I haven't been in the mood to watch any show since the pandemic started, but I knew I had to be there for the final season of Agents of SHIELD, one of my all-time favorite shows. I just finished the series finale, and I want to take this opportunity to reflect on the series as a whole. After a wild ride through space and time, the S7 finale sees the culmination of the battle between SHIELD and the Chronicoms. To say anything more than that is serious spoiler territory, but goddamn, the action, the suspense, the emotions... they all delivered in my book. S7 overall shaped up to be much stronger than the previous season. Although S6 had its amazing moments, it had the misfortune of both being truncated to 13 episodes, as well as following up S5 (which would have made for a satisfactory series ending if the show had been cancelled). The chase through time in this season gave me something I've always wanted from the MCU: a look at mostly-unexplored eras in its timeline. I'd say the only real gripe I had is with the villains; I didn't really care about their motivations or endgame, but they sufficed as a seemingly insurmountable threat the team may not be able to beat. Speaking of the MCU, it is no secret that the show's connection to the movies has become less and less tangible over the years (no thanks to the schism between Marvel Studios and Marvel TV), but the one-way connections in this season still had me excited. The bombshell reveal in the finale actually ties in with one of the latest Avengers movies (something S5 wasn't able to do with Infinity War, and again in S6 with Endgame), and it actually answers the eternal "is it canon" question in a neat and tidy way (whether or not it's satisfying is up for debate). Perhaps the show's strongest connection to other Marvel properties is the massive tie-in to the Agent Carter series (which is technically canon if the Endgame cameo of Edwin Jarvis is to be believed). If you're somewhat aware of this show, you may already know what I'm talking about, but I won't speak of it any further in case you don't. All I'll say is that it was a brilliant addition to the show. In relation to previous seasons, S7 made plenty of meaningful callbacks to older story arcs without feeling like glorified references or cameos. Stuff from all the way back from S1 and S2 were referenced, and they actually added to the overarching narrative. Sadly, not everything was referenced, but that's OK, as some of those threads have been resolved neatly in other seasons (in my mind, at least). The only real thing that went completely unaddressed was the cliffhanger from S3, but I don't really know how that would fit in anyway. My journey with Agents of SHIELD has been an interesting one. I remember first hearing about this show and being skeptical over the fact that Coulson's death from Avengers 1 was undone. Then it was made known that this show would be MCU canon and connect to the movies. And then S1 came and the references I was looking for weren't as strong as I expected (in the show's defense, my expectations at the time were a little unreasonable), so I ended up only casually watching the show as opposed to being super into it. I decided to stick it out through S1, and I couldn't be happier that I did, as the tie-in to Winter Soldier completely changed the complexion of the show from the usual "case-of-the-week" formula to "oh fuck what's gonna happen next?". At that moment, I was all in, and every season after, while not perfect, managed to blow me away with cool storylines with all sorts of different scenarios. Throughout all that, I got more into the characters who weren't Coulson, and now some of these folks are among my favorites in any TV show. There are plenty of things I wish the show handled better (stuff like Mockingbird and Hunter's departure, some of the stuff with Ward, among other things), but I found myself enjoying the highs way more than I was bothered with the lows. To name a few, I liked how S2 ramped up the spy vs. spy action, how S5 handled time travel (and how it resolved the Graviton plot thread that went unresolved since S1), and how S4 (up there as one of my all-time favorite seasons of any TV show ever) was split into three arcs that featured the supernatural, the sci-fi, and psychological trauma all rolled into one neat package. Even if the references to the movies are few and far between, the few that do exist still made me happy. The rare Nick Fury appearance, Sif teaming up with the agents, cute references and name-drops.... they all brought me delight despite not being the big "it's all connected" conceit the marketing promised everyone. I never did get an Agent 13 guest appearance, or specific references to Hank Pym's SHIELD days, but thinking about moments like S2 directly connecting to Age of Ultron, or S4 using Doctor Strange visuals for key moments still feels rewarding as a fan. It's not just the movies this show showed love to; it took some stuff directly from the comics and really made it their own. The biggest one was their handling of the Inhumans in S2, and while no characters from Attilan were involved at all, I was still very happy with how they adapted this classic corner of Marvel lore into the show (even using it to elevate one of the main characters). They also gave us unique takes on classic but relatively obscure comic characters, like Absorbing Man, Deathlok, Slingshot, Lash, Mr. Hyde, and even fucking Ghost Rider. They also took on other things from the comics outside of characters, like the show's use of the Kree, incorporating the Darkhold, creating a short-lived version of the Secret Warriors, and the amazing story arc in S4 revolving around the LMDs. In short, my comic geek side was satisfied. Like most people who first got into the show, I was most interested in Coulson. As time went on however, I found myself more and more attached to the rest of the cast. Daisy's (FKA Skye) transformation from renegade to hero was satisfying to watch, May is a cool take on the silent badass but still had depth to her character, and Fitz & Simmons the science duo were delightful to watch. The last one is a standout to me, as those two characters had a romance that even I (someone usually averse to romance) was really rooting for and enjoyed watching. Even characters who were introduced later (like Deke, Enoch, Mack, etc.) were made compelling, and there were very few I could say weren't interesting, or were underutilized. It's kind of bizarre to see this show end. S1 began when I was a freshman in college, and now it's a new decade (and everything sucks, but that's beside the point). SHIELD was under threat of cancellation so many times that it still blows my mind that the show got to end on its own terms. Hell, it managed to outlive every other Marvel TV show, making it both the beginning and the end of the Marvel TV era of the 2010s (which had the rise and fall of the Netflix series, Cloak and Dagger, Runaways, and... Inhumans). It really felt like a fixture of my life through college, and I'm quite sad to see it go. But hey, at least it wasn't cancelled! Honestly, there is so much more I can say about this show, like some of its standout episodes (like 3,722 Hours, or As I Have Always Been), how much I enjoyed the Monolith stuff (despite the weird execution of it in S6), or how well they did to cement HYDRA as an omnipresent threat, but I don't want to pad this post out too long. The last thing I want to say is: please watch this show if you are interested. Whether it's because you heard the positive buzz, or you're a fan of the MCU, I think you owe it to yourself to check it out. I fucking love this show, and I feel obligated to recommend it to as many people as I can.
Also: special shoutout to Sam for encouraging me to stick with the show. Glad I heeded your advice. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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