Remember when Marvel was doing T.V. shows tied to the MCU before Disney+ happened? Oh, you thought I would do the Netflix stuff first? They're on my list; they need a month to themselves. No, this was chosen because of content coming up, both an upcoming review and a character joining the MCU that may tie into what was introduced here (however that is very unlikely). While there are seven seasons available, I'm choosing to focus on two for now, mainly because these were made for public television and, therefore, harder to binge for review. Welcome, to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The primary plot for the seasons mainly revolve around Skye (who would later be known as Daisy), as she becomes an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. for season 1, learning from the full agents like a revived Agent Culson (back when death didn't mean anything in the MCU, just like the comics). The first season would eventually lead to a tie into Captain America: The Winter Solider, as S.H.I.E.L.D falls to Hydra and is taken back in what feels like a surprisingly short amount of time (however that could be me misremembering the Hydra take over in Winter Soldier. For season 2, the plot shifts to build up the Inhumans, thanks to a push by Isaac Perlmutter during that time which would be too long to explain here, though it is a fascinating story. While those are the big overarching plots, due to the show being made for traditional television, most of the episodes follow contained stories, with only small pieces used to build up to the finale. The show was intended to be viewed over 22 weeks, not a few days; you'll get bored trying to binge it because of how repetitive things are in the show. "A good guy turning out to be a back stabbing bad guy" is interesting in the proper context, but it gets boring when it feels like every new addition to the cast is going to backstab somebody.
One thing that worked to the show's advantage in Season 1 but really did not work for Season 2 and likely onwards was the effects. The show's made on a T.V. show budget, and the effects aren't going to look as good as they do in the movies or the recent streaming shows. I've got no issue with the budget, as when it's focusing on spy stuff, the budget works. When it focuses on the Inhuman related content, though, and the more complex power sets of other heroes that come with it, it doesn't look good at all. To me, a good effect can still look cheap, but an effect that feels cheap will never look good, and none of the effects for the Inhumans look good. It's not the worst of it, though, that will come next week... maybe, I haven't seen the episodes yet when writing this, but I have heard horror stories. Spies and espionage can be done well on a small budget, not so much for superpowers. They try to somewhat cover up the shortcomings by making the powers and transformations not very drastic a lot of the time, but that makes the transformations and more effects-heavy powers stand out more. I'm not sure if it's addressed in later seasons. Still, one thing that was very questionable about this show regarding the Inhumans is an issue that's always plagued the Inhumans, the Mutants, and other similar power-based characters. The MCU's a world where the Avengers are praised. So why are the Inhumans looked down on as if they're, well, inhuman? Some with physical changes I can somewhat understand, but the ones that otherwise look and act normal?
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| And now, you get to have this image in your head too |
So, why did I review this and put Fantastic 4 off for even longer? Well, curiosity. Ms Marvel, Kamala Khan, is in the comics an Inhuman (at least she was last time I checked). When writing this, unless a leak has come out that I've missed, we don't know how she'll get her powers in her upcoming Disney+ series. Considering how long Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D went on, even after the point when Joss Wheedon was taken out of the inner circle of Marvel Directors (hence why I'm only reviewing the two seasons set between the first two Avengers films). Do I think any of this will be followed up? No, but it's at least interesting to look at one of the black sheep of the MCU, even if it's only a taste for what's to come. If you want to watch it, watch one a week. Don't binge it as I did. See you next week, for Inhumans.
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