First episode of Agents of SHIELD I felt set up the show nicely. The team was assembled. We see that it’s non-traditional circumstances and it’s a bunch of highly skilled misfits. Coulson is back from the dead and there’s some big secret in that regard and the main threat is a callback from the super soldiers in Iron Man 3. I love all of the tie ins already!
- We meet Agent Ward on assignment. We should assume the guy in the red tie is a bad guy, but we don’t really know him or what he does though we find out later he’s an owner (possibly dealer) in alien technology. He’s at a Paris bistro and he’s finished his drink. His table companion still has some wine left in his glass. He’s a wealthy high roller of questionable morals and we can tell this because he’s in Paris and he’s a target of secret agent good guys. I don’t know what he was drinking so I won’t count it, but I will count the glass of wine on the table.
Booze Tally: 1 glass of white wine - “Got out of the ICU. Fury stuck me in a grass shack in Tahiti. Rough gig. Mai Tais, Travis McGee novels and a physical therapist whose command of English was irrelevant”
Booze Tally: 1 Mai Tai by reference - “This is QNBT16. It’s the top shelf Martini of sodium pentathol derivatives. It’s a brand new and extremely potent truth drug”
Booze Tally: 1 Martini by reference
- The main threat of the episode has been suppressed and Agents Ward, Fitz and Simmons are kicking back with some Chinese takeout and some beers. Note: There are only three beers. There isn’t a half empty six pack on the table or twelve pack on the floor. This is relaxation and reward, not getting wasted, so they maintain their hero stature while endearing themselves to the common man
Booze Tally: 3 beers
So far this setup looks like a lot of team shows that borrows heavily from the adventuring party style of 1980s roleplaying games. Every character has a class, attributes, and level and in the 90s those old fantasy RPGs turned into modern settings and scenarios inspired by popular shows like X-Files. I’m eager to see how this develops
And Coulson has a flying car
