Agents of Shield/Agent Carter - what to do next?

   

So the eight week experiment has come to a successful close, and Agent Carter is in the books.  There's talk of doing a volume two next season, which would be a good thing, and a lot of people prefer it to the show it filled in for, Agents of SHIELD.  This is understandable and correct, in my opinion, although one has to take into account that Agent Carter was an eight episode miniseries and not a full 22 episode season.  And that the storyline wasn't as constrained by an upcoming movie as every season of Agents will be.  The only real constraints for Agent Carter are not killing off anyone who's still alive in the present day MCU or contradicting something that's already been laid out in an already completed film.  And lastly, with no burden from fans to include Marvel characters that we want to see they can introduce and dispose of new characters who aren't in the comics as they wish.  In short they have much more creative freedom and it shows.  They also benefited from having a better actress in the lead role, and having a more compelling character for her to play.  The only parts of the miniseries that didn't work for me were some of the scenes at SSR (the precursor to SHIELD), that dragged at times.  But beyond, the entire run was excellent and like everybody else I hope they give us more next season.

As for the show it filled in for, I'll say that it's much better than it was when it started.  Now I did defend the show last season when a lot of people were trashing it (mainly because too many were complaining about the lack of MCU characters even though we were told from the jump that wasn't happeneing), but now looking back I'll admit that it did have some issues.  The direct tie-in to Captain America - The  Winter Soldier hamstrung the storytelling, and there was some very wooden acting among the main cast.  Brett Dalton was often downright painful as Agent Ward, and for most of season one he was the lead agent so that made for really stretches to watch.  Chloe Bennett wasn't much better as Skye, and her importance to the team's activities throughout meant a lot of screen time for her, too.  It took Bill Paxton's run through the final stretch as the main villain The Clairvoyant (which coincided with Agent Ward's heel turn to be his subordinate) to make things better at the end.  This season has been a huge improvement.  For the longtime Marvel fans there was an appearance from the Absorbing Man and the addition to the team of Bobbie Morse (Mockingbird).  And the introduction of the Terrigen Mist and the reveal of Inhumans are major bones being thrown to Marrvel fans.  Henry Simmons and Nick Blood have joined the cast as members of the SHIELD team as well, and Ward has been largely disappeared save a few scenes here or there.  I'm guessing lots of this was in the plan from day one but some of it had to be in reaction to the negative press the show was getting.

So what's next for both?  Agent Carter is off until next year, assuming it comes back, and we'll get more of the days leading up to the formal creation of SHIELD.  More Peggy in the field, more Howling Commandos, and more Howard Stark would make it perfect for me.  There are probably two good seasons worth of stories to tell here, maybe more.  As for Agents of SHIELD, I have no idea.  We'll get some lead in to Avengers - Age of Ultron for sure but this season is much less connected directly to the MCU so it likely won't be as direct.  Next season there will be some dealing with the fallout from Ultron and some buildup toward next year's Civil War.  The elephant in the room will be the Inhuman story. The Inhumans movie isn't coming for four more years.  How they'll deal with a four year build up to that is beyond me.  There's only so much slow burning you can do, especially without including any of the Inhuman royal family until the movie itself.  I'm guessing though that the show won't have four more seasons after this one so that may not really be that much of a problem.  That's not a dis; it's just that I don't see the current cast making it through six season without some turnover, especially if no one besides Agent Coulson makes it to the MCU (The TV team showing up in a future Marvel film won't exactly be a stand up and cheer moment).  What would really be cool is if there's some overlap with Agents and the Netflix shows; those are crossovers that are more feasible and would be a good way to include some well known comic characters without begging Robert Downey, Jr. or Scarlett Johannson to come through.

Whatever happens, interesting times lie ahead for both shows.






                                                                

What I'm thankful for

Being that this weekend is Thanksgiving I figured I'd name a few things that I'm thankful for from the subjects I cover here.

TV

  

Good Superhero Shows - When I was little I watched reruns of the old Adam West Batman show, the Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman, and even some of the George Reeves Superman Show.  The only show that was running current episodes was the Lou Ferrigno Incredible Hulk show.  All of those were enjoyable programming for a young boy not yet 10 years old. Trying to watch them now fluctuates between amusing and painful.  West's Batman was not a serious show so you can live with that but the others were supposed to be and that just makes them worse now than they were then.  After those days other than a very short lived Flash series there wasn't much being offered.  There was Lois and Clark, which I didn't watch so I got no real opinion on, and then not much else until we got Smallville. Smallville ran for 10 seasons so it had a following and I won't bash them.  But after a season or two, I just couldn't stick with it.  And while that was going on there was a short lived Birds of Prey series that I really wanted to like but......in hindsight it wasn't very good.  Now that may sound like a lot, but mind mind you that this all happened over a span of 30 years.  Given the sheer number of series that come and go on broadcast television, that's a drop in the bucket.  So for there to be four quality superhero shows on now (Arrow, Flash, Agents of Shield, and Constantine) on now with more on the way (Supergirl, Marvel's Agent Carter miniseries, and a possible Teen Titans series on TNT) is huge and something we can't take for granted.

Movies

We went four for four on superhero movies this year - Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Amazing Spider Man 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Guardians of the Galaxy.  There was also a lot of stuff that I didn't get around to seeing but was very successful - Godzilla, Transformers: Age of Extinction, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  The Hobbit series wraps up this December as well.  Next year we get Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Fantastic Four (I'm not particularly optimistic about it but I'll still give it a chance), and we close out the year with a little movie called Star Wars - The Force Awakens.  With the Star Wars teaser trailer dropping today, the Internet may actually break. This is high tide to be a fan of these movies.  For the next five or six years we're going to get a plethora of goodness between the Marvel Studios films and the DC film Universe getting kicked into gear and Star Wars getting jumpstarted.  Don't listen to the naysayers and enjoy it all.

WWE

It's been a tough year for the WWE with major losses financially (largely due to the costs of the WWE Network they started up this year), injuries to key players like Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns, and departures from stars like CM Punk and major contributors like Alberto Del Rio.  But despite all that, the company has given us some great things.  When the fans turned on the originally planned Batista vs. Randy Orton WrestleMania main event, they listened and gave them what they wanted by inserting Bryan into the match and putting the belt on him.  When Bryan went down they smartly put the belt on John Cena as a placekeeper to set up a decisive win by Brock Lesnar at Summerslam.  And when all looked lost heading into Survivor Series they gave us Sting in a WWE ring to turn what would have been a forgettable night into one a lot of us will remember.  Hopefully, the injured players will be able to go again in 2015 and more people will sign up for the network.  The Network is awesome - there is no reason to skip out on it if you are a fan.  You get every current Pay Per View Event, along with access to the entire back catalog of WWE and WCW Pay Per View shows, and old shows from damn near every company that was relevant in the 80s and forward (with the obvious exception of TNA).  I highly recommend it for any fan out there, and hopefully it will turn profitable because it was a great addition in 2014.

Comics

There was lots of good stuff in the print world.  DC's Forever Evil event series wrapped up with a bang, Lex Luthor joined the Justice League, Future's End and Batman Eternal have entertained on a weekly basis and we got another great Superman event with Doomed.  On the Marvel side there was Death of Wolverine, Orignal Sin, and the Axis series.  Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider Man was excellent all year as were some other series that I don't read personally that scored high with those who do - Captain Marvel, Deadpool, Hawkeye, and Superior Spider Man.  As we end the year with new chapters of Captain America and Thor with Sam Wilson and an yet to be revealed lady taking on the titular roles in both books. Both major companies put out some really great work this year and I'm especially thankful for Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman, Gail Simone's Batgirl, Jeff Lemire's Green Arrow run and anything done by Geoff Johns.  On the Marvel side I'm thankful for the Guardians of the Galaxy series, Black Widow, and Storm.  All three have been great reads.

So yeah, a lot to be thankful for in 2014, with a lot more to come in 2015!

In defense of Teen Titans Go!

                                                          

Yes, I'm going to defend Teen Titans Go, one of the most maligned superhero cartoon shows in history and the current champion for hated on animated shows.  Now I am admittedly inclined to defend some things and people that are hated on (DC's New 52, Agents of Shield, John Cena) and as with those things I feel I am justified and that the haters are being flat out stuck on stupid.  Is Teen Titans Go! a dopey, goofy kids show?  Yes!  Is it the last thing a 'serious' comic fan should spend their time watching?  Maybe.  Was it an absolute travesty to cancel Young Justice with this on deck?  Yes and no.  (Cancelling Young Justice was a lousy move regardless of Cartoon  Network had lined up next; that it was Teen Titans Go doesn't make the decision any better or worse.)  Was anyone really clamoring for this kind of show?  Not really.  So why am I sticking up for it?  Two reasons, really.

• Kids need something - Most of the superhero-related media today is geared towards teens and adults.  The books certainly are, and have been for some time.  The live movies have violence and enough adult language to get PG-13 ratings across the board.  And now even the animated movies have some profanity to go along with the violence (which is more like the live action movies) and even some sexual innuendo (see the Suicide Squad-centered Assault on Arkham).  Parents who grew up on the Super Friends and now are back into the genre do want to be able to share their experience with their kids without having to explain why Thomas Wayne shot Professor Zoom in the head (from the Flashpoint Paradox animated movie) or why Harley Quinn was  disrobing and giggling in a bedroom with Deashot before they went on their mission in Assault on Arkham.  There's more than enough material out there for 40-year old me to get my serious action fix.  I don't have to have it all.

• The show isn't bad at all - Yes it's goofy and all, but it's really a respectful send up of the DC universe, one that applies a tongue in cheek approach to the lives of teenagers who sit around all day waiting for some bad guy to pop up that needs dealing with.  Instead of sitting around carefully monitoring the situation they do what teenagers would do....mainly goof off and get themselves into all kinds of dopey predicaments.  And the show is actually funny even for adults if you sit down and watch it.  The humor is wild and crazy enough for kids but smart enough for their parents.  The Adam West Batman TV show was so campy it almost singlehandedly birthed the more serious tone of comics and movies, and the Batman Animated series that came 30 years afterward did serious without being too adult for the kids.  And people my age all want that every time out.  But you can do funny without spiraling into camp and Teen Titans Go nails that pretty good.

 

The real anger towards the show is for the reason I mentioned early, Young Justice getting cancelled.  Young Justice was based around the sidekicks/younger members of superhero teams, and centered it's stories around their struggle to gain acceptance from the older Justice League Members while facing the same enemies and dangers.  It was really well done, and was on a par with the rest of the animated universe DC has so well put together in the 90s and 2000s.  It had just finished its second season and was a big hit with comic book fans.  And then the plug was pulled, largely because they weren't selling enough toys based on the show.  And them shortly afterward, Teen Titans Go debuted on the same network.  Some of the same characters were on both shows, but instead of the serious show we'd just lost were handed a comedy show geared towards kids. So a lot of us revolted and said it sucked, without even watching an entire episode.  It's obviously not the same show as Young Justice but that doesn't mean it isn't entertaining.  And Young Justice was going away even without this show in the wings.  It wasn't fulfilling the purpose the network intended either in it's audience demographics or in merchandise sales.  It is what it is.  I'm not saying you must watch the show and like it, but apparently some people do.  And upon further review, I happen to be one of them. 

TV Musings

OK, the TV season has kicked off and we're getting even more good stuff starting tonight with the Flash and tomorrow with the return of Arrow.  We're also three weeks into Gotham and two weeks into Agents of SHIELD season two.  And on the animated side, Star Wars - Rebels awaits us in a couple of weeks.  So what do I think so far?

                                   

Gotham

So far, so good here as far as I'm concerned.  I like what they're doing with Gordon, Bullock, and the rest of the Police Department.  Young Selina Kyle has been done well; her character has been a plus during the time she's gotten onscreen.  I dig the future Penguin also; his evil ambitions and overall creepiness have been on display in good form.  I would like to see a little less Bruce Wayne; I have no beef with the actor or anything but too much Wayne too fast is going to have people clamoring for a fast forward to him suiting up as the Dark Knight, which I think is a bad move.  The series is supposed to be about Gordon and the Gotham police; the closer we get to Batman appearing the more people will want it to just get there already.  The casting was extremely well done and that helps overcome the occasional clunky line here and there.  I've cooled off a little on Fish Mooney but if they give her more emphasis later I'll be fine. 

I'm glad they didn't give us anymore Edward Nygma this week, and that they've kept Ivy Pepper (later to be Poison Ivy) away since the pilot.  There's plenty of time to work them in more. The story right now is focusing on Penguin and Kyle and they don't need to crowd things with an obligatory five minute spot for either of them, or any other future famous Gothamites.  The season is only 13 episodes, which is a good thing in my book.  Considering that this isn't an open ended story like Arrow and Flash and we know where it will end we don't need any attempts to keep it afloat for 10 full season like they did with Smallville.  I'd prefer a nice, tight, four or five season of a dozen episodes.

Agents of SHIELD

I don't have a whole lot to say here.  The reports of the show having improved are spot on in my book.  For the time being they are free of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so they can go full steam ahead with action, plot twists, and the like.  That may likely change as we hit the second half of the season and get closer to Avengers: Age of Ultron but this time around they can get a lot of goodness in first.  There have been some misleading stories about the show's ratings and how they are putting the show in peril of not being renewed beyond this season; the reality is that the same day rating are down but air date-plus three numbers are good.  People under the age of 40 do not watch shows live on their original air date like they used to so the DVR rating have to be taken into account when measuring the viewership for a show with Agents' target audience. 

When reading stories like the one about Agents' ratings you have to remember that it's hunting season for bad news about Superhero-related movies and television shows.  The critics and hipster writers have had their fill and desperately want to move on to something else, and the pre-haters among the Superhero fan crowd love to read stories bashing the shows and movies they feel have failed their vision of how the books should be adapted.  These are the same people who go around saying Amazing Spider 2 failed with a $700 million worldwide gross.  Don't mind them and don't click on their stories; you're wasting your time for doing so.  Keep watching Agents if you like it, and don't worry about what anyone else says.  The show is good; screw the haters.

                    

Star Wars Rebels

So far we just got the pilot episode, a one hour mini-movie.  I liked it a lot.  I like that we're getting entirely new characters and not the same ones we're used to.  As good as Clone Wars was, it didn't hold my attention well because it was focused primarily on people we already know about - Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, etc.  As long as they keep it original I don't see the same problem here.  It's time for new blood in the Star Wars universe; I won't mind seeing Han, luke, and company in Episode Seven but if we're going to deal with stories taking place before the fall of the Empire then keep it new and fresh.  You want to do a young Han Solo drop in for an episode that's fine but I don't need anyone I've seen a million times already getting a spot as a regular on this show.  Again, I enjoyed the pilot.  We got some action, some lightsaber work, and no carbon copies of old characters.  I'll be checking this one out going forward.



That's it so far, folks.  I'll check in again after Flash and Arrow.

Gotham Premiere

                                                             

We had the first big premiere of the TV season with Gotham this week.  For those who don't know, Gotham is based in (of course) Gotham City of DC Comics fame, and it's the story of Detective (and later Commissioner) James Gordon as he starts his career in the Gotham City Police Department and the years that lead up to a certain costumed vigilante suiting up and taking to the streets at night to take the city's criminal element.  The other hook to the show is that it features many of Gotham's most famous characters in their younger days, namely Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle (Catwoman), Oswald Cobblepot (Penguin), and Edward Nygma (Riddler).  There's also going to be an ongoing guessing game of sorts over the course of the series as we're presented with several men who may be the one that goes on the become the Joker.  An important thing to know going in is that this is not a Batman series. Do not, do not, watch this show wondering 'when is Bruce Wayne going to become Batman?' because you're not going to get that.  As with Agents of Shield, this show is about the people who work around all of that business.  If you want to see a good montage of Bruce working his way to becoming Batman, go watch Batman Begins. 

Now on to this show.  We open with Gordon getting his pocket picked by a young girl who likes to feed stray cats.  We then move to the Gotham police station and Gordon talking down a criminal who grabbed a gun inside the police station, and meeting his new partner Harvey Bullock immediately afterward.  Bullock proceeds to ask Jim why he didn't just shoot the guy instead of bringing him down alive.  This is the jumping off point for how we're going to be shown the contrast between the idealistic Gordon and everyone else he works with.  Bullock is a veteran of the force, and has grown hard and cynical over time, as he and Gordon patrol the streets we come to see that Bullock is a pretty morally compromised character as well.   The plot of the show pilot revolves around that fateful night where Bruce and his parents were walking down the alley and were robbed, resulting in his parents murder.  After meeting young Bruce and promising to find the killer, Gordon and Bullock go out to do just that.  And that's when the real fun starts, as Bullock introduces Gordon to the Gotham underworld and we meet one Fish Mooney (played by Jada Pinkett Smith).

Mooney is a mid level crime boss, with her own set of minions (one of whom is Cobblepot) but who is also a subordinate of Carmine Falcone.  Mooney owns every scene she's in, to the point where there were a lot of live Tweeters calling for her to become more than a new character created for the show.  Depending on how her character works over the course of the season, she could be following in the footsteps of Harley Quinn and John Diggle from Arrow, television characters who made their way to comic books.  Mooney, trading information in return for the police looking away, points them towards a random Gotham criminal (who also happens to be the father of the future Poison Ivy) who they take down and find Mrs. Wayne's necklace on.  The case appears closed and the two are hailed as heroes, but of course it's too good to be true.  Bullock's ready to let things lie as they are but Gordon wants to press on.  That ultimately put him and Bullock at odds with Mooney, and almost gets both of them killed.  I'm not going to give all the details of everything in the episode; go watch it!



                                                      

I loved this one.  I agreed with the praise for Mooney; she'd make a great print character and foil for either the Dark Knight, the police, or Catwoman.  Hopefully when her time is up on the show she'll go into some kind of exile and not get whacked.  I thought the casting was great all around.  Even young Bruce Wayne had won me over by the end of the show.  Gotham and it's corruption were put on full display, and the moral compromise Gordon has to make at the end in order to survive is the first of many that will take him from an idealistic believer in right and wrong to a man who is eventually willing to form an allegiance with a vigilante who operates on the outskirts of the law and his cohorts in order to do his job.  Complaints?  I don't have any, but I heard what is becoming a recurring thing with these shows and movies - the 'too many characters' beef.  Never mind that many of the ones we saw here were only onscreen for a few minutes (Gordon's fiancee, young Bruce, Alfred) or seconds (Nygma, Falcone); some people have found their quick and easy problem and they're sticking to it.  But don't mind them.  This show's a keeper so enjoy it and let's see where it goes.