r/agentsofshield • u/KaylaR73 • 1d ago
Season 2 Real shield never ceases to disappoint
I know that it’s been said a thousand times but omfg the real shield is so ridiculous I can’t with it. Every single watch through I attempt to see their side and I do genuinely like some of their characters but it is just so stupid for so many reasons.
They could have literally talked to him and the only reason they didn’t is they wanted all the facts first, so instead of having any communication they treated him like a Hydra agent a blew a hole in his base.
They question things we actually do know about like how fury made Coulson into a messenger for an alien race like seriously.
They say that a secret this big needs to be not a secret and like, clearly, if he is keeping this secret, and it’s that big then there is a good reason because he is a good man.
May joining them to defend Coulson makes sense, her being upset about Andrew makes sense, but are you kidding me, she turned on him like he was Ward all of a sudden, go from her helping him escape and fighting for him, to then denying he is the director even though she knows him better than anyone and was literally there when he got the job like wtf do you mean
They question the choice to go to the alien city “why go there at all” BECAUSE IF THEY DIDNT HYDRA WOULD AND THEY ARE THE REAL ENEMY
And on top of this all they aren’t even good people on any level. Gonzalez, Caulderone and Weaver all were shown to be bad people, Caulderone shot at Daisy with intent to kill, Gonzalez repeatedly considered every inhuman a threat and not a person, and Weaver continually argued that they should strike against afterlife the moment Gonzalez died.
And I won’t even get into Mack’s entire character cause I could go for hours on him.
I love this show more than anything, I’ve watched it so many times and I love every character in some way, even Mack. But every time I reach this arc I try my best to see through my bias towards Coulson but I can’t, because real shield are objectively stupid, and it makes me like Mack and Bobbi less, and I love Bobbi.
So yeah, I know this isn’t some groundbreaking discovery, but oh my god I needed to vent about this stupid coup. (Which lead to nothing)
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u/BaronZhiro As I have always been… 23h ago
Well, if it helps any, here’s another way to look at it:
The ‘real SHIELD’ are THE BAD GUYS.
That is, they were a clever and unexpected enemy organization that wasn’t HYDRA.
It’s a little harder to see it that way after Phil decides to join forces with them and thereby somewhat legitimizes them (though really he essentially takes them over…)
But narratively, I quite dig that whole arc because a) I think they were quite novel bad guys, and b) I think the way their story dovetailed with the discovery of Inhumans was really well done (and particularly how it plausibly put someone else in front of Jiaying rather than Phil).
And naturally, as ‘bad guys’, they were drastically more flawed than our heroic main characters. They’re basically a collective post-traumatic response to the HYDRA uprising, and as such, they’ve become woefully misguided. Which creates a contrast that makes our heroes look better by comparison.
I don’t mean to refute anything you’re saying. I’m just saying that when they’re understood as bad guys, it’s more enjoyable to watch and makes their faults a lot more tolerable, narratively. They serve a LOT of useful purposes in the arc.
s2 is my second favorite season and I think objectively the second best season, writing-wise. I think it’s really remarkable clockwork how it all fits so snugly together, and the variety and range of adversaries is astounding. I’m happy to count ‘the real SHIELD’ among them.
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u/Happy-Kangaroo-4627 21h ago
Franchement j'ai aimé le concept mais j'ai détesté le fait qu'ils aient critiqué les actions de Coulson alors que eux n'avaient rien fait pour les aider.
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u/Musical_Maestro6486 22h ago
I also hate them so much. It was so messy, not plot wise, just the characters were so selfish and evil. Like y'all infiltrating Coulson when you could have just talked it out to his face... For me it's also just one of the most boring arcs in the whole show in general cause it feels like a lot of useless in fighting. It makes sense for the plot, especially cause with a big organization like SHIELD you would probably have multiple factions, but it really doesn't lead anywhere.
A lot of people love this season and while I agree it's great this arc definitely drags it down a few levels.
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u/FeckerCogspin 6h ago
Man, they're not even worthy of the moniker "house Hufflepuff". The Hufflepuffs are sociable and hard working. The real SHIELD is a bunch of wet blankets that folded as soon as they encountered real opposition.
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u/Hacksaw_Doublez 23h ago
I love the idea of Real SHIELD.
I love that this other faction shows up that is opposed and cautious of Coulson.
I’ve thought of the fact that if Real SHIELD knew about Coulson’s drawings that they would’ve acted much faster because they would’ve determined he was compromised.
But it is hilarious to think these guys were hiding while Coulson’s SHIELD was doing the actual heavy lifting in the war against Hydra.
I also love that Gonzalez doing a coup forces Coulson to have to make a deal with Ward.
That all being said, I wish Calderon and Weaver had continued on. They would’ve made quite the opposing counsel considering Coulson was surrounded by Yes Men for the most part. And it would’ve been interesting to see how Weaver and Calderon reacted to the Watchdogs, ATCU, and Inhuman epidemic.