**IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED YET THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!!!!**

For many of us, this show was what we have been waiting a long time to see.  This is Marvel’s 1^st live action series since the Blade series in 2006 and possibly the first major show on the Big 3 networks since the Amazing Spider-man.  Yes, it has been that long.  The plot centers around Agent Phil Coulson, who we last saw dying at the hands of Loki in the Avengers,  gathering a small team of agents to handle superhuman and mutant threats as they arise.

Last night’s Pilot episode was of course the recruitment episode as Coulson brings in his group in the wake of the Avengers movie.  It starts off as a young man named Mike who was laid off his job saves a woman in a fire under very dubious circumstances, and Skye a young hacker witnesses this and tries to befriend him.  Meanwhile, SHIELD becomes aware of what’s going on and has Coulson assemble his group to go after the man and his Extremis technology gone wrong , as well as find out about a group known as the Rising Tide.

For me and any comic geek, this pilot is just about what we always wanted from NBC’s Heroes. There is just the right amount of Marvel continuity in the show that will keep viewers watching.   Even one of the questions about Phil Coulson, has been answered and it’s almost funny yet sad that he doesn’t realize how he survived his own death except that there is ‘always Tahiti’.

The writing for the show was good, nice underplayed humorous moments, hints and nods at familiar Marvel tropes and a nice (although clichéd) finish to the episode.

I will admit that some of the fight scenes were sloppily handled but other scenes where CGI was needed didn’t have a ‘cheap’ or ‘cheesy’ feel.

Also along with Clark Gregg were a few other familiar faces including J. August Richards, Cobie Smulders who reprises her role as Maria Hill from Avengers, and Ron Glass (Most of you remember him from Firefly, but you are really showing your age if you remember him from Barney Miller!)

It may take some time for this show to really develop its own shadow away from its movie counterparts but if it stays well written, it can be just as, if not more successful than, Heroes.

One of the things I did last night, was I did a virtual party via Facebook with a bunch (nearly 60) of my friends.  The idea was since many shows tend to get spoiled because of all of our random timeline postings,  that we live post in a group and it was very successful.  The timeline was unpolluted!  I asked what they would like to see in the show and in the following were some of the responses:

Justen:  Being that SHIELD is a secret organization, why do they put the logo on everything. Not very incognito.   **Very  good point Justen!!!  The CIA doesn’t broadcast like this so why should they?**

Iris: I couldn’t say right now. It’s too early for me. I need to see where this Colson thing is going cuz you know it’s a deeper story there. Need to see what other cases/super heroes/villains that take on too. I’m keepin an open mind. I haven’t been this into a show of this nature since Heroes and only the last season of that pissed me off.

Jeremy:  Some actual SHIELD agents. Like DumDum. Also eventually introduce SWORD.  **SWORD is a very long way off and more outer space response than Earth response**

Caleb:  I went in with VERY low expectations and came out with a huge grin on my face. The Coulson story is pretty interesting. The continuity is spot-on (I mean, EXTREMIS?!!). While I wish they operated out of a Helicarrier, the “Bus” is pretty sweet.

Who else thinks HYDRA is the organization supplying this Super Soldier/Gamma/Extremis Serum?

Jonathan:  I have been reading these comics for over thirty years, and have always been a Marvel guy, and loved Shield in particular. I would love to see an occasional appearance of one of the Avengers, or even a Nick-Fury walk-on. I would love to see Damage Inc. Be used or referenced. I would love to see some more deep geek stuff (already too much to mention in the first episode) and some good tie in with the Thor 2 storyline when that comes in November. In fact, I would be surprised if we did not see some VERY specific plot lines tied to the Thor 2 and Captain America 2 plot lines, such as references to The Winter Soldier…

Also, when asked at the end for scores, I took the total scores and averaged them out and Agents of SHIELD gets a 3.9  (a 4 in my book).

See ya next week!!!

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