“0-8-4” – Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is very quickly cementing itself as our favorite show of the new season. Nimbly dodging the sophomore slump, “0-8-4” did not skimp on funny, drama, sexiness or explosions. That latter is a huge part of the reason we love this show so much. We’re wondering if Joss just walks into a studio and gets handed blank checks, because this show’s effects budget must be astronomical. We’re not used to seeing this level of movie-quality action sequences or effects on the small screen. It’s like watching a 42-minute version of any of the big-budget summer blockbusters. This is on a par with Iron Man 3 or The Avengers.

As mentioned, this episode also didn’t skimp on the drama. It saw the team responding to reports of an “object of unknown origin” in Peru. Within the first half, we had an explosion on the bus (in flashback) and a jungle firefight with Peruvian rebels. As if that wasn’t excitement enough, we also got a massive betrayal and a daring rescue. Not bad for a 42-minute window.

Where this episode excelled, however, wasn’t in the explosions or the drama or the sizzling tension between Coulson and betrayer-in-chief Camilla Reyes – it was in

“Pilot” – Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Yeah, okay, full disclosure – we’re Whedon devotees. Dyed in the wool Whedonites. We’re browncoats and Scoobies and residents of the Dollhouse. We’re Cabin in the Woods fanatics, and we know that if anyone else had tackled The Avengers it would have sucked (comparatively). So what we say next shouldn’t surprise you, but you also shouldn’t take it with a pinch of salt. Yeah, we love Joss, but we don’t have those rose-tinted glasses on. Our vision is clear. And Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Well that rocked.

We won’t get too far into the nitty gritty of things here – this was the origin story episode, thoroughly packed from end to end with plot points and important information. So much info in a single episode is fantastic. It was a sparse plot (relatively speaking), but was still packed to the rafters. It was simple, yet complex. And that’s something Joss has always done well – offered the complexities of life (and of the supernatural) without overwhelming viewers.

Suffice it to say that, in a post-Avengers world, when there is no longer any hope of keeping secret the existence of mutants and superheroes, S.H.I.E.L.D. has