Talking to Myself About AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. at the End of its First Season; Was it Good or Wasn't it?



A year ago the thought of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD was an exciting one. Telling the story of how Agent Phil Coulson survived being impaled by Loki in The Avengers, it was a story that many fans wanted to see (including this one). Fast-forward to today and Agents of SHIELD just ended its first season. For this guy, the first season was more cold than hot for the majority of its episodes.

Spoiler alerts ahead if you haven't seen the show or the last episode of Season 1.


More cold than hot? You must be crazy to publicly say this about a Marvel production. What was wrong with this show? It did get renewed by ABC for a second season so something was done right.

Yeah, I know it was renewed. But based purely on the ratings, Agents of SHIELD was on the fence of either getting renewed or being canceled. I think the first season failed itself in its first half and only until it tied in with Captain America: The Winter Soldier did it save itself and was green lit for Season 2.

But you didn't answer my question, what was wrong with it?

For me, the biggest issue of the first season was making Coulson's team a group of nobody SHIELD agents. Instead of taking SHIELD agents who could've been a bit more familiar and pulled from Marvel comic book cannon, it immediately created a slow burn in the first half of the season. The series had to introduce and tell somewhat of an origin tale about a half dozen of Coulson's SHIELD team characters who were created specifically for the show.

What does that matter since the series is for a large television mainstream audience who most have not read Marvel comics, or know them, as in depth as you do?

Good point. But you also have to admit that the first half of the season was a bore.

Yes. Yes it was. But that's not the issue you have with Agents of SHIELD, is it?

No it is not. My issue was that I was only invested in Coulson and his story. To this day, I still don't care about Ward, or Skye, or any of the other agents on Coulson's team. The character development was not as good as it could have been had there been a few less new agents to intro.


You hate everyone except Coulson a lot, don't you?

Hate is a bit harsh, man. I gotta admit that I just don't care about anyone in that show except Coulson. He's the draw and because of this, I feel he still doesn't get enough screen time or character development because there are so many other SHIELD agents who ... again ... I don't care about.


What would you do to change how the first season of Agents of SHIELD played out?

I would've connected the first half of the season to Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World more. Reason being is that when the series connected with what happened in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it was watchable albeit still not the greatest. But the Cap 2 tie-in story arc was more engaging than any other part of the season prior to it happening. This should have also happened with Iron Man 3 or at the very least Thor 2.

You mention how the Cap 2 tie-in was a story arc, which is grounded on Earth, but Thor 2 is not. A tougher thing to tie-in to with Coulson's team, don't you think?

I disagree. There are ramifications that could've been felt on Earth in the aftermath of Thor and Malekith's battle in London. Dead Dark Elves lying on the ground all over the place in London, Dark Elf technology lying around too, destruction and damage in the area, etc., etc. The point being since there were dead Dark Elves and their tech, you have enough for a multi-episode story arc. Just like what was done with the Cap 2 tie-in. This is how I would have approached the first half of the season.


The end of the first season set up Coulson as the new Director of SHIELD, as bequeathed by Nick Fury, and is instructed to rebuild SHIELD from the ground up. Doesn't this excite you for Season 2?

Only if there's more Coulson character development and less about his team. Plus, have a story arc tie-in with Guardians of the Galaxy—yeah, it's mostly in space but there will be a few parts of the film on Earth too—and tie-in to a story that builds into (and leads up to) next summer's Avengers: Age of Ultron.


So you'll still watch it and tune in to Season 2 of Agents of SHIELD?

I hate to say it but I probably will. I'm a sucker for all-things Marvel.


Finally, how would you score the entire first season of Agents of SHIELD out of 10?

I'd have to give it a 6.5. It would've been a 4 or 5 had it not had the Cap 2 tie-in at the end.

Thank you for your time.

Um okay... that's weird because you're in my head all Deadpool-style.








'Talking to Myself' is a new column featured only on The Daily SuperHero, so look for more of these soon!