Week 9: The Asset, Eye Spy

The Asset: Oof, this was bad. I liked the "fun-house room" idea where gravity kept re-orienting Coulson and Hall at different angles, but everything else about this episode was a misfire, especially the dialogue with Skye. She's so badly written as to sound like Internet fanfic. Two irritating TV clichés -- the male nerd who gets flustered talking to or about women, and the action hero who barks "speak in English!" when the nerds get technical -- have popped up in all three episodes so far, and I really don't need to hear them again. (2/10)

To Erik's point about this feeling like "Marvel without the Marvel": It does feel like Phase One Marvel to me, in that it hasn't found its footing yet and it overemphasizes S.H.I.E.L.D. Who watches those early movies and thinks, "You know who I want to see a whole more of? Those nameless government bureaucrats!"

"The Asset" made a big deal about international law and how Malta won't let S.H.I.E.L.D. operate there. I thought the organization was completely above international law. I mean, we saw them attempt to nuke Manhattan. These don't seem like people who have to give a damn about treaties. Now all of a sudden, they're like, "But we can't cross that dotted line on the map. It's Malta! Their government won't let us!"

Right?!

Malta is where we draw the line?

Eye Spy: A small improvement but still not good. I felt some sympathy for Akela's plight: As someone who cannot concentrate while being watched, I would find her situation unlivable. And Ward's seduction scene was mildly amusing. But the writing around Coulson acting different since Tahiti is getting heavy-handed and doing a lot of telling not showing, and there continues to be a considerable gulf between the supposed technical skill of these agents and their foolish operational decisions that we see. Why improvise a very risky surgery to get Akela's eye out when you could put her in a Faraday cage to buy time? Why entrust May with the first watch when she is obviously itching to defy orders as soon as the boss isn't looking? Why walk around in broad daylight in a city square looking for a target who knows your face and will flee at the sight of you when you have other means to track her? (4/10)

This series has plenty of good song choices throughout, but my favorite must be Jed Whedon's "Bad Son" from the "Eye Spy" episode. Yes, that's co-showrunner Jed Whedon giving an uncredited boost of exposure to his own band, but I don't mind since the song itself is so pleasing.