Marvel's Agents Of SHIELD (Spoiler Alert)

[Cassandra]

What did Marie Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Dr. Streiten (Ron Glass) mean when they said that Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) could never know?

 

A. Coulson is a Life Model Decoy and he doesn't know it.

 

B. His Captain America Cars were ruined by Nick Fury.

 

C. He's a Clone.

 

D. He's a Skrull.

[bigbywolfe]

Shouldn't this be in the NGD board?

[Michael Hopcroft]

B he probably knows about.,

 

Given that his personality is intact and he has discussed the experience of having been near-dead with considerable clarity, the LMD theory seems unlikely. (Mind you I'm not clear on what an LMD is....)

 

So I'm pretty sure it's the real Coulson. But the mystery is not just how he survived, but why. SHIELD loses high-level, highly competent agents all the time. Few are worth the trouble of resurrecting -- and going to great lengths to do it to boot. What makes Phil Coulson so special? What's different about him that makes the unseen Nick Fury want to take such extraordinary measures to keep him alive and in the field? It's got to be more than simply him being very good at his job.

 

Nick Fury never does anything without a reason.

[Cassandra]

Shouldn't this be in the NGD board?

Probably, and I apologize for any problems.

[Hyper-Man]

...(Mind you I'm not clear on what an LMD is....)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Model_Decoy

http://marvel.wikia.com/Life-Model_Decoy

[TheQuestionMan]

Another S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent assumes the identity of Phil Colson. Using reconstructive surgery and ability to mimic other peoples' mannerisms and characteristics. A Doppelganger invented by Nick Fury create a Myth for the Agency. (Extreme physical and mental body modifications.)(

 

Just my two cents

 

QM

[JasonPacker]

I am fond of the "fan theory" that the little boy at the end of Captain America I, the one playing at being the Captain with his garage can lid shield, is little Phil Coulson. But wait, you say, that'd make him remarkably older than he appears in the modern movies and show. Well, what if he was one of the experimental subjects in attempts to reproduce the Super Soldier serum? It didn't quite have all the same effects, but a remarkable hardiness, longevity and enhanced senses of loyalty to his country and his fellow man might have been the result.

[kahuna's bro]

I choose option A

I had an thought about this moment ago maybe agent Coulson doesn't care HOW he survived loki's ambush he's just glad he DID

[Cassandra]

On another topic the show does show us that Transportation can also serve as a base.

[Michael Hopcroft]

And the plane, although it doesn't seem to be built for combat, seems pretty neat too. Nice roomy interior, that you can keep and put all kinds of things in (like Sky's van -- will she still be using it in future episodes?).

 

Still, it would be interesting to see what might happen in the future if someone were in fact to try shooting down the plane (although they'd probably have to find it first and it seems to have some pretty extensive stealth protection). Imagine all that delicate equipment bouncing around the cabin as Mei is dodging drones, missiles, or random guys in stolen power armor....

[Lord Liaden]

I think the show has potential. Everybody is distinctive, brings their own plot hooks, as well as plenty of interesting baggage.

 

Agent Ward is my least favorite character so far. He seems too perfect in his looks and too detached in his demeanor, like someone pretending to be James Bond. Hopefully he'll warm up and I'll warm up to him as the show progresses.

 

I like the concept of FitzSimmons, but I'm having trouble deciphering their accents, especially when they start talking fast. Perhaps I just need to acclimate.

 

The majority of the cast appears almost painfully young, to the point where I have a little trouble taking them seriously as all being chosen for this team. Thank goodness for seasoned pros Clark Gregg and Ming Na Wen, who add a sense of maturity and gravity to the group.

[Lord Liaden]

What did Marie Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Dr. Streiten (Ron Glass) mean when they said that Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) could never know? A. Coulson is a Life Model Decoy and he doesn't know it. B. His Captain America Cars were ruined by Nick Fury. C. He's a Clone. D. He's a Skrull.

 

Coulson's return was touted as an ongoing mystery that the show would explore. I'm glad that Phil himself isn't aware of the truth -- the revelation is likely to affect him deeply, whatever it is.

 

And as to that: Coulson was stabbed with an alien blade powered by a limitless cosmic artifact. He then held and fired a prototype weapon cobbled together from the remains of the Asgardian Destroyer. There's enough unleashed comic-book weirdness right there to justify a resurrection, and a lot more besides.

[psyber624]

I'm going to go with E.

 

Coulson had or gained Superhuman powers of some sort either before or (as LL suggested above) as the result of the method of his demise.

 

Although there has been a disturbing trend on television lately where lazy writers either have "Big Secrets" that turn out to be lame, meaningless drivel or Ominous Foreshadowing that turns out to be the same. Two of my favorite shows premiered their new seasons and both started with an "Oh no someone dies/might die this episode!" moment prior to "flashing back" to actually start the show, and then the situation resolves itself VERY weakly with none of the promised drama/tension the "flash forward" hinted at.

[wcw43921]

Although there has been a disturbing trend on television lately where lazy writers either have "Big Secrets" that turn out to be lame, meaningless drivel or Ominous Foreshadowing that turns out to be the same.

 

That's what our Mr. Whedon is facing.  No matter how cool and brilliant an explanation he gives us for Coulson being alive, there will be a contingent of Internetists who will proclaim as loudly as they can, "You call that an explanation?  IT STINKS!!!  It's the most stupid thing ever!  Who told you you could be in television, you schmuck!"

 

I would be willing to lay down a nice crisp Washington that if Joss had to do The Avengers again, he would not had killed off Coulson, he would have written the scene an entirely different way and kept him alive.  I'd lay down another crisp Washington that if he thought he could get away with it, he would have posted a notice at the beginning of the first several episodes saying, "Look, guys--if I had known Coulson was going to be that popular, I wouldn't have killed him in The Avengers.  So why don't we all just pretend that didn't happen?  If fans can pretend that there wasn't a second Highlander movie or Star Trek V: The Final Frontier didn't exist, couldn't we pretend that Coulson wasn't killed by Loki?  Can't ya cut me that little bit of slack?  After all--I'm Joss Whedon!" 

 

But things being what they are, he doesn't get a do-over, he doesn't get to beg the fans' indulgence.  He just has to come up with a cool and brilliant explanation that a sizeable number of fans are going to thoroughly and completely hate.  So when we finally get the explanation of how Coulson survived being skewered by Loki, perhaps we could try not to hate it right away. 

 

Can't we cut him that little bit of slack?  After all--he's Joss Whedon.

[Hugh Neilson]

But...

 

but...

 

How can we do that, knowing that every one of us posting on the Internet could do a way better job casting, writing, directing, acting - every aspect, really - than the people who do this for a living, and are highly successful?

 

Just tell us "he was stabbed but survived, Fury figured that wouldn't be as motivating as 'He's dead because you couldn't get your act together, boys", so he kept the intel down, then sent Phil to Tahiti to recuperate where his secret could stay secret a little longer.  That's a logical explanation which we'll declaim as being "lame", but it requires a lot less work and imagination than the more wondrous reveals that would just get classified as "lame" by posters who have nothing more productive to do.

 

 

 

Yeah, I know - pretty lame post! 

[Chris Goodwin]

The Plane reminds me a lot of Serenity.  

[Lord Liaden]

Ever since Marvel's The Avengers came out, Joss Whedon has been telling everyone who'll listen that Coulson's death was not his idea. It was insisted upon by Marvel's film producer, Kevin Feige. Joss crafted the way Phil died, but the death itself was mandated by Feige. Whedon knew he'd get flack for this, so as he emphatically states it, "Han shot first, and Kevin killed Coulson."

 

Joss is taking credit for bringing Coulson back, though.

[Lord Liaden]

The Plane reminds me a lot of Serenity.  

 

Much more elegant and luxurious, though. Obviously the product of a construction company with a higher budget. 

 

Fury reading Coulson the riot act over damaging the plane last episode seemed a bit petty to me, but it did serve as a reminder that Phil still has to answer to higher-ups. Although I did love his last-line call at the end of the episode: "Cancel the fish tank."

[kahuna's bro]

maybe agent coulson had better start treating "the bus like he treats" lola"

[psyber624]

Fury didn't feel like Fury to me at the end of the last episode, way to "whiny" and not "Hard" enough.

 

As far as the reason Coulson lived, I am perfectly okay with the explanation

 

"he was stabbed but survived, Fury figured that wouldn't be as motivating as 'He's dead because you couldn't get your act together, boys", so he kept the intel down, then sent Phil to Tahiti to recuperate where his secret could stay secret a little longer.

 

I am NOT okay with the whole "Does he know?" hints and foreshadowing, and we have his word for word response (which reads as Mind Programming to me, although I could be reading too much into it), and whatever else they do to "explore Coulson's survival" only to find out in the end that the big secret was <see above quote>. Don't build it up if your not going to have something worthy of the buildup.

 

And they did the same thing in this last episode. Spoiler Alert!!!!(For this and CSI)

 

We start with a scene of the explosion on the plane and someone getting thrown out into the air. Then we cut away to "X hours earlier" (I can't remember how long it was). That one wasn't quite as bad (no way were the killing off one of the cast members this early in the show) but CSI premiered with a funeral (we were meant to believe Ecklies daughter dies (cant remember her name right now) That kind of "false foreshadowing" is old, lame, and overused right now.

 

[Old Man]

Do LMDs bleed?  I ask since he got worked over a bit in the last episode.

 

And the plane, although it doesn't seem to be built for combat, seems pretty neat too. Nice roomy interior, that you can keep and put all kinds of things in (like Sky's van -- will she still be using it in future episodes?). Still, it would be interesting to see what might happen in the future if someone were in fact to try shooting down the plane (although they'd probably have to find it first and it seems to have some pretty extensive stealth protection). Imagine all that delicate equipment bouncing around the cabin as Mei is dodging drones, missiles, or random guys in stolen power armor....

 

 

I know just slightly too much about airplanes, so the design of the plane bothers me.  It does look nice though:

 

[clsage]

"Tahiti. It's a magical place."

 

Asgardian healing, anyone?

[kahuna's bro]

Thor DOES consider the "son of coul "[as thor addressed him] as a friend he could have petitioned odin's help

[Hyper-Man]

Do LMDs bleed?  I ask since he got worked over a bit in the last episode.

 

 

 

I know just slightly too much about airplanes, so the design of the plane bothers me.  It does look nice though:

 

 

The 2 engines in the back only make sense if they are for some type of VTOL feature.  Otherwise they are each too close in line with the exhaust of the 2 engines in front of them.

[wcw43921]

I was thinking they may be booster engines, capable of taking the Bus supersonic in they need to get somewhere in a hurry, or if they need a speed boost to evade incoming missiles.  (That would make a nice tribute to The Incredibles, I think.)

 

@Michael and Old Man--you have a point about the plane's aerodynamics, or lack of them.  But I'm thinking that for this show, the Rule Of Cool trumps the laws of aerodynamics.  And let me tell you. it's not easy making a cargo plane come across as cool.