REVIEWED: SEASON 6 (EPISODES 1 – 7) | WHERE TO WATCH: ALL 4
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been one of the few Marvel TV series that has successfully captured both the excitement of the Cinematic Universe and the joy of the comic books. It’s achieved this by constantly re-inventing itself. What began life as essentially a spy-fi procedural drama with the odd movie reference has evolved into a classic telefantasy, covering everything from magic to parallel worlds.
The new series is set before the events of Infinity War, which spares us from the show having to work in the odd movie reference here and there. (Though in fairness, a lot of the integration between the series and the movies is seamless, with the MCU elements essentially working as shorthand for the casual viewer). The agents are still reeling from the events of the last series, with Coulson seemingly gone for good, S.H.I.E.L.D. still functions as Earth’s defence against the weird, with Mack taking on the role as director.
Meanwhile, Daisy, Simmons, and two other agents (who you grow to love) are scouring space for Fitz. It seems that one of the few consistent things about the show is that the adorable couple that is Fitz and Simmons are cursed to be separated by time, space, and circumstance. This particular story arc is one of the key sources of fun throughout this season. It starts off as a ‘Lost in Space’ melodrama, veers into the territory of some sort of galactic road-trip before turning into a cosmic version of couples counselling. The FitzSimmons pairing has always been electric on screen, and six seasons on these talented actors have created something rather special.
The more Earthbound drama is similarly full of surprises. We have a new set of bad guys with an all too familiar face returning to remind the viewers exactly why this show has been so successful. Fans of the various Marvel storylines will catch on to this arc plot fairly quickly and realise that a dimension-hopping band of bruisers who are seemingly intent on wrecking the joint are very, very bad news. The character of Sarge is, of course, the most interesting, but credit is also due to Brooke Williams as the psychotic Snowflake, who combines lunatic charm with utter ruthlessness to great effect.
There are some clunky moments, of course. Mack and Yo-Yo continue to have absolutely no chemistry, and the show struggles to integrate the character of Deke into the main story, which is a pity because he has some of the best moves in the series so far. From what we’ve seen of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s sixth season so far, we expect that it will continue to surprise and delight us.
