Eavesdropping—a word which here means “listening in on interesting conversations you are not invited to join”—is a valuable thing to do, and it is often an enjoyable thing to do, but it is not a polite thing to do, and like most impolite things, you are bound to get into trouble if you get caught doing it.
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Carnivorous Carnival – Lemony Snicket
Lasaran: A Klingon! Why did they have to send a Klingon?
Jadzia Dax: I’m a Trill. Does that make you feel any better?
Lasaran: Are you trying to be funny?
Jadzia Dax: Not at all. He’s the funny one.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 6: Episode 16 – “Change of Heart”
“It’s going to be alright, sir,” Harry said over and over again, more worried by Dumbledore’s silence than he had been by his weakened voice. “We’re nearly there. . . . I can Apparate us both back. . . . Don’t worry. . . .”
“I am not worried, Harry,” said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water. “I am with you.”
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling
Giles: I wonder if they’re here for any purpose, particularly.
Buffy: You’re the Watcher. I just work here.
Giles: Yes, I-I must consult my books.
Xander: Oh, eight minutes and thirty-three seconds, pay up. (Willow hands him a dollar) I called ten minutes before you’d consult your books about something.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 2: Episode 1 – “When She Was Bad”
Ladies and gentlemen, Agents of SHIELD is back! It’s got a new timeslot, a bunch of new faces, a new enemy, and a new group dynamic, but SHIELD’s mission hasn’t changed. The events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier may have changed everything for Coulson and his team last season, but they’re still out to protect people, even if they may not have the seemingly endless resources of last year. Coulson’s trying to rebuild SHIELD from the ground up as its new director, which means making deals with some shady characters and making harder decisions than he ever has before. Tonight’s episode gave us our first look at how this new version of SHIELD will play out, setting the stage for some season-long arcs while delivering some solid action, new superpowers and connections to the Marvel universe, and hints to larger mysteries, a tease for Agent Carter, and a good helping of drama. So let’s jump right into “Shadows,” written by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen and directed by Vincent Misiano.
“Maybe we could call the police from that phone booth,” Klaus said.
“Dragnet!” Sunny said, which meant “But the police think we’re murderers!”
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Carnivorous Carnival – Lemony Snicket
*Update: My full recap of “Shadows” is now live. Read it here!
Agents of SHIELD is back! I don’t know about you but I was an energizing mix of excited and nervous for the premiere, full of questions but eager to finally get back into my favorite show. Would the new season live up to the first? What’s the status of all of the mysteries left over from last season? What’s going to happen to Ward? What happened to Fitz? How will Skye’s new hairdo look? We got some glimpses at the answers to these questions along with a whole host of new mysteries for season 2 in tonight’s episode, “Shadows.”
I’m going to be trying something new this season as a result of SHIELD‘s later timeslot and in an effort to maintain a more human sleep schedule. After a new episode airs I’ll post an “instant reaction” like this one, and in the following day or two I’ll put up my full recap as usual, going into more depth than this quick reaction and covering the entire episode, with my customary S.H.I.E.L.D. thoughts to cap it off. Please be patient with me, as it will probably take me a little while to find the right balance between the two (and please offer any suggestions you might have on how to improve things). These quick reactions will be in the form of bullet points, not necessarily in order, and will hit some of the big moments from the episode along with anything that catches my eye. Some of them will pop up again in my full recap while others will only live here. Once my full recap is posted, I’ll update this post to include a link to it. So without further ado, here are my thoughts about “Shadows.”
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