S.H.I.E.L.D., Wake-Up - Jan 25

‘Wake-Up’ was aired last night. Moreover, it was good. Dr. Holden has his flaws, but he, (as well as Aida Mk II), are decent enough, and original, villains by now. Their treatment of May may not be as horrifying as the abuse that Kara went through at Whitehall’s hands in S2, but still evil enough (but more on it later). That’s point a.

Point b is probably Mack. Henry Simmons did not have much screen time this episode, but the scriptwriters still did their best to round him up. We know now that he had an ex-wife and a daughter who died just days after her birth, so while Mack and his ex are, well, exes, some connection between them remains. (BTW, AoS S3 had introduced Mack’s younger brother Reuben, remember?) Yo-Yo will have to work it in if she wants a relationship with Mack (and hopefully she does).

Point C is the failure of S.H.I.E.L.D. to infiltrate senator Nadeer’s office. Yes, S3 had an episode post-Maveth, but the truth is that any show usually has a limited amount of material, especially original material, to make a plot. AoS S4 has been underwhelming from the mid-season finale, so there is no surprise that this lacklustre streak has continued in the ‘LMD’ story arc. It still worked – S.H.I.E.L.D. could use a setback – so ‘Wake-Up’ was a good episode in this aspect as well.

The only problem was the finale, when Radcliffe has put May into a Bahrain-based mental stimulator. (Hello, ‘Matrix’?) It may sound strange, but is Andrew coming back? He was killed back in S3… as Lash, but still killed. If he is coming back, in whatever manner, then…

Then it is more of the recycling that has been plaguing AoS from S3 until now. Even official reviewers of the series, even its’ fans admit that the show is clearly recycling its’ old ideas, (see above), and this was one of the reasons why its’ popularity has dropped so sharply in S3, especially in its’ second half. AoS was aware of the issue, and it has subtly rebooted itself before S4…or at least tried to. By now it is obvious that the issue has not been put to rest, but continues to resurface every once in a while. Regardless, ‘Wale-Up’ was a still good episode, and I have honestly enjoyed watching it. Until next time, when we talk about ‘Riverdale’…maybe.

(So: AoS is beginning to get itself together, but it is not entirely successful yet. Good luck to it all the same.)

PS: And here is an NPC from Pathfinder. The new Worldscape comic has arrived, so I took a ranger from the NPC Codex and rebuilt him as a new archetype. Does it work?

JUNGLE LORD CR 19

XP 204,800

Human ranger 20

CE Medium humanoid (human)

Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +25

DEFENSE

AC 33, touch 18, flat-footed 26 (+8 armor, +3 deflection, +9 Dex, +1 dodge, +5 natural)

hp 184 (20d10+70)

Fort +20, Ref +22, Will +13

Special Attacks victory cry

Defensive Abilities improved evasion; Immune fire (120 points), poison; Resist cold 30

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.

Melee+2 longspear +28/+23/+18/+13 (1d8+11/x3)

Ranged oathbow +28/+23/+18/+13 (1d8+8/19–20/×3)

STATISTICS

Str 22, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 11, Wis 14, Cha 8

Base Atk +20; CMB +26; CMD 45

Feats Bleeding Critical, Blinding Critical, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Deadly Aim, Dodge, Endurance, Improved Critical (composite longbow), Improved Initiative, Improved Precise Shot, Manyshot, Point-Blank Shot, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus (composite longbow)

Skills Acrobatics +15 (+19 when jumping), Climb +19, Handle Animal +12,Heal +15, Knowledge (geography) +13, Knowledge (nature) +18, Knowledge (planes) +5, Linguistics +8, Perception +25, Ride +18, Stealth +28, Survival +25, Swim +14

Languages Common, Sylvan

SQ animal focus, brachiation, favored terrain (forest +2, jungle +4, mountain +2), hardened by nature, hide in plain sight, hunter's bond (animal companion), inspired moment, strong bond, swift tracker, track +10, wild empathy +19, woodland stride

Combat Gear+1 anarchic arrows (5), boots of speed, +1 flaming arrows (5), +1 frost arrows (5), +1 shock arrows (5), +1 unholy arrows (5), potions of cure serious wounds (2), potions of delay poison (2), scroll of neutralize poison, adamantine arrows (5), purple worm poison (2), smokesticks (5), tanglefoot bags (5); Other Gear+4 mithral chain shirt, +2 longsword, oathbow (+6 Str) with 30 arrows, belt of physical might +4 (Str, Dex), cloak of resistance +5, efficient quiver, ring of protection +3, ring of sustenance, 4,195 gp

The Librarians - Jan 22

‘The Librarians 2014’ S3 has ended. It was good, as ‘The Librarians’ were before, the only issue was the limited budget and special effects, but otherwise? It was still good. Not too scary, not too childish, the titular heroes saved the day, Apep is gone, as is the rest of pure evil that he tried to conjure up, (it was just shown as a generic black smoke cloud, with some blue lightning – not very evil, actually), and DOSA will probably disband…or at the very least, it won’t be mentioned, (or be making appearance) in S4 at all. (Or maybe it will, if ‘The Librarians’ need some sort of a villain that isn’t very original – it could happen).

‘The Librarians’ are a good show, but neither are they ‘that’ good. You can watch them when they return in S4, (if they do – this sort of thing is fickle), or you may not, it all comes down to your taste. ‘The Librarians’ don’t captivate; they entertain and amuse, and sometimes this isn’t enough.

…Oh sure, they have tried changing the formula here, as I written regarding the previous episode, but they did it in a half-hearted way; Ezekiel’s new love interest Cindy has disappeared, completely, and Charlene seems to be coming and going sporadically, playing only a minor role here. Odds are, the limited budget affects more than just the special effects…

…Also ending is ‘Salem’ the series. It was a very good horror show, and it will be missed, but to counterbalance it, I suppose, ‘Riverdale’ is coming to TV – mainly to the CW, but still. As I have also written before, it is yet another adaptation of ‘Archies’, this one with plenty of changes, especially secondary ones, but the main character depictions are the same, although if Archie ends up with a new and younger Ms. Grundy, now that will be a plot twist.

…The truth is that ‘Archies’ regularly tries to go beyond its’ comic book limits. Aside from the already mentioned ‘STTW’, that didn’t really have any characters beyond the ‘Sabrina’-related ones, but was still set in Riverdale, there had been an ‘Archie and friends’ cartoon show, where the gang was in junior high school rather than high school, and Dilton was replaced by his Afro-American counterpart named Eugene. I think that it vanished after a single season.

‘Archie’s Weird Mysteries’ lasted for 3 seasons. It was another cartoon, one about the supernatural – ghouls, werewolves, especially vampires – and its’ episodes usually held some sort of a moral lesson for the viewers. Other cartoons, like ‘Guardians of Legends’, also tried the same approach; at least AWM didn’t go for specifically Christian values as ‘Guardians’ did, even though the latter were actually about Greek myths, (and mangled them terribly, especially the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Argonauts’ story arcs); plus ‘Guardians’ had aired their S2 before S1, so nowadays they are found mostly on the Internet, and they aren’t very popular.

With AWM it is somewhat different – ‘Archies’ is deliberately keeping AWM off YouTube and the like; they really don’t like to share, which makes ‘Riverdale’ only more surprising – this is a major breakthrough for them, especially now. Of course, it should be remembered that ‘Archies’ do best with a limited series, such as ‘Archie vs. Predator’, (yeah, that predator), while when it tries to do something longer, like the series where a grown-up version of Archie married Betty in universe, and Veronica in another, the result just fizzles out, as that particular series had. Who knows if ‘Riverdale’ will not experience something similar?

Finally, ‘For Honor’ is also beginning to beta tested for real this January. As people know now, it is going to be a platform game with three factions – the Samurais, the Vikings, and the Knights. On one hand, all three factions may fight for the sake of it, (it is this sort of game, after all), on the other – there were spoilers of an official Apollyon game path, where the titular villain plans to set off ‘an age of war’ between the three nations, so there is that. Maybe this game path will be beta-tested too.

So that is it for tonight; I will see you all soon, probably with another AoS review, yeah?

S.H.I.E.L.D., Patriot - Jan 17

‘The Patriot’ was aired yesterday; was it good?

On a certain, technical, level – yeah. ‘The Patriot’ promoted the series plot further; it gave Jeffrey Mace, (the titular patriot, technically speaking), character development, and it brought back general Talbot…

Well, actually, it brought back Hydra. Right now, they are still not back to being 100%; they are still being dominated/integrated into the Watchdogs, (and is anyone surprised? Really?), but they are back, and at least one of them has this oversized machete – apparently, he is setting himself up to being Mack’s nemesis…maybe.  

This has happened before; in ‘Primeval’, they killed-off their number one villain, Helen Cutter, at the end of their S3…and quickly realized that they didn’t have anyone to replace her; they brought her back, sort of, at the end of S5, and-

-And then they got cancelled; both them, and P: NW, (the spin-off), which is a pity; both shows had plenty of problems of their own, especially the original ‘Primeval’, which replaced about 80% of its’ main cast by the final, fifth, season: even AoS isn’t that bad – they really just replaced Brett Dalton (Grant) with Henry Simmons (Mack), while Nick Blood (Lance), Adrienne Palicki (Bobbi) and Luke Mitchell (Lincoln) just left – Luke in particular is doing well over at ‘Blindspot’ as Roman…

Pause. Stop babbling. Try again.

One of AoS’ main issues is its’ inability to move forwards, (something that is also plaguing the new SW movies, BTW). The S3, (especially the second, post-Maveth, half) felt like a continuation of S2, with Andrew/Lash being the male counterpart to post-Terrigenesis Raina. (They even looked similar, gender differences aside). Now, with Talbot back, and Hydra back, and Radcliffe & Aida Mk II acting almost like a softer version of Whitehall and agent 33, the LMD arc feels almost like AoS’ S2 revisited…again.

No, seriously, I wrote about this. In S2, Hydra tried to capture May and replace her with a doppelganger – Kara Palamas, wearing a photostatic veil. Coulson uncovered the truth within an episode: guess these days his Maydar is on the fritz or something. However, the point is that Radcliffe and Aida (is Aida Mk II even an android or what?) have done the same thing, and AoS itself has done the same thing: it has Ning-Ma Wen, (i.e. May) play two characters at once – May and agent 33. In second Maya Stojan took half of S2 Kara’s role…but AoS handled Kara’s plotline very badly, so I’m not getting in-depth into this.

What I am getting in here is that the ‘LMD’ plotline follows a similar premise, save that the LMD May does not have the same scarred face that Kara-as-May had. Seriously, was May supposed to be a villain on AoS? She even had her own flashback back in S2 – so far the only other people who had it were Grant in S1 and Gideon Malick in S3, both villains. By contrast, ‘The Patriot’ did fill-in the gaps of Jeffrey Mace’s backstory, but without a flashback, and he is being presented as a sympathetic and not-really-evil character, so yeah?

…Of course, odds of Mace dying at the end of S4 are still fairly good, as AoS has real life problems of holding onto cast members ever since the pointless kill-off at the end of S2, so there is that.

In addition, I confess – I am mentioning AoS’ S2 excessively often, but as far as I am concerned? AoS itself just cannot let go and returns to it, plotwise, repeatedly, so S2 cannot be avoided if you are talking about AoS, so let us talk about something else. ‘For Honor’, maybe.

Not only its’ beta testing starts this month, (Jan 2017), but the final three playable characters were unveiled. They are the Valkyrie, the Lawbringer, and the Nobushi. All three of them are armed…not with ranged weapons, but with weapons that have reach – greater reach than the weapons of the Raider, the Warden and the Kensei, for comparison.

The Valkyrie, (named, naturally, after the Valkyrie of the Norse myths), is armed with a specialized buckler and a spear. It is an ordinary spear, unlike the Nobushi’s naginata, which is also a spear, technically, but with a proportionally longer blade, which is also designed for slicing, (as a sabre would), rather than for stabbing. DW S1 featured, compared and contrasted the two weapons both in the episode 1x02, ‘Viking vs. Samurai’ and in the first part of its’ ‘Back for Blood’ special, where the Samurai faced off with a Spartan, also armed with a spear, (and lost). While the Europeans used their spear for directly forward, straight thrusts and stabs, the Samurai used his naginata almost like an axe, or even a polearm, using more sweeping moves, (similar to the greataxe used by the Viking in their battle).

Speaking of polearms? This brings us to the Lawbringer’s poleaxe, which is basically a halberd, (also used by various fighters in DW, in all three seasons, BTW). A poleaxe has an axe head for slicing, a spearhead for stabbing, and a hook for grabbing and pulling down enemy cavalry fighters. This makes it different from such weapons as the bardiche and the Dane-axe, (used by the Raider of ‘For Honor’), which are just axes on extra-long handles. This sort of brings as back to AoS, where Mack just uses axes as his signature weapon for no particular reason, but hey! He now probably has an archenemy of his own, armed with a machete, (a signature weapon?), and-

That fight was important in other ways. First, LMD May discovered that she is an LMD because of it, (also, her metal flesh is tough enough to bend saw blades), and second, she fought the machete-wielding Hydra agent with a shovel. WTF with that? It is probable that initially it was Adrienne Palicki, Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird, who was supposed to be Coulson’s team in S1, while May would have joined it in S2 as part of Gonzales’ crew - or maybe as the initially brainwashed, but later redeemed agent 33…who knows? This did not happen, S2 handled Kara’s plotline very badly, and right now, NCB/Elena ‘Yo-Yo’ Rodriguez is playing a recurring Latin-American character on AoS instead…

(Of course, the position of AoS and the rest of MCU in the acting world is somewhat ambiguous in itself: recently, CNN released a mini-series called ‘Creators’, featuring Ruth Negga – Raina of AoS. AoS was not mentioned at all. WTF with that? It is not so bad.)

To conclude: just like ‘Broken Promises’, ‘The Patriot’ was a good and solid episode, which isn’t necessarily what the AoS needs right now. It tried a partial reboot with its’ S4, but it needs to complete that reboot, or else it will not work. Conversely, ‘For Honor’ is shaping to be an awesome wargame; regardless, this is it for this talk – see you all later!

Pathfinder Villains V - Jan 16

Here is a character from Villain Codex, rearranged as a daemon-blooded tiefling:

GRIMSPAWN CR 10

Tiefling rogue 11

NE Medium outsider (native)

Init +4; Senses Darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +22

DEFENCE

AC 24, touch 15, flat-footed 20 (+5 armor, +1 deflection, +4 Dex, +4 natural)

Hp 75 (11d8+22)

Fort +5, Ref +12, Will +8

Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5

Defensive Abilities improved evasion, improved uncanny dodge, trap sense +3

OFFENCE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee +1 short sword +14/+9 (1d6+3/19-20)

Ranged +1 light crossbow +13 (1d8+13x3)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10^th; concentration +13)

1/day—death knell

Special Attacks sneak attack +6d6

STATISTICS

Str 10, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 8

Base Atk +8; CMB +8; CMD 23

Feats Iron Will, Psychic Sensitivity, Skill Focus (Stealth, Use Magic Device), Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (short sword)

Skills Acrobatics +20, Appraise +18, Climb +14, Disable Device +27, Disguise +13, Escape Artist +20, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +12, Knowledge (local) +13, Perception +22 (+26 to hear conversation or find concealed objects), Sleight of Hand +20, Stealth +26, Use Magic Device +21

Languages Aklo, Common, Daemonic

SQ rogue talents (canny observer, fast stealth, finesse rogue, improved evasion, quick disable), trapfinding +5

Combat Gear potion of bear’s endurance, potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of invisibility, potion of spider climb, wand of barkskin (CL 9^th, 12 charges); Other Gear +2 studded leather, +1 light crossbow with 20 bolts, +1 short sword, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, mwk thieves’ tools

The Librarians - Jan 15

‘The Librarians’ S3 has completed its penultimate episode; here the titular heroes save Shangri-La from evil and­ finally rescue Charlene (sort of). That is good, but again, the show’s atypical shtick is breaking down.

As I probably wrote before, ‘The Librarians’ strength is that it has unconventional heroes fighting unconventional villains to save the world, (mostly). The main idea itself is fairly conventional, especially in S1, (S2, with its’ ‘fictionals’ was something else). ‘The Librarians’ get to be atypical and unique due to the unconventional secondary details, and now they are vanishing from the show.

…If they are gone, what is left? Yet another ‘team’-based show, not unlike Marvel’s AoS, or any of the DC TV shows, (the new ‘Powerless’ coming this year is going to be fun), or even something like ‘Blindspot’ with its emphasis on ‘the team’. This is not bad, but it means that ‘The Librarians’ can get lost in the crowd, plus – lower ratings. In particular, AoS has experienced them, and while the show has soldiered on for 4 seasons, it is anyone’s guess if it will be around for the fifth. ‘The Librarians’ have aired just 3 seasons, and they are already changing the formula? I am not sure if it is a good idea.

BTW, in S3 the titular heroes are dealing with Apep, (i.e. they are working with primarily Egyptian mythology in a manner that Rick Riordan would consider cavalier in an unprofessional – in an unnecessarily unprofessional – manner), and with DOSA, which is a stereotypical secret government organization, just think S.H.I.E.L.D. from Marvel’s AoS, or its’ counterpart from DC’s ‘Arrowverse’ (especially ‘Arrow’ proper). DOSA thinks that the librarians are the bad guys and is trying to handle them accordingly. Considering that yesterday’s episode has introduced Eve’s old superior, and the theme of divided loyalties, (and which action show doesn’t have such thematic clichés?), the viewers can already predict how the S3’s finale is going to go, at least to a point. Without its’ atypical trappings, ‘The Librarians’ are just left with Cassandra’s numerous dresses, (several per episode – seriously, has the actress made a contract clause that ensures that she dresses sexily/fancily/etc. every episode? Because otherwise those dress changes of her play little effect. Okay, there is the comic effect, but ‘The Librarians’ cannot be unique via this comic effect alone).

So, Apep is a typical apocalyptic monster, albeit from the ancient Egyptian mythology; DOSA is a typical evil/misguided government organization, (rather than some sort of ruthless brigands, or savage marauders, or scandalous pirates, or a secret society), and-

In addition ‘The Librarians’ are trying to change its’ formula in other ways – by expanding its’ cast, (sort of). We got Charlene, (from the initial movies) acting as a part-time love interest of Jenkins and few episodes ago, we had Ezekiel apparently fall in love with a character named Cindy. Neither of these plot developments were foreshadowed, and considering that ‘The Librarians’ have a fairly limited budget, it is yet unknown if the show is going to develop them further. Maybe in S4 neither Charlene nor Cindy will make much of appearances, who knows?

And yes, this is another change to the ‘initial formula’. These things work, (albeit usually on a scale small enough NOT to make a difference), as STTW has shown back in the 1990s (‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’). The show was ‘static’ for the first three seasons, changed one way in S4, and changed in completely different ways in the next seasons. Sadly, that final change, with Sabrina being in college and beyond, resulted in a show that was more like ‘Bewitched’ for a younger audience, instead of STTW (well, its’ comic version) proper – and I’m not sure that it was an improvement. (And Sabrina got married to Harvey all the same – what gives? Anything else would actually be honestly original rather than some sort of an unnecessary and self-defeating compromise?) Ergo, I’m not sure that this isn’t going to happen to ‘The Librarians’ as well post-S3 – the show will transform into something new, and not necessarily for the better.

…Speaking of something new, ‘Riverdale’ is coming to TV screens this year. It is loosely based on ‘Archie’ comics, (which include the original Sabrina, sort of), but everything about it show to be something original. We will just have to wait and see how it goes down.

That’s it for today; until next time, (probably with an AoS review).

Pathfinder: Villains IV - Jan 15

So, here is a tengu pirate with some racial features, and class features changed:

TENGU SNEAK CR 4

Tengu rogue 5

CE Medium humanoid (tengu)

Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +11

DEFENCE

AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +4 Dex)

Hp 31 (5d8+5)

Fort +2, Ref +9, Will +3

Defensive Abilities evasion, trap sense +1, uncanny dodge

OFFENCE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee mwk rapier +9 (1d6+1/18-20)

Ranged mwk composite shortbow +8 (1d6+1/x3)

Special Attacks sneak attack +3d6

STATISTICS

Str 12, Dex 18, Con 11, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 8

Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 18

Feats Acrobatic, Tengu Wings, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (rapier)

Skills Acrobatic +13, Appraise +10, Bluff +7, Escape Artist +11, Fly +5, Intimidate +7, Perception +11, Sense Motive +9, Sleight of Hand +11, Stealth +13, Swim +8

Languages Common, Elven, Tengu, Undercommon

SQ carrion sense, rogue talents (fast stealth, finesse rogue), swordtrained, trance (crane trance)

Combat Gear potion of invisibility; Other Gear +1 chain shirt, mwk composite shortbow (+1 Str) with 20 arrows, mwk rapier, cloak of resistance +1

For Honor V - Jan 13

…Apparently, Nintendo switch came out today. I do not know what the commotion is, but there you have it.

‘For Honor’ is starting beta testing. Neat. Let us be honest with each other: ‘For Honor’ is a straightforward war game; unlike the latest ‘Civilization’ game, (released back in 2016), which offers something for everyone, ‘For Honor’ is a war, strategy and tactics, game. If you like this sort of thing, then you should like ‘For Honor’; if you do not, then no. Some of the earlier ads of the game mentioned a greater universe: lords and ladies, a regal (or imperial) court of some sort, but the bulk of it all? The fighters take it; ‘For Honor’ has already revealed 9 of the original 12, and the latest 3 consist of the shugoku, designed to be a living tank, much more powerful than the raider (of the Vikings) or the conqueror (of the Knights) are, but also much more slow. He is armed with a kanabo, an iron-studded club, designed to break shields and armor, (especially that of the other Samurais), but he is also very slow; perhaps he is the slowest character of them all.

The peacekeeper is the shugoku’s complete opposite; s/he is an assassin, modeled on the titular character of ‘Assassin’s Creed’ movie and video games; the peacekeeper has no armor, and is armed with a long and short-bladed swords. Very fast, but very vulnerable to direct hits.

Finally, the warlord might be something of the Vikings’ counterpart of the shugoku. S/he is armed with a shield and a longsword combo, making him more like the conqueror of the Knights than anyone else. This two-weapon combo makes the warlord a very efficient fighter, and-

And, for the obvious reasons, ‘For Honor’ has reminded me of DW the TV show. ‘Deadliest Warrior’ S1 had introduced the Viking, the Samurai and the Knight, as well as most of their weapons, (used in the game). So far, most of the PCs’ weapons are melee weapons, and yes, their DW counterparts in the show had used them. The only other way that ‘For Honor’ could’ve made its’ universe more like DW would be by including a fourth group – say, Spartans or Pirates or someone similar – in their universe. Maybe if the beta testing of ‘For Honor’ proves to be successful, then-

Finally, RM is also coming back in 2017. I do not know how I feel about this. The first seasons were amazing, but then RM, including JW himself, jumped the shark last year by going out to sea. RM just does not feel true like its original self anymore; maybe it is time to pull the plug – but given that it is a TV show, and a successful one at that, it will probably be around for few more seasons instead.

PS: What is up with Ronda Rousey? Lately rumors about her are vague and negative. Pity. She was a very impressive presence in the UFC and the like.

The Catch - Jan 12

Something good is happening in the TV land for a change – ‘The Catch’ is returning to TV land in March 2017.

‘The Catch’ is…the movie ‘Zootopia’, done for adults, so no anthropomorphic animals, but plenty of interracial couples, and same-sex ones. It is supposed to be a crime drama, so there is plenty of trick-ery and sneak-ery, but that was the weakest part of the show in question; the interactions between the characters were probably the strongest. It was not the best show on TV, (‘Blindspot’ is better, for one), but it is still a good one. Considering that AoS is not quite delivering anymore, ‘Blindspot’ is itself, and ‘The Librarians’ S3 will probably wind down by March, this is still good; (it even ended on a cliffhanger – go it!).  

Anything else? ‘The Catch’ isn’t ‘the Hood’ and his ‘Merry Outlaws’ going against the evil nobles, modern style; rather, it is done in the manner of Janet Evanovich and similar mystery novels, but as a drama, rather than a crime (or a mystery) show, it still works, so I, for one, will be watching its’ S2…providing that nothing goes wrong in the real life.

Cheers.

S.H.I.E.L.D., Promises - Jan 10

And so, AoS is back in 2017, with a new episode…no, a new story arc: ‘LMD’, where another one of the villains is after the Darkhold, again. (Warning, spoilers ahead).

So, what do we have so far? The ratings have gone up – right now, this is the third highest-ranking episode of AoS S4. This was helped, hopefully, by the intense acting of the actors, as well as the exciting new plot. But-

This is S4, not S1, and it shows. The viewers no longer buy AoS produce – twists and turns of plot, (and in this particular case? Mack’s jokes about robots just fall flat to some of the audience viewers at least), the villain who pretends to be a friend, (i.e. Radcliffe and the new Aida – how many of them does he has, anyhow?), the senator’s eventual betrayal of her brother, etc. It usually was there, it is likely to have already happened in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s previous seasons, etc. (In different depictions, but still).

The previous story arc, the ‘Ghost Rider’ one, (and yes, there are now two official story arcs in S4), was so important because it was something clearly new and external in the AoS universe; it has introduced the ghost rider (Robbie Reyes), who went around with his own baggage; it allowed AoS to reboot itself…which it did, only not so much; now that the ghost rider is gone, it has gone back to itself; the KKK…pardon me, the Watchdogs, have taken over the role of Hydra, Radcliffe and Aida are S1 Grant and Garrett, the Nadeer family is the Ward family done another way…period. The ‘LMD’ story arc is more of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hijinks, done on a smaller scale, with a smaller budget, with a more intense and complex plot development…only not, as last night’s the viewers have learned that Radcliffe is behind Aida (and LMD May), the senator is working with the Watchdogs, period, and…that’s that for this episode, actually. These days, AoS is trying to compensate for the smaller scale of the plot via running it more tightly and with better acting, (rather than actors, BTW), but does it work?

…Yes, about as well as Mack’s jokes and comments (mostly to Radcliffe and Fitz) about Aida and the other robots: some people may like them, while to the others they just fall flat and pointless. Ditto with the entire ‘Broken Promises’ episode in general: some people have clearly enjoyed it, (as the ratings have went upwards), while the others just had not. Given how low the show’s ratings have fallen, I think that we can guess which group is in majority.

That’s it for this week’s episode of AoS; until next week, then!