Rating the seasons: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

Whilst Marvel Studios are acting like WandaVision is Marvel's first ever foray into shows which are a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they had done it before. Twice in fact. With the criminally short lived Agent Carter and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, featuring Phil Coulson of Iron Man and Avengers fame.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D was a show that was created by Joss Whedon, back when he and Marvel were good friends. Whilst he eased off of the show after the first season, his imprint could still be felt in later seasons. The Joss imprint near enough slaps you in the face in the first season, with J. August Richards of Angel fame being one of the first people you see in the opening episode, with fellow Angel actor Amy Acker appearing later in the season.

As fun as Agents of S.H.I.E.LD can be, it isn't the most consistent show. Too many episodes per season. Slow moving stories. No sense of how much it should and shouldn't touch on events of the Marvel films releasing alongside it. Some characters becoming absolute unlikable pieces of shit. As the show progresses, it does get better. And with ratings falling, episodes and budgets got cut, which forced the writing to get tighter.

It's a show I have a love and hate relationship with. I can't outright recommend anybody to watch the whole entire thing, as a couple of the seasons are absolute trash. So I figured I write a lil' guide on each season, and let you know which seasons you should watch, and which you should avoid. 

Season 1: The one affected by The Winter Soldier

Season 1 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is pretty ropey, but sails on the whimsy, whitty scriptwriting and solid performances you'd expect from a Joss Whedon show. It follows a very standard 'villain of the week' setup with an arc building in the background.

Season 1 is really slow and really fucking long, but it features an amazing twist half-way through which coincides with the same twist which happens in the MCU movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The ramifications of the twist is a pretty huge deal, but it doesn't have any real substantial lasting effects in any of the films aside from a reference here and there. In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D however, it's a different story. The twist has huge repercussions on the show, and every season which follows finds the agents dealing with the fallout of it in some way.

Despite Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D being billed early on as this great TV show companion to the Marvel movies, some of these ties to the films feel really lazy. Any excuse to mention Tony Stark, Thor, Captain America or Black Widow, the show takes it, even when there's no logical reason. There is one really weird instance of a character mentioning Bucky, which there was absolutely zero reason nor context for. Joss Whedon wants to keep reminding everybody that his show is part of the MCU and the films that he wrote and directed, and it gets really old because it's nothing more than his bald-headed ass beating his chest. Whilst it doesn't ruin the season by any means, it will make your eyes roll every time you hear an Avenger mentioned. And Phil Coulson's gloating about how he knows Thor gets old real fast.

As rough around the edges as season 1 is, it's worth watching through for the twists and a great cameo. And whilst there are seasons WAAAAAAAAAAY better than the first, I also wouldn't recommend anybody jumping into this show without watching it, because every single season which follows calls back to the events of season 1. So if you jump ahead, you'd only end up having to go back and watch this shit anyway. Season 1 is slow as fuck, but stick with it. It'll give you what you need to then hop skip and jump through the seasons which follow.

VERDICT: Watch it

📺 Episodes to watch:
■ Pilot
■ 0-8-4
■ The Asset
■ Eye Spy
■ Girl in the Flower Dress
■ FZZT
■ The Hub
■ The Bridge
■ The Magical Place
■ Seeds
■ T.R.A.C.K.S.
■ T.A.H.I.T.I.
■ Yes Men
■ End of the Beginning
■ Turn, Turn, Turn
■ Providence
■ The Only Light in the Darkness
■ Nothing Personal
■ Ragtag
■ Beginning of the End


Season 2: The one that's trash 

This might just be the worst season. In fact, it straight up is the worst season. It's a shame that season 2 is such a slog to get through, because it's the one season where the most shit happens. But that's part of the issue. So much happens, yet everything feels so slow.

I'm not sure what happened behind the scenes between season 1 and 2; if the team were taking on board criticism that the MCU movies were facing or if the fallout between Joss Whedon and Marvel had already started to happen - but the tone of season 2 is completely different to that of the first. Everything is darker, more miserable and generally dire. If there's one thing that saved season 1, it was the humour. Even at its lowest and during the 'everything is awful' moments, there was respite. Season 2 is an incredibly depressing season to watch. Life is depressing enough in the year 2021 (a.k.a 2020: Season 2) without having to sit and watch other people live their depressing ass lives.

I would say skip this season out-right. Except some of these characters go through such life-changing shit which carries through into the next season, that will leave you confused as all fuck if you skip it.

One of the few good things about this season is that we get a couple of flashbacks which feature Agent Carter. The original bad bitch of S.H.I.E.L.D, whose own show still deserves a third season.

VERDICT: Skim through it

📺 Episodes to watch:
■ Shadows
■ Heavy Is the Head
■ Making Friends and Influencing People
■ Face My Enemy
■ A Hen in the Wolf House
■ The Writing on the Wall
■ The Things We Bury
■ What They Become
■ Aftershocks
■ Who You Really Are
■ Love in the Time of Hydra
■ One Door Closes
■ Afterlife
■ Melinda
■ Scars
■ S.O.S. (a 2-part episode)


Season 3: The one where they did too much

Season 3 feels like a big ol' reboot from season 2. There are new members on the team, the returning members are no longer who they were, and there's a brand new threat. Season 3 also manages to remedy the issue of seasons feeling far too long by essentially giving you two seasons in one; with a mid-point where one arc closes and we get the introduction of another which concludes by the season finale.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D's third season is good. It feels far more ambitious than season 2, and for the first time you feel like S.H.I.E.L.D isn't in this bubble which is separate from everything, but is actually dealing with threats in the world and is in turn being affected by the world itself. There's a definite sense of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D caring less about being a companion to the MCU films and it works in its favour. The problem with season 3 is that at times it feels like it's biting off more than it can chew. With so many characters in play at one time, and more new characters being introduced every 2 episodes or so, it can be a lot. But it's a far better season than season 2, and the jump in scale is a nice look at the potential of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D to build a little universe of its own.

Verdict: Watch it

📺 Episodes to watch:
■ Laws of Nature
■ Purpose in the Machine
■ A Wanted (Inhu)man
■ 4,722 Hours
■ Among Us Hide...
■ Chaos Theory
■ Many Heads, One Tale
■ Closure
■ Maveth
■ Bouncing Back
■ Parting Shot
■ Spacetime
■ Paradise Lost
■ The Team
■ Failed Experiments
■ Emancipation
■ Absolution
■ Ascension

Season 4: The one where the Ghost Rider came for wigs 

This is where Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D really hits its stride and steps into greatness.

Season 4 is widely considered a favourite among fans, and for good reason. It's a great season and an ambitious one, which features three arcs as opposed to two, one of which includes Ghost Rider. Gabriel Luna stars are the flamed skulled demon with the chain fetish, and is so good in this show that it's absolutely disgusting that Marvel Studios haven't done anything with the character since. Especially with phase 4 of the MCU looking to dive head first into the magical, the mystical and the possible introduction of Mephisto. It's understandable though. It became clear that once Kevin Feige took the reins and Marvel Studios became it's own entity, that he was like 'Fuck the Marvel shit I didn't sign off on'. Which included Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

There is also an amazing arc which sees characters in a reality flip, which basically creates a show within a show situation, which is so damn good that I would have taken a whole spin-off of it.

Verdict: Definitely watch this season

📺 Episodes to watch: 

Bitch, all of them

Season 5: The one where they go into the future

The boldness of season 4 carries through into season 5, which pretty much transforms Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D into this whole new beast. Well...at least for the first half of the season.

Long before time travel became a thing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D did it with its fifth season, by sending everybody into the future. But the time travel isn't main focus of this season. It's the discovery that the characters make about themselves whilst they're at one end of it. What these characters discover about themselves in the future changes them forever. As fantastical as season 4 was, it's nice to have a season which is less about spectacle and the holding of grudges, and one which focuses on the characters trying to become the best versions of themselves that they can be as they fight destiny.

The first half of Season 5 presents a very different shift for the show in every single sense, which may leave you a little torn if you got used to how things were in the previous 4 seasons. But it works so well because the story being told is so compelling. Also, the second half of the season sees things return back to the normal setup anyway. Disappointingly. Because the second half of this season is absolute trash. But hey, if you missed the regular S.H.I.E.L.D shit, the show gives it to you.

Verdict: Watch the first half, Wikipedia the second

📺 Episodes to watch:
■ Orientation
■ A Life Spent
■ A Life Earned
■ Rewind
■ Fun & Games
■ Together or Not at All
■ The Last Day
■ Best Laid Plans
■ Past Life
■ All the Comforts of Home

Season 6: The one that made no sense to me

This is a weird season, which feels like it's trying to fuse both parts of season 5 into one - but doesn't quite pull it off. We're introduced to a bunch of new characters and an all new villain; which wouldn't seem so bad, except you have no connection to any of them. The only connection to these new characters is 'Oh, one of them looks like Coulson', which the entire season hinges on, and it's just not enough.

Season 6 chose to make the bold move, in once again, taking all of the characters and the story WAY out of anything which was happening in the Marvel movies, so they didn't have to deal with the narrative logistics of Thanos' snap. But we then ended up a story that just felt difficult to get invested in. It's a shame that after a season which had you really root for these characters in an arc which had so much compassion and heart in the midst of utter shit and devastation, that we got a season which felt so cold.

Part of what makes season 6 so weird is that it sets things up pointlessly, because you know exactly how it's gonna go. You know that this guy who looks like Coulson is not Coulson. Yo-Yo is seeing some other S.H.I.E.L.D agent guy, but you know it won't last because she truly loves Mack. And there's a lot of this throughout the season.

I admire the audacity. But part of what makes Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D good is the relationship these characters have with one another and themselves, and how everything interconnects, and season 6 didn't really feel like it was a part of anything which had been building over the seasons leading up to it.

Verdict: Watch it and see what you think

📺 Episodes to watch:
■ Missing Pieces
■ Window of Opportunity
■ Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson
■ Code Yellow
■ Collision Course (Part I)
■ Collision Course (Part II)
■ Leap
■ The Sign
■ New Life

Season 7: The one that ends 

The showrunners, the writers and the directors said 'Fuck it, let's have fun' and created what is one of the best seasons of the show. Where-as season 6 felt like it was completely disconnected from everything that'd happen up until that point, season 7 throws itself right back into the mix; which it absolutely had to in order to conclude its own story. Season 7 even manages to make reference to Avengers: Endgame, after pretty much saying 'Fuck the MCU' back in season 5.

Season 7 brings back time travel, which sees the crew jumping through time from the 30s through to the 80s. Each episode features its own title card and opening sequence unique to the time period, with the team having to try and blend in and not to disrupt the timeline. But of course, they disrupt the shit out of it, by killing people in the past, changing events and pulling characters from one time and taking them to another. All the while, the bad guys are doing the exact same. It's like the time heist from Avengers: Endgame (easily one of the best parts of the film), but longer and way more fun.

Season 7 split fans down the middle, but I think it's one of the best seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. How much enjoyment you get out of it will be dependant on you having watched prior seasons though. But each episode does a great job of trying to be as self-contained as possible, and there are a couple of episodes which are literally just great standalone episodes which play with narrative for fun ("Out of the Past" and "As I Have Always Been" are brilliant episodes that you can just dip into). It's also a great season to watch if you're currently watching WandaVision, as there are some similarities concerning the mystery aspect and the jump through eras, evidenced by pop culture references of each respective time period.

Verdict: Definitely watch it

📺 Episodes to watch: Bitch, all of them

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D isn't a perfect show. (Very few shows are). But it does some cool things. The Joss Whedon fallout with Marvel, and then Marvel Studios pretty much refusing to acknowledge this show created its fair share of bumps along the way. But Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D managed to blossom into something good that in many ways rivalled what was happening in the Marvel movies.

As patchy as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is and as much as I cussed it out on Twitter, I can't deny that it made some really big swings in some of the things that it did. And Kevin Feige would be wise to make use of some of these things and the characters it introduced. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D ended in such a way that he'd be silly not to. And the cast in this thing is so damn good too. It'd be a shame not to make continued use of the likes of the utterly likeable Chloe Bennett. Lord knows the MCU could use more bad ass women. Black Widow is tired, not to mention dead. The jury is still out on Scarlet Witch. And people aren't in love with Captain Marvel just yet. Just put Daisy in the damn MCU for fucks sake.

HENNYWAY.

Every season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is now available to stream on Disney+. So if you need a Marvel fix to tide you over in-between episodes of WandaVision or until Black Widow releases in 2025, you've got 7 seasons of a Marvel show to muck through.