Originally Posted at the DL March 2015
Probably the biggest takeaway from EMH is that it's uneven as fuck. There is quite a lot of good stuff going on in this show, with a rock solid cast dynamic and in particular an especially nice take on the Hulk, as well as being the only adaptation I'm aware of that features Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne so prominently. At the same time there's a lot of relative duds in the episode lineup too. The five introductory episodes are... just not terribly interesting, much focused on name-dropping elements for future use without being terribly interesting in how they do it. The Cap episode, having an actual plot rather than being all "Named villain! Important quest object! SHIELD!", is alright but nothing too great. After that point they kinda alternate between small arcs for a major villain to fight, and single episodes that are adding up to the season ending conflict. Those are fairly split on quality; Kang and Ultron are pretty good episodes, while the Leader's Gamma World bits can go jump in a hole. The Masters of Evil episodes range from 'please don't tell me we are playing this storyline so straight' (Everything's Wonderful) to 'wheeeeee' (Masters of Evil), although the final payoff is about right.
It's odd in general. Ultron and Loki are the only real A-List Marvel villains on the show (no Doc Doom, no Thanos, no Galactus, no Magneto (although that at least makes sense), no eastern european track suit guys, Red Skull is basically a cameo), and unlike the natural comparison point for this show, the DCAU, not a lot of effort is spent making the lesser known villains stand out in any particular way. Like, I happened to watch Hulk vs Thor right after finishing the series, and learned about as much about Enchantress' abilities, motivations, and personality from that 45 minute movie she was a secondary character in than this show where she's the most visible villain for most of the show! Christ, at least have her yell "About your performance... IT IS MAGNIFICENT" or something.
Also, and I almost forgot about this, fuck Maria Hill in this continuity. You do not get to be THAT lawful stupid in the middle of a gang war between HYDRA and AIM. Shoot the Avengers in the back later, stop the goddamned supervillains now, thanks.
Still, the team is handled well. To my knowledge this is the only adaptation of a marvel work where Black Panther is a major character, and I do find myself wanting to read some of his older stories and seeing how they measure up. They do a great job getting across not just how broken Hank is, but showing the cognitive dissonance that leads him to be such a human wreck. Add in the aforementioned 'cool take on the Hulk' and most of the cast is not just interesting, but someone we don't usually get in these shows.
Best Episode: I'm torn between A Day Unlike Any Other, just for the great imagery of the Avengers flying to Asgardia upon winged steeds with the Valkyries, and Breakout pt. 2 for being a great fight that really sold how these people might work together. Bonus points for Graviton being pretty fun to watch despite being someone I seriously never knew existed.
Weakest Episode: Gamma World pt. 2 Oh good the heroes mutated so not only do we have a bunch of wanna-be hulks but we don't want to HURT them. Christ. Normally in a mind control story you at least have decent fights because you see how people who normally work together can be used against each other.
Grade: 6/10 I think. I did order season 2, so depending how the breadcrumbs here go and how the existing villains are handled I might raise my opinion on the series as a whole.
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