The Asset (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

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"The Asset"
Gravitonium, as seen in the episode's end tag, with visual effects by FuseFX.
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 3
Directed byMilan Cheylov
Written by
Produced by
Cinematography byJeff Mygatt[citation needed]
Editing byJoshua Charson[citation needed]
Original air dateOctober 8, 2013 (2013-10-08)
Running time44 minutes
Guest appearances
  • Ian Quinn
  • Franklin Hall
Episode chronology
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"Eye Spy"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1
List of episodes

"The Asset" is the third episode of the

Franklin Hall. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by co-showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, and directed by Milan Cheylov
.

Ian Quinn
, with his own villainous musical theme; a variation of this theme is played on ethnic instruments to support the episode's Malta setting.

"The Asset" originally aired on ABC on October 8, 2013, and was watched by 12.01 million viewers within a week. The episode received a mostly positive critical response, especially for Hart's portrayal of Hall, but the development of the main cast seen to be lacking.

Plot

Carrying a

Ian Quinn
, a wealthy industrialist and philanthropist.

Quinn holds an announcement of a large deposit of gravitonium in his possession, in his

hacktivist
background to gain entry to the announcement, and disables Quinn's outer defenses. Coulson and Ward are able to sneak into Quinn's mansion, where they find Hall free and well, and working on a large gravitonium generator that would allow Quinn to control the world's gravity. Hall reveals that he was working with Quinn all along, the two having attended college together where they had first designed the generator. However, Hall realized that he couldn't allow anyone to gain control of the generator's power, and so plans to let it destroy itself and Quinn's mansion. As this would kill the thousands of innocent people on the island, Coulson lets Hall fall into the gravitonium which catalyzes an anti-reaction to turn off the machine, apparently killing Hall in the process.

Quinn escapes custody while S.H.I.E.L.D. takes possession of the gravitonium. Skye finds the motivation to commit to her training, after her and Ward have a meaningful conversation about their "defining moments", and Agent Melinda May, who had previously avoided combat operations since retiring, decides she would rather be fully committed than watching helplessly from the Bus. In an end tag, Hall is still alive within the gravitonium, which is sealed in an unmarked vault by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Production

Development

Marvel Television announced in September 2013 that the third episode of the series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was titled "The Asset", and had been written by co-showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, with Milan Cheylov directing.

Casting

Further information: List of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. characters

Marvel confirmed that the episode would star main cast members Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz, and Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons.[1]

The guest cast for the episode includes

gravitonium", a substance created for the series. The episode's ending, which sees Hall fall into some gravitonium, indicates that this is how he would gain his Graviton abilities in the series.[3]

Filming and visual effects

Filming occurred from July 29 to August 18, 2013.[4]: 61  The set for Hall's lab which is affected by the gravitonium was built on a giant gimbal so it could rotate 360°, with all the props and furniture secured to the set.[4]: 65  FuseFX provided the episode's visual effects,[5] including replacing the S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles from the opening sequence with computer generated models to depict them defying gravity and being destroyed.[6] FuseFX visual effects supervisor Kevin Lingenfelser explained that shots involving gravitonium were divided into two categories: shots where the gravitonium is "neutral" or "ball like", which were animated to make the element act like a fluid; and more aggressive shots where the gravitonium envelopes Hall, which mimicked the effects of gravity while Hall was being sucked in, with "more sentient and deliberate motion" animated around that.[5] Hart was filmed at high speed for this sequence as he fell onto a greenscreen stunt pad. As he is falling, he is replaced by a digital double to allow the gravitonium to surround him.[4]: 65 

Music

For "The Asset", composer Bear McCreary wrote a theme for Ian Quinn. A "bouncy and energetic" version of this was performed on a bouzouki by guitarist Ed Trybek to evoke the music of Malta, while a simplified orchestral version is used as the primary Quinn theme. McCreary stated that he does not "use it a lot, but it counts when I do. When he catches Skye in the hallways and steps forward menacingly, the low strings and woodwinds sneak in on this theme and underscore how dangerous he is."[7]

Release

Broadcast

"The Asset" was first aired in the United States on ABC on October 8, 2013.[8] It was aired alongside the US broadcast in Canada on CTV,[9] while it was first aired in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 on October 11, 2013.[10] It premiered on the Seven Network in Australia on October 9, 2013.[11]

Home media

The episode, along with the rest of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first season, was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 9, 2014. Bonus features include behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel.[12] On November 20, 2014, the episode became available for streaming on Netflix.[13]

Reception

Ratings

In the United States the episode received a 2.9/9 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, meaning that it was seen by 2.9 percent of all households, and 9 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast. It was watched by 7.87 million viewers.[8] The Canadian broadcast gained 1.91 million viewers, the second highest for that day and the seventh highest for the week.[9] The United Kingdom premiere had 2.37 million viewers[10] and in Australia, the premiere had 1.9 million viewers, including 0.9 million timeshifted viewers.[11] Within a week of its release, the episode was watched by 12.01 million U.S. viewers,[14] above the season average of 8.31.[15]

Critical response

Eric Goldman of IGN scored the episode 7.7 out of 10, praising the plot and the introduction of Hall/Graviton, but criticizing the amount of humor and MCU references.[16] David Sims of The A.V. Club scored the episode a "B", calling it "the first episode to show some potential for originality around the corner". He praised the character development, specifically for Coulson and Skye, and the introduction of Hall/Graviton, but criticized Quinn as "barely a step above a generic Miami Vice villain and whose motives would be totally uninteresting if they were ever made clear to us". He also found Dalton to be "the latest in a line of dull Whedon hunks with just a glimmer of personality."[17] The Guardian's Graeme Virtue felt that "If Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't been levitating your boat so far, this breezy episode probably didn't do that much to change your mind. If you're not in the mood, the endless quipping can seem exhausting, but at least there was some incremental character development." He had especial praise for the introduction of Hall/Graviton, and felt that Hart's performance as the character topped Samuel L. Jackson's cameo from the previous episode.[18]

Dan Casey at

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., felt "the plot's twists and turns clicked, even though it's kind of embarrassing when the commercials are more engrossing than the show."[21]

References

  1. ^
    Marvel.com. September 23, 2013. Archived
    from the original on February 28, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  2. ^ Ching, Albert (October 7, 2013). ""Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." EP Talks Ratings, Nick Fury Cameo". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  3. ^ Scheidler, Bryan (April 10, 2016). "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: How The Show's Supervillains Compare To The Comics". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7851-8998-5
    .
  5. ^ a b Failes, Ian (July 8, 2014). "VFX in TV, A to V: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D to Vikings & More". Fxguide. Archived from the original on September 14, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  6. ^ Kolpack, Mark. "Visual Effects Reels". Archived from the original on September 14, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  7. ^ McCreary, Bear (October 8, 2013). "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – The Asset". BearMcCreary.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  8. ^ a b Kondolojy, Amanda (October 9, 2013). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.', 'NCIS' & 'The Voice' Adjusted Up; 'Chicago Fire', 'The Goldbergs' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 23, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Top Programs – Total Canada (English) October 7 - October 13, 2013" (PDF). Numeris. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 14, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Top 30 Programmes". Barb Audiences. Archived from the original on September 19, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Timeshifted: Wednesday 9 October 2013". TV Tonight. October 9, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  12. ^ Fowler, Matt (May 30, 2014). "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD Blu-ray And DVD Details". IGN. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  13. Decider. Archived
    from the original on November 17, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  14. ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (October 27, 2013). "Updated Live+7 DVR Ratings: 'The Big Bang Theory' Tops Adults 18-49 Ratings Increase, 'Elementary' Earns Biggest Percentage Gain,'The Blacklist' Grows Most in Total Viewers in Week 3". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  15. ^ "Full 2013–2014 TV Season Series Rankings". Deadline Hollywood. May 22, 2014. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  16. ^ Goldman, Eric (October 8, 2013). "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD: "The Asset" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  17. ^ Sims, David (October 8, 2013). "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: "The Asset"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  18. ^ Virtue, Graeme (October 11, 2013). "Agents of SHIELD recap: season one, episode three – The Asset". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  19. ^ Casey, Dan (October 9, 2013). "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Recap: The Asset". Nerdist. Archived from the original on October 27, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  20. ^ Hunt, James (October 10, 2013). "Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode 3 review: The Asset". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  21. ^ a b Bernardin, Marc (October 9, 2013). "'Agents of SHIELD' Recap: 5 Things We Learned From 'The Asset'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.

External links

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