Offline
With the series finale next week, I thought I'd create a post to discuss Agents of SHIELD and get people's thoughts on it.
I think for me, the primary appeal of the show is, there were things that could have been done to appeal to a wider audience but the writers went, "Yeah, we're not doing that. We're telling the stories we want to tell." As a result it had fewer viewers but it became a better show. It was the underdog show that kept coming back despite multiple predictions of cancellations, because it cultivated a passionate fan base.
Offline
Just to make it clear - the final season hasn't begun airing in the UK, and I'm not even sure if it has an air date posted. So I'd strongly advocate that any specifics regarding plot details, even small ones, be hidden under
spoiler warnings.
Offline
I'll be careful with such spoilers. Further to your point, I know of two people who have been watching the first season for the first time, so here is what I propose: For season 7 include spoiler tags for anything, no matter how small, and for seasons 1-6 include spoiler tags for at least the major plot points, and for lesser plot points that spin out of major plot points. For that last bit about lesser plot points that spill from major plot points, one example would be (no season 7 spoilers here)
.a reference to Grant Ward taunting Leopold Fitz in season 3, as that would reveal that Ward is a villain, which we learned late in season 1.
Offline
Series finale is tonight. I'll miss the show, but I also believe in the motto, "Always leave them wanting more". I think season 6 slipped a bit from that, but season 7 has been back on track.
Offline
Some thoughts on the series finale, supplemented with info from a NY Times article and an AV Club article which both discuss the ending:
I liked that it was Victoria Hand who killed Garrett. Ironically she might have saved her own life in doing so. Garrett was a loose cannon and it's likely that he'd have still trained Grant Ward, who would then kill Hand. I'm also glad that the characters made it back to the main MCU timeline. In the NY Times article it was mentioned that the team avoided the Thanos snap by travelling through the quantum realm, but the reference was cut for time. So they are back in the MCU proper.
I was glad that Deke was written out early in the final part. He grew on me a bit but his humour would have undercut the more serious aspects. It was great to finally have Fitz back for the final part, and nice to0 see Enoch appear in flashback. According to the AV Club article Enoch's role grew due to the writers liking what Joel Stoffer did with the character.
As noted in the AV Club article, the remote call scene is ironic in the COVID era as it was filmed well in advance. I loved that the show ended with Coulson putting on his sunglasses and driving away in Lola. The perfect iconic ending to the show, though even in the MCU the sight of someone driving a car in the air probably puzzled some people below.
Question: When did the timeline diverge? Right when the Chronicons and SHIELD arrived in the 1930s, when mack's parents were killed, or somewhere in between? Depending on when the divergence occurred, Sousa could still be dead in the main MCU timeline. I thought bringing him in from Agent Carter was a great addition.
I do wish that Grant Ward had appeared, but I wouldn't have wanted him to have been shoehorned into the story if he didn't fit.
The nice end to a great series. I'll miss it and I hope the characters appear again someday, be it in movies or another show. They're too good characters played by great actors to just languish.