I do my weekly DVR Purges, but let's be frank: they are crap. I don't proofread them at all most weeks. They're collections of scattered thoughts that barely even make sense a week later. What I've decided to do is, with most of these shows I watch taking a break, reflect on where I stand with them, assessing what is in the show's favor (assets) and what could get it in trouble (liabilities).
Now, not every show I watch will be included. In general, I'm sticking to shows that I've kept notes (be them from Purges or otherwise) as I've watched. That means, shows like The Bridge, Looking, Sherlock, and Dexter will not be included. To get my thoughts on those, ask me. This project, supposing I stay on schedule should take all month and I hope it does a good job summing up where these shows stand. In some cases, I'm hoping to convince you to start watching. Other times, it'll be nothing more than a postmortem for a show that's gone.
I hope you enjoy.
Favorite Episodes: "T.R.A.C.K.S." (for being clever), "Turn, Turn, Turn" (for changing the game) and "Ragtag" (for being fun)
Marvel: First of all, Marvel is what got it on the air. If it was "Dark Horse's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*" it wouldn't've made it to the pilot stage. The connection to the Marvel cinematic universe is one of the most exciting things about the show. That's provided guest starts like Cobie Smulders, Jamie Alexander, and Samuel L. "Mother Fuckin" Jackson. The tie-ins episodes to Thor 2 and Captain America 2 were some of the strongest from the fall and spring. While the Marvel connection isn't what makes the show function episode to episode, it is the thing that makes it special.
*I'm aware that it wouldn't be called S.H.I.E.L.D. either if it wasn't Marvel. I'm trying to make a point.
The Non-Ward Team: Speaking of reasons the show exists, it wouldn't exist without Clark Gregg. He's our direct connection to the movie universe and the stabilizing force in the show. He's the Gibbs (NCIS comparisons are incredibly fair). The series began too fixated on TAHITI but, in the last few episodes, they learned how to exploit Coulson's strengths (the quips, the fanboy excitement). Fitz and Simmons I liked almost immediately. They work best as a pair, but the show also split them up often enough to give them their own personalities. Fitz is a bit of a bleeding heart. Simmons is pleased to be someone who likes following the rules. All you need to do is watch them coach Coulson and May in "Ragtag" to see what works about them. Speaking of May. She's great too. If Coulson is the sympathetic father figure of the group, May is the tough, unapproving mother. It's a good balance. Skye is still coming together. She's not a drag or anything, but she's used for most of the first season as the fresh eyes into all this. So, she's a bit of an empty vessel for a while. She starts to come together by the end of the season and I expect her to be even more engaging now that she has the Ward experience under her belt and is a founding member of this new S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Serial Elements: The more the show embraced a story arc, the better it got. I doubt it's a coincidence. The strongest run of episodes started with the appropriately named "End of the Beginning" and stayed almost entirely away from the villain of the week structure it had earlier in the season. I've thought for a while that the best version of this show would look like a less funny Chuck, which was another show that balanced serial and episodic stories. It's clear by now that the Whedons running the show have figured out how to do longer stories with this show. They still have some work to do elsewhere.
Liabilities:
Ward: Ward turning heel was a masterstroke by the writers of the show. I don't know if that was the plan all along or simply developed that way, but it immediately made him more complex and engaging to watch than when he was that guy in the cast to do what Clark Gregg and Ming-Na Wen are getting too old to do. I'm not saying Brett Dalton couldn't become a great actor for this role, but he's not done much to prove it yet. At the end of the season, they leave Ward is in a very tough spot. Where he goes from here could really define the series (or the next season at the very least). He can go double agent for Hydra or SHIELD. He can completely repent and rejoin the team. He could even become a Hannibal Lector, offering the team insights from behind bars just so he can get company. Whatever they decide, it is probably the single most important decision the writers have to make before the next season.
The Procedural Elements: I don't watch procedurals much anymore. The draw of TV over the last decade has been its ability to tell a deeper, more involved story over several hours than a movie can cover in two, not how to simplify stories for 44 minutes with commercials. Still, shows with a similar DNA to Agents of SHIELD such as Chuck and NCIS prove that it's still possible to do a story a week well. So far, AoS hasn't mastered that. The first half of the season was almost all self-contained stories and it was the weakest part of the season. There's two possible reasons why these episodes weren't as good: the show was still coming together or the specifics of this show don't lend themselves to self-contained stories. If it suffered due to the former reason, then I'd be happy to see them try the villain-a-week structure again because we have the rapport of the cast down and there's a rhythm to it (NCIS is all rapport at this point). If it's the latter reason, well, not much can be done. It's not like they can drop Marvel from it. I'm not sure which reason is the case, which is why I'm a little worried going into the second season. Because, somehow I doubt the events of Guardians of the Galaxy will motivate any new stories for Coulson and the gang.
Outlook:
Previously this Offseason...
Community
Brooklyn Nine Nine
New Girl
Suburgatory
Modern Family
Parenthood
The Mindy Project
The Michael J Fox Show
The Big Bang Theory
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