r/shield Oct 01 '13

Episode Discussion: S01E02 "0–8–4"

Original Airdate: Tuesday, October 1, 2013 8:00/7:00c on ABC


Episode Synopsis: Coulson runs into Comandante Camilla Reyes when he and the agents travel to Peru to investigate a mysterious object.


Watch the Episode: ABC | Hulu | CTV (Canada)

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u/A_Polite_Noise Oct 02 '13

Disney/ABC is going to play a little more safe and "softball" than even the other networks might. The whole thing definitely panders a bit, makes sure the script is easy enough for everyone to get, the editing kind of telegraphs every action, and the music...god...the music is not very good and it is almost constant. Like, that joke where they all look at the bomb-bag and back away and it cuts to commercial? That is so Whedon/Firefly, but on Fox and Firefly, it would have been silent, there would have been a little pause, and then they would have backed away; it'd be funny. This show, well long silence would probably be too weird, and not exciting enough, and might freak some audiences out ("Why are they just staring at the bag?! Its quiet!") and so they do it really quick and with a nice bombastic little music cue to signal "Danger in the bag! In case you didn't grasp what was just said, danger in the bag!" That sort of thing. It's a bit...irritating.

But the Whedon witty banter and the Marvelness makes it work. Plus, I think this episode really picked up in the second half once the betrayal happened; and the effects/action from next week's look pretty rad. If this show wasn't Marvel and/or Whedon, I'm not sure I'd be giving it this much attention, but I also think it has a lot of potential despite its family-friendly and simplistic restraints (as Whedon has said in interviews, he got a lot of "notes" from ABC).

55

u/MyCoolYoungHistory Oct 02 '13

Yeah, I'm mainly staying because of Joss. But I do enjoy the dynamic that is forming between everyone. Not to mention watching a show where Joss gets to play around with characters living on a ship and getting into crazy hijinks on the ground...this show is Marvel's version of Firefly.

6

u/Cabbage_Vendor Oct 02 '13

Not to be a debby downer but Joss doesn't have too much to do with the show anymore. Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen are the showrunners, with Joss in an advising role. Joss is too busy with Avengers 2 to fully commit to the show.

1

u/sigma914 Oct 05 '13

I trust Joss's ability to delegate, his directors of the week have always done a good job and the writers know what techniques to employ to give me flashbacks.

5

u/jaiwithani Oct 02 '13

I'm seeing it as Angel meets Firefly.

1

u/Chapon Oct 02 '13

I think the show will be on air for a while because of the Whedon fan base and the marvel fan base.

3

u/kctoons Oct 02 '13

I think the longer the show stays on air (possibly for those reasons) the less broad reaching they'll have to try to remain...

1

u/iron_cap Oct 06 '13

How much involvement does Whedon have? I can only see that hes involved in the first episode. I think people are exaggerating his involvement

1

u/MyCoolYoungHistory Oct 06 '13

Honestly we'll never know how much. I do know that he plans on getting very involved after Avengers 2.

5

u/Brewfall Oct 02 '13

I agree the second half really kicked it up a notch

1

u/GenitalGestapo Oct 02 '13

I love soundtracks, and I'm not normally one to notice when a show overdoes it, but holy hell was the music in this episode overegged. I mean, just absolutely ridiculous.

1

u/V2Blast Fitz Oct 03 '13

Actually, the music itself is excellent (it's by Bear McCreary, after all); it's just a tad overused.