Given that I took "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." to the woodshed last fall, I figured it was only fair to revisit the show this spring to see where things stood as the ABC show's first season wound down.
I'm going to start this off with five things I liked about Tuesday's "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." season finale, just to prove that I'm not an evil person with a heart of stone. All right, in truth, I may be evil, but I'm not going the woodshed route in this piece, partly because the ABC drama has improved since its disappointing start. The first two-thirds of the season was patchy and inconsistent, not to mention frustratingly complacent, but in recent weeks, the show began tapping into some of its potential more consistently. If "Arrow" stays as terrific as it has been in Season 2, if "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." keeps improving next season and if ABC's "Agent Carter" series comes out of the gate strong this fall, fans of comic-book storytelling on the small screen will have many reasons to rejoice.
Without further ado, here are five fun things about the "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." season finale:
- Patton Oswalt is not dead! Or rather, his character, Eric Koenig, was replaced by Eric's apparent twin, Billy. It's nice to know that the other Koenig brother may pop up in the show's second season. Long may the entire Koenig family be persnickety about lanyards.
Speaking of what the show needs more of, welcome to my second list. As you may have gathered, my overall issue with "S.H.I.E.L.D." is that characters are still, in the main, not all that interesting. To say that they're a bit more nuanced than they were in the first half of the season is not saying much, given how bland and boring they were for much of Season 1. "S.H.I.E.L.D." has raised the stakes surrounding the characters, yet they still remain more expendable and less compelling than they could be. What's happening, at this stage, is more interesting than the people those things are happening to. I'm not prone to giving the show a pass on this front because "S.H.I.E.L.D." can't reach its full potential until I care not only about the passengers on the bus but the relationships among them.
So that's my overarching thought as the show gears up for its second season, and in the spirit of paying attention to what has worked of late, I'll offer up what I'd like to see more when "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." returns.
- A new team member or the installment of Triplett as a series regular. I still think the "S.H.I.E.L.D." cast could use some pruning (and Ward, who has been revealed as a sociopath and yet still remains as interesting as a block of wood, could easily go away for long stretches and I wouldn't miss him). Even if that does not happen, "S.H.I.E.L.D." could use a new team member in the mix. There have been a few conflicts here and there, but honestly, this team just gets along so well that what happens on the bus is often, well, kind of bleh. One way to increase the sparkage and the energy on Coulson's team would be to add a new face to it. B.J. Britt has done fine work as Triplett: Why not bring him on full time? If not, why not a new recruit (or a Hydra refugee) who gets in everyone's way?