Agents of SHIELD has just premiered its 12th episode of the 22 episode season and to me, looks to be improving. Now we all know this is something that has been frequently said by fans of the show but this time there is clear, physical poof of the claim. Most of the flaws pointed out are all valid ones and within two episodes those flaws seem to have been resolved and really show us why Agents of SHIELD works, whether you like it or not.
A Big Bad- One of the most prominent complaints about AoS is that the episodes were not part of an overarching plot. All the episodes seemed to be filler and not really lead anywhere which is a completely legitimate complaint. Although some episodes are filler Episode 11 and Episode 12 have revealed that some of these episodes where not unrelated at all. The episodes ‘Eye Spy’ and ‘The Asset’ have been revealed to be part of the overarching plot. The people who fitted Akela Amadour and forced her to do incriminating acts are revealed to be the very same organization that Coulson and his team have been fighting (Centipede), and Ian Quinn has been revealed to be in the employment of the Clairvoyant. This brings me to another complaint, the lack of a main villain. Many great TV shows have a main villain for example Arrow has Slade Wilson, but at first a lot of people complained due to the lack of a main villain. Even though it was hinted at in the pilot it was not brought up again until the 5th episode but it did establish who the main villain was. The Clairvoyant. The most recent episodes have further established The Clairvoyant as the villain and the next episode TRACKS shows Coulson and his team pursuing his trail. This shows that the AoS does have a big bad and does have an overreaching story arc and that the first half of the season was establishment and the second half is getting into the Centipede plot. Other sub plots include Couslon’s resurrection and Skye’s parentage which have both come to a head and Wards brother and what happened to May have yet to be revealed. I think that’s enough storylines to support the overarching one and the filler episodes normally explore this.
Characters form the comics- Probably the largest complaint is that there is a lack of characters from the comics and to a lesser extent characters with powers. I understand the lack of powers complaint but not the one about characters form the comics showing up. First and foremost it’s called the Marvel Cinematic Universe not the Marvel Comic Universe so you have to understand that it is NOT the comic universe. Second of all you need to appreciate that AoS is part of the MCU and therefore has to abide by its rules as well as not using certain characters. Arrow and Smallville have the luxury of not being part of a bigger universe and could do anything they wanted. Arrow can use Batman villains as high profile as Deathstroke and Ras al Ghul because it’s not connected to the DCCU and Smallville could use Darksied and Brianiac because it was standalone and not connected to any existing universe. AoS has to share the stage with Captain America, Iron Man and Thor movies as well as the upcoming Iron Fist, Power Man, Daredevil and Jessica Jones shows. You can’t have Purple Man or Bullseye debut in AoS when a JJ and Daredevil show is coming out. It’s like a dance between all of Marvel Studios properties. They have to be careful not to step on each other’s feet. Now the complaint about comic book characters is a different story. In the past 12 episodes the following characters have appeared: Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Scorch, Graviton, Blizzard, Victoria Hand, Jasper Sitwell, Raina and John Garret and Sif who has yet to appear. Three of which have superpowers, while Skye has been recently revealed to have some of her own. People often point out that that AoS isn’t connected enough to the MCU but I think that they pretty much have achieved this. Referencing Aim, Hydra, Bucky Barnes all the Avengers and having Hydra weapons and Chitauri weaponry and objects is enough although something they have improved on is Coulson constantly referencing his death which was a bit annoying but passable as If I had died and come back to life again I wouldn’t be able to shut up about it.
Character growth- This is a problem that I do not see. Even now people complain about the lack of character development and how all the characters are cardboard cutouts. I’m sorry but I just don’t see it. Each character is unique and has evolved since the pilot. In the pilot Ward was a stone cold tin man who was always stern and reserved. But in episode 9 you seem him playing Scrabble with Coulson, Skye and Simmons. Fitz started the show as a fresh agent who was a bit immature but after the events of The Hub and nearly loosing Simmons in FZZT he became much more serious as shown in in The Magical Place. Skye who started off despising organizations like SHIELD has grown to learn that they all aren’t big men in black suits but can be a family. May has become less coldhearted and less of a loner and Coulson, well Coulson is probably the biggest change. The organization he trusts the most lied and deceived him his own friend made him suffer to bring him back to life and he doesn’t know why. They messed with his memories and didn’t tell him and you can really see its effects on him in the episode after he discovers these things. I think the only character who hasn’t had a major amount of personal development is Simmons but she has had the best character centric episode FZZT which in my opinion is an extremely powerful episode.
You got what you came for- Lets keep it short and sweet. The reason why this show gets a lot of hate is because people’s expectations were all wrong. They thought it would be the Avengers lite but it’s not. It’s a show about all this different character’s from different sections of SHIELD coming together and fighting against an evil terrorist organization and forming bonds and uncovering secrets while doing it. If you wanted Avengers lite wait for the Defenders miniseries to come out. If you realistically thought Iron Man and Cap would show up every pother episode then you seriously need a wakeup call.
Now to address Agents of SHIELD’s greatest problem. People want to hate it. I know that sounds stupid but it’s true. All over the internet I have seen people hate on the show some for completely legitimate reasons which I agree with and some just for the sake of hating. But what I’ve seen more recently especially coming from these last few episodes is the need to hate it. People actively search for things to dislike. For example the latest episode. In my eyes and others it was a perfect episode addressing all of problems. It linked to the MCU referencing Bucky Barnes, Aim and Hydra. It progressed the story revealing that Quinn is under the employment of the Clairvoyant and reveals a lot more about Skye’s backstory. And it introduces a new character with superpowers as well as providing a lot of character development of all specifically Fitz, Coulson and Skye. Yet people actively search for things to dislike. If you’re going to try and not enjoy something then you’re obviously not going to and for the first time ever, and I’m probably going to get a lot of flak for this but this week’s episode of AoS was on par with this week’s episode of Arrow. Now before you kill me, yes this was a sort of filler episode and it wasn’t up to scratch compared to other episodes of Arrow but I still think it was. If you’re going to watch AoS you have to get the hate out of your heart. This is the exact same thing I said to my friends regarding Arrow. In Season 1 Arrow got a lot of flak. People now will say stuff like it picked up after episode 10 or I always supported it. However, and pardon my French but that’s bullshit. I remember Arrow was firmly hated until the season finale and season 2. You can argue all you want and live in the illusion that everyone has praised Arrow since the beginning but hats such a lie it makes me angry when I see stuff like that. Because I used to defend Arrow from people on sites like CBM and my friends and now majority loves Arrow and the hypocrisy kicks in. There is no doubt that Season 2 of Arrow is phenomenal and I loved the first Season despite having a very small amount of duds but people need to open their eyes and stop looking at AoS like it’s still episode 2. It has grown so much since then which a show should do. Its best quality is the fact that there are secrets and cliffhangers because it adds to the intrigue. Complaints like they didn’t reveal the whole story of Coulson’s resurrection or Skye’s backstory are irrelevant because there are still 10 episodes left. So what I’m trying to say is just give AoS another chance and watch through the previous episodes in anticipation for the next one. I final thought is something’s that AoS can improve on. The fight choreography and humor are all things that have been addressed but the choreography definitely needs some improvement. And I apologies for all the Arrow comparisons I hate to compare AoS and Arrow but it seems to be the only thing that some users on here understand.