I’ve probably made it clear in my time writing for The Eagle that I adore Joss Whedon. No, that’s an understatement. I WORSHIP him.
I was part of a small and dedicated following for the cult TV aficionado before he went and made himself famous with “The Avengers.” All my friends liked Whedon casually—they all agreed that “Firefly” was a flawless series that was canceled too soon, but that’s where their devotion stopped.
Meanwhile, I was marathoning seasons of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” watching random episodes of “Angel” and even breezing through the strange experiment that was “Dollhouse.” For my family’s White Elephant Christmas game, I even bought a copy of “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” so that I could take it for myself when my turn came around. Yeah, it was that bad.
So naturally when he rose to fame for directing “The Avengers” last year, I was happy for him. But with it also came the dread of having to share the secret world of the Whedonverse that I had come to cherish as my own.
Joss Whedon is mainstream now, I thought, he doesn’t have time for the small fans like us. Marvel had effectively absorbed him, making him their director for “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and their creative consultant. But he did get a sweet little deal out of it. He got to make a new television show.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” (whew, they really need to shorten that title) is a Marvel universe spin-off featuring the paper pushers and field agents who work at S.H.I.E.L.D., the organization that cleans up after the superheroes do their thing. The ragtag team at the center of the show is led by Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), the character who was supposedly killed at the end of “Avengers.” The show is built to be a procedural, with the team encountering super-powered villains and otherworldly Big Bads every week.
Now TV is where Whedon got his start, and where I think he shines the most. The cast of misfit characters, the madcap storylines and the witty, self-aware dialogue that he’s known for all shine on the small screen.
The first episode of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” hinted at all these things, but has yet to deliver on the magnetic charm of all of Whedon’s other shows. Maybe because it’s decidedly on a higher budget than any other show that he’s done—it’s sleeker, it’s faster and it has shinier actors.
I’m hesitant to fall in love, not because there’s a chance of cancellation, but because it seems like the show is holding back.
The dialogue is just snarky enough to eke out a chuckle, but there’s nothing yet worthy of being immortalized in gif form. And the characters are just likable enough to pass through one episode without incident, but man, is Agent Ward (our supposed main character!) boring.
But the show still has a chance. It’s only the pilot after all, and Whedon may now be constricted by the pressures of success and red tape.
Hopefully as “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” finds its rhythm, the jokes will only get funnier, the characters stronger and the dialogue snappier.
And hey, if DC is launching their own Commissioner Gordon TV show, then “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” must be doing something right.
hbui@theeagleonline.com
