It's surprising that "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" hasn't been cancelled due to its unreliable scheduling and subsequent, sour ratings.
All the same, other ABC series have done much better in compared content and scope, only to face demise. That includes "Agent Carter", which shared an unflinching, anti-commie angle: not the sort of thing, I guess, that ABC's execs could endorse for any extended time. In addition, "Inhumans" was dandy for all of its fish-out-of-water misadventure, yet got stomped not long after it began. (Gee friggin whiz, why start a high-profile spin-off, if it's not meant to conclude?)
Be that as it may, my main gripe with "S.H.I.E.L.D." is its serialized structure. (Granted, "Agent Carter" and "Inhumans" were serialized, but they came in shorter, easier-to-digest portions.) In my humble opinion, "S.H.I.E.L.D." would work better if it were defined by individual stories (and/or occasional two-parters), instead of going the one-plan, seasonal route. (To frustrate further, when the show has, in fact, dealt a juicy track, like Ghost Rider's advent, it ends up second fiddle to a loosely attached "Days of Our Lives" stint.)
Perhaps "S.H.I.E.L.D" was only ever meant to be a pseudo link. Its reluctance to tie full-fledged to the Avengers movies is a telling sign: Allusions and cameos aren't enough to cultivate an adequate crossover. (Why the heck didn't Jaimie Alexander's Lady Sif become a regular?)
I don't know...maybe to enjoy "S.H.I.E.L.D", one needs to take it as a basic, Bond knockoff. However, wasn't that the point of the '60s comics series? And yet in that instance, we had Nick Fury as the Hydra-hating lead. Through him, there came constant interaction with other Marvel heroes, leaving the character and his team essential figures in an interlocking mythology: something its television counterpart hasn't achieved.
For the record, Season 6 will show "S.H.I.E.L.D." attempting to salvage humanity in the wake of Phil Coulson's end (or so the press releases proclaim), with (I'm presuming) more sappy subplots. (And what's the deal with Coulson? He didn't really die the first time around, and he shouldn't have died again. Whether he remains "dead" is anybody's guess. And who is this Clark Gregg "Sarge" guy? Is it just me or does the gimmick echo Tasha Yar getting a Romulan stand-in?)
On the possible plus side, we'll meet a gorgeous, galactic mercenary called Izel (and reputedly, not a Marvel icon in disguise), played by Karolina Wydra. She could develop in such a way to appeal on several levels...that is, if meandering motifs don't eclipse her.
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