Captain America Might Just Save ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is about to enter an interesting phase in its development. And it’s happening whether they like it or not, thanks to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This post is going to have heavy, heavy spoilers, so you’ve been warned.

So, to get right to it, they’re no longer part of S.H.I.E.L.D. because S.H.I.E.L.D. no longer exists at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Black Widow flushes the whole system and puts every dirty secret on the Internet for public consumption. In addition, it turns out that the whole agency has been corrupt from top to bottom from the very start with HYDRA agents, who have taken over the agency almost completely.

In other words, pretty much everyone on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is utterly screwed. They’re about to lose their entire support network, their budget, all their fancy toys, the works. And about damn time.

It’s fairly clear this entire season of the show has been held back by this movie; the executive team admits they knew this was coming, even if the cast didn’t. And it’s fairly clear that this has been holding the show back, somewhat; they didn’t know how to fit in this enormous twist. And they also didn’t have an agency to go after; now, they do.

It’s fairly clear that S.H.I.E.L.D. will exist in some form after Captain America and Black Widow trashed it, but by the same token, it does also mean the show will have to start being about how the characters deal with betrayal and the fact that they can no longer trust each other. At all.

In other words, we might finally get a plot line and some character depth. And just in the nick of time, as the show’s fate remains perilous. We’d like to see them turn it around, and this might be the ticket.

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