Here be spoilers...
After a fun premiere episode, 0-8-4 suffered badly from the sophomore slump. Descending quickly into macguffin of the week territory, we travel to the Universal back lot, I mean Peru, to find something loosely linked with Marvel lore so we'll give a damn. But...we don't. Not really.
The action was funish, and there was plenty of it, but when bullets aren't flying and punches aren't being thrown there's not much there. The cast, Coulson aside, are ciphers.
The two experienced agents - May and Ward - are the worst offenders. I have a hard time believing Ming-Na Wen can kick butt and frowning/scowling isn't character. Ward is the blandest of bland TV heroes. And his forced "togetherness" with Skye made me cringe. Quicksilver could rub those two together and there still wouldn't be any sparks.
And speaking of Skye - the smart, sassy, but vulnerable hacker - feels like a cutout from Buffy, but lacks any of the depth. Slack-cutting time - it is only the second episode, but so far I'm not getting anything from her or her castmates. Fitz and Simmons are cute, but nothing more than shtick. If it weren't for Clark Gregg (who I love), I probably would have turned off this episode.
From the super-fake jungle (A-Team flashbacks anyone?), to the ridiculous Camilla Reyes (the Peruvian army tailor did a fine job on her uniform though) to the life raft, everything felt fake and cartoonish. And not in a fun way.
I understand the need to have macguffins of the week and for the forced team-building episode, but the when the team itself is this bland, I just have trouble mustering up enough energy to care.
I love Marvel. I love Joss. I love Coulson. I'll stick around, but I'm disappointed so far. There's such potential here, but so far so meh.
After a fun premiere episode, 0-8-4 suffered badly from the sophomore slump. Descending quickly into macguffin of the week territory, we travel to the Universal back lot, I mean Peru, to find something loosely linked with Marvel lore so we'll give a damn. But...we don't. Not really.
The action was funish, and there was plenty of it, but when bullets aren't flying and punches aren't being thrown there's not much there. The cast, Coulson aside, are ciphers.
The two experienced agents - May and Ward - are the worst offenders. I have a hard time believing Ming-Na Wen can kick butt and frowning/scowling isn't character. Ward is the blandest of bland TV heroes. And his forced "togetherness" with Skye made me cringe. Quicksilver could rub those two together and there still wouldn't be any sparks.
And speaking of Skye - the smart, sassy, but vulnerable hacker - feels like a cutout from Buffy, but lacks any of the depth. Slack-cutting time - it is only the second episode, but so far I'm not getting anything from her or her castmates. Fitz and Simmons are cute, but nothing more than shtick. If it weren't for Clark Gregg (who I love), I probably would have turned off this episode.
From the super-fake jungle (A-Team flashbacks anyone?), to the ridiculous Camilla Reyes (the Peruvian army tailor did a fine job on her uniform though) to the life raft, everything felt fake and cartoonish. And not in a fun way.
I understand the need to have macguffins of the week and for the forced team-building episode, but the when the team itself is this bland, I just have trouble mustering up enough energy to care.
I love Marvel. I love Joss. I love Coulson. I'll stick around, but I'm disappointed so far. There's such potential here, but so far so meh.