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sabotabbyFirst, this is a good summary of why the show sucks so far. (Teal deer: There are no superheroics and all the characters are really bland.)
Second, my sense is that the politics are at least in part geared towards me? Ish? Whedon's politics are conflicted at best; on the one hand, Buffy and Firefly were, despite their flaws, quite feminist and progressive shows, on the other hand, Dollhouse. But moreover, he has this strong libertarian streak but he's now writing a show about a secretive government organization that occasionally kidnaps people and presumably does worse off-stage. This could be really interesting, and at the moment it's enough to keep me watching to see what develops, but it is, as the kids say, Highly Problematic.
I *should* have liked the last episode. It had a libertarian villain who was essentially Evil!Not Hot!Tony Stark spouting Ayn Rand, and a decent twist ending.
But all characters save Coulson and possibly May are, yes, incredibly bland. I mean, Coulson is kind of bland too, but that's the point of him. Everyman works for exactly one character, not five. Everyman should definitely not be the quirkiest character in an ensemble show, WTF? Even the tragic backstories are cliché. Can we not have better trauma?
Also, after three episodes which had, in sequence 1) an out-of-control dangerous black man, 2) evil Latin Americans, and 3) POC henchmen and arm candy, I'm starting to think that the show has some skeevy race issues. See further Firefly's lack of Asians, Buffy's lack of Latinos, and Gunn needing a brain upgrade on Angel.
Also, Skye is a terrible, terrible character. She's Gwen from Torchwood only not very good.* She seems to exist only to say stupid things (she was pro-Shining Path/anti-mining activists/which are the same thing amirite? in the second episode because they were sticking it to the Man, only to change her mind when someone she know got hurt, and then in this latest one she had to provide the pro-billionaire philanthropist perspective which, what?). I do not believe that a "hacktivist" would not know a single thing about infiltration or lockpicking. This is not something that requires extensive research. It requires ONE (1) trip to any hackerspace anywhere or conversely, hanging out on BoingBoing for about 30 seconds if you're utterly lazy. Hackers do not see a locked door and go, "umm it's locked what do I do now?"
I am also sad because Rising Tide is a pretty good sekrit hacker organization name, and it is being wasted on a bad show.
Incidentally, here is how to fix the show:
1. Lose everyone but Coulson and possibly May and Fitz (because he has a nice accent and the thing with the monkey was reasonably funny).
2. Hire uglier actors with more personality.
3. Make the show like Trigun. (Which, if you haven't seen it, is about a guy with insanely destructive superpowers who gets followed around by two insurance adjusters who want to account for all of the damage he leaves in his wake when he's trying to save the world. It's also a Christ allegory but it's the bit with the insurance adjusters that I liked best.) Essentially, have it be about regular people trying to do good in the presence of gods and monsters. Regular as in non-powered, not regular as in boring. Blowing up shit is cool on the big screen; now let's see a story about the people who have to mop up after the destruction.
4. Get the conflict between the institution and the individual more blatant and throw some decent writing at it, not just a frank exchange of clichés.
* See what I did there?
I am mostly watching because new Joss show and I'm willing to give it half a season in the hopes that it gets good, and also because there's a temporary TV void in my life while everything I like is either ended or on hiatus. And also because I enjoy mocking it, but it'd be nice to have something good to watch.
Second, my sense is that the politics are at least in part geared towards me? Ish? Whedon's politics are conflicted at best; on the one hand, Buffy and Firefly were, despite their flaws, quite feminist and progressive shows, on the other hand, Dollhouse. But moreover, he has this strong libertarian streak but he's now writing a show about a secretive government organization that occasionally kidnaps people and presumably does worse off-stage. This could be really interesting, and at the moment it's enough to keep me watching to see what develops, but it is, as the kids say, Highly Problematic.
I *should* have liked the last episode. It had a libertarian villain who was essentially Evil!Not Hot!Tony Stark spouting Ayn Rand, and a decent twist ending.
But all characters save Coulson and possibly May are, yes, incredibly bland. I mean, Coulson is kind of bland too, but that's the point of him. Everyman works for exactly one character, not five. Everyman should definitely not be the quirkiest character in an ensemble show, WTF? Even the tragic backstories are cliché. Can we not have better trauma?
Also, after three episodes which had, in sequence 1) an out-of-control dangerous black man, 2) evil Latin Americans, and 3) POC henchmen and arm candy, I'm starting to think that the show has some skeevy race issues. See further Firefly's lack of Asians, Buffy's lack of Latinos, and Gunn needing a brain upgrade on Angel.
Also, Skye is a terrible, terrible character. She's Gwen from Torchwood only not very good.* She seems to exist only to say stupid things (she was pro-Shining Path/anti-mining activists/which are the same thing amirite? in the second episode because they were sticking it to the Man, only to change her mind when someone she know got hurt, and then in this latest one she had to provide the pro-billionaire philanthropist perspective which, what?). I do not believe that a "hacktivist" would not know a single thing about infiltration or lockpicking. This is not something that requires extensive research. It requires ONE (1) trip to any hackerspace anywhere or conversely, hanging out on BoingBoing for about 30 seconds if you're utterly lazy. Hackers do not see a locked door and go, "umm it's locked what do I do now?"
I am also sad because Rising Tide is a pretty good sekrit hacker organization name, and it is being wasted on a bad show.
Incidentally, here is how to fix the show:
1. Lose everyone but Coulson and possibly May and Fitz (because he has a nice accent and the thing with the monkey was reasonably funny).
2. Hire uglier actors with more personality.
3. Make the show like Trigun. (Which, if you haven't seen it, is about a guy with insanely destructive superpowers who gets followed around by two insurance adjusters who want to account for all of the damage he leaves in his wake when he's trying to save the world. It's also a Christ allegory but it's the bit with the insurance adjusters that I liked best.) Essentially, have it be about regular people trying to do good in the presence of gods and monsters. Regular as in non-powered, not regular as in boring. Blowing up shit is cool on the big screen; now let's see a story about the people who have to mop up after the destruction.
4. Get the conflict between the institution and the individual more blatant and throw some decent writing at it, not just a frank exchange of clichés.
* See what I did there?
I am mostly watching because new Joss show and I'm willing to give it half a season in the hopes that it gets good, and also because there's a temporary TV void in my life while everything I like is either ended or on hiatus. And also because I enjoy mocking it, but it'd be nice to have something good to watch.
