Agents of Shield Review

Regardless of the blatant problems with Joss Whedons writing, Ive always been a fan of it. He has a
pretty solid understanding of dialogue-carried comedy and a knack for creating quite engaging
characters, despite their restrictions to Whedon archetypes (always a little bit too clever). It seems
Whedon characters always know exactly what to say and it can make things feel a little fabricated at
times. Theyll also completely drop character in order to dish out a quick joke, but thats fine. Its
enjoyable to watch and thats whats important.
I think Firefly is a work of art, and I enjoyed Buffy and Angel too.
The Avengers was really fun as well...
So bearing that in mind, I decided to watch the first five episodes of his new show; Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D, a show that revolves around the character Phil Coulson; a S.H.I.E.L.D agent who has
appeared in the Marvel movies.
Well be delving into spoiler territory here and there, so if you want to watch the show without
having minor aspects spoiled for you, I recommend watching it first before reading this.
Coulson is an inanimate agent with a sort of socially awkward attitude and very simplistic delivery.
He was portrayed as a pretty good agent, but not amazing. His static body language and rather dry
tone was usually used in contrast to other characters to generate comedy: He was generally very
likeable, and so his apparent death scene in The Avengers was actually quite sentimental.
Oh wait, whaaaat? Hes dead?
Well no, no he isnt. His death was a ruse to motivate the Marvel heroes to assemble and form a
single indestructible unit. Quite a cool idea, and it was suggested initially in a subtle and effective
way, so when he came back, there was no real shock. It made sense, is what Im saying.
What doesnt make sense is what theyve done to Coulsons personality. I find this bizarre shift of
character quite fascinating, and not in a good way, so Ive decided to write this short review and just
pick apart why this show feels so broken. Its not a bad show; Ive willingly watched every episode so
far, but its not what Id call good. Its average, and ultimately quite forgettable, which is a shame,
but the reasoning behind this is purely character based. In true Whedon style, its less about a
singular protagonist and more about a gang, or crew, or in this case a team of agents with conflicting
and complimenting personalities. Thatd be just fine if nearly all of these characters werent
somehow wrong. Its almost like Whedon took the concept of a character arc and crammed it into
the first two episodes so that rather than a motive-based change of attitude, its just blatant
inconsistency. Lemme go through the team and talk about what I mean. Lets start with...
Phil Coulson (The Leader)
So heres why I have a problem with Phil which Ive never had before. Phil Coulson is what youd call

a support character. His appeal is generated through dialogue with other characters. He doesnt fire
off quips or approach situations in unusual ways; hes normally very by the book, dutiful and
restrained. There are some One-shot scenes in which he shows a much more interesting side, where
he toys with criminals that are so far below him he doesnt even have to try, but the humour comes
from his dry delivery and the criminals reactions to his bizarre, static behaviour. Ill put a link to the
scene below.
In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, he doesnt display this side of his character. In fact, his unemotive aspects
are so exaggerated that he comes across as quite unbelievable. For the first four episodes, he never
once raised or lowered his voice, expressed any sort of emotion, or moved his limbs for any reason
other than when it was totally necessary. Theres something about his performance that makes me
want to just switch off. The comedic contrast is gone, because all of the other characters dont have
that clash that Tony Stark and the others did. As far as I can tell, Phil only has two character aspects,
both of which are milked to such extent that at least one of them is brought up in nearly every major
dialogue scene hes involved in
1. He likes old things
Phil Coulson displayed an interest for vintage items during The Avengers when he awkwardly tries to
contain his excitement when meeting captain America. He has collected a series of old trading cards,
of which he is very proud of. This tiny character trait has been enhanced to make him appear more
interesting. His quarters are filled with old fashioned models and collectables, and he drives around
in a fancy car (1962 Chevrolet Corvette) which he calls Lola, as a sort of call to whats essentially for
him a mid-life crisis. Lola can fly, as S.H.I.E.L.D agents occasionally have flying cars, but he never
really uses this function. Whether or not the capability of flight diminishes or enhances collectors
value, I do not know.
2. He nearly died that one time
This bothers me. Agents of B.U.L.W.A.R.K makes so many references to The Avengers and its
prequels that it becomes almost painful. The one major event Phil constantly wants to talk about is
when Loki stabbed him. He basically uses it as an excuse for half the things he says, and will almost
find a way to form a tangent which will lead to him recounting this horrible event. Essentially,
conversations will be like
Oh, hey Coulson. How are you?
Pretty good. Today Im not being stabbed by an asguardian maniac.
Oh... Well, you want to get something to eat?
Yeah sure. I like food. Know what I DONT like? Being stabbed by an asguardian maniac.
He finds ways to bring it up. I dont know if this is intentional or if its just bad writing, but it comes
across as the latter. Now it has been brought up a few times that this event was a lot more traumatic
to Phil than hes conveying, and the reason hes somehow even more static than usual is due to this
haunting recollection, which is fine, but it doesnt make for a great character to watch. In Episode 5,
he gets properly pissed off for the first time and he raises his voice, and I distinctly remember
commenting on it because it was so alien to me. He was almost shouting. Then I watched his limbs
and I realised they werent moving at all. Even when hes angry, he doesnt move an inch. Its so...
mechanical, and unappealing to watch.

Hes also quite inconsistent. Sometimes hell strive to achieve a merciful goal, and sometimes hell
just kill people. He does whats necessary, but only about 60% of the time. Hell try to save a father,
but if you dont have kids, youre doomed. Family is one thing he seems very sympathetic for,
somehow more so than the actual deceased victims. Im not sure if this is an attempt to make him
less morally objectionable, or just a serial killers trademark. Hell only kill you if youre bitterly alone.
Its worth mentioning that he smiles a lot, but never laughs, but thats something that is consistent
to all Joss Whedons characters. They laugh very little, and usually when they do, its to set up a joke
involving misunderstanding.
Theyre also giving dialogue to characters that implant Coulson with a sort of passive badassery. His
past is referred to on occasion, and everyone he meets speaks incredibly highly of him. Hell make a
blunt and obvious deduction and receive a response such as I forgot how good you are, Coulson. It
feels forced and unnecessary. Coulson was always a leader, yes, but was he really that good? Based
on the setups given to other characters such as Melinda May, Coulson has always come across as
sort of... average. Thats part of his charm; he wasnt some badass super hero, he was a pretty
good agent with a heart of gold. Need I remind you that Loki didnt just kill him, he toyed with him.
Remember what happened when he toyed with The Hulk?
OHWAITSORRYHESNOTDEAD
Skye (The Hacker)
So, its a 2013 action series. That means we need a hacker. Skye is a hacktavist pried from an
organisation of hacktavists called The Rising Tide. Shes initially hunted down by Coulson and the
others and brought into custody after she hacks S.H.I.E.L.Ds servers. Rather than just locking her up,
however, they decide that they can use her, and so she becomes the newest member of the team.
Skye serves as a fish out of water character; a character which the audience can relate to in which
she has no former experience with the team, meaning things have to be explained to her, and ergo
are conveyed to the audience. She has a cocky nature and bad attitude, and she essentially opposes
everything S.H.I.E.L.D stand for. Being a member of The Rising Tide, Skye believes in freedom of all
information rather than organisations that wield secrecy and confidentiality. She had no combat
experience and a complete lack of discipline, so shes often paired with the most disciplined support
characters for scenes of contrast and humour.
Skyes conflict is portrayed selectively, in that 99% of the time shes perfectly fine with everything
thats going on. Occasionally however she does remember who shes meant to be and internally
screws with things. In the most recent episode, she outright betrays S.H.I.E.L.D and tips off a fellow
Rising Tide member when Coulson and the others are looking for him. Rather than just informing
him, however, she goes to his apartment and sleeps with him, leading the highly trained agents she
has been working with for weeks right to his door. (She says to the man, Miles, that she doesnt have
long and she should go, but then they have sex. A fair amount of time passes, but when Skye goes
into the next room to find her shirt which was discarded in a flaming moment of passion, she finds

Melinda standing there, looking stern and holding the shirt out. Was Melinda standing there the
entire time? Did she just listen at the door? What? Why did she wait so long? Agent Coulson said he
had Melinda follow Skye because he didnt trust her, so why didnt Melinda just open the door when
she knew Skye was double crossing them? What? Whaaaat?)
Anyway, so Skye gets caught. Nice work, Skye.
This, by the way, is the previously mentioned thing Coulson gets angry at. Coulsons punishment is
he places some sort of EMP band upon her wrist. It disallows access to electronic devices, meaning
that, although Skye is still with S.H.I.E.L.D, shes totally unable to do the one thing shes good at.
I can pick holes here and there but I find Skye more believable than most of the cast. She has a
motive for being there; to be the inside girl. She also adds some much needed dynamics to the
character arcs and traits. Since Grant is training her, you can see her gradually developing and
becoming more attached to the others, which is nice; it reminds me a little of Simon and River from
Firefly, except not as well executed. Not even close, to be honest.
Theres a nice set up and payoff in episode three involving Skye. Earlier in the episode, Grant is trying
to teach her a basic disarming technique. Shes being quite obstructive and complaining a lot and
Grant snaps at her, before resuming the training. Shes useless and cant pull off the technique, but
later on in the episode, when shes in a situation in which an actual villain points a gun at her, she
executes the technique and disarms him. He asks if shes willing to pull the trigger, and she just
shrugs, says no, and dives out of the window. Its kinda nice. Im wondering if whether or not shell
ever get over that. Will she ever be willing to take a life in service of S.H.I.E.L.D? What will she do
now that her hacking abilities have been put on hold? How will she earn back the trust of Coulson
and the others? Im interested.
The hacking in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is nonsensical and ridiculous, as youd expect. Theres a part
where a hacktavist presses a single button on his mobile phone and causes a gridlock on the roads to
aid in his escape. It reminds me of that new Ubisoft game; Watchdogs, except Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D
isnt set in a world in which everything is bloody connected!
Melinda May (The Cavalry)
Melinda May for me had the most potential to be a truly interesting character, meaning for me she
quickly became the most disappointing. May is an ex-combat agent who is totally revered for her
abilities in the field. Her introductory scene involves her sat behind a pile of paper work, totally
surrounded by files and documents. The other characters refer to it as a castle as a joke. Its a nice
introduction with the appeal in the subtleties. They ask May to join Coulsons team, and she initially
refuses. She says she wants nothing to do with the field anymore, especially nothing to do with
combat. After some insisting however (and some ordering, I believe) May agrees to sign up as the
pilot and nothing more.
When May steps upon the Bus for the first time (The plane which acts as a home hub, sort of like
Serenity) the other characters react to her with awe. Is that who I think it is?... Theyre all amazed
by her presence, and you get this sense that shes something incredible.

Three scenes later shes knocked out in one punch by a man with super powers.
Ok, fair enough May. He did have super powers and youre probably a little rusty. May is quietly
furious with Coulson; she wanted nothing to do with combat and shes already been punched out by
an extremis charged abomination (Iron man 3 reference). Coulson apologises and things continue as
they are. In episode 2, May does a bit of lookout work while the team investigates a strange artefact
that resembles the tesseract (Reference to Avengers and Captain America). Grant joins her on this
mundane job and he talks about rebel operations in the surrounding forests. He says its dangerous
here, but he feels fine since he has the Cavalry to protect him. May scowls and says Dont call me
that. Its also of note that when Grant asks where Mays weapons are, she states that she didnt
bring any. Shes sticking with the no combat thing; which is good. So now we know that not only is
she some sort of hero, but she was referred to as The Cavalry; suggesting shes the person you
send in to save the damn day. She had a career which earned her a pretty spectacular title, but she
doesnt like it, and she want to fight anymore. Why? What happened to her? This is genuinely
interesting.
Anyway, the rest of the scene folds out and May beats up some soldiers throughout the episode
with foreshadowing expertise. She doesnt do anything mind-blowing, but shes clearly the best
soldier in the group. Shes still sour about hurting people throughout the episode, but by the end of
it, the dumbest thing happens.
In the last five minutes, May approaches Coulson and states quite clearly that shes willing to take on
combat missions again. Really? You create that set up and then just have her become another
muscle character? In episode one, she loathed the idea of fighting again. One episode later and shes
volunteering for it as a permanent occupation? What? Why did you completely abandon this
concept? Would it not have been multitudes more interesting if she remained restrained; her
character arc bringing her down further and further as shes forced to fight when she doesnt want
to? Suddenly the reason she doesnt fight anymore seems so damn insignificant. It clearly wasnt
impacting enough to stop her doing it ever again, as shes already signing her name on the Screw
you, Imma shoot you list.
Just two episodes later, she disobeys orders to track down someone shes not meant to so she can
murder her in her sleep. What? Furthermore, now that shes abandoned this interesting character
trait, they cant make her some sort of amazing fighter anymore, since shed be a simple oh crap
button which S.H.I.E.L.D could send in to mop up the mess... So now rather than being a flawless
fighter with incredible renown, shes just another woman who gets her ass handed to her as much
as the others do. If it wasnt for Coulson, the girl she tried to murder in her sleep would have shot
her. Bang. Thats it. No more Calvary because of one person whom she wasnt even meant to kill.
For someone who initially outright refused to partake in combat, it didnt take her long to turn a one
eighty and start killing people at the first opportunity she got. Maybe thats how her character arc
will turn out? Maybe the reason she stopped doing combat was because it turned her into a
psychotic murderer. Itd be awfully hypocritical of her, but its the only real dynamic arc I can think
of, now.

Oh right, her personality... Well shes... stern... I guess. Thats... thats about it...
Great.
Grant Ward (The Specialist)
Grant is introduced as one of S.H.I.E.L.Ds best agents. Theres a cool scene in which he uses a load of
improvised weapons to steal some alien tech from a bunch of bad guys and in the following
dialogue, you can tell he means business. He specifies time and time again how he works best alone;
he doesnt play well with others; hes an in and out sort of guy, which means his social skills are also
practically dead. Like May, hes also very stern, but he has more heart than her. Hes also more
argumentative and hot-headed, but still very restrained, when need be. He falls into the same
archetype as May but hes more to the book. He likes things to remain on protocol, and has said
before that, although hes killed some high risk targets, he didnt exactly feel peachy afterwards.
Ok, so hes an angry specialist agent who kills when necessary but prefers not to. Gotcha.
Initially hes quite obstructive to the goals of the team. He tended to put himself forward as a
primary solution and his plans were almost always dismissed by the others, who prefer teamwork.
He has a sort of rivalry with Leo Fitz, who perceives him as a bit of a buffoon, so the two of them
dont get along. Of all the characters, however, he has the most chemistry with Skye, whom he
regularly trains. Initially he wanted nothing to do with Skye, but evidently shes grown on him in the
three episodes theyve spent together. This recent betrayal will likely damage their relationship,
however.
Grant is often used for comic relief, now that Coulson is a more serious and static character. In Joss
Whedon style, he breaks character every now and again to make jokes. Sometimes it feels a little
forced, but sometimes he can get away with it. Whats unusual is how quickly his social skills are
developing. Skye is clearly assisting him there, being the chattiest of the team (except for maybe Leo
and Jemma) so its just about understandable. Hes recently shown an interest in card games and
board games, playing Battleship with Skye in episode 5, casually referring to it as tactical training,
while adding as a comedic side note that I also like board games... Its a little unusual, since as hes
the I dont play well with others character, he probably shouldnt have enthusiasm for an activity
that is literally impossible without 2+ players. Again, its a scene that feels a little forced for the sake
of comedy, and dont get me wrong, its quite a funny scene, and so for that reason alone Im
basically willing to let it slide.
As time goes on, Grant becomes less defined as a character and is more just a tool to send in and do
the hard stuff. His rivalry with Leo is becoming much tamer, and rather than being dramatic and
angry as it was before, now its more relaxed and comical. Hell occasionally object to the way Leo
names things, such as weapons (They have an argument about a pistol that can knock people out,
since Leo wants to call it the Night Night Gun.)
You very rarely see Grant in extended scenes of dialogue anymore unless its a light hearted one
with Skye, so theres not a lot of his character you can pick apart. Even during infiltration missions,

usually the one he has on the coms is Skye so they can banter during the action. Its possible theyll
include a romantic subplot involving the two of them but that could be too obvious, if that makes
any sense. My primary complaint with Grant is that, as with the others, his character arc has been
too quick. He should be learning how to communicate and work with others at a slower pace so we
can see the progression. It makes it a lot more interesting.
Leo and Jemma (Engineers/Scientists)
Youll notice Im analysing two characters at once here. Leo and Jemma are a double act and mostly
youll never see a scene with one and not the other. It does happen occasionally, but usually for
comic effect (Card game between Grant and Leo, for example). Leo and Jemma are the ships
eccentric engineers and scientists. They seem to specialise in all fields of science, and possess the
mechanical know-how to create machines far beyond modern day technology. Jemma is more
about the science; physics and chemistry, mostly, while Leo is more interested in the machines and
weapons.
Theyre both very jittery and silly. Theyre either very smiley and excitable, or panicky and nervous.
Sometimes they can pretend to be someone else, which theyre very bad at and it generates
humour. Theyre both very passionate about what they do, they finish each others sentences, and
they generally have strong chemistry between them. Theyre arguably the best actors in the show,
as well. The way the skittish nature is portrayed is really quite good. They exchange glances with one
another mid conversation with other characters for split seconds which suggests confirmation from
an equivalent mind. They occasionally say things at the same time, which is a little cheesy, but theyll
defuse the cheese by having one character use a synonym of the word the other is saying. Leo will
say boom while Jemma will say explode, and theyll do contrasting hand gestures. It becomes much
less synchronised and more chaotic and fun; which is good.
Ive said it once before though, and Ill say it again; these characters are identical to a pair from Mass
Effect. They are identical to the Normandy SR-2 engineers Gabby and Kenneth. Even the accents are
the same, as are Leos views of women, and their general discussions and discipline. Since Leo and
Jemma have a larger role in Agents of W.A.L.L than Gabby and Kenneth have in Mass Effect,
however, theres more room for character traits, and a nice thing about Leo and Jemma is that their
character traits are much more subtle.
Leo appears to have some sort of obsessive compulsive disorder. Even when in danger, everything
has to be organised and neat; his little UAVs need to placed in the right compartments, even if
theyre all the same. Hell get quite agitated and even aggressive if these criteria arent met, which is
interesting to watch, but so very rarely portrayed. Jemma on the other hand is hard to put a finger
on, but I feel like theres more to her. She smiles a lot when shes nervous but she smiles a lot
anyway. The way theyre introduced and generally the way they interact strongly suggests the pair
of them have a history, which was revealed later on when it was stated they studied together under
the same professor. They have a brother/sister relationship, but Jemma is the more mature of the
two, taking the older sibling role, mostly. The pair of them have limited field experience, and when
under fire, they, to put it bluntly, freak out a little.
Theres not a lot else I can say about them. This all seems rather positive but that may just be
because they dont really have character arcs that I can analyse and pick apart. They are, for all

intense and purposes, just there. They build the cool gadgets for the main characters to use. Im
hoping theyll be expanded upon in the future. Itll be interesting to see what happens when one
functions without the other, for example.
The Plot
So thats the characters out of the way, which will be the longest part. Ill briefly talk about the
narrative structure of the episodes but they try to mix it up to keep it interesting. Typically;
something bad happens, agents are called in. Bad thing turns out to be badder than they thought,
and they have to stop the badder thing getting even badderer. Depending on whether or not this
bad thing has children, they either murder it or give it a redemption story.
Ok thats not true. In truth theres no real pattern to when its a fatal outcome or a non-lethal one,
but family seems to be a factor. In one episode, they extract a bunch of good guys and are then
betrayed. They show the ending first and then show the build up that leads to it. Some of them are
more character driven while others just turn into a big dumb fight at the end for no real reason.
Nearly every episode is a slight call back to either Iron Man, Captain America or The Avengers. The
most recent involved Extremis; which is the fire goo that was in Iron Man 3. They injected Extremis
into a man with pyrokinesis, turning him crazy and they decided to murder him even when given a
non-lethal solution. I didnt fully understand that but Im pretty sure he didnt have children.
In the same way Firefly and Angel did, Agents of B.A.R.R.I.C.A.D.E also has a main plot, which is
divided up by subplots in smaller episodes. The main plot consists of villains using this extremis
material to create super soldiers, but its all being told very cryptically, almost obnoxiously so. Rather
than going Oh no... What happens next at the ends of episodes, you tend to just go ...What?
What does that even mean?
Episode 5 ended with this really awkward conversation between the main antagonist and... some
guy in a prison weve never seen before. They spoke almost entirely in code, so the conversation
made no sense, and as the antagonist left, the prisoner said
I like your dress... and the antagonist replied
I know... and she walked away. It was one of the most awkward and bizarre lines Ive ever seen in
a Joss Whedon production. It made literally no sense. Is the dress evil? Is it significant in some way?
It had flowers on it, were we supposed to acknowledge that? Theyve been referring to her as the
Flowery Dress Woman or something for a while now... was that a reminder of that? Did they think
the audience would forget she wears flowery dresses? Or will this line have some sort of significance
later on? It was the final line of the episode and what followed was quite a dramatic shot of her
walking away and an instant cut to black, like it meant something.
Anyway, the plots fine for the most part. Theyre holding back a lot of secrets, particularly about Phil
Coulson and his survival of Lokis attack. Some of the characters have commented on the fact he
seems somehow even duller than before, and theyve suggested that something has been done to
him to make him like this.
Also, this is more of a personal thing, but I kinda feel like if youre going to make a movie set in the
Marvel universe that branches off the Avengers, you need some Marvel characters to make cameos.

Now Nick Fury had a two minute cameo at the end of one episode, but so far thats been it. Theyre
using a lot of props from the Marvel universe, but not any characters... Its a shame; it feels like a
wasted opportunity for some awesome fan service, which usually Joss Whedon is pretty good with.
Have you ever wondered why Iron man and Thor fight in The Avengers?
Its not to progress the plot, I can tell you that. Its because its bloody awesome and thats what
people want to see.
One of the things about Agents of B.L.O.C.K.A.D.E is that most of the problems that Ive commented
on can be fixed. If they have regression for some of the rapid character arcs and revert them back to
their original selves a little, maybe we can get some more paced progression and more interesting
development. I dont think theyll be able to fix May, but they might take her in a different direction
and do something Im not expecting. The shows been a little predictable in places but most of the
time I dont feel the need to predict. I just go with it and try to have fun, but it just doesnt excite me
in the way Whedons previous work has. The inconsistencies are irritating and theyve mostly placed
the intrigue and questions in all the wrong places... I dont give a crap about this extremis plot
because if S.H.I.E.L.D doesnt fix it (which they will) then Iron Man will. Im more interested in the
characters. Joss Whedon kills people a lot... in fact, he often kills loved characters...
Will he do that with this one? Who will he kill? Joss Whedon understands the concept of danger but
he paces and places it in nice way. Not like George R.R Martin whose psychotic obsession with
murder just destroys everything the audience is following. Theres an art to killing your characters
off, and Whedon does it well, usually...
Although Ill never forgive him for Wash.
Conclusion
I cant promise youll enjoy this just because you enjoyed The Avengers. I cant even promise youll
like this if you liked Joss Whedons previous work. If youre not overly analytical, and you dont mind
poor design decisions, generic archetypal characters and a main plot thats irritatingly cryptic, then
thisll probably be a hit with you. Its generally getting above average reviews, and I certainly
wouldnt give it below average.
Id reduce marks for the needless and deflated references, the dead end character arcs and the
awkward dialogue.
Id grant it marks for some of the performances, the humour and the elements of intrigue that keep
my interest held. Visually its also quite nice.
Overall, Id say six and a half out of ten. Give it a go but dont think about it too much. I could
probably break down the episodes individually and find more problems, and aspects I like, but I
wont. People really seem to like this show... I guess Ill never fully understand why.

6.5/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAMgkpQY
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