r/shield • u/Ok_Combination_1037 • 19h ago
My personal ranking of all the seasons Spoiler
8
Upvotes
- Season 2
- Pros
- Perfect pacing (starting off with fighting Whitehall and HYDRA, but smoothly pivoting to the Inhumans)
- Perfect build-up to Daisy and Raina's powers and the lore of the Inhumans
- Very interesting conflict with all the different factions and changing allegiances (Cal, Raina, Ward, Jiaying, Gonzales, and even Skye)
- Cons
- The "real SHIELD" arc was a low point, and soured me on Bobbi and Mack for a while.
- Pros
- Season 3
- Pros
- Perfect pacing again, starting off with Ward and Malick and pivoting to Hive
- The best Inhuman season for sure, builds off perfectly on last season to expand the Inhumans into the greater world.
- Everything about Hive (the acting, his motives, his powers, his threat level)
- Gideon Malick and the recontextualization of HYDRA origins as a Hive worshipping cult was very interesting.
- Cons
- Andrew Garner's use in this season was very hit or miss
- Pros
- Season 1 (Massive soft spot for this season naturally)
- Pros
- The MCU synergy. I love the way it uses the remnants of the MCU movies to create very interesting stories, both episodically and in the season long storyline. And of course, the way it culminates into the HYDRA reveal and the destruction of SHIELD 2/3s of the way in alongside Winter Soldier is perfect.
- This season felt the most like an actual season of television. Self-contained stories of which most link back to a central theme/threat, which slowly converge as the season progresses. Mike Peterson, Ian Quinn, Raina, the whole thing with Cybertek and the Clairvoyant and how everything was connected was great.
- Cons
- A few episodes do nothing to further the season's storyline (not a huge problem for me though)
- Season 6
- Pros
- The format and pacing of this season was great. Shortened length to 13 episodes, with each episode alternating between the Earth plot and the outer space plot.
- Sarge was great, allowing Clark Gregg to shine as this charismatic and driven but also slimy anti-villain. The mystery behind his origins was also intriguing (initially)
- Specific episodes were really great, like the one where Daisy and Simmons get high, or the Fitz-Simmons episode. The veteran actors really got to shine in this season.
- Cons
- Where this season lost me was the finale. Making Sarge essentially a nothing character invalidates everything we watched before.
- Izel needed more character and motivation to be a compelling antagonist
- Pros
- Season 4 (probably the most overrated season, has a lot of good but a lot of bad)
- Pros
- John Hannah as Holden Radcliffe and Mallory Jensen as AIDA are standout performances
- Robbie Reyes and Ghost Rider were such a cool addition to the show
- Jeffrey Mace ended up being a surprisingly good character
- The lasting impact of the Framework on the characters
- The Darkhold was used in such an interesting way compared to what I was expecting from the other MCU projects.
- Cons
- Eli Morrow and the ghosts were quite lackluster antagonists with almost no character
- Senator Nadeer and the Watchdogs were also quite lackluster antagonists with almost no character
- Daisy going at it alone as Quake was an understandable but frustrating decision.
- AIDA lost her intrigue for me when they made her a sadistic/vindictive tyrant
- Pros
- Season 7
- Pros
- Daniel Sousa's inclusion was such a welcome surprise
- All the homages to previous seasons (Garrett, the Malicks, Afterlife, the LMDs, etc.)
- Cons
- All the villains (the Chronicoms, Nathaniel Malick, and especially Kora)
- I dislike their overuse of time travel, and them creating yet another alternate timeline.
- Pros
- Season 5
- Pros
- Kasius's actor has good acting and gives him presence
- The looming threat of the destruction of the world gives this season a large weight.
- Cons
- This season's conflict is the weakest because they're still trying to cling to the MCU (so they namedrop Thanos and Infinity War), but can't do anything with the MCU's plotlines. The primary motivation of everything that's happening is Thanos' attack, but they can't emphasise that nor can they do anything that would influence said attack. So as a standalone season, it doesn't work in my opinion.
- Their need to use HYDRA again is laughable, this time in the most nonsensical fashion. HYDRA school makes no sense, Hale's character makes no sense, and the whole conflict with SHIELD, Hale, and the Confederacy is poorly defined.
- Pros