Okay, okay, I've put this review off long enough, though honestly I'm not sure what I can say about this show. Everyone and their mother has already said something about it, and thankfully the consensus seems to be that the show was really good. Super-short review, I completely agree with this consensus. I really loved the show. When I heard about it, and heard who would be spearheading it, I worried that it would be too Marvel, and not Whedon-y enough, or vice versa. Thankfully my worries were completely unfounded. This show reminds me so much of the Avengers movie on a smaller scale. It has great characters, made to shine even brighter by those great Joss Whedon character interactions, good humor, lots of surprises, and oh so much wit. The show, while clearly being a Marvel show, also features all of the hallmarks of a Joss Whedon show as well. All of the characters are fun and likeable on their own, and yet still become better and stronger characters when brought together as a whole. Anyone who has seen one of Joss' shows knows that this ensemble writing is really the greatest strength of any of his productions, and in this area, the show simply does not disappoint.
This show features many of the other Whedon hallmarks as well. It has a plucky, strong female character with a sassy, snarky wit in Sky, who is easily my favorite character so far, it has a hero in Ward, it has the cute, mousey tech chick in Simmons, whose almost symbiotic relationship with her counterpart Fitz makes for some of the funniest geek dialogue since Big Bang, and you have the mysterious backstory with a character attached in Melinda May. And then there is Coulson, a character who Whedon obviously loved writing, evidenced by the Avengers movie. Coulson may have died for real and come back, or he may have had his death faked, but either way he's back, and he's just as awesome as he ever was. He's calm, knowledgeable, and capable, and every time he says or does anything, it has a true feeling of weight to it. Not to mention his bitchin car. It even looks like this show will use actors from past Whedon shows, as his shows usually do. In fact an actor from the Buffy spinoff Angel already appeared as early as the first episode in the role of Mike Peterson, the "Hooded Hero".
Which brings me to my next point, in fact, that as much as this is a Whedon show, it is also a Marvel show. It exists within the established Marvel Cinematic Universe, making near-constant reference to the events of that universe in the Pilot episode. The anti-S.H.I.E.L.D. actions of Sky are a result of the cover-ups of various super-related events, most recently the events of the Avengers movie, known in-series as the Battle of New York, and the team's first case is indirectly related to the events of Iron Man 3. The Marvel Cinematic Universe isn't always great, but it has always been, at least, good, and has proven to be a lot of fun, and if the show continues to do things as well as it has so far, we'll be able to visit that universe weekly. This show does so many things right. The effects were great for TV effects. The characters are likeable and interesting and rich, and yet virtually all of them have these secretive backstories which the writers can have fun filling in over time. The rules of the world of the show have already been well established, and yet the vastness of the universe in which the show exists leaves the show open to take virtually any direction that the writers and producers may wish it to take.
If I had to fault the show on anything, it would be that...uh...hmm...I can't think of anything. And this is coming from the guy who insists that nothing, nothing, is ever perfect, even within the realm of it's own franchise. You know what, kiddies, I think maybe I was wrong, because I genuinely can't think of a single thing to fault this show on. Every action of the characters, every line of dialogue, everything felt necessary, and not a single moment felt wasted. This may be the best all-around new show to air in a long time, and while I won't go so far as to say that the show as a whole is perfect (I'm sure there'll be some dud episodes down the line), I will go so far as to give the show a preliminary rating, based on the pilot episode, of 10 out of 10. Seriously guys, this is a big deal. I think the simple act of typing that just melted part of my brain...
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