The Glade 4.0

I feel like it's rushed. And they're doing the obligatory trope of "can these misfits become a functioning team?" All we need now is a training montage.

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When he's underwater does he get wet? Or does the water get him instead?

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood ... l-universe

I mostly agree with this.

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Holy shitsnacks!

I agree as well. However, the past couple of episodes have been definite improvements. It's starting to feel less cheap, more emotional, and just all-around better.

It's still got a long way to go, but at least it's heading upward so far.

It seems like they're having a difficult time setting up larger story pieces while also trying to maintain the "alien of the week" storylines. If they can get to a point where they're having larger storylines (that aren't just a 3 minute drop at the end of the episodes) it'll be a much more compelling show. If it was a standard Whedon joint, Fox would've already cancelled it, but thanks to the disney/marvel backing, it'll find time to find it's footing. I marathoned all the ones they've aired so far yesterday and enjoyed them, it just doesn't have any depth (yet).

Well, one thing is that it's not a Whedon show. At least, not in the way that matters. It's a Jed Whedon (and his wife, Maurissa Tancharoen) show.

Jed (and Maurissa, whom you may recognize as the red-shirted groupie) co-wrote with Joss on Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and Dollhouse.

Reportedly, Joss has been fairly hands-off after helping create it and helming the pilot. The whole of Marvel's "Phase II" is leading to The Avengers: Age of Ultron, so Joss is overseeing everything: all of the Phase II movies, this TV show, etc., in order to make sure that continuity is maintained. But the day-to-day is unfortunately Jossless.

Jeffrey Bell, who's worked on The X-Files, Angel, Alias, Day Break (anyone remember that?), Harper's Island (or that?), Spartacus: War of the Damned is also an executive producer, as well as Jeph Loeb, whose Marvel contributions have been...less than stellar (post-Millar Ultimates, anyone? or Ultimatum?).

Ratings are falling fast, though. Its Marvel ties might not be enough to keep it around, as it's pricey.

I'm very much enjoying Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. while I watch it. The problem is afterward, I don't think about it. Arrow (or Grimm, or The Blacklist, or White Collar, etc.) leaves me anxiously awaiting the next show, while AoS is a forgettable "out of sight, out of mind." They need to stop being so completely episodic and ramp up the story arc.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Yup. Rising Tide isn't a big enough badguy (yet) and its quite difficult to have rising tension when these guys are at the extreme low end of the Marvel power spectrum.

Its hard to feel the world is threatened when the Avengers can step in and perform a deux ex machina.

But can they?

Tony blew up all his armor.
Thor's back in Asgard.
Captain America is not significantly more powerful than Melinda May (or Black Widow, or Hawkeye).

And Hulk is... well. In most cases he causes more trouble than he solves.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Yes.

Because we'll need them to.

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In time, this too shall pass.

Only for the next movie. Before that, it's up to AoS to save the world!

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Well, last night's episode finally brought some actual emotion and tension to the table. Keep it up.

The main thing last night did was flesh out some of the previously cardboard, 2-dimensional people in the ensemble. It was a badly-needed character-development episode for Fitz-Simmons.

Apparently in two weeks the episode is going to be a major tie-in to The Dark World.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I stopped watching this a couple of weeks ago. It just didn't hook me. Maybe I'll check it out on netflix when its released as a season... but right now, eh.

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Holy shitsnacks!

It was character development for pretty much everyone, especially Coulson (and the aforementioned Fitz and Simmons). Even Agent Cardboard got a bit.

I don't ask that AoS be dark, but it has to have some emotional heft, and last night was the biggest (and, well, only) step they've taken toward that.

I haven't seen last night's yet, but even with the ballyhooed Thor 2 tie-in, the series hit a new ratings low.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/1 ... se/215372/

The Tie-in is next week.

This week had some more great character development, though.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Yes I think it's definitely making progress.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

I'm kind of with Tycho on this one -- at its current pace, we'll need 3 seasons of continuous improvement before it's first season Buffy bad.

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There was nothing bad about the first season of Buffy. Did the show improve? Yes, continually. But it was awesome from Episode 1.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

SO I was hoping last night's show would make-or-break this series for me. Surely if they screwed up the tie-in to The Dark World, it'd mean the show isn't worth watching.

They didn't screw it up. Like every show so far, it was better than the one before. It was, however, still less than spectacular. I'm still unconvinced. They are still dancing around an actual story arc instead of coming out and following it.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Did you catch the other Wheadon reference/Easter Egg at the end of the episode?

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Immediately. I loved it.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

It wasn't immediate for me (I knew it was a thing, but it took me a second to realize what thing it was). Still loved it too though.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

I missed it, what was it?