Anghus Houvouras reviews the fifth episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D….
I was on Twitter the other night when a fellow self-professed geek made the following bold declaratory statement:
“Arrow is the best TV show based on a comic ever #NODEBATE”
And my first thought was “Is that really a massive accomplishment?”
Did shows like Smallville really set the bar that high? Or Lois and Clark? Or The Flash? Or Birds of Prey? Truth be told, most comic book to television adaptations are pretty miserable, and very few achieve any level of success beyond kitsch or fan service. Sure, Wonder Woman was responsible for several hundred thousand masturbatory fantasies, but was it good television?
The only comic book based TV show I could think of that felt creatively successful was the old Incredible Hulk show of the 1970’s that relied heavily on the audience not giggling when the green painted bodybuilder showed up and threw heavy objects in slow motion. I can even muster fondness for the old Superman series of 1950’s and the Batman series of 1960’s because they existed in a less cynical time and were stripped down to the most earnest interpretations of the comic book.
My point is, Arrow has little competition when it comes to television adaptations. Comic books have not fared well on the small screen. This conversation rattled around my brain as I watched the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “Girl in the Flower Dress”
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been an interesting experiment because it’s attempting to be a comic book show that is decidedly unlike a comic book and isn’t all that showy. The small screen seems like the perfect place for this misfit crew of special agents tasked with corralling the ever growing world of super powered happenings. The first four episodes have been marginally inconsistent, but the show was starting to click. There’s a lot of detractors out there bemoaning the series thus far, but I felt like it was moving in the right direction.
The fifth episode has made me wonder if that’s really the case.
“Girl in the Flower Dress” isn’t a bad episode. Certainly not the inconsistent mismanaged first two episodes. But it’s kind of boring and doesn’t take the audience anywhere new. For a series five episodes in, I shouldn’t be experiencing this much deja vu.
Turns out there’s a pyrokinetic in China under the watchful eye of S.H.I.E.L.D. who is kidnapped after a rouge hacker with ties to The Rising Tide and Skye performs a Julian Assange style data dump of secret records. We see the return of the mysterious Centipede organization from the pilot who are experimenting on super powered individuals looking for a way to control the highly volatile Extremis.
The episode falls into familiar patterns quickly. Skye’s loyalties are once again questioned. Coulson gets real serious. And the rest of the team finds a way to minimally contribute in order to save the day. A lot of “The Girl in the Flower Dress” felt kind of tedious. Episodic television often relies on a certain pattern of storytelling, but the patterns in S.H.I.E.L.D. are starting to wear out.
Things like the marginally super-powered beings, mostly due to the budget limitations of television. The mention of an iconic Marvel character in every single episode. When a girl from the villainous Centipede organization shoehorns Captain America into her pitch to their new super-powered recruit, it feels almost cringe-worthy. Here’s the thing: you can go one episode without reminding the audience that this show exists in the same fictional space as the Avengers. Chances are we are well aware of that fact.
There were some fun moments in the episode. The opening game of Battleship was fun, and Coulson’s delivery of “they gave him a name” was priceless.
However, after the excellent fourth episode, “The Girl in the Flower Dress” feels like a step back. It’s an average episode in a show that is desperately struggling for an identity. It’s like the creators are trying to figure out what this show is supposed to be. Is it a ‘freak of the week’ concept like Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Is it a quirky team adventure show like Firefly? Or is it something altogether different?
Arrow works because it has a clear focus of what it wants to be. It exploits the unused corners of the DC Universe and has fun with the characters. Nothing about the characters used in Arrow feels shoehorned. Everything fits nicely into place. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. could use a little of Arrow’s holistic qualities. It’s still a show searching for rhythm.
I’m still a fan of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but I can feel myself slowly turning into an apologist. Let’s hope next week’s installment fares better.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the novel My Career Suicide Note, is available from Amazon.
Originally published October 23, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
