AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. EP Jeffrey Bell Talks Shocking Season 2 Finale
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. aired its climactic season finale last night, and EP Jeffrey Bell has opened up about some of the episode’s most shocking events. He also teased a few things to come for next season - but be warned, there are plenty of SPOILERS ahead!
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. aired it's season finale last night on ABC, capping off a fantastic sophomore season for the Marvel show. After all of the twists and turns during the two-part episode, the show's executive producer Jeffrey Bell had a chance to sit down with Variety and have a chat about a few of the loose ends - starting with that shocking cliff-hanger for Agent Simmons:
“When we first started talking about the Monolith, we knew that it needed to present a threat and we needed to demonstrate some of that threat and the promise of more story, because we want more people to watch next year... It’s easy to kill a character for shock value or whatever, and we did have a number of deaths this season, but I don’t think they were so much for shock value... We prefer to leave you with something to talk about… The idea of getting Fitz and Simmons — who had been one person — to become two whole people, come back together, agree to go on a date, and then have this happen, felt beautifully poetic and promises some really intriguing stories next season.”
On the increasing role of powered individuals on the show:
"The Marvel universe is broad and deep and we try to tell stories from all over that; we had to begin by just introducing these characters — most of whom had not existed before — and getting invested in them, and slowly expanding... People seem to respond to powered people on the show and while it’s not going to take over and become what the show’s about, as a texture and flavor of the stories, we really enjoy that."
On Grant Ward - and his apparent return to Hydra:
“It sure looked like Ward’s starting his Fight Club version of Hydra, but one of our challenges [is] any time you have an evil, villainous empire, what motivates those people? Whitehall this past year was just an old school Nazi — he was literally from the ’40s, and so for him that was about power, eugenics, control, it all made sense, and for Ward to come to this place honestly… This is a guy who, a couple of episodes earlier, was really happy that he got to spend time with the old team and feel like he was part of that, but then after Agent 33’s death at his hands he did discover that he likes being part of a team. So for us, it’s a natural growth for the character, as twisted as he may be, and the idea of him with a personal vendetta against our group of SHIELD gives him all the motive he needs”
On how Mack 'stole the show' in the finale:
"We realized as we did the edit of the finale, “wow, Henry’s got all the good lines this episode.” There’s a humor to him and his character that we weren’t aware of when he first showed up because he’s this giant, handsome man, and then you realize there’s this great, dry sense of humor and you also realize “wow, he’s good in scenes with anybody.” You can put him with Fitz, you can put him with Bobbi, you can put him with Coulson, you can put him with Hunter and he’s really good with everybody."
If you like, you can read the full interview here. Bell went on to talk about Bobbi & Hunter, Skye's parents and the tie-ins to Agent Carter. What did you think of the finale, and what direction would you like to see the show go in Season 3? Leave your thoughts below!
Image Credit: ABC