‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Season 1 Review: In Like a Lamb, Out Like the King of the Jungle

Agents of SHIELD started out as one of the weakest and most unlikable shows of the fall but through careful story building and crossovers with one of Marvel’s best films to date, the series ended up as a pleasant surprise closing strong on Tuesday night…

By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer

It’s all Daredevil’s fault.

Yes, I’m referencing the god awful 2003 film starring Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock aka Daredevil and the dearly departed Michael Clarke Duncan as The Kingpin. Prior to that movie coming out in theaters, I made the very dumb mistake of allowing myself to believe this was going to be the superhero movie to end all superhero movies. Not because I had heard particularly great things about it — this was 11 years ago, which means a time before every superhero genre movie had at least a dozen reviews released about it before ever landing in theaters. The fact was this — I was and remain to this day a huge fan of the Daredevil character from the comic books. Growing up, my favorite character was always Spider-Man but once I discovered Daredevil in the late 90’s, I found a solid runner-up.

So when there was a Daredevil movie being made, I was over the moon with excitement. I was also a fan of Ben Affleck (and still am today), and although I didn’t really think a 6’4″ guy really embodied Matt Murdock, I still had high hopes he could pull it off. My expectations were so high that I thought there was no way they could screw this up. Boy was I wrong.

The movie was a colossal blunder in every way, shape and form. From casting to story to dialogue to execution, there wasn’t much to enjoy about Daredevil outside of a few cool lines delivered from Colin Farrell as Bullseye. I was so let down, but then I realized that part of my disgust with this movie was partially my own fault. I went in with expectations. I thought this was going to be the Daredevil from Frank Miller brought to life on screen, and when it didn’t deliver, there was no way I couldn’t be let down in a magnificent way. So for years after Daredevil, I wouldn’t allow myself to get that excited for a new project outside of my general anticipation to see a comic book or story come to life on the big screen.

But I let my guard down and my expectations raise when I heard that there was a show being made called ‘Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD’ and Joss Whedon was leading the charge for the series. Now, truth be told, I got on the bandwagon for the new Marvel movie revolution a little later than most. I didn’t much care for Iron Man, Thor or Captain America when it came to the comics, so I wasn’t rushing to see any of these in the theaters either. Once I did, however, I was shouting Marvel along with every other fanboy in the universe.

Then you go and add on Joss Whedon’s name to this project and what’s not to love? Joss Whedon — creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one of the 10 greatest TV shows of all time. Joss Whedon — creator of Firefly, one of the 10 greatest TV shows of all time. Joss Whedon — director and writer of The Avengers, one of the best comic book movies of all time. I mean I have a t-shirt in my closet that reads ‘In Joss We Trust’. This man couldn’t possibly do wrong. So I was on board and panting like a puppy, eyes gaped open and a smile as wide as the stars when Agents of SHIELD first debut on ABC last year.

The first episode was fun and playful while introducing us to our cast and crew, including Agent Phil Coulson, who came back from the dead after being speared by Loki in The Avengers. By episode two we even got a brief appearance from Samuel L. Jackson playing SHIELD director Nick Fury.

But then something strange started to happen — the show sucked.

The episodes were sloppy and not well put together, and what I believed to be a serialized drama, all leading towards tie-ins with the upcoming Marvel movies ended up as pointless procedurals that dabbled in storytelling but not putting anything on screen all that compelling. Whedon wasn’t even hands on anymore. He left the day-to-day show running and script production to his brother Jed and his wife, while he was off preparing for The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron.

By the midway point of the season, I was ready to give up. How could such a slam dunk of a show have gone so badly in such a quick way? Agent Coulson was a fun side character in all of the Marvel movies, but as much as I like Clark Gregg, I just wasn’t buying him as the lead in this series. The focus from episode to episode seemed to focus on Skye’s exploits more than anything else and she wasn’t even a freaking Agent of SHIELD. Ward was a grown up Boy Scout and the science geeks, Fitz and Simmons, were so stereotypically nerdy even I was annoyed by them about four weeks into the show. Oh and who could forget stoic pilot Melinda May, who was about as warm as Hoth in the middle of winter.

The focus for the majority of the season seemed to focus on a mystical Clairvoyant, who was pulling the strings from behind the curtain while constantly poking and prodding at Coulson over his miraculous resurrection from the grave. The search for how and why Coulson survived his ‘death’ became the central focus and the more answers we got, the more ludicrous and laughable the plot ended up. I found myself actually rooting for characters to not make it in hopes that we’d get replacements with real personalities and back stories that I cared about when they arrived.

Even the promoted ‘crossovers’ with Marvel movies like Thor: The Dark World were barely crossovers at all. Having a random item from Asgard show up on Earth following the conclusion of the Thor movie isn’t exactly a crossover. Even worse was the two episode series where they brought in Lady Sif from the Thor franchise to try and inject life into the show by having her battle another Asgardian. The results were predictably awful.

Rumors began to swirl that due to falling ratings and a critically panned series, Agents of SHIELD was in danger of not being renewed for a season two. For all the successes that Marvel has had on film over the last few years, it’s their counterparts at DC who found the formula for TV with shows like ‘Smallville’ and ‘Arrow’. Was that just the way of the world? DC would own TV while failing miserably in the movies with attempts such as ‘Green Lantern’ while Marvel would take over the theaters as their shows crumbled and faded away. It was almost as if there was a territorial battle, with each comic company claiming their own turf.

But then it just so happened that another Marvel movie was opening with promised tie-ins to the Agents of SHIELD TV series. My hopes were dramatically low for the crossover appeal, but I was still very excited to see ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ and the film did not disappoint. Feel free to read my review if you need proof. The thing that stuck out the most, however, was the literal destruction of SHIELD and the big reveal (Spoilers) that HYDRA had infiltrated the organization decades ago and was quietly simmering under the surface for years just waiting to strike. They finally did in the Captain America sequel, while simultaneously dismantling SHIELD from the inside out. No more SHIELD so how do you go about having a show called Agents of SHIELD?

It was at this juncture that the show finally found its footing. I actually got excited to watch the show again just to see how it would follow up the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, even if I knew deep down there really wouldn’t be any major connection. It’s not as if Steve Rogers was going to come bursting through the door Kool-Aid Man style and let everybody know that he was saving the day.

It was the action and reaction of the show that really started to click after Captain America finished, and finally the characters found new life and there was a central theme connecting each episode to the next that gave me the serialized drama I had always hoped for when this series started. Coulson was still driven and he eventually got answers about how he came back to life, but it was a secondary story as it always should have been. Meanwhile, we discover that Agent John Garrett was one of the HYDRA agents implanted in SHIELD all those years ago and his ace student, super boy scout himself, Agent Ward was his sleeper inside of Coulson’s crew just waiting to strike.

Watching Ward transform from too good to be true to mean spirited bad guy was an awesome thing to witness. I found myself rooting for him in some strange way, but not because I wanted HYDRA to triumph, but more because this seemingly transparent character actually had some layers to him and I didn’t want him to die before we got to learn more. Skye’s mysterious past still haunted the show, but much like Coulson, her heritage was more of a parallel story just below the surface and not the primary focus it had been for so much of the first three-quarters of the show.

The show had focus and purpose as Coulson battled to save SHIELD’s very soul after the HYDRA invasion nearly wiped them off the map. We met new characters like Agent Triplett, who was the same character Ward had been before his evil turn, except this guy was actually likable without knowing too much about him. Even Melinda May, who had been the stone wall of emotion this entire season, came alive especially in the finale when she battled Ward while tossing in quips about their brief mid-season affair (You were never on top!)

A few days ago Agents of SHIELD was renewed for season two, and I actually felt relieved that the show would get another chance after a rough freshman year. The last five or six episodes were compelling and action packed television that I actually got excited to watch each Tuesday night as opposed to the early part of the season when I almost dreaded tuning in as if it was almost an act of contrition I was being forced to endure as a comic book fan.

The finale that took place on Tuesday was a wild ride that really felt like a Marvel movie come to life. Agent Garrett came close to his goal of a government takeover, if not for Nick Fury reappearing and helping Coulson take him down. May beat Ward, but he stayed alive, which I hope means he’ll return for season two as well at least in some capacity. And Skye’s impossibly long, arduous journey to find her parentage took a turn for the weird when Ms. Flowers turned her picture over to some kind of creature dripping oil, as she told him that his daughter had been found.

There was a well executed conclusion to the stories we had been following since Captain America as HYDRA’s inside agents had been spoiled, destroyed or stopped, and in a great turn of fortune, Fury hands over the keys to the kingdom to Coulson as the new director of SHIELD as he rebuilds the program from the ground floor, doing things his way, with people he trusts. But before we can celebrate Coulson’s new promotion, we close with him scribbling some kind of unknown formula on the wall similar to the script that Garrett became obsessed with after the same alien technology brought him back to life when he was on the brink of death. The end left me curious — what kind of alien chemistry was used to bring Coulson back to life, and how is it affecting him now going forward? Who is this new big bad that happens to be Skye’s father? Where will Agent Ward pop up next? (I think he’ll be used in the same way Jack Bauer had to use past moles from 24 when they realized he knows more than he’s letting on). How will SHIELD be rebuilt now that Fury is no longer around, Coulson is in charge, but the government may not be involved?

For what started out as a painfully cluttered show with no heart and soul, Agents of SHIELD closed the first season with a walk off grand slam. Sure they were down six runs after just few innings, but ultimately they powered back and still won me over by seasons’ end. Some part of me now looks forward to the day when Netflix gets season one added to the queue so I can go back and rewatch scenes and episodes to see if there were spoilers planted throughout the first batch of shows that led to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I’m excited about season two, especially if they build on the momentum they gained at the end of season one.

Maybe this was just Joss Whedon’s plan all along. Truth be told of all the seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season one still remains the weakest of them all, but it was merely a building block for what would become a tour de force in season two. Hopefully, Agents of SHIELD has the same formula. It took them 22 episodes to finally get it right, but the writers and creators behind the show did a bang up job closing things down for season one.

Now let’s all wait with bated breath until season two premieres this fall on ABC.