12 Things Agents Of SHIELD Needs To Fix For Season 2

9. More Concentration On Characters, Not Plot

The first half of AoS' first season - for the most part - didn't tell us a whole lot about the lead characters, other than that Coulson wouldn't give up on somebody even in the most dire circumstances but was willing to do what needed to be done in order to save the day (but we pretty much got the gist of that in Avengers already, right?). They got put through their paces in the latter half, but a great deal of that, especially during the last six episodes, was motivated by plot and not the characters themselves. It's clear to see what Marvel and ABC are trying to do with the show; they want something that uses the comic company's brand and image in a way that's familiar to people and tells stories that the largest demographic of people want to watch. But that's not the best thing they can make with it, and they've been trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Superpowers are metaphors, and the best superhero stories are those that understand that. With Agents of SHIELD, Marvel has a chance to tell smaller stories about the people with (and without) powers in a universe populated by incredible beings, and just how terrifying and exciting that might be for them. If the show is to have any lasting impact on the television landscape then it needs to embrace its uniqueness and its weirdness and let its characters be the real focus of the story and the lens through which we view an ever-changing world, not the mission to take down some bland, nameless villain.