I was thinking about Agents of SHIELD again and I wanted to vent my thoughts about season 3.
To this day, Iâm still underwhelmed by how that entire season played out. I feel like the AOS team had the right ideas, but chose to execute them in such a middling way. Itâs so weird because the next season after this one is one of the best seasons of superhero television Iâve ever seen. The fact that season 4 is the follow-up to season 3 still amazes me since the change in quality is so noticeable.
Anyways, let me articulate my thoughts here. My main issues go to how they handled the two main arcs of the season; the madness of Grant Ward and the fallen agent. For the fallen agent arc, it bothers me that the AOS team chose to make this a countdown-to-this-characterâs-death arc.
Youâre basically priming your audience for a big loss. So when that âbigâ loss ends up being Lincoln Campbell, I think most of the AOS audience just kinda shrugged and said, âThat sucks but better him than anyone elseâ. I mean, the AOS team really set themselves up for disappointment since they were basically hyping what shouldâve been a monumental change. Instead, they did the most predictable thing by taking out the expendable main cast member who was already doomed by the story since heâs the boyfriend of the superhero (Daisy). Itâs the Gwen Stacy/Rachel Dawes treatment, you know itâs coming.
Also, no offense to Lincoln fans, but the character was not the right choice as the emotional lynchpin of season 3. He was underdeveloped and spent most of the season as âDaisyâs boyfriendâ. Again, sad to see him go, but losing him wasnât that big of a loss, especially since the show overhyped the finale.
You know what, Iâm just gonna say it. The finale wouldâve resonated more if it had been Grant Ward doing the sacrifice. Iâm not even a Ward fan (I hated that guy), but at least with him doing the sacrifice:
1) You confirm that there was potential for good in him, which AOS season 4 did confirm in the Framework arc.
2) The loss wouldâve actually been monumental since Ward was an OG main cast member.
3) It wouldâve actually been unpredictable since no one wouldâve thought that Ward would sacrifice himself to save the people he hated.
Anyways, yeah. Lincoln Campbell couldâve been an interesting character, but since the plot demanded he sacrifice himself, he never got the chance to be one. Thatâs actually the main reason why I feel that season 3 is so disappointing, the entire season has a feeling of âbecause the plot demanded it happenâ.
How do we inject more tension in Fitzsimmons? Give Jemma a random space boyfriend who just so happened to be the only other person on Maveth (you know, instead of focusing on her PTSD, surviving on her own, her encounter with the Hive, learning about the alien civilization that was wiped out by Hive, etc).
Should we expand on Bobbi and Hunter since they were just introduced in the previous season? Nah, letâs force them out of the show and give them a spin-off series that people werenât really clamoring for.
How do we make Mayâs life more tragic? You know her husband who has no connection to the comics? Yeah, heâs Lash now. We changed Lashâs entire backstory just so that May can suffer more.
But the biggest âbecause the plot demanded itâ arc has to be how Grant Ward died. Iâm not saying he shouldâve been redeemed, Iâm against that. What Iâm arguing is that Coulson was the wrong guy to do it. I mean, giving Coulson a girlfriend for the sole purpose of fridging her so that Coulson has a reason to go on a revenge arc is one of the most forced storylines Iâve seen in a TV show. Rosalind Price really had no other purpose besides being manpain.
And you know what, that works in other stories. Except in AOS, you could argue that Daisy Johnson, Leo Fitz, and Lance Hunter wouldâve made more sense for this revenge arc. Just as a reminder:
1) Ward betrayed Daisyâs trust since right after they got together, it was revealed that he was HYDRA. Also, Ward tried to emotionally manipulate Daisy and Daisy already shot at him.
2) Ward is the reason why Fitz got brain damage and he tortured Simmons, which Fitz was forced to listen to.
3) Ward also tortured Bobbi Morse, which sent Lance Hunter on a reckless revenge arc (so Hunter was ALREADY doing this).
Personally, I feel that Daisy shouldâve pulled the trigger since sheâs the main superhero, she had the strongest connection to Ward, and it would make more sense that she was able to cave in his chest. I mean, Coulson had a robotic arm while Daisy has vibration powers, Iâm just saying that the science makes more sense with Daisy.
But letâs say Daisy shouldnât do it since we donât want her to go on the dark path. And Hunter shouldnât do it since heâs leaving the show. Well then Fitz is still there AND he was on Maveth with Ward. But the question then would be how would killing Ward add to Fitzâs character? Well, consider seasons 4 and 5. Those seasons were all about how Fitz has an inner monster known as The Doctor. You know what would be a great way to foreshadow that he has The Doctor side in him? Have him fucking shoot Grant Ward in front of Coulson.
Anyways, rant done. I just wanted to vent my thoughts on an already ended show that I really loved.
EDIT: Oh, one more thing. The choice of having Grant Ward be the host of the Hive was also questionable. The concept that the villain is wearing the face of someone we already know is a great idea. However, when itâs someone who the main characters already hate, the effect feels neutered. They went from hating him toâŠhating him. What changed?
Who I feel wouldâve been better candidates for the Hive role: Rosalind Price (my main pick), Will Daniels (he was already Hive, just use him), Andrew Garner, Lincoln Campbell