Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

The setup is slow, but the show captures shadowy Coulson, sarcastic Grant (Brett Dalton), combat vet Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), and Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), whose superpower is Britishness. Bonus points for wry dialogue by co-creator Joss Whedon. [20/27 Sep 2013, p.144]

All in all, it's a very promising start.

Even though the team's first assignment—involving an ordinary guy with strange new powers (J. August Richards)--is kind of average as adventures go, the actors seem to have found a snappy groove already.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. looks to be the most fun you’ll find in an hour of prime time this fall.

There’s actually not a single weak link in the cast. The weakness of the premiere comes down to plotting. There’s a slightly melodramatic arc involving a commentary on the current economic state of the country.

The show is likely to score big ratings for its premiere, and early evidence indicates there's enough to keep people coming back.

The pilot does a deft job of managing expectations for a world we're used to seeing splashed on a larger screen.

Beyond the breezy dialogue, MAoS is terrific-looking and has action scenes that are above par for primetime. Not enough to wow you, but a fun date.

Not only is Gregg a beloved actor playing a beloved character, Coulson is the perfect guide for Whedon's vision. He's a super-power-adjacent Everyman who may be able to make the television series just as good, in its own way, as the film franchise.

The pilot, which obviously had a big budget, looks almost as sleek as a movie. Creator Joss Whedon promises the show will work hard to stay on that level. It will live or die, however, on whether we want to keep watching its characters. Right up front, the answer is we do.

A terrifically entertaining action-adventure hour that pays dividends for 'Avengers' fanboys/girls but isn't so insular that the uninitiated will be baffled.

Paired with the endearing self-awareness and cerebral nods to pop culture Whedon brings to his best projects, it’s the perfect setup for fall’s most promising new TV show.

Whedon’s trademark humor in the midst of action-adventure (per “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) saves the day as often as the very human, yet very gifted heroes. That protects the fantastical from becoming ridiculous.

Gregg has a deadpan ease that makes the engine purr. And his team is good-looking and stamped with just enough personality and humor: Without killing the fun, they ground the show. [14 Oct 2013, p.43]

There's action, wit and dry humor, and some entertaining if not dazzling special effects. Again accessibly, most episodes will be stand-alone, with an underlying mythology to ramp up the stakes.

Gregg’s resurrected Coulson so far is the much-needed glue, lending a familiar presence and sturdy countenance.

All told, it's a much more promising start to things than the first episode of "Dollhouse."

The show’s pricey-looking pilot caters to both comic book geeks and mainstream viewers with its witty writing and special effects.

For better or worse, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is the best network drama pilot of the fall, but that’s mainly because so many of the other network drama pilots don’t even seem to be trying. There’s good stuff in S.H.I.E.L.D.; there are also things that feel curiously muted and cautious.

Just enough geeky insider stuff to keep the fan-boys from grousing too much, but an even bigger portion of well-written action, drama, humor and intricate plot details to hook viewers who gave up comic books before Steve Canyon was grounded.

Gregg's the best thing in the pilot.... the pilot definitely has its moments.

The first episode is zippy, slick-looking, and Whedonistically funny. It also seems much more limited in its ambitions than Whedon’s past TV shows; it seems to be set up largely as a procedural in which the agents defuse various threats of the week.

If the S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot is a bit of a slow-burner, not so much a "wow" as a "hmmmm" as it assembles its team of head-turning secret agents--they're the heroes behind the superheroes, operating in the shadows as the more famous good guys reap the headlines--the potential is sky's-the-limit huge for this clever action romp.

Everything works and the actors range from fine to good--although the fast-talking chatter between De Caestecker and Henstridge gets old quickly--but it doesn’t exactly crackle with excitement. It’s fun, but a little flat in spots.

While the cast is fine, some of the banter they exchange (courtesy of Whedon, who also directed the pilot, brother Jed and Maurissa Tancharoen) occasionally feels a little precious and clunky.

The pilot is one of those good-not-great propositions that many pilots are, particularly those trying to establish a complex world.

If you haven’t been reading Marvel Comics lately... then the show can feel somewhat exclusionary and, frankly, a little too cornball and cutesy about its own geekiness.

This may not be the strongest first showing, but if it finds its rhythm soon, playing off of its existing strengths and shedding its weaknesses, this will be a compelling hour.

The team assembled in the first episode is less a team and more a loose collection of brooding loners.... [Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) is] an oasis amid all this peevishness.

Mr. Gregg hits the same appealing note of wry authority that he struck in “The Avengers” (it’s not yet clear whether he has any others), and the newcomer Brett Dalton shows some charm as a Bond-style operative. Joss Whedon, meanwhile, has fun with the show’s obligatory jabs of self-awareness.... The first week’s adventure feels perfunctory, though, even given the constraint of introducing characters and back story, and most of the team members are still strictly two-dimensional.

The show has a sound concept.... But the script, by Joss, Jed and Tancharoen, with Joss directing, is a mite too pleased with itself.