Loved It? Hated It? What did you think of "Shadows?"

[KSiteTV]

I go out for the evening and there isn't a Loved It/Hated It thread? Sorry about that.

So... .what did everybody think?

[spotteddog]

I thought the episode was absolutely great (a 10 from me). The beginning set during WW II was a wonderful lead-in. I was a bit shocked to see a "box of Kree" partially opened. I wonder if that was the same Kree whose blood was used to save Coulson and Skye? If not then the Kree tourism board needs to take Earth off their destination list - it just isn't safe for them here ! I found the evolution of the characters to be very believable, especially Coulson. I wonder how well Coulson will be able to maintain under the pressure? The deck certainly is very stacked against his small team. Interesting to see what is going on with "Hannibal" Ward. If Ward is really trying to make amends with Skye, why not just tell her about her father as opposed to saying how bad things have been for him?

So holy crap - Xena cometh and Xena goeth away !! Really? That's it? It sure didn't look like she is coming back after some miraculous recovery. I thought Lucy would be around for a while - oh well...

The Fitz situation is heart breaking, but I am a bit - well, SHOCKED that Simmons left him at SHIELD that way. I hope she plays a role in helping him heal.

I am REALLY looking forward to future episodes !

[Who]

So holy crap - Xena cometh and Xena goeth away !! Really? That's it? It sure didn't look like she is coming back after some miraculous recovery. I thought Lucy would be around for a while - oh well...

She looked a bit dead. On the other hand she was holding on to the object. I have to wonder if we have really seen the last of her.

[Fish1941]

I mainly disliked it, even if I'm willing to give it points for the World War II flashback with the Howling Commandos. Why did I disliked it? Joss Whedon apparently lost his sense of humor. He also forgotten how to set up a story arc in a serial drama format. He jumped into the main narrative without showing why Simmons left or how Lucy Lawless and her merry band of mercs ended up joining SHIELD. We were briefly told how they were recruited. We were not shown. And that's sloppy and impatient writing to me. But most people don't mind, because they either lack the patience or intelligence to appreciate how a story arc in a serial drama like "AGENTS OF SHIELD" should be set up. Season One, though imperfect, did it right. This new season premiere DIDN'T.

Bad move, Whedon. Bad move. You've allowed the masses to lower the quality of your writing.

[mbozzo]

'Shadows' is a good way to start the season. We meet an enemy of Thor in this episode. I hope that he isn't the only Avengers emeny to appear in the second season of this series.

[skully]

Crackerjack season opener, IMHO.

[SuperheroFan87]

Great episode. The twist with Fitz at the end was truly sad I hope he recovers through the season. I loved Absorbing Man, they did a great job with him!

[President_Luthor]

It was a good season premiere, but it wasn't spectacular. It did seem like they wanted to get into the action at the start and opted to skate over what I would call the context eg. the hows and whys.

We're to assume that Coulson collected Izzy and her team of mercs off-screen, as in before the S2 premiere. If they provide more details/context in the next episode, it won't be as much of an issue with me. If they do gloss over it, or the team pretends Izzy and Co. didn't actually exist after the 2nd ep. (considering they risked their lives on Coulson's orders), this would become a bigger issue.

I would actually be disappointed if Lucy Lawless didn't return, you can't kill off Xena!

I had thought that Simmons was still there, helping Fitz with his recovery, only to discover that she had left and Fitz was basically imagining Simmons being with him as a coping mechanism. Again, more details in the next episode would help, but I'd have to say the shock factor of realizing that Fitz is more damaged than we realize at the end of the ep. might have been the effect they wanted. I think Fitz' personal journey/recovery (or regression?) could become one of the better story arcs, if executed well.

It remains to be seen if Ward knowing something about Skye will be a good story arc -- or just an angle by which they can fuel more Ward/Skye melodrama. I'm hoping they don't, but I suspect they will. I'm a fan of Ward's "heel" turn to Hydra and the dark side. Ward + Skye romantic subplots in S2? Not so much. They need to give Ward and Skye something interesting plot-wise, preferably separately.

AoS had its good moments in an uneven S1 and while I likely gave AoS more allowance on some of their writing and characterization issues due to it being a new series, it's now their sophomore season. Viewers are assuming they've learned from their S1 mistakes. "1st season jitters" and the vaunted Marvel or Whedon brand aren't going to wash this time as reasons for viewers to stick with the series warts-'n-all.

They will have to step it up in S2 and audiences rightly will expect them to. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Welling_is_pretty]

Joss Whedon apparently lost his sense of humor. He also forgotten how to set up a story arc in a serial drama format.

Joss only exec produces, his brother and sister-in-law pretty do the day to day showrunning. I don't think Joss has a lot to do with SHIELD, just more of an 'overseer' type position for him to tie it into the Marvel movies. The real showrunning is from Jed Whedon and his wife Maurissa. They wrote the premiere as well.

Which I thought was pretty good. Gave it a solid 7.

I liked the flashback to the 40's and seeing Agent Carter and the Commandos. The original 084.

Then back to the present and poor Coulson being run ragged. The team up against the Absorbing Man.

Nice to Fitz back but a bit...glitchy? Later, when we found out the reveal about Simmons, I thought back to the scene with May and realized that if you remove Simmons it really changes things. Explains why May stayed (I wondered, as she must have known Simmons would take care of him?).

Ward being kept at the Playground? Huh. And sending Skye down to him. He tried to kill himself? That seemed...OOC to me? And now he's sworn not to lie to Skye. I think that could be very interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing that play out.

Warning Talbot and of course he blows them off. Then shooting Talbot and taking him prisoner. Nice to see the 'honeycomb' room again. Then how they faked him out. Clever.

Oh Isabelle, why did you grab the Obelisk? Big mistake. Course it did drive AM away so...but then they had to cut her arm off and then she died anyway!

So the Quinjet (and big points for using the name!) was the main objective? Huh.

The reveal of Simmons not being there. That was a big twist for me. I did not see that coming (frankly, I have trouble believing Simmons did leave). Well done, Jed and Maurissa for that surprise.

And the Hydra guy is still as young as he was. Hmmm.

This was a nice setup for Season 2, I feel. We have a mystery, we haven't forgotten the past, we had some good tie ins to the Marvel U., and we had some comedy mixed with action. (I'm enjoying the speculation on the brothers.) Good start to the season.

[John Oswald]

I like that Ward had a ''heel'' turn at the end of season 1. His character is so much more interesting now. Felt really bad for Fitz with the reveal that Simmons wasn't really there.

Promising start at least if nothing else. I gave it an 8 out of 10.

[indy1jones2]

I enjoyed it loved seeing peggy carter in the flashbacks.