But the SHIELD crew were very poorly defined for many episodes.
Which is a perfectly decent set-up, if you care about the people the show is centering on.
It was understood that this would be a series focusing on normal humans existing in the world of the MCU – Coulson and a new batch of characters reacting and responding to the amazing events around them. In general, the character work is where SHIELD struggled the most early on. There’s always a place for both the rookie and the techie on a show of this sort, but this was just a very strange dynamic to begin with – particularly when the joke of Fitz and Simmons finishing each other’s sentences and acting so similarly initially only reinforced the idea of these characters feeling the same. It felt both redundant and frustrating, since it made this an action series where half the characters weren’t ready to go into action. I still don’t understand the choice to make not one, not two, but three of the six main characters all start out as notably young, tech-savvy rookies, who were unprepared for combat. There were some odd decisions made in the conception of the show, to be sure. More importantly, I wanted to feel like it was a show I couldn’t miss each week, and for many episodes, that wasn’t happening. I often enjoyed SHIELD, sure, but I wanted to love it. By “merely” delivering a fun, lighthearted, but fairly disposable piece of entertainment, SHIELD was a letdown. I didn’t agree with a lot of the proclamations that the show was a total bust last fall, but I could understand why they were occurring – if any show was one we all wanted to be appointment viewing, it was this one. SHIELD Producers on Season 1's End and Season 2All of which is to say, when SHIELD failed to deliver on those expectations, people were understandably upset. But combine both of those things, with Whedon white hot off the The Avengers and this was the show to beat going into the fall TV season last fall. And a new Marvel Studios-created TV show - tying into the amazingly successful and well-received Marvel Cinematic Universe films - was also, in and of itself, a huge reason to be excited. But how could they not be? A new Joss Whedon-created TV show would be reason alone to celebrate, even knowing he wouldn't be involved in its day-to-day operation.
Full spoilers for the first season of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD follow.Įxpectations can be a tough thing to manage, and man were expectations high for Agents of SHIELD. Note (9/10/14): With Marvel's Agents of SHIELD: Season 1 on DVD and Blu-ray this week, we're re-featuring our review of the season.