By Heather Stromski
I will readily admit: I have been fangirling over this moment since the announcement of the show was first made. Come on – Marvel. Joss Whedon. Superheroes. High tech. This is pretty much hitting almost every single trigger I have. So, for the pilot, I will be writing this as a running diary, sharing with you every thought I have as I have it, as well as various theories and realizations that pop up as the hour winds down. Ready? Here we go!
I will readily admit: I have been fangirling over this moment since the announcement of the show was first made. Come on – Marvel. Joss Whedon. Superheroes. High tech. This is pretty much hitting almost every single trigger I have. So, for the pilot, I will be writing this as a running diary, sharing with you every thought I have as I have it, as well as various theories and realizations that pop up as the hour winds down. Ready? Here we go!
1:00 – The amazing Marvel logo, flapping away at its comic book pages. Seriously, I’m not sure there’s a better studio production card out there. I absolutely love this.
0:59 – Oh, yes, the secret is out. I have the feeling this episode is going to be chock full of references to the movies. This might disappoint some. Not me. I crave the huge tie-in.
0:58 – Hello, J. August Richards! One of Joss Whedon’s signature moves – he LOVES using the same people. Faithful Whedonites should recognize him easily. Oh, whoa, hello, explosion! Here comes our hero…super strength. The hood. Holy crap, if you people try and tell me this isn’t Luke Cage…I know what the studio said, I don’t care.
0:56 – Rising Tide. This sounds big. Possible shadow organization, villain type?
0:55 – Look at all that tech. This is so cool. So freaking cool. Hey, fight scene! And I love how that chick looks so unimpressed.
0:59 – Oh, yes, the secret is out. I have the feeling this episode is going to be chock full of references to the movies. This might disappoint some. Not me. I crave the huge tie-in.
0:58 – Hello, J. August Richards! One of Joss Whedon’s signature moves – he LOVES using the same people. Faithful Whedonites should recognize him easily. Oh, whoa, hello, explosion! Here comes our hero…super strength. The hood. Holy crap, if you people try and tell me this isn’t Luke Cage…I know what the studio said, I don’t care.
0:56 – Rising Tide. This sounds big. Possible shadow organization, villain type?
0:55 – Look at all that tech. This is so cool. So freaking cool. Hey, fight scene! And I love how that chick looks so unimpressed.
0:54 – And there goes our introduction to Agent Grant Ward. Swinging off a helicopter. And right into the debrief. “Someone really wanted our initials to spell out ‘SHIELD’.” That is awesome. I’m practically cackling. YES! All the name-dropping. I imagine some might find this annoying, but I love it. A billionaire in a flying metal suit. A giant green monster. A costumed hero from the forties. A god. Oh, Maria Hill, don’t let your love show. Though…I can’t disagree with her about Thor’s arms.
0:52 – Coulson lives! I may actually be bouncing up and down at this point. Though…I have to say, I wish they hadn’t shown the part about the dark corner and a bulb being out in the trailer. It sort of took a little of the awesomeness out of the moment. But, oh well, moot point. Coulson!
0:52 – Coulson lives! I may actually be bouncing up and down at this point. Though…I have to say, I wish they hadn’t shown the part about the dark corner and a bulb being out in the trailer. It sort of took a little of the awesomeness out of the moment. But, oh well, moot point. Coulson!
Okay, I had to pause it here to say this: I love Agent Phil Coulson. I love how he’s evolved. When we first saw him in Iron Man, we got this impression that he was a no-nonsense, by-the-book, duty-and-honor type. Then, as each movie passed and his torch was sort of passed on to another director, another layer of him was revealed. And now, what we have is that agent who can be no-nonsense and by-the-book, does have this strong sense of duty and honor, and puts his integrity as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent above everything else, but he’s also got a sense of wonder and boyish humor that can’t help but put people at ease. He obviously doesn’t just do his work, he enjoys his work, and he knows, better than anyone else, what it really means. He’s the guy who went to comic conventions as a boy, as a teenager, and now finds himself living the dream, working right alongside superheroes. He’s seen a lot, and he’s not jaded or cynical, and it would be so, so easy for him to be. Okay, pushing play now.
0:51 – I love this witty banter between Hill and Coulson. They’ve got a good connection, and this shows that they’re not just co-workers, but they might even be friends as well. I can’t really touch on the Fury faking his death thing. I think we all knew something was a little fishy there. Also – Asgardian Mussolini. I’m dying here. Wait a second – the Avengers aren’t Level 7? They can’t know Coulson’s alive? Seriously? Not even Barton and Romanoff? Oh, come on!
0:50 – Rising Tide is apparently a hacker organization of some sort. Still not really sure if they’re…bad, or not. We’re getting some insight into Agent Ward…well, I guess we know who’s filling the role of the Billy Bad-ass of the group. ‘Poop with knives’, indeed.
0:49 – Ron Glass! I am loving all the Whedon actor drop-ins. Really. Wait a second - What? What?! Coulson can’t know what? Here’s where my husband pipes up and says, “He’s a clone!” Honey, I think the term is ‘Life Model Decoy’, but…still! Is Coulson not really Coulson? I have to say, I hope this means that we’ll be seeing more of Ron Glass over the season, if he’s the doc in charge of this.
I’ve never hated commercials more than I do right now. Even fast-forwarding from where I paused earlier doesn’t get me out of them yet. Playing the waiting game…
0:44 – And we’re back, with the mysterious hidden hero. Introducing Skye. I’m not sure what her approach is – one second, she’s talking about danger, the next, she’s talking about him capitalizing on his possible fame. Oh – there we go. Well, that makes sense. Come out of hiding so that the big bad shadow types can’t get to you so easily.
0:42 – ‘With great power…’ Hehehe. Hey, Sony – give Marvel their Spiderman rights back already! Just my own personal shout-out there. But seriously, I can’t blame him for being a little wary. Perky girl comes at me from out of nowhere, I’d be a little freaked out too. Hey – she palmed his ID! And we get his name…Michael Peterson. Okay, so maybe he’s not Luke Cage. Color me disappointed.
0:41 – Introducing Agent Melinda May. Oh, you don’t belong being a paper-pusher in any sense. There’s a story there, I can sense it. I can’t wait to find out what it is. She’s probably the one I’ve been most intrigued about behind Coulson. Oh, wow, that is an AWESOME bus. And…is it just me, or does the cargo bay make anyone else think of Serenity? If you don’t think Joss Whedon does this stuff on purpose…
0:50 – Rising Tide is apparently a hacker organization of some sort. Still not really sure if they’re…bad, or not. We’re getting some insight into Agent Ward…well, I guess we know who’s filling the role of the Billy Bad-ass of the group. ‘Poop with knives’, indeed.
0:49 – Ron Glass! I am loving all the Whedon actor drop-ins. Really. Wait a second - What? What?! Coulson can’t know what? Here’s where my husband pipes up and says, “He’s a clone!” Honey, I think the term is ‘Life Model Decoy’, but…still! Is Coulson not really Coulson? I have to say, I hope this means that we’ll be seeing more of Ron Glass over the season, if he’s the doc in charge of this.
I’ve never hated commercials more than I do right now. Even fast-forwarding from where I paused earlier doesn’t get me out of them yet. Playing the waiting game…
0:44 – And we’re back, with the mysterious hidden hero. Introducing Skye. I’m not sure what her approach is – one second, she’s talking about danger, the next, she’s talking about him capitalizing on his possible fame. Oh – there we go. Well, that makes sense. Come out of hiding so that the big bad shadow types can’t get to you so easily.
0:42 – ‘With great power…’ Hehehe. Hey, Sony – give Marvel their Spiderman rights back already! Just my own personal shout-out there. But seriously, I can’t blame him for being a little wary. Perky girl comes at me from out of nowhere, I’d be a little freaked out too. Hey – she palmed his ID! And we get his name…Michael Peterson. Okay, so maybe he’s not Luke Cage. Color me disappointed.
0:41 – Introducing Agent Melinda May. Oh, you don’t belong being a paper-pusher in any sense. There’s a story there, I can sense it. I can’t wait to find out what it is. She’s probably the one I’ve been most intrigued about behind Coulson. Oh, wow, that is an AWESOME bus. And…is it just me, or does the cargo bay make anyone else think of Serenity? If you don’t think Joss Whedon does this stuff on purpose…
0:40 – Introducing Fitz-Simmons. I’m giggling a little from the Hermione reference. He’s Fitz, engineering, she’s Simmons, biochem. Y’know, I really hope they don’t try to pair these two off romantically. Not even a minute in, and I’m getting the sense that would just not work.
0:39 – And introducing Lola. She’s pretty. So pretty. And apparently outfitted to a ‘T’. I get it, Phil, we don’t touch her.
0:38 – ‘Just the pilot.’ I love how surprised Ward seems to be. Definitely tells me there’s a story there with Agent May. But we already know Coulson likes to play the game with all his cards kept close to his chest.
0:37 – The door to the van opens, and I can’t help it, I’m giggling. She was so serious! So very passionate and motivated as she made her speech. Then the door opens, and that’s all over. You come with us now, Skye!
And back to the commercials. At least I’m getting a Thor: The Dark World trailer.
0:32 – Am I the only one who finds how tough Ward is being/trying to be funny? It just seems a little out of place next to Coulson and Skye. Coulson, because I don’t see that as the way he runs things, and Skye because, well…it’s obvious she’s not scared of them. The girl knows what she’s doing. Listen to her – I don’t know for a fact that she got caught on purpose, but the conviction she speaks with can certainly make me believe it.
0:31 – Project Pegasus, Centipede? I’m guessing Pegasus is what they called the thing in New Mexico with Thor, but I’m not sure what Centipede is…and neither are they, apparently. Fun times! And here’s where you see that, as affable as Coulson can be, he’s still someone to be a little scared of. Or at least someone to take seriously.
0:30 – You’ve got to feel bad for Michael. There’s obviously something going on here, and he’s got a little boy to take care of. He didn’t come into his powers on his own – look at that thing on his arm. It’s a centipede! Well, that’s pretty much blowing Luke Cage right out of the water for my theory. Still a little disappointed, but this should prove to be an interesting story.
0:39 – And introducing Lola. She’s pretty. So pretty. And apparently outfitted to a ‘T’. I get it, Phil, we don’t touch her.
0:38 – ‘Just the pilot.’ I love how surprised Ward seems to be. Definitely tells me there’s a story there with Agent May. But we already know Coulson likes to play the game with all his cards kept close to his chest.
0:37 – The door to the van opens, and I can’t help it, I’m giggling. She was so serious! So very passionate and motivated as she made her speech. Then the door opens, and that’s all over. You come with us now, Skye!
And back to the commercials. At least I’m getting a Thor: The Dark World trailer.
0:32 – Am I the only one who finds how tough Ward is being/trying to be funny? It just seems a little out of place next to Coulson and Skye. Coulson, because I don’t see that as the way he runs things, and Skye because, well…it’s obvious she’s not scared of them. The girl knows what she’s doing. Listen to her – I don’t know for a fact that she got caught on purpose, but the conviction she speaks with can certainly make me believe it.
0:31 – Project Pegasus, Centipede? I’m guessing Pegasus is what they called the thing in New Mexico with Thor, but I’m not sure what Centipede is…and neither are they, apparently. Fun times! And here’s where you see that, as affable as Coulson can be, he’s still someone to be a little scared of. Or at least someone to take seriously.
0:30 – You’ve got to feel bad for Michael. There’s obviously something going on here, and he’s got a little boy to take care of. He didn’t come into his powers on his own – look at that thing on his arm. It’s a centipede! Well, that’s pretty much blowing Luke Cage right out of the water for my theory. Still a little disappointed, but this should prove to be an interesting story.
0:29 – Fitz and Simmons are so adorable, really. There’s an almost childish sort of joy that they take in their work.
0:28 – Lots of tension between Skye and Ward. Little predictable, okay, but at least it’s funny. Yet another moment where we see a tie-in to the Marvel universe as a whole! “One of those sweaty cosplay girls crowding around Stark Tower!” Once again, I’m giggling, especially at her response.
0:27 – All the tech geek stuff just makes me swoon. I think Simmons might just become my new idol. Are their little drones named after the seven dwarves? That is so cute!
0:26 – Oh, I did not see that coming. I thought the truth serum was definitely going into Skye…which, I have to admit, had me feeling a little disappointed. I didn’t think Coulson would go there…and apparently, he didn’t. Entirely. But, for some reason, I feel a lot better about it going into Ward than I do Skye. See, now that’s just a masterful turn of events. Bravo, Coulson. I should never doubt you.
0:25 – Uh oh. Michael’s losing it. Must be some bad side effects from whatever process he went through. Hero’s turning into not such a hero…no matter what he might think.
0:19 – Turning the tables between Skye and Ward was really a very clever maneuver by Coulson. I’m not sure that he could have really gained Skye’s trust in a better way. And now it’s clear that that trust is needed, since Michael’s rampaging, and she’s the only link they have to him. All of this tech is so very cool…it looks so real. It really looks like something that could exist.
0:17 – Oh, wow. The girl Michael saved isn’t just some random girl after all – she’s responsible for his powers? And she is not happy. Wait – Michael needs to disappear. New identity. Tell me this couldn’t still come out to be Luke Cage. They’ve already proven they’ll change up stuff from the comics, change stories around. This could still happen. “It’s an origin story.” OH COME ON!
0:16 – I’ve never seen a girl be so happy about dripping gunk before.
0:15 – This is really cool. Apparently taking the data from motion detectors, a corrupt data file from a camera, and an audio file gives them the ability to see a scene as it happened. This…is really something genius. And they see the centipede on that guy’s arm…starting to put the pieces together.
0:28 – Lots of tension between Skye and Ward. Little predictable, okay, but at least it’s funny. Yet another moment where we see a tie-in to the Marvel universe as a whole! “One of those sweaty cosplay girls crowding around Stark Tower!” Once again, I’m giggling, especially at her response.
0:27 – All the tech geek stuff just makes me swoon. I think Simmons might just become my new idol. Are their little drones named after the seven dwarves? That is so cute!
0:26 – Oh, I did not see that coming. I thought the truth serum was definitely going into Skye…which, I have to admit, had me feeling a little disappointed. I didn’t think Coulson would go there…and apparently, he didn’t. Entirely. But, for some reason, I feel a lot better about it going into Ward than I do Skye. See, now that’s just a masterful turn of events. Bravo, Coulson. I should never doubt you.
0:25 – Uh oh. Michael’s losing it. Must be some bad side effects from whatever process he went through. Hero’s turning into not such a hero…no matter what he might think.
0:19 – Turning the tables between Skye and Ward was really a very clever maneuver by Coulson. I’m not sure that he could have really gained Skye’s trust in a better way. And now it’s clear that that trust is needed, since Michael’s rampaging, and she’s the only link they have to him. All of this tech is so very cool…it looks so real. It really looks like something that could exist.
0:17 – Oh, wow. The girl Michael saved isn’t just some random girl after all – she’s responsible for his powers? And she is not happy. Wait – Michael needs to disappear. New identity. Tell me this couldn’t still come out to be Luke Cage. They’ve already proven they’ll change up stuff from the comics, change stories around. This could still happen. “It’s an origin story.” OH COME ON!
0:16 – I’ve never seen a girl be so happy about dripping gunk before.
0:15 – This is really cool. Apparently taking the data from motion detectors, a corrupt data file from a camera, and an audio file gives them the ability to see a scene as it happened. This…is really something genius. And they see the centipede on that guy’s arm…starting to put the pieces together.
0:14 – Wow, Michael is really losing it. Agent May is not going to be happy about that when she wakes up. It’s really kind of sad, though – all he’s trying to do is find a way to provide for his son. I can certainly relate to that. Segue back to the Mobile Command Unit, and we finally see what really happened with that explosion, and anyone who saw Iron Man 3 should be familiar with it - Extremis. I think we might be seeing the beginnings of a full story arc here, something to last through at least several episodes.
0:09 – That’s right, Coulson, you tell them. There’s always a way! Hey, look at that, I was right – Agent May is NOT happy.
0:08 – Skye’s getting rid of Michael’s identity…so sue me, I’m hopeful. I don’t know why I want him to be Luke Cage so much, I just think it would be an awesome way to introduce another Marvel hero into this story.
0:07 – There’s a definite turnaround showing here from how much Skye distrusted anything S.H.I.E.L.D. related, to trusting them – or maybe just Coulson – enough to reach out to them when Michael takes her. If only she could have gotten to that point before it got bad for Michael. Whoa, did that just happen?! Coulson just totally Matrixed that door!
0:05 – Well, no one’s giving Michael a reason to trust them. Between Ward basically trying to take his head off, and that guy dressed at a police officer shooting at him…how would Michael know that guy’s not with them?
0:04 – It’s official. I love Melinda May.
0:03 – I’m a little disappointed, seeing the blood from the shot. Cage is supposed to have unbreakable skin. But…I’m still not unconvinced. In any case…I really can’t fault the guy for anything he’s done or saying. He has a point. But, you know what…he’s talking to the right person. No one could know better than Coulson.
0:02 – What the…dude. Did he seriously just shoot him? Did Ward shoot him? But that’s not his gun. Wait a second. No. Fitz-Simmons came through! Yes! But the look on Coulson’s face. Wow.
0:01 – I’m really glad it worked out for Michael. I hope we see him again…in some form or another. Hearing Coulson talk about the team, is it just me, or has Coulson basically pulled a Fury and formed his own sort of Avengers, just not…super-powered ones? And – what – oh my God that is AWESOME! That’s the car from the Stark Expo. The one Steve Rogers went to! Holy crap! Lola!
0:09 – That’s right, Coulson, you tell them. There’s always a way! Hey, look at that, I was right – Agent May is NOT happy.
0:08 – Skye’s getting rid of Michael’s identity…so sue me, I’m hopeful. I don’t know why I want him to be Luke Cage so much, I just think it would be an awesome way to introduce another Marvel hero into this story.
0:07 – There’s a definite turnaround showing here from how much Skye distrusted anything S.H.I.E.L.D. related, to trusting them – or maybe just Coulson – enough to reach out to them when Michael takes her. If only she could have gotten to that point before it got bad for Michael. Whoa, did that just happen?! Coulson just totally Matrixed that door!
0:05 – Well, no one’s giving Michael a reason to trust them. Between Ward basically trying to take his head off, and that guy dressed at a police officer shooting at him…how would Michael know that guy’s not with them?
0:04 – It’s official. I love Melinda May.
0:03 – I’m a little disappointed, seeing the blood from the shot. Cage is supposed to have unbreakable skin. But…I’m still not unconvinced. In any case…I really can’t fault the guy for anything he’s done or saying. He has a point. But, you know what…he’s talking to the right person. No one could know better than Coulson.
0:02 – What the…dude. Did he seriously just shoot him? Did Ward shoot him? But that’s not his gun. Wait a second. No. Fitz-Simmons came through! Yes! But the look on Coulson’s face. Wow.
0:01 – I’m really glad it worked out for Michael. I hope we see him again…in some form or another. Hearing Coulson talk about the team, is it just me, or has Coulson basically pulled a Fury and formed his own sort of Avengers, just not…super-powered ones? And – what – oh my God that is AWESOME! That’s the car from the Stark Expo. The one Steve Rogers went to! Holy crap! Lola!
Well, I think it goes without saying that this has blown me away. I had my expectations, and I was also fully expecting to be let down a little bit, but…it surpassed them completely. I didn’t think, when I decided to do a running diary of the episode, that every single minute would be packed with something that made me think. Every single minute. This episode served as a very good jumping off point for introducing us to the team of characters, and setting up the various stories to learn about each of them, as well as the story arcs for them to get involved in. I, for one, cannot wait for next Tuesday.
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