academics who have self-selected for tackling specific problems, private firms interested in making lots of money and the ones who don't fit neatly into a category.

[Abyss]

All caught up and wow this season is a quantum improvement over s1, even tho I don't actually know what a quantum improvement means.
The whole cast has upped their game, the plots are way more fun, and show is tighter and Skye has bangs and doesn't bug me.
As for the "why are they the only ones dealing with this" thing, comics have a long and mighty history of excuses for things a like this, from 'it's what we do' to 'the avengers are off world and the FF are in the negative zone or something'... It doesn't bear overthinking because if you could just call in Thor to lightning nuke every problem from a mile high, comics and genre tv would be pretty fucking boring.

[WinterPhoenix]

First of all, I agree entirely the current series at this point is vastly superior to the first at the same junction, I now look forward to each episode and am honestly trying not to fall behind. I actually gave up on series 1 some time around episode 6-7 because I missed a couple of episodes and wasn't interested enough to catch up online. I came back to it after I eventually got to see the Thor and Captain America sequels (still the only MCU films I haven't seen at the cinema) and I was very glad I did by the end of series 1, now series 2 is looking so good cannot help but be excited for the MCU's upcoming TV projects.

As for the problem I wrote about, I agree it really doesn't bear overthinking (but I overthink it anyway, because that's who I am ), I am completely aware of the long tradition the comics have of attempting to escape the problem and it's entirely true that if Thor just rode in and hammered the bad guys to death each and every time it would quickly become boring. In fact that kind of highlights another related issue with the more powerful heroes i.e. Thor and Hulk. It's extremely difficult to give them a bad guy who offers them a credible threat without that bad guy also being the kind of uber-threat that The Avengers or the FF would generally deal with, Hulk has already been shown to be capable of throwing around a 'god' as though he is a toy, who could even be a villain for him in a standalone film now? The Aether is the perfect example, Thor is strong enough that him fighting Malekith solo never looks out of place, but the Aether is still the kind of threat that you'd think would draw the entire world's notice, and no matter how strong you are, help is always useful.

Anyways at this point I am actually going off-topic, so I'll bring it back around. What follows is my answer to amphibians post, but the first part at least contains spoilers in the form of a summary of the threat as it seems to be shaping up at the moment:

Spoiler

Currently we have a man who seems to be a very high up in HYDRA who has been around for 80-90 years attempting to gain possession of and weaponise an object known to be supremely dangerous, even if this is all that's known about said object - question to more well-read comics buffs than myself, does the Obelisk have a comics analogue? Simmons at least is convinced this is extinction level stuff they are facing

So I do believe that this 'itty-bitty nascent threat' poses a greater threat than the last, if only because the TV tradition of 'big bad's' getting stronger each series, think Buffy (with the exception of the trio of course). However, that is really besides the point because even while watching the conclusion to series 1 I did find myself believing that Paxton/HYDRA would draw some outside attention, I struggled to believe that Captain America wouldn't help at all (seeing as I watched most of the series after CA2) even allowing for the levels of disillusionment he seems to be suffering. I mean they did an admirable job of defeating the threat themselves (and I absolutely loved the last 6 or so eps) but the general position of 'Supers' is to underrate 'non-supers' why on earth would they believe SHIELD capable of dealing with the threat without them?

At this point I realise my position is hopeless, and I am not even arguing because I readily agree with pretty much everything you both say apart from our rating of the nascent threats, I really should just take Abyss' advice and stop overthinking this, I'm just so terrible at not overthinking...

[amphibian]

I actually like the over thinking because when a storyline comes along that gets it right, we appreciate it more.

Otherwise, it becomes truffles before a pig.

[Abyss]

amphibian, on 27 October 2014 - 07:16 PM, said:

I actually like the over thinking because when a storyline comes along that gets it right, we appreciate it more.

Otherwise, it becomes truffles before a pig.

I hear you, but the reality is the entire DC universe, by example, is made mostly useless if Superman is really as super as he's usually written, and writers spending tonnes of time trying to explain where he and everyone else are aren't telling the story the readers came for.

If i'm reading Spiderman, why do i have to care about why Wolverine (who, in any event, would win) isn't there?

[acesn8s]

Abyss, on 27 October 2014 - 07:32 PM, said:

amphibian, on 27 October 2014 - 07:16 PM, said:

I actually like the over thinking because when a storyline comes along that gets it right, we appreciate it more.

Otherwise, it becomes truffles before a pig.

I hear you, but the reality is the entire DC universe, by example, is made mostly useless if Superman is really as super as he's usually written, and writers spending tonnes of time trying to explain where he and everyone else are aren't telling the story the readers came for.

If i'm reading Spiderman, why do i have to care about why Wolverine (who, in any event, would win) isn't there?

Wolverine always wins...

[WinterPhoenix]

Abyss, on 27 October 2014 - 07:32 PM, said:

amphibian, on 27 October 2014 - 07:16 PM, said:

I actually like the over thinking because when a storyline comes along that gets it right, we appreciate it more.

Otherwise, it becomes truffles before a pig.

I hear you, but the reality is the entire DC universe, by example, is made mostly useless if Superman is really as super as he's usually written, and writers spending tonnes of time trying to explain where he and everyone else are aren't telling the story the readers came for.

If i'm reading Spiderman, why do i have to care about why Wolverine (who, in any event, would win) isn't there?

Yeah I hear you, and I pretty much agree as well, which is why my position is so bleeding untenable and my own overthinking in the end gets on even my own nerves, let alone others. You're exactly right if I'm reading Spiderman I don't want the author to waste time explaining to me where everyone else is, it's a lazy way to add immaterial substance to the story, not to mention the sheer scale of the marvel universe would surely invalidate any attempt at a Marvel roll-call of sorts.

For the most part I am able to ignore the questions of 'where is such and such', 'why isn't whatshisname here' because I simply enjoy the storytelling (when it's done well at any rate) however, times when I feel that the scale of threat and response are irreconcilable exist enough for it to bug me, hence spilling my pointless ramblings on this here forum :/

There is one caveat I would add to your post though Abyss, the problem in question is certainly greater for the MCU than it is for the comics, seeing as the medium of film makes it more blatantly obvious and damaging when something isn't there that should be or vice-versa. That having been said explanations of where other superheroes are shouldn't be as time-consuming on film as it would in the comics, and I feel that have been some places where such explanations probably should have been utilised. Though for the most part the MCU is a staggering achievement considering the size of the shared universe they have built, one can only hope they continue to do so well as they build it up even further.

This post has been edited by WinterPhoenix: 27 October 2014 - 09:14 PM

[Gnaw]

Abyss, on 27 October 2014 - 07:32 PM, said:

amphibian, on 27 October 2014 - 07:16 PM, said:

I actually like the over thinking because when a storyline comes along that gets it right, we appreciate it more.

Otherwise, it becomes truffles before a pig.

I hear you, but the reality is the entire DC universe, by example, is made mostly useless if Superman is really as super as he's usually written,

Larry Niven. "Man of Steel, Woman of Tissue"

[WinterPhoenix]

Yeah Agent Carter is getting it's own series, I was pretty excited when I saw the opening for series 2 sets it up pretty nice. Apparently the 8 episode series is to run during AoS's mid-season break, which I am also very happy about.

Daredevil also is getting a Netflix series in May 2015, followed by Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and then a Defenders mini-series once the first four are finished. Each to be 13 episode series' released all in one go in the same vein as previous Netflix exclusives to encourage binge-watching; in that manner with pre-planned story-arcs the writers and creative teams don't have to wiggle their way around the films either, which will be good for them I hope. Only Daredevil has been cast thus far, so I have no idea how quickly on the heels of each other the shows will follow. One could envision a scenario where they are all released before the Dr. Strange film in 2016 using The Defenders to introduce Dr. Strange, which would be bloody awesome. It would also ensure he has exposure prior to the film's release so it isn't an unknown for those completely unaware of the comics. I doubt they will go that route though to be honest, besides not everyone watching the film will watch the Netflix series. So release dates on the latter Netflix series are completely up in the air I suppose.

[Gnaw]

Briar King, on 29 October 2014 - 02:18 AM, said:

Can't beat big breast but you REALLY can't beat big breast with STAR WARS on them!

Yeah, you're going to get worry snarked any minute now.

[QuickTidal]

Oh, he means Bobbi's shirt. LOL. Yeah, that was cool.

Loved last night's ep. Great stuff throughout. Good action, and some great character stuff between Coulson and Ward. I'm starting to think Ward is not going to get redeemed.

[WinterPhoenix]

Just saw the most recent ep, The STAR WARS comment is not wrong lol