I think I've figured out why I like Arrow more than S.H.I.E.L.D. It's not that Arrow is any less stupid, it's that they keep the always keep the plot moving forward, always keep things suspenseful, so you don't have time to dwell on how stupid one particular plot point is.

Plus on Arrow, I actually care about the characters. Even some of the bad guys. Even Laurel. Sometimes. But SHIELD has not made me care about any of the characters other than Coulson, and frankly, he started the show with that. I like Melinda May. She's such a badass. But I don't know that I care about her, not really. And the rest of them? Fitz and Simmons are cute but...whatever. Ward is boring as shit. Even sleeping with Melinda May didn't improve him. And Skye is annoying AND boring.

Make me care about the characters, and you can do a bottle episode where they all look for a pen on the plane for the entire episode, and I will love it. Give me characters I don't care about, and...enh.

(We just watched last week's episode, so this was my first chance to comment. I liked the narrative structure, although I confess I was hoping for more of a Rashomon effect. I do actually like Ian Quinn. And I like Mike Petersen, poor bastard. But none of the episode really made me give a damn about the characters.)

I did feel bad for Skye. She was trying so hard, and then that dude shot her!

To be fair, though (or, I suppose, UNfair), she *did* turn around and walk back towards the guy with the gun who just tried to get the cyborg to kill her. Not the best move.

Oh, no, she made terrible choices. I think I just find her more interesting now that she's got new angst, because her old angst was boring.

I did like her conversation with Fitz when he was drawing the wrong conclusions about what was bothering her.

I'm finding her more interesting in the last few episodes.

Make me care about the characters, and you can do a bottle episode where they all look for a pen on the plane for the entire episode, and I will love it.

I can't remember if you're a Community fan, but they had a bottle episode with exactly that plot, and it was amazing.

Oh, yeah. That's why I mentioned it. I totally *would* watch a group of characters I care about look for a pen on the plane.

When is Agents coming back? I saw The Bachelor for tomorrow night.

There's a new episode next week.