Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

[HaemishM]

Well, just about all the SHIELD agents created for the series and the MCU have appeared in the comics after the series started - Coulsen, Fitz, Simmons, Hunter, and they even have a Deathlok that isn't the same but is close. There really haven't been a lot of memorable SHIELD agents in the comics.

[Velorath]

I don't think they were ever trying to adapt what SHIELD was as a comic into a TV series. SHIELD's function in the MCU is slightly different in that for Phase 1 at least they're the only ones who know the bigger picture when it comes to people with super powers. The TV series allowed them to use the only recognizable recurring character in the MCU, and structurally the show started off as not being that much different from a lot of other stuff on TV, just with the central conceit being that it took place in a world with super powers, aliens, and dangerous artifacts.

The main issue with the series is that they spent most of the first season playing up the clichéd nature of the show and Ward in particular before doing the big reveal. It made the first season much better in hindsight but that didn't matter to large number of viewers that had already given up on the show. Combine that with a lack of interaction with the movies, overly long story arcs (until they started breaking things up into shorter arcs last season), and then just the natural attrition almost every series goes through and ratings have dropped off to a dismal level. The closest they've come to trying to attract new viewers was introducing Ghost Rider last season, but in four seasons they've pretty firmly established that MAOS doesn't matter to the movies or even the Netflix shows and that any guest stars they get are characters deemed so unimportant that they aren't going to get used anywhere else.

[jgsugden]

There have been hundreds of named agents that had short bursts of being interesting before disappearing into obscurity.  It was why I was shocked not to see those names used for the agents in the pilot, but instead see new agents.

Regardless, since the Winter Soldier tie-in ended, pretty much everything has felt like collections of fan fiction to me.  They need to get serious about bringing the movies and TV shows together a bit in the post Infinity War era if they want to get past that problem.  I want to see movie (Spider-man/Avengers) NY, Netflix (for now) NY and Cloak and Dagger NY all align so that they seem like the same place.  I want to see Black Widow and Hawkeye show a glimmer of interest in SHIELD, their former employer where many people they know worked. 

 is returning next season in some capacity, per recent articles.

[eldaec]

My view is they need to stop worrying about crossover and keep the show good in its own right.

[jgsugden]

December 1 return.


I wonder if they tie this season, at all, to Thor:Ragnarock.

[Abagadro]

Heh, going full-on sci-fi. Dig it.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Heh, going full-on sci-fi. Dig it.

AGENTS IN SPAAAAACE!

[jgsugden]

Still quite unsure on this season. They blew a lot of special effects budgets on those first two episodes. Does that mean a number of elevator episodes coming up?

[Bunk]

It looks like most of the season is going to be inside the station, which means no location budgets - everything on a single soundstage.

I'm curious to see where this all goes. Silent, reverse makeup, Ben Wa Balls of Doom! girl intrigues me.

[MahrinSkel]

"Ship Shelter in a Bottle."

--Dave

[jgsugden]

Silent, reverse makeup, Ben Wa Balls of Doom! girl intrigues me.

I'm betting Jemma gains control of those balls and brings them back in time...

[satael]

So it's not real time travel unless

[jgsugden]

So it's not real time travel unless

[Lakov_Sanite]

Fucking comic books...

[Fordel]

So it's not real time travel unless

They explain number 3.

[jgsugden]

...
They explain number 3.
....

I totally missed that.  I totally am not interested enough to go back and watch it again and see it.  However, that makes no sense to me -

[pxib]

However, that makes no sense to me -

[Abagadro]

The place isn't in orbit. It is underground on the remaining large chunk of earth with one edge exposed to space.

[Bunk]

Yeah, that fact took me a while to figure out. I'll admit I'm intrigued at this season. I get the feeling girl who is totally not Sublime from DV8 (I know, wrong comic universe) is going to stick around and play a big role. Curious if they are going to jump back in to the past at some point, as I hadn't heard anything about Ian deCastawhatever leaving the show, and apparently Hunter is supposed to make an appearance.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Wait, i thought they were just in space but its space, in the future? Jesus they are going full 2000s scifi spinoff here.

[jgsugden]

... as I hadn't heard anything about Ian deCastawhatever leaving the show, and apparently Hunter is supposed to make an appearance.

He has not.  They're going to do a few episodes in the future, then have one end with him showing up with a team (or something) and then will do a Fitz centered episode, likely with him getting Hunter back into the fold due to the absence of the team. (My guess - probably see him around episode 5)

[Fordel]

I guess my one big gripe with this entire concept is that we know the ultimate outcome.

[Surlyboi]

Nice Empire Strikes Back reference between Hunter and Fitz.

[jgsugden]

It is seeming kind of obvious ...

[jgsugden]

They get a (shortened) Season 6.  We will get to see what they do in the face of Infinity War.  

http://tvline.com/2018/05/14/agents-of-shield-renewed-season-6/

Edit: Premieres Summer 2019, so the answer is that they'll bypass the year between the movies.  Ugh. http://tvline.com/2018/05/15/agents-of-shield-season-6-summer-2019/

[jgsugden]

... and that was clearly intended as a series finale... and disappointed in so many ways.

[HaemishM]

God I finally got caught up with this. The finale definitely felt like a "we ain't getting renewed" thing but since they get a short season 6, maybe it'll make more sense? Lots of unanswered questions and not really much resolution. Though I will say I did like the costuming they did on Graviton because minus the white cape, that was exactly the look out of the comics.

[jgsugden]

This has been renewed for a Season 7 - also of 13 episodes - that will likely be filmed back to back with the 13 episode Season 6 that will show next summer - basicaly meaning that they're splitting a full Season 6 over two years.

 Also of note: It is apparently the most watched Marvel show, still... and Netflix may be starting to subtly reference it in their shows.  Last Season of Daredevil had some of those background news articles on Karen's wall that referenced events from MAoS, such as the massive blackouts.

Parrot Analytics reports that the "most in demand" Marvel show are MAOS (22.3 M), Daredevil (15.3M), Cloak & Dagger (12.8M), Punisher (11.2M), Jessica Jones (10.8M), then Runaways (9.6M), Luke Cage (9.2M), Iron Fist (6.3M) and Inhumans (5.9M).  That points towards Runaway being in jeopardy at Hulu if the second season does not catch fire.

[Velorath]

I've seen Parrot Analytics come up in articles about other shows recently and tried to do some research on what their demand rankings actually mean. Man that shit looks like a mess that's intentionally so complicated people can't tell how meaningless it actually is.

[HaemishM]

It's kind of hard to make any sort of analytics when places like Netflix don't even tell their showrunners how well the shows do. 

[jgsugden]

Ah.  Data does not conform to your world view, so it must be faulty/unreliable/biased/republican.  Got it.

Direct Netflix data is not disclosed.  Indirect Netflix data is out there, and pretty consistent across differing sources. 

[Velorath]

I'll tell you what, I'm going to give you some data of my own. I'm about 98% fucking positive that you posted those "most-in demand" stats a couple posts up without having the slightest idea what unit of measurement those numbers represent or how they're calculated.

[Mandella]

Yeah I tried to drill down into Parrot Analytics and there is so much proprietary secret sauce there it's pretty much just "Trust us, we're professionals."

That said, they are professionals, and I would be surprised if studies like this are not the actual reason AoS got a cancellation reprieve. (Also, it's interesting that you need a study now to figure out what's really popular or not, but then it's better than depending on the horribly inaccurate Nelsons.)

Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed. I thought AoS ended pretty well, with maybe a short Epilogue acceptable. I'd hate to see it do an X-Files/Walking Dead and wear out its welcome.

[jgsugden]

I'll tell you what, I'm going to give you some data of my own. I'm about 98% fucking positive that you posted those "most-in demand" stats a couple posts up without having the slightest idea what unit of measurement those numbers represent or how they're calculated.

Only that they're intended to represent demand and that they're used widely.  Which is fucking enough.

As for why it was renewed... Channing Dungey stepped down a few days later. That was likely one factor.  I'm betting she pushed this through before her tenure ended - something many higher ups do as their last acts.  Sort of a Presidential Pardon.  I think the timing just lined up so that she could do it. 

What is more curious to me is what this means for the Marvel show she was championing that Marvel would not let her discuss... yet.

[Velorath]

I appreciate your honesty in admitting you don't actually know what those numbers represent. And no, the data doesn't actually measure "demand".