Why dont more Buffy fans enjoy SHIELD?

[Mr Trick]

Still haven't seen it. Its on the list. Have heard it has a very slow start. But stick with it and its one of the best shows of recent years. Just what I heard don't shoot the messenger!

 

[Octavia]

DeepBlueJoy Watching 3 seasons to get to the good part is like 3 hours of bad & boring foreplay before great sex that may or may not last. It is just not worth the time i will never get back.

That's not what I meant. There are great threads of character stories through the earlier seasons, but if you are too distracted by the flashy toys, then you'll miss them. It is certainly another layered story, much like Buffy and Angel are. You can watch it for the demon bashy bits, or you can watch it for the lives of the characters and their struggles beyond the surface big bad. The big bads appealed more to me in the later seasons than the earlier seasons because they seemed less gimmicky (which could be my memory fading). I have only seen s2 and 3 once through and am so ready to re-watch them. Specifically for FitzSimmons! I cant even find this show in the DVD stores!

 

[Mr Trick]

@HowiMetdaSlayer Even the first season? I heard that was the weak season, but from 2 on wards it improves. Its not on UK Netflix. Might be Internationally. Could be on Amazon over here not sure.

 

[Octavia]

@HowiMetdaSlayer Even the first season? I heard that was the weak season, but from 2 on wards it improves. Its not on UK Netflix. Might be Internationally. Could be on Amazon over here not sure.

Season 1 fit the time it was made. Keep in mind it was in the midst of the Avengers era - which seems like a long time ago now. It's more speccy superheroey than the more gritty later seasons, laying foundations of the fights to come. Sort of like how Buffy was more campy in the early seasons. It will appeal more to some than others. The stories intertwine with the Marvel movie world so you gotta take your mind back to before the universe expanded so much, it was still finding it feet and would probably look dated even now.

I know I wasnt keen on Skye/Daisy story lines (outside of SkyeWard) at the time and she dominated s2, nor did I get Ghostrider, while the rest of the cast had some great development behind those stories. Aw man I MUST rewatch!! So much I have missed and forgotten!

Wait wait! I am getting all my seasons mixed up! I just found s2 on one of my streams and I think I was thinking of the first half of season 1 being a separate season to the second half. Damn hiatus confuse the heck outta me! This is why I need a rewatch! What season was Agents of Hydra?? I am surprised @Anyanka Bunny Slayer didnt like that season

 

[BuffyNvrForgets]

My siblings and I all watched it together when it was coming out, and it was actually my introduction to the whedonverse. Well, aside from the avengers.

here is what I’ll say.

Agent’s of shield is certainly not of the best Whedon shows, but is it thoroughly enjoyable? Yes.

the first part of season one is kinda just to establish characters. I really liked it, but a I understand why some didn’t. It picks up and is pretty solid for a while.

pretty fast though, (around season 3 or 4) they start to try and deal with time travel, going to space, and all his stuff that blows the shakily grounded show out of the water, and ruined it for me.

same reason why Buffy season 8+ doesn’t seem like it should be canon. Spike has a spaceship? Heck Nah.

the heart of this show is the characters. plot lines, especially later on are eh, and if you are in it for that, you might have a a hard time. But the characters are really good. Unfortunately, most of them become less interesting, so really your best bet is to fall madly in love with FitzSimmons, who are the only characters who have any sort of steady growth throughout. And that’s not terribly hard. We’ll, now that I read some of these other posts, it might be harder than I thought?

No, it’s not quite on par with Buffy. People looking for that might be disappointed. But it’s good quality, and can be super fun at times. (When it isn’t taking itself too seriously). it’s a good show. Give it a try. (The whole first season, and maybe season 2. Don’t chicken out on the first 5 episode, that’s how people miss out)

and most importantly, have fun. It’s a show. They are meant to be enjoyed.

 

[RonWesley]

I have to say I'm surprised people didnt like Agents of SHIELD. I thought it was one of the best shows running at the time.

No its no BtVS. Or Firefly. Its not even Angel. But its certainly better than Dollhouse, and overall relatively fun.

What annoyed the heck out of me was when they ignored physics.

*SPOILER*
Like in season five earth is blown apart, but you can still land on individual pieces and they have regular earth gravity, atmosphere, the whole deal. Breaks suspension of disbelief HARD for anyone who is into physics. And dont get me started on the dude who seriously wants to put earth back together using mental abilities. Sure, you can move like 6*10^24kg of mass, whats the problem ? And dont get me started on how earth was torn apart in the first place.
*END SPOILER*

Okay, admittedly, compared to Nu Star Trek, this was still harmless. And Star Trek actually is supposed to be for geeks.

 

[DeepBlueJoy]

I lost interest during season one and liking a few characters simply could not keep me watching. Having the character I most wanted in the series go sideways early, did not help.

Later episodes i caught left me at sea and not interested enough to catch back story.

It lacked an emotional center. The goal and plot seemed kind of random. You need an epic AND emotional investment to sustain interest in a show that complex.

I have to say I'm surprised people didnt like Agents of SHIELD. I thought it was one of the best shows running at the time.

No its no BtVS. Or Firefly. Its not even Angel. But its certainly better than Dollhouse, and overall relatively fun.

What annoyed the heck out of me was when they ignored physics.

*SPOILER*
Like in season five earth is blown apart, but you can still land on individual pieces and they have regular earth gravity, atmosphere, the whole deal. Breaks suspension of disbelief HARD for anyone who is into physics. And dont get me started on the dude who seriously wants to put earth back together using mental abilities. Sure, you can move like 6*10^24kg of mass, whats the problem ? And dont get me started on how earth was torn apart in the first place.
*END SPOILER*

Okay, admittedly, compared to Nu Star Trek, this was still harmless. And Star Trek actually is supposed to be for geeks.

Yeah, in science fiction you have to get foundational physics, math and science right and the fictional science must have some rationality. Something like stargate works because the real world world building is so solid. If you cannot do that, you cannot have a plausible, believable science fantasy show.

 

[Puppet]

Some of us just haven't seen it yet

 

[thrasherpix]

Why would anyone like it just because they like Buffy? How do they really compare? Seems to me just as easy to say, "If you like the characters (not just roles and Archetypes) of Buffy and Angel, what is it about this show that appeals to you?"

As for me, I gave it a whirl, and when I was about to give up, I skipped ahead to give it yet another chance (which I almost never do). It was watchable, I wouldn't say no to it if someone else was watching an ep, but it just didn't pull me in. Some characters hold a lot of promise, but the promise doesn't come through. If I don't care about the characters, then I don't care about the plot or world.

 

[BuffyNvrForgets]

They are often treated as and spoken of as if they were the same character, causing some character to actually believe as you did. They make up the science division of Coulson's field team, so they fill that same role together. They are the nerds in a group of hardened soldier-agents.

But really they are probably the two most complex characters on the show, and they are repeatedly pushed to their limits and forced to change. They start out quirky, whimsical and adorkable, but after years of continuous trauma, neither of them are quite what they used to be. Think Wesley.

Yeah, I will say that Fitzsimmons was THE THING in our house when we watched it as tweens/teens. Our older sister was obsessed with them and the show, so we heard about them a lot (AoS--and Avengers--was actually my introduction to the Whedonverse, as we started catching the show around when I was 11, and I only watched all the otherones a year ago. Funnily enough, I actually recognized a lot of Buffy and Angel actors from AoS, rather than the other way around!) FitzSimmons were pretty well done! My only complaint is that eventually, the show figured out that they were the emotional heart, and they were the reason half their audience tuned in, so they let the other character's development grow stagnant and uninteresting, letting Fitzsimmons shine. It's not too much of a complaint though, because we got to watch FitzSimmons shine.

 

[famicommander]

SHIELD isn't even good compared to other Marvel shows, and the bar is super low there.

 

[Plasma]

I think the reason I just didn't latch on was more a combination of factors and points that the show just didn't live up to.

The biggest thing working against it is the lack of connection to the MCU and to the characters/plotlines from that universe. One of the goodies as a comic reader is being able to see a cinematic universe in which all of these various aspects tie in and affect one another, much like in the comics. The primary issue that AoS had for me is simply that it couldn't tie into the universe too much due to a lack of budget and lack of communication between the showrunners and screenwriters. Every time they did tie an episode in, it felt really tacky and lame, like the Berserker staff. The Hydra stuff was cool though.

Another massive issue is what I'll refer to as the "Vision problem", where a character is only famous for dying, meaning that I don't really care when they get resurrected. Coulson's biggest contribution to the MCU was his death, which brought the Avengers together (in one of my favorite scenes of the MCU). Having that character be the main character of the television series felt like such a waste of time, considering they acted like he was a bigger deal than he really was. The Tahiti protocol also felt really drawn out to get to a lackluster reveal.

The last reason I'll list is that they didn't really do comic stuff, at least at the beginning. Every episode I saw was just "spy stuff", with just names of organizations like Hydra slapped on to say it was an MCU show. There's dozens upon dozens of cool characters that could have been adapted in cool ways or cool storylines, and I would have much rather had the show be a riff on Warren Ellis's Planetary comic, where the group goes around confronting characters or problems that just don't have a place in the MCU. They tried this with Ghost Rider and the Inhumans later, but by then the damage was done. That atrocious first season with the Centipede stuff and Deathlok just killed any interest I had.

 

[CHK DeWilSon]

So likely to be one of the few if not only one but I loved AoS especially s1-5. S6 is where it started to lose me. Mmmm, I wonder when that happened to me previously with a TV show I loved.....🤔☺

Adore all the main characters and cast that came and went. Although I had a love/hate feeling towards Ward.

Favourite season would be s4. Just love how that season unfolded and the villains particularly Aida. It was great to see Ward back as a good character and what could have been.
And Fitz in the virtual reality (also know as Framework) was electrifying. IDC was amazing as The Doctor.

Love the bond between the agents and how they work as a team in their missions.

Miss (Lance) Hunter and Bobbi went they left and gutted their spin-off never came to fruit.

Definitely have Coulson and May as great characters along with Sky/Daisy. And Mack and YoYo were great additions.

Favourite characters as well as Favourite coupling goes to Fitzsimmons.
Loved their chemistry and connection.
If I HAD to pick one over the other, at a push, I would go for Leo Fitz. But that is also to do with his alter ego in The Doctor. I fear him but also find him sexy as hell!
Loved my girl Jemma Simmons though 😍

 

[epimetrius]

I never got invested into SHIELD because I'm really annoyed by Marvel's "movie to preview a movie to understand a show to see an after-credits scene" model. Even back when SHIELD first started I was already feeling bloat.

 

[Mr Trick]

I never got invested into SHIELD because I'm really annoyed by Marvel's "movie to preview a movie to understand a show to see an after-credits scene" model. Even back when SHIELD first started I was already feeling bloat.

That stuff never bothered me. It always felt watching it that the show did its own thing and that the tie-ins were never to the point that if you didn't know the connection it would spoil the show. For the most part they were just easter eggs for the fans which worked for them, but didn't kill the flow of the story if you were a casual.

 

[RonWesley]

I've watched all of it. It was quite good. Got very experimental in later seasons.

I was only really pissed when they killed Xena.

P.s.: Oh and I didnt really watched much of the rest from that universe.

 

[Synch]

I loved AoS. The Buffy formula is there (Jed and Mo plus Angel's showrunner Seasons 4 and 5, after all, ran the show) with plenty of emotional resonance, quick witty dialogue, selfaware characters (that's the big difference between AoS and the ultra serious and boring Netflix shows except Daredevil and Defenders, all ran by Buffy alumni: Goddard, DeKnight, Petrie...). That's why in 10 years AoS still will have tons of fans and ran for 7 years.

However, remember, that's not exactly a Whedon show. He co created it (he knew since August '12 he needed Jed and Mo because he had Ultron and the rest of Phase 2 films where he did showrunning duties), directed the pilot and did a light supervision during Season 1 but thats it. He left. The show, after the pilot, is 100% Jed, Mo and Jeff. Veeeery Jossian in some ways, less in others (like the pop culture quotes or the, VERY, funny meta moments).

Jed directional debut, 4x15, Self Control is pure Jossian in terms of emotional resonance.

C'mon:

Daisy: If for no other reason than this ... through all the insane crap we have gone through, the one thing I've known, without a doubt, the whole time... is you and Fitz belong together.

Pure Becoming 2, The Gift or Chosen moment. And both Buffy & AoS fans know it.

 

[TamsinValencia]

For me it wasn't accessible on streaming platforms so I would have had to get the DVDs at the time which would have probably cost a fortune.
I still haven't seen much of it, a few episodes.