Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Mid-Season Finale Discussion

I agree that most the Arrowverse is better than Agents of Shield (other than Legends which I don't consider better than AoS). I don't agree that it made any sense to keep watching because it might tie in to MCU. They don't expect anyone to watch a tv show, and they deliberately make so nothing about the movies requires you watch a TV show. The reason it's still on the air is the same reason ABC cancelled Agent Carter, and the same reason CBS jettisoned Supergirl, namely certain types of shows are able to attract the kind of ratings that a network like ABC or CBS expects. The reason it won't cancelled before the end of this season is ABC wants a package of 88 episodes to sell to syndicator. The CW can create what it created because they have a cost structure that allows them to subsist on relatively low ratings and no clear strategy to get the kind of ratings ABC expects. Lucifer and Gotham succeeded on Fox by not being actual superhero shows, and that obviously endeared them to a wider audience. AoS is a far better non superhero show than Gotham or Lucifer, but if you really don't like non-superhero shows with comic book themes, really don't watch it.

Some of your comments were hyperbolic. The statement no one dies is an exaggeration. No one dies if there is a large value to the property. Agent Carter is dead (she died because she had lousy ratings), Quicksilver is dead (I think he died of copyright infringement), Lincoln is dead (he wasn't a comic book character so his value was limited), Victoria Hand is dead (very obscure comic book character), and there are villains who died. The statement that they did not evolve a spy show plot line in season two ignores a lot of infiltration and reconnaissance, by shield, and the real shield infiltrating shield. Spying is stealing information, and real spy shows (like the Americans), deal with infiltrating and doing reconnaissance to steal information.

All that said, seriously, if you don't like it don't watch it. It survives because it gets a fair number of non-comic book viewers, and fair number of people who watch it because it is a comic book show. It has actually been borderline every single season.

I actually think it has better story structure than Legends of Tomorrow (which I bother to watch), and substantially better than character development than Gotham or Lucifer (I watch Supergirl and Jane the Virgin), so I really don't think it's the worst comic book show on network TV. If it get cancelled, it won't improve your chances of getting the kind of superhero show on ABC because it will just ad evidence that they cannot get the ratings they want from comic book shows. Nether is a compelling reason for you to watch. Watching it because I like it or because if enough people watched AoS we would get real superhero shows on ABC doesn't make sense. Support the shows you like, and read more comic books. It does not have a right to be on the air, and there is no inherent need for more comic book shows.