S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Up

Last night marked the return of Joss Whedon to television with the premiere of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. In his role as steward of the Marvel franchise, Joss worked with his brother Jed Whedon and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen to create this new series (with more punctuation marks by far than any other show on television). And while Joss is not expected to have as large a role in the day-to-day running of this show as he has with his past shows, he did direct the pilot episode, and put his stamp all over it.

SHIELD (it's just easier that way) was filled with the elements Whedon's fans love him for: characters who don't always take themselves too seriously, rapid-fire dialogue laced with pop culture references and wit, and moments of drama and heart. The pilot also brought in a few guest stars from the "Whedon Repertory Company" as well -- Firefly's Ron Glass and Angel's J. August Richards (as well as a cameo appearance from Cobie Smulders). The table is set.

There's no question that I enjoyed the first episode, and that I'll be there for more. That said, I wasn't blown away by it. In fairness, none of Whedon's other shows (with the exception of Firefly) impressed to that degree in its first episode either. And there's really only so much you can do in 42 minutes. So if some of the new characters aren't quite popping yet -- either overshadowed by excellent Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson; or feeling thus far like transplants from other shows, like Fitz-Simmons as the two-person version of Topher from Dollhouse -- there will be time to develop. I guess I just mean that if I'm judging simply from one episode, I was a bit more impressed by Monday night's debut of The Blacklist (which I may come back to here on the blog) than I was the premiere of SHIELD.

But I'm by no means passing final judgement now. SHIELD certainly seems to have all the elements in place that it will need to become a great series. I'd give the premiere a B+, and I'm looking forward to what comes next.