EDITORIAL: Why AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Has Improved

EDITORIAL: Why AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Has Improved

One of the most commonly heard things about AoS is that it is improving. But what exactly does this mean, and what has improved? Read on to find out!

Editorial Opinion
By AstonishingArachnid - Jan 17, 2014 12:01 PM EST
Filed Under: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

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.
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JoeMomma29
JoeMomma29 - 1/17/2014, 1:23 PM
Well the last episode and a half have been good, not great, but good. This weeks episode looks like it may be cheesy, but I will watch till I make a call on it. To me the writes missed some golden opportunities early on instead of dragging this plot on for so long.
AstonishingArachnid
AstonishingArachnid - 1/17/2014, 1:28 PM
@GliderMan No surprise there Arrow is a better show.

@JoeMomma29 I would much rather have the plot drag on and encompass the whole season like Arrow season 1 did with the undertaking. And this weeks episode was by far one of the best toning down the humor so there aren't as many cheesy moments.
JoeMomma29
JoeMomma29 - 1/17/2014, 1:33 PM
@ AstonishingArachnid

I am sorry I did not bring up Arrow, are you just posting a editorial so you can bash Arrow and promote Agents of Shield at the same time? That is the problem with Marvelites and fanboys they cannot stand on hearing anything negative about Marvel and their properties even if what is being said is the truth and no personal opinion.
kinghulk
kinghulk - 1/17/2014, 2:11 PM
i watched both since the begining even through the not so good episodes, i dont understand why people gave arrow flack in the 1st season and i dont understand why AOS has had so much flack, lets be honest the first season is always about establishing the characters and potential villian that could appear in the future. i think peoples expectation where too high, but i think AOS is getting better and so is arrow.
Pedrito
Pedrito - 1/17/2014, 2:25 PM
@sotojuice...

What false advertisement are you talking about? From the moment the show was announced, they said it would be about the agents (and the world) reacting to superheroes, and not about superheroes themselves. They even had that terrible catch phrase "Not all heroes are super".

That's why the initial reaction from CBM fans was "well, that's gonna suck" or "what's the point".

The false advertisement was perhaps that the show would reproduce some of the excitement of the movies. Which it has only recently started to deliver on.
kinghulk
kinghulk - 1/17/2014, 2:25 PM
sotojuiceman- fair enough
AstonishingArachnid
AstonishingArachnid - 1/17/2014, 2:49 PM
@joemomma29 In sorry but what? Could you please point out where i bashed Arrow? I explicitly state Arrow is better the AiD and in general I enjoy it mire. I always thought you were an ok user and you get a or of shot fir voicing your opinion. But straight up accusing me of being a marvelite for essentially liking AoS? Now i understand why people brand you a troll.
NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 1/17/2014, 4:59 PM
I think now that they're teasing/using characters from the comics, we're getting to a point where there's gonna be a big bad and there's gonna be an over-arcing story.
BawbScharf
BawbScharf - 1/17/2014, 6:42 PM
What turned me off was the very concept of "Hey early twenty something hacker who works for the enemy, please join our elite spy team without any training" At least Chuck had the intersect. What made me watching again was Clark Greggs acting and making Coulson so sympathetic ... and the promise of more J. August Richards. Through that I learned that having Skye around makees more sense. She is not the Mary Sue I thought she would be. And Coulson's connection to her is well acted. With that said, I hope they keep this because the last episodes were great ...it is going to take more to make it a great spy show. It looks hopeful though.
superotherside
superotherside - 1/18/2014, 6:39 AM
Ok here is the thing. I've seen good espionage shows for example: Alias.

Alias is a show about a young woman who is working for a black ops division of the CIA called SD6 but she couldn't keep the secret from her fiancee so SD6 had him killed. Only now she learns the truth that SD6 is not a black ops agency, she had been working for the very people she thought she was fighting against. Thus she works as a double agent for the CIA to take down SD6 which means working with another double agent who she barely knows. Her father.

To me Alias is the way espionage shows should be done. It has good action, good story, tons of secrets, and twists.

The main problem with Agents of Shield is that all of the shows main characters are good background characters.

What I mean is none of the characters are good enough to be a "main" character. The shows characters are okay they just should be background characters IMO. Coulson should have never had his own show, he was a great character in the movies because he was a background character that was fun and entertaining. But that doesn't mean you want to watch a whole story about him.

Another problem, it's very cliche. I mean how many episodes have we seen the plane crash? Seriously. I think that plane crashes more than it flies. I'm not against planes crashing in shows, it's just if you do the same thing every week it gets old fast.

See look here's the big bad! Yes, this is a problem too. I haven't seen the newest shows but from what I gathered is that they are making a big bad for the show. That's good that we're away from the filler villains of the week type thing but it should be more than that. Alias or Arrow both have big bads but not everyone of them have the same goal or purpose. I'd like to see conflicting bad guys fighting over something plus, fighting the agents that try to stop them fighting.

The action? Is terrible. Moving on.

If they can introduce characters like Mocking Bird, Spider-Woman, Shang-Chi etc. that would be perfect.

Honestly this is what I would have done.

Jessica Drew is an agent for Hydra, but when she is ordered to kill Coulson she finds that Hydra is the real enemy. Coulson realizing they brainwashed her to become an assassin, takes her into his team to help her gain her missing memories. But is Coulson's team (Mocking Bird, Shang-Chi) ready to trust their long hated enemy now turned ally, Spider-Woman?

Not sure if I wrote the above as good as it could be but you get the gist.

To me that took me like 5 minutes to write with barely doing any research on the characters. Yet it seems a lot more interesting than Agents of Shield has ever been.

Why have people disliked Agents of Shield?

Because it had so much potential and it just didn't live up to all the potential it had.

I'll try to catch up after a few episodes but that's still the way I feel.

It's not a bad show, it's just it had the potential to be a great show and it is only just mediocre for the most part.
minusman
minusman - 1/18/2014, 10:20 AM
Riding the coattails of most popular superhero movie ever is a great way to get noticed but you cant rely on that reputation alone to stay viable- AoS is having trouble because it doesnt know what kind of show it wants to be- Superhero action/comedy, or Spy action/comedy, serious or lighthearted. This ambiguity comes through in the writing and is killing the show.

I havent seen any episodes since the mid-season finale, but I plan to and hope that they are much improved from the first half.

If the show wasnt tied to Marvel and the Avengers, it would have never been picked up for the full season.

KoonEl
KoonEl - 1/18/2014, 11:55 AM
The show has improved leaps and bounds since episode 3. Some shows need a little longer to hit their stride, like Seinfeld for example. I think that a lot of people expected a show similar in scope to 24. Maybe not as dark and brooding as that, but a cross between that, Alias, and the X-Files. Big missions, cool characters, awesome fight scenes. What we got initially was a lot of angst, mommy/daddy issues, and simple plots that were easily resolved. The stakes didn't really feel that high.

Now they've made the characters more likable, the stakes have been raised, we're seeing some cool tech, and it feels like it's going somewhere. We want more SHIELD. Even with the improvements, I still want to see more that shows that SHIELD are the ones that you want to come in and save the day. The only real complaints that I have is that they're turning SHIELD into an organization that everyone is familiar with in the world, and they're not consistent with their "Level clearance." Nobody is supposed to know Coulson's alive,but if he shows up and they see him it's no big deal. They're just not a very secretive organization in that aspect.
Bread
Bread - 1/19/2014, 2:09 PM
I hated the first half of the season, but I really enjoyed the last two episodes and I am now a fan of the show. Hopefully this is a sign that the rest of the series will be good as well.
MightyZeus
MightyZeus - 1/20/2014, 2:37 AM
The show itself has improved for me only slightly but i am enjoying each episode so far. The show is bringing in characters from the comics and teasing it's audience and it seems like there is a bigger story that's coming into play.
MercwithMouth
MercwithMouth - 1/20/2014, 12:28 PM
They aren't JUST introducing a big bad. Centipede has been around since the pilot. Superpowers were in the pilot. MCU connections were in the pilot.

Everything about AoS has been there since the beginning of the show. Most people that dislike it, have simply ignored everything about the show that they don't want to see. They ignore the multi-episode character arcs. They ignore the season-long big bad, they ignore the hints and tips you get about the mysteries involving Coulson and Skye. They just ignore.

Great editorial man. Well presented.
GuardianDevil
GuardianDevil - 1/21/2014, 7:19 AM
Yeah, it's getting better but that doesn't change the fact that it's still terrible. It's like comparing a turd to a clump of dirt. Sure, the clump of dirt tastes better but you still don't ever wanna eat it.
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