Loved It? Hated It? What did you think of "The Asset?"

[Degobunny]

Just because something dumb has been done in the millions of comics written doesn't mean it needs to be perpetuated. Double PhDs as a sign of being a renaissance man is a cheap and lazy way to write a dynamic character, and it's also incorrect. Make a list of the most dynamic people you've heard of or met, maybe the top-50, or any 50 notable dynamic individuals. I bet not one has a double PhD, unless you deliberately set out to select that person.

If I meet somebody in the real world with a double PhD, I assume that something went wrong in their life.

Never mind the fact that Fitz and Simmons look like they're 25. A double PhD by age 25? Why not -- they have British accents, they're short, they're meek, they dress like it's 1955 and they're socially awkward, so they must be smart !

So what? It's suddenly crime to have a double PhD? Simmons is smart and the writers showing that through how in the past Marvel characters were shown as geniuses. I do not see that as a problem at all. They whole point is Fitz and Simmons are supposed to be geniuses in there fields of study...and it has been shown and proven, mission accomplished.

[Degobunny]

They did the same thing to the CIA website that they did to the credit card companies. Point is they did a lot less than Skye did, with a lot more resources and a lot more training and a lot more manpower.

Skye was working with a group, the rising tide. She hacked it with a group working across the globe. Point being like Anonymous she was working with a group. Not only that but Anonymous has done way more then you are willing to apparently acknowledge.

[DA_Champion]

So what? It's suddenly crime to have a double PhD? Simmons is smart and the writers showing that through how in the past Marvel characters were shown as geniuses. I do not see that as a problem at all. They whole point is Fitz and Simmons are supposed to be geniuses in there fields of study...and it has been shown and proven, mission accomplished.

It's not a "crime" to have a double PhD, but it is an indicator of failure.

My problem is that they should portray genius properly, it would be more interesting.

Have you ever met an actual genius?

I have. They achieve what they achieve, when they achieve anything, through a combination of both high IQ and obsession and hard work. As Thomas Edison said, genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration, whereas Whedon says it is 100% inspiration and 0% perspiration. Have you heard of Andrew Wiles? He's a genius who produced the greatest mathematical proof of the past 50 years... he did it by hanging out in his basement for 7 years and slaving over it. It didn't come to him in 5 minutes like it would if he were a character on M:TAoS.

[Degobunny]

It's not a "crime" to have a double PhD, but it is an indicator of failure.

My problem is that they should portray genius properly, it would be more interesting.

Have you ever met an actual genius?

I have. They achieve what they achieve, when they achieve anything, through a combination of both high IQ and obsession and hard work. As Thomas Edison said, genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration, whereas Whedon says it is 100% inspiration and 0% perspiration. Have you heard of Andrew Wiles? He's a genius who produced the greatest mathematical proof of the past 50 years... he did it by hanging out in his basement for 7 years and slaving over it. It didn't come to him in 5 minutes like it would if he were a character on M:TAoS.

You really are going to quote a thief like Edison who stood on the genius of other people and whose only real invention he created was the electric chair? Really? You have a lot of nerve. Geniuses have no one way to be betrayed properly, you just do not like the way MAOS portrays because it does not not fit your narrow views were a person can only have one expertise.

[Backward Galaxy]

So what? It's suddenly crime to have a double PhD? Simmons is smart and the writers showing that through how in the past Marvel characters were shown as geniuses. I do not see that as a problem at all. They whole point is Fitz and Simmons are supposed to be geniuses in there fields of study...and it has been shown and proven, mission accomplished.

It's a "failure" if the PhDs are not justified in some way. If the only reason to say that they even have two PhDs is to indicate that these characters are smart, it doesn't accomplish that as effectively as showing them doing something smart. And if it opens up the show to ridicule from people who actually are that smart, who would bring up questions like this, then it is a problem. It's a nitpick, since it's likely a throwaway line, but if it isn't integral to the story in some way, it's still poor writing.

[DA_Champion]

You really are going to quote a thief like Edison who stood on the genius of other people and whose only real invention he created was the electric chair? Really? You have a lot of nerve. Geniuses have no one way to be betrayed properly, you just do not like the way MAOS portrays because it does not not fit your narrow views were a person can only have one expertise.

Thomas Edison, like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, stole ideas. He was still a brilliant man. As was Bill Gates.

I don't have a "narrow view", I have actual experience having met many geniuses. To be extremely competent takes a lot of practice, psychologists have referred to it as the requirement of "10,000" hours, that is what it takes to be an world expert at a typical human discipline. I bought it up in the MoS thread when someone said he could write a better script than Goyer, I told him to spend a few thousand hours learning to write scripts.

My idea of what genius would look like on screen is not someone like Fitz, Simmons, Khan Noonien-Singh, Tony Stark, Jor-El, etc who can solve any problem instantly. It's someone who would take on a very challenging task, and then attack over it a season-long story arc. He would obsess over it, and he would have a few false leads along the way.

Nota Bene: There are many brilliant 25 year olds in the world, and we still don't have a cure for cancer, and we still don't have a theory of quantum gravity. We don't even have a good idea for how Washington should manage its budget. And we can't even put together a great Superman film. Some things are just hard to solve.

[mbozzo]

I like the episode. The 'kidnapped' scientist allow himself to get 'captured' in order to destroy his invention. Will he be back? We don't know. Will he will in a Marvel movie in the future? We also don't know. Only the future can tell us that.

[BoyScout-ManOfTomorrow]

Loved the episode, I think it was the best thus far. The plot was nice and simple and allowed some great character moments for Skye and Coulsen. Her blending in and acting all spy-like was smooth even if the double agent angle was predictable. Coulsen's scenes in the Inception room was very similar to something that would happen in Doctor Who. Same with the beginning of the episode and the special effects. It's cheesy but it makes the show fun. More visual gimmicks please, this isn't Arrow or the dreary DCU.

Maybe the episode should have been called "Assets" instead.