And Then There’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

This is a TV show that I simply enjoy too much. There, I said it. I know it is fashionable to bash this show because 1) Skye is annoying; 2) the team of Fitz-Simmons is annoying; 3)  and the deal with Coulson and “the magical place” of Tahiti is annoying. But I would suggest that all of these annoying attributes are part of a showing trying to find its “sea-marvel_shield_a_llegs.” And it’s a lot closer to finding that formula for success than many are giving it credit for.

The thread holding this show together is Clark Gregg’s excellent portrayal of Agent Phil Coulson. Coulson, who was mortally wounded in the Avenger’s movie, was resurrected for the TV show. How? He doesn’t know and neither do we.  This not knowing has spawned theories including that Coulson is dead and what we are seeing is his “afterlife” or that what we are seeing is a replicant/ android or that Phil Coulson is the kid from Captain America: The First Avenger and was the second test subject of the super soldier serum. Frankly, I don’t know how Coulson exists, but this show works because he does.

Coulson’s team is typical Marvel comic book fare and consists of two professional operatives, Grant Ward and Melinda May (portrayed by Brett Dalton and Ming-Na Wen), two young genius scientists, Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons (portrayed by Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge) and a hacker named Skye (Chloe Bennet).  Agent Coulson’s job is to keep this band of personalities focused on their mission, which is a little fuzzy, because sometimes they are a welcoming committee for new assets and other times they are a salvage service. But Coulson leads by demanding his team always find another way, a non-violent way whenever possible to accomplish their objectives. He reminds them (and us) that it’s a brave new world and it’s on them (S.H.I.E.L.D.) to fix the problems.

The best episodes are the ones where the professional agents step to the front. Both Ward and May have troubled pasts and as perverse as it sounds, the show works best as we watch them work through their issues on missions.  Melinda May is the breakout character of this show and she reminds this old-timer a lot of Emma Peel from The Avengers (and that’s not a bad thing). She has history with Coulson and is his sounding board. She is the glue of that Coulson needs in holding his team together.

This show is a character based drama in the mode of executive producer Joss Whedon’s Firefly.  The show is not about the team taking down big monsters weekly, although it would be nice if they did engage some of Marvel’s better known villains like Hydra, Wrecking Crew or A.I.M. at some point (and frankly, the sooner, the better).  Nevertheless, this show is about the team itself and surprisingly that’s what makes it worth watching.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs on Tuesdays @ 8 p.m. EST on ABC.