Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. SE01 EP01 - "Pilot"

The Marvel Cinematic Universe. Perhaps one of the finest accomplishments from Marvel in some time. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a spin-off of The Avengers films, and occasionally interconnects with the events from the various movies after The Avengers. I've seen the first season of this show, along with half of the second season, so to a point, I do know what's going to happen. As best I can, though, I will divorce that knowledge when writing my analysis.

Episode Name: Pilot

Original Airdate: September 24, 2013

A man, Mike Peterson, and his son Ace are in downtown L.A. when an explosion occurs. Mike tells Ace to stay back, and he races to see if anyone needs help. Once he determines no one is watching him, he climbs up the wall of the building, showing that he possesses superhuman strength. Mike's able to rescue a woman, hoping his hooded jacket prevents his identity from being blown. A young woman manages, though, to catch the incident on her cell, along with seeing his face. Mike's able to run away and blend back into the crowd with his son before the woman can say anything.

In Paris, France, Agent Grant Ward is informed by a superior that his mission must be aborted, as an organization named the Rising Tide released the location of the package he is after. Still, he is able to obtain said package after some brief conflict, and meets Maria Hill to deliver it, which is shown to be alien technology from the invasion, which criminal Vanchat was able to get his hands on.

It is here in which Agent Ward is granted Level 7 clearance, and learns that Agent Phil Coulson is alive, after having been stabbed in the heart by Loki [which took place in The Avengers].

Agent Phil Coulson

Agent Coulson informed Ward that while he is alive, his heart stopped beating for eight seconds, though it felt much longer than that. Once out of ICU, Fury himself forced him into vacation time at Tahiti. Coulson then shows Ward the footage of Peterson, though they don't know name - just that he is an unregistered gifted, and his life is going to become very hectic, and so SHIELD wants to get to him first.

Maria Hill tells Ward that he's been assigned to Coulson's mobile unit. Ward protests, saying that he's been trained as a specialist from day one - he goes his missions alone, and gets it done his way. While Coulson admits that Ward isn't much of a team player, he could be greatly beneficial to the unit. A doctor comes in and lets Ward know that his team has been approved, the caveat being that Fitz-Simmons isn't cleared for combat, which is fine with Coulson.

After Coulson makes another comment regarding his time in Tahiti, he takes leave, and the doctor and Hill converse about Coulson not knowing the truth, and that "he can never know."

Maria Hill and Doctor Streiten

The woman who saw Mike's face follows him, and at a diner, sits down with him, with the intent of giving him advice on how to move forward. Her name's Skye, and she's a hacker. She offers to help Mike come up with an identity, and tells him that he should openly state he's a hero. As Mike is financially crippled, and looking for a job, Skye doesn't think it would hurt. Lastly, she warns him about SHIELD, worried that if they knew about him, they'd "clean up the story." She offers to help, and let's him know that her van (or office, as she calls it) is always parked out back if he needs assistance. He thanks her and hurries out, but not before Skye is able to pickpocket his driver's licence, and learn his name.

Meanwhile, Coulson recruits another agent, Melinda May, who is working a desk job at SHIELD. He ensures her that it's not a combat operation, and that she is simply to drive the "Bus," or mobile command unit, which turns out to be a rather large plane. Agent May agrees to join.

The "Bus"

When Ward enters the bus, he meets Fitz-Simmions, being British biochemist Jemma Simmons and Scottish engineer Leo Fitz. Coulson than drives up with his car, which he has named Lola.

Agent Grant Ward

Jemma Fitz and Leo Simmons

The pilot, Melinda May, seems to be known by Ward, who is surprised to see her. Agent Coulson lets him know she's simply the pilot, which makes Ward wonder what Coulson's playing at.

Agent Melinda May

They are able to track the source of the unknown gifted, and pick up Skye, who is revealed to be a member of the Rising Tide, a hacker collective. During interrogation, she mentions a program called Centipede, which neither Ward nor Coulson have heard of, greatly amusing Skye. To gain her trust, Coulson injects Ward with a truth serum, and allows Skye to question him.

Coulson and Ward interrogating Skye

Once the trust is gained, she reveals where she filmed Mike, and Fitz-Simmons, along with Agent May, go to check out the site. They find alien technology, along with a burnt out camera, and bring it back to the Bus to analyze them. Meanwhile, Mike Peterson goes back to the factory he was let go from, and threatens his former boss, eventually claiming he now sees the world for what it is, and assaults him.

Mike Peterson's centipede program

When Skye finds out about Mike's actions, she goes back to her van with May in order to send some audio to Fitz, which is needed to provide them a clear picture of how the explosion happened. Mike goes to the hospital to meet the woman he saved, who turns out to be a scientist, and the building which exploded a lab for superhuman enhancement program known as Centipede. Mike, from the doctor's perspective, is losing it, much like the individual who blew up the lab. Mike states that this isn't the end, but an origin story.

With the audio Skye sends them, they now have a clearer picture of how the explosion happened. A man, with the same device that is also on Peterson's arm, caused the explosion himself. Fitz-Simmons suspect that within two hours, the same will happen to Mike. At the van, after Skye hides something on her person from Agent May, Mike knocks Agent May out, and forces her to help him and his son.

While she is able to send her location to the Bus, along with wiping out Peterson's identity, Fitz-Simmons are having trouble coming up with a way to take Mike out which doesn't involve killing him. Ward and Coulson go to the van, parked outside Union Station, and let him know that they just want to ensure his safety.

Mike escapes the van, dragging both Ace and Skye with him into the station. Skye cleverly is able to get Mike to let her and his son go. Outside, Mike's doctor sends in someone dressed as a police officer to take care of Peterson once and for all.

From here, it's hectic. Upon realizing that there is a third party here, Coulson and Ward split up. Mike is able to catch up with Skye, who begs him to just listen to reason. The fake police officer then shoots at the two of them, pegging Mike in the arm. As he falls down to the center of the terminal, the police officer takes aim at Skye, though May, with fantastic fighting skills, is quickly able to take him down.

Coulson calmly approaches Mike, disarms himself, and talks to him. Mike insists that he won't blow up - that it matters who he is, that he's a "good guy." Mike states that he could be a hero. Coulson agrees, saying "I'm counting on it." Peterson is then shot in the head by Ward, using what Fitz calls a "Night-Night Gun," which ceases the poison running through Mike's body.

Mike Peterson, on the verge of exploding

Fitz and Ward, with the "Night-Night Gun."

Simmons pleased that Mike's alive

Ace is left in the care of a SHIELD safe house, and Mike is being cared for and watched over by SHIELD. Skye is offered by Coulson to join SHIELD, and help find out more about Centipede and who funded the experiment. She's unsure, but once Coulson gets a call from Ward, stating that they have to go confirm an "0-8-4," Coulson lets her know she has ten minutes to decide what she wants to do. In Coulson's car, Lola, they fly off to the Bus.

Skye and Coulson in Lola

I was skeptical about this series when I originally watched it. As such, for the most part, I was wrong.

This pilot isn't the most amazing thing I've seen, no doubt, but it does supply an interesting mix of characters, along with bringing back Coulson. I know how their story arcs go for this season, though, so I am hesitant to say much about them. I will speak a bit, though, about what I like or dislike about some of them.

Coulson is an extremely fun individual, and perhaps the ideal boss. He can be funny and have a good time, but when he needs to be, you can tell that he's someone who doesn't waste any time. Basically, he'll get the job done, and have fun doing it.

What I suspect he won't have fun, with, though, is whatever the doctor and Hill were speaking about. What "truth" does Coulson not realize? Well, most likely, it has to do with the length of his death. Hill says eight seconds - Coulson states it felt much longer. You could tell both the doctor and Hill were hesitant to send Coulson back out to the field, so whatever the truth may be, it seems pretty serious, only further confirmed by Hill stating, about the truth, "he can never know." 

We don't learn too much about Ward here. He's a serious specialist, and not at all used to working in teams. If Skye does stay with SHIELD, I suspect that Ward will have a hard time with it, as Skye seems the type of girl to get on his nerves. It's also mentioned that Ward has had a troubled background with his family, but that was perhaps just thrown in there to give a reason why his social skills are lacking. Agent Ward did seem to know Melinda May, though, so I am deeply interested in the story behind that. All-in-all, while I don't much care for Ward's personality, I do think he'll be extraordinarily useful on the team, especially since he's willing to work with Fitz-Simmons in order to bring Mike down alive.

May, we know even less about. It's obvious that she and Coulson know each other, and were likely in the field together. More so, from the conversation they had, May seems a very good field agent, which is why Ward was shocked that she was simply the pilot. She is cold and distant, though, more so than Ward, partially because her job on the Bus keeps her away from people more effectively than Ward's job. May being attacked by Mike definitely rubbed her the wrong way, but I do think she is loyal to Coulson, and will stay on without a second thought.

Skye is a very fun character. Both she and Coulson had the best lines in this episode - Skye's personality and curiosity is quite different than SHIELD's, and especially Ward's, so should she stay, which I think she would, it should be interesting to see how everyone meshes. But coming from a hacker organization, along with hiding something from May, is potentially troubling. If she had to choose between SHIELD and the Rising Tide, at this point, I'd think she'd be leaning more toward the latter.

Lastly, we have Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons. Oh, how can you not love them? Their banter is insanely cute, and how they speak over each other - just adorable. There was no indication that they are a couple here, but if they don't become a couple, well, to put it lightly, I'd be quite disappointed, as I suspect many viewers would be. They are both very competent in their fields, and under pressure, are able to pull through and find a way that Mike can be taken alive. Fitz trying to get Ward to warm up to him, oblivious to Ward's displeasure, was amusing. And I think Skye can become good friends with the pair of them (they seem infinitely less judgmental than Ward). All-in-all, these are fun characters, and I hope to see quite a bit of them as time goes on.

Mike Peterson, by the way, seems to be the type of character who has a chance to appear again, hopefully this time on the good side. He really was the type of guy who was pushed around too much, and fired back. He did endanger his son, Skye, and many others by not listening to reason, but to a certain point, you can certainly see where he's coming from. Hopefully, should Mike appear again, perhaps even join the team, he will have his heart and his actions in the right place.

While this episode as a whole isn't amazing, I did think the last eight minutes were. Coulson, Skye, and May standing with Mike, trying to get him to calm down. Boom! Mike being shot, and you can tell initially that Coulson thinks Ward actually killed him. But a sweaty Fitz is standing next to a happier-looking Ward, and Simmons is barely able to keep herself from tearing up at the fact Mike's alive. The score in the background made this ending particularly potent.

Casting-wise, I think everyone was played well. Clark Gregg, who also played Coulson in The Avengers, reprises his role to great effect, and is sure to be one of the stand-outs of this series (providing he lives long enough). Ming-Na Wen, the actress behind Melinda May, plays the part of a serious, focus-minded individual extremely well. As does Brett Dalton, in his portrayal of Ward. Much like Gregg, I think that Dalton has a high chance of being a really stand-out actor, especially due to the fact he's not done all that much before this. Chloe Bennet plays Skye beautifully, and need I mention that Iain De Caestecker (Fitz) and Elizabeth Henstridge (Simmons)? The both of them work so well together, it's hard to believe they're not real-life friends.

Throughout the first season, there are ups and downs (which is true for most shows), but the one consistent pleasure this show brings us is the great cast. Overall, this first episode is a fine pilot and a pretty fun romp - a solid opening to this show.

Rating: Above Average

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