Random TV Season Review - Agents of SHIELD (Seasons 4-5)

Its been a while since I last talked about Agents of SHIELD and I decided that in light of the events of Infinity War, its time I got back into it. So in case any of you need a refresher, Agents of SHIELD was originally envisioned as filler between film releases and continued the adventures of a revived Agent Coulson (reprised by Clark Gregg from the films) who would assemble his own team within SHIELD to protect humanity while the Avengers are busy with their own adversaries. Of all the MCU shows out there, this is possibly the only one that at least tries to set itself as close to the films as possible such as when they came to clean up Thor's mess after The Dark World came out and this was particularly the case when The Winter Solider came out as this radically changed the show going forward when its revealed to the world that Hydra have infiltrated what was supposed to be humanity's shield. That and a few other things. So today we look at seasons four and five which have strong connections to some of the Phase four content. So let's assemble and get to it:


Season 4 - Ghost Rider, LMD and Agents of Hydra

So Season four has three storylines going though each one is connected in some way. The first introduces Ghost Rider (played by Gabriel Luna) who got tracked down by Quake (reprised by Chloe Bennet) as he was hunting down criminals who caused his brother to have a disability of sorts. He then teams up with SHIELD to help take down a common foe who seems to have access to an ancient power that as the Ghost Rider, he must stop. In the second one, Fitz (reprised by Iain De Caestecker) tasks himself with protecting an human android of sorts who calls herself Aida (played by Mallory Jansen) who was created by Holden Radcliffe (reprised by John Hannah) who quickly becomes sentient and becomes a threat to SHIELD who are facing some political battles of their own. The last one sees the majority of Coulson's team be thrown into a virtual reality where Hydra is ruled by a version of Aida and most of the team have very little memories of their real selves and must find a way out to put an end to the real Aida who is quickly becoming an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. Three different storylines in one season on top of everything else going on does seem like a lot. But that's actually OK because the series enters much darker territories than before as it explores mysticism, the idea of human androids and a "what if?" scenario where we see how things could have been. It probably still won't be as watched as the rest of the MCU shows, but at least it is trying to be as close to being part of the MCU as it can be when you compare it to the other shows which have very little references to the rest of this universe and just do its own thing. It does coincide with Doctor Strange while having itself be affected by the events of Civil War so in a way it is connected to those films if nothing else. I'm actually glad that I gave myself a break before coming back as the show is definitely a lot better than it used to be and I'm happy that Marvel are considering more mature and darker storylines than before. Its great. 9/10

Season 5 - Time Travel

This time around, the series is split into two "pods". In the first, the team find themselves in space where they come across an Earth that has been devastated by a cataclysmic event while in the second, they try and prevent this event from happening. We learn that there is a destroyer of worlds and that Hydra as well as Glenn Talbot (reprised by Adrian Pasdar) may not be quite the same as they were before. Plus some new agents join the ranks as we also lose a few along the way as well. All ending just as Infinity War takes place. What happened in Infinity War has a pretty big effect on everything in the MCU considering that it doesn't just effect the characters in that film but everywhere else as well. I am glad that the finale didn't heavily reference the film but rather reference that SHIELD are aware of the event and are doing what they can to prevent it from happening or prevent a similar event from happening. Its possibly the most intense series yet given that the stakes are high and the monumental task that the agents have been given. Its great fun, brings the Kree back and has a pretty emotional ending that to me, may have just been the definitive ending for the series had it not be renewed for a further two seasons. 9/10

So as I said, I'm glad to have caught up and see it be a much better show than ever before. Even though viewership is bad at the moment for it, it is better and more fun to watch. I look forward to the next one, but like many of you it will have to end at some stage given how better the films are doing. 9/10