The Bridge [HD]

Started shaky, but rapidly improving
When I first reviewed this show, I criticized its lack of both character development and a strong connection to the established Marvel Comics universe. Thankfully, as of recent episodes, those issues have begun to fade.

It finally feels as if Marvel's Agents of SHIELD is beginning to live up to Joss Whedon's vision: to be a fun, engaging drama about "normal" people dealing with the challenges of a world where superheroes are just beginning to emerge. While I've heard the show's numerous references to "The Avengers" described as gimmicky, they do make sense. A huge wormhole opened up in the sky over New York City and coughed up an alien army, for crying out loud. People are going to tend to talk about that a lot. One of the show's best points, by the way, is its global feel. It doesn't make the mistake of having every single paranormal event happen in America. So far, we've visited South America, Sweden, and Hong Kong - and the inclusion of actual footage filmed in some of...

Paper Thin Characters and Stupid Plots
A show like this tries to make its biggest appeal by making the audience love the characters. So what do you do when the characters are as thin as tissue paper, utterly predictable, and hopelessly stereotypical? I watched roughly half of the first season then decided to give it up.

Basically, each episode starts out by presenting at the beginning a simple plot that simply narrates itself through the entire episode. Each character plays out its given part in utterly predictable fashion, the tough guy acts tough, the smart guy acts smart, the tough girl backs up the tough guy, the smart girl backs up the smart guy, and agent Coulson gives everyone the proper answers at the proper time. PREDICTABLE AND BORING!!! Watch the first episode and all other episodes follow the exact same formula. No character development (other than a reaffirmation of the paper thin character stereotypes presented at the beginning), no plot surprises (everything is easily understood in the opening...

Something worth watching
With the departure of WAREHOUSE 13, we finally have something worth watching. It's been too long since we've seen the "Grr! Arrgh!" Yes, there are a lot of tv tropes at play, but Joss Whedon is adept at turning them on their ear. Loved not only the connections to AVENGERS and IRON MAN 3, and the appearance by Maria Hill, but also the mention of Project Pegasus (which in the comics is a center for aleternative energy sources slash prison for supervillains. Skye's mention of it seems to be to a past event, and let's hope it's not too much like Binghamton on ALPHAs. Another nice touch was the way Whedon never forgets actors whom he's used before: J August Richards and Ron Glass were welcome sights. Will definitely be purchasing each episode as soon as it appears on Amazon!

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