Like many people, I was thrilled to hear about a SHIELD spinoff coming to TV following the film The Avengers. Now maybe a lot of people expected superheroes and massive action in the show, and if so, there have been a lot of disappointed people. I was one of the few I think who was disappointed that the show tried too hard to be a superhero and action show.
I don’t collect DC or Marvel Comics anymore, but they are a large part of my childhood. And I love comic and comic book history. And when I think of the SHIELD organization, I think of high tech espionage more like James Bond.
So for the longest time in watching Agents of SHIELD, I was disappointed. Not because of the return of Phil Coulson, or how he returned. Son of Coul rocks. No. it was a lack of things. No real espionage, other than the Centipede issue, but more like a superhero/supervillain of the week. Following the release of Captain America - The Winter Soldier, that’s changed. The organization HYDRA has returned in a big way, and people complaining it wasn’t in the TV show (including me) were surprised and pleased. Now we have traitors, plot twists, secret hideouts and covert op’s galore.
It usually takes TV shows half a season to find their footing. I think Agents of SHIELD has found theirs.