Marvel's Agents of SHIELD Season Six Review
Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.
If you’re reading this particular season review, you must be a dedicated Agents of SHIELD fan such as myself. Before diving into my thoughts on the sixth season, let’s have a chat about the weird history of this unappreciated TV series, how it managed to outlive the Netflix Marvel shows, and how it surpassed all expectations beyond it’s cringe-worthy first season. Yes, it is one of those shows, and we all know it.
Agents of SHIELD originally centered around Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) after his untimely death during the events of the first Avengers movie. After five seasons of having him as a main protagonist, he finally died peacefully and passed the mantle onto his love interest and field agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), Director of SHIELD successor Mack (Henry Simmons), and Inhuman daughter-figure Daisy Johnson (Chloe Bennet).
First, the writing improved immensely after the TV series decided to forget the larger MCU movies. Agents of SHIELD chose not to rely on the “connections” and created an entirely different world based on their own mythologies involving HYDRA, Inhuman, Ghost Rider, etc. This does not change going into their sixth season as they didn’t care enough to factor Avengers: Infinity War or Endgame into their plot. A smart decision that made sense if you remember that both movies and the show dealt with time travel. At some point, they probably diverged from each other that way.
This was probably how it outlasted the Netflix Marvel shows too. Aside from the whole Disney + thing that killed them, the Netflix shows had a huge weakness by being set in New York City where most of the heroes like Iron Man live. Not being able to see Stark / Avengers Tower or hear direct mentions hurt a lot because pretending they don’t exist seems stupid.
Agents of SHIELD had no such problem because they didn’t need to rely on the Avengers to get stuff done and they moved beyond New York City. They referenced MCU movies only when it was plot-related like the Sokovia Accords from Captain America: Civil War.
Armed with my two cents, let’s dive into season six, 13 episodes, and what made it work. The number of episodes helped fix the show’s pacing issues from the last season. There were moments I went, “Go faster!”
First, Clark Gregg was still involved in the season six, but he was no longer Phil Coulson (except in flashbacks). Instead, he portrayed a mysterious character named Sarge who looked like Phil Coulson but evil. He arrived on Earth one year later after the events of season five to tackle a new threat.
Sarge comes into serious conflict with Melinda May, Director Mack, and Daisy Johnson, who have different opinions on how to handle the lookalike. Gregg portrays Sarge in a dark manner but uses enough of Phil Coulson at certain times that gets both Melinda and Daisy wondering if the man they lost is somewhere in there.
Director Mack keeps a leveled-head about Sarge, which creates tension and moments of doubt in his leadership. It doesn’t help that Director Mack has to live up to Phil Coulson’s legacy while dealing with a lookalike who tells him he’s not doing a good enough job. It’s solid writing though.
Before I go into Daisy’s state of mind, we have to discuss the sub-plot that builds into the main plot of the final season. Daisy Johnston left Earth to join the search for Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) in outer space and to avoid dealing with the pain of losing Phil Coulson. As you may recall, Fitz died at the end of season five, but since the team saved their future, they can bring the other Fitz home who’s still in cryo sleep. Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) leads the team (Daisy, Agent Piper, and Agent Davis) and puts them all in serious trouble during the search for Fitz.
During the season premiere, I believed they would take Simmons in a dark direction during this arc, but instead, the writers gave us payoff on the “curse” of Fitz-Simmons. They also gave us moments of fan-service when it came to Daisy and Simmons’ early days, thus awarding themselves for making it this far in the story.
The main highlights of this season belonged to Daisy Johnson, Fitz-Simmons, Melinda May and Sarge conflict, and the plot twist at the end of this season involving Enoch and his people, the Chromicoms. The low points were Mack and Yo-Yo’s romance, the villain’s ability of body-possession wasn’t convincing enough at times, and Deke Shaw, who’s arc wasn’t the steadiest. New Fitz was rough too because he had to distinguish himself from time-displaced Fitz, but he grew on me over time because Fitz is Fitz.
Phil Coulson is officially resolved in this season. At least, how everyone feels about their former Director. Daisy Johnson found closure during the battle against Sarge as did May, who fought relentlessly to see if the man she loved was underneath Sarge. The mystery of Sarge was intriguing in the beginning, but the answer was somewhat uneven. It took me a minute to put a together how Sarge came into existence using the Fear Dimension and time travel was involved again too. Why is time travel in almost everything lately?
The set-up for next season transitioned well from how the team defeated the latest threat, only for another to raise up. This will be the final season as well for our small screened heroes. It’s time to say goodbye to this amazing series. Clark Gregg will be involved in the final season too. I can’t say how without spoiling it.
Overall, the 13-episode season was a success. It had rough spots at times, particularly episodes 4 and 10, but the pacing was ultimately working in the show’s favor as they prepare for the final battle for SHIELD’s soul. I’d recommend this series because the payoff is worth it. It’s all about that payoff.