Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.often seems like the forgotten child of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite being the highest rated of the MCU television shows on Rotten Tomatoes, plenty of fans dismiss it because it doesn’t have the costumed heroes of the Avengers stopping by for a visit. To be fair, the show had a bit of a rocky start untilCaptain America: The Winter Soldierlanded in theaters and took the MCU in a whole new direction. Then,Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.was off and running, each season of the series building on itself and reaching higher critical acclaim than the last.
Now, beyond the landmark 100 episode mark, we’re taking a look back at some of its past adventures with the help of the Internet Movie Database withAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The 15 Worst Episodes According to IMDB (And The 10 Best).
IMDB allows users and critics to rate episodes on a scale of one (the worst) to ten (the best), and averages the submissions to create a score for the episode. The best ofAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ranks at 9.5, while the worst sits at 7.3.
25 Worst: A Wanted Inhu(man) S3E03 (8.2)
For better or worse, season two of the series introduced the Inhumans to the MCU. Inhumans were those beings descended from the ancient humans the Kree experimented on. While main character Skye (Chloe Bennet) discovered her heritage as Daisy Johnson, the series also introduced Lincoln Campbell (Luke Mitchell) as her love interest. He was the primary subject of season three’s “A Wanted Inhu(man).”
Perhaps the reason fans and critics disliked the episode was due to that focus. Long time fan favorites like Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) and Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) had the B and C storylines of the episode. Fans were more curious about what happened to Jemma on an alien planet and how well Hunter could work with Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) than they were interested in watching Lincoln on the run from the government.
24 Best: What If… S4E16 (9.2)
The first of the top ten episodes turned the show on its head. Season four introduced the concept of the Framework, a virtual reality that human beings could plug into and live out an entirely new life. With the episode “What If…” so many fan favorite characters were approached in completely new ways as a result.
The episode got to really showcase the talents of the performers. Fans got a chance to see the actors stretch, particularly Iain de Caestecker as Fitz, who surprised everyone as a villain. In this virtual world, Hydra ruled supreme as mild mannered Fitz became the psychotic Doctor, perennial good guy Coulson (Clark Gregg) became a conspiracy theorist teacher, and Jemma and Daisy were the only self aware characters on a rescue mission.
23 Worst: BOOM S4E13 (8.2)
Just a few episodes prior to “What If…” marked one of the lowest rated episodes of the series. In the episode “BOOM,” S.H.I.E.L.D. nearly met their match when an Inhuman whose ability to literally become a bomb was part of a dastardly plan. The B storyline saw agents meet the woman who inspired the creation of AIDA (Mallory Jansen), the season’s life model decoy villain.
While this episode had a lot going for it, it didn’t land with fans. It was very much a connective episode, providing a bridge from the events before to the introduction of LMDs infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. As a result, it wasn’t as meaty as the ones surrounding it.
22 Worst: One Of Us S2E13 (8.1)
The season two episode “One Of Us” should have been great. It featured a team up of villains with superpowers, the introduction of a separate faction of S.H.I.E.L.D. that survived Hydra’s influence, and Skye learning about her abilities. It, however, did not live up to its potential.
Skye spent a lot of the episode afraid of what would happen if she used her power. Meanwhile, her father spent a lot of time trying to take on S.H.I.E.L.D. While Kyle MacLachlan was fun in the role of her father, the rest of the villains just didn’t pop in the same way, leaving the audience underwhelmed.
21 Best: Rewind S5E05 (9.2)
The first batch of season five episodes sent most of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team the audience knew into a post-apocalyptic future. While the fish out of water element to the story was fascinating, there was something lacking for the audience. Iain de Caestecker’s Fitz was nowhere to be found.
In reality, the actor was filming another project when the season started, and needed a few weeks off. In universe, he was stuck in the past. “Rewind” offered the audience a comedic break from a bleak future as it reunited Fitz with Lance Hunter for a jailbreak. Their team-up involved ferrets, a mobile home, and meeting a new alien, all with a much welcomed lighter tone.
20 Worst: The Bridge S1E10 (8.1)
The mid-season finale of the first season gave fans a real cliffhanger to hold onto for the month hiatus. Fans were not pleased, and perhaps that’s why “The Bridge” has a place among the worst of the series.
The episode began to bring threads from the “case of the week” episodes together. It brought back J. August Richards from the series premiere, along with Ruth Negga from an earlier episode. It also had a surprising twist as it wasn’t Richards’ Mike Peterson a mysterious group was after, but instead Phil Coulson himself, bringing back questions of the character survivingThe Avengers. All of those plot threads weaving together just weren’t enough to satisfy the audience.
19 Best: The Devil Complex S5E14 (9.2)
When the team returned from their time in the future, they had a new base, and a rift in space-time that led to a fear dimension. That idea led many to believe that the central antagonist at the Lighthouse, making things go haywire, was the rift itself. It turned out it wasn’t, and the twist provided for some of the most intense and heart wrenching character moments on the show, making it one of the best rated episodes.
Instead of fears coming to life, Fitz accessed the part of his brain still inhabited by his Framework personality, the Doctor. The Doctor did what Fitz couldn’t to fix the problem of the rift, drilling into Daisy’s brain to remove an inhibitor blocking her powers, forcing her to use her power to help him fix the problem. It made everyone look at him differently and drove a wedge into the team that lingered.
18 Worst: Love In The Time Of Hydra S2E14 (8.0)
“Love In The Time Of Hydra” had the misfortune of being the next episode in line after “One Of Us.” Both episodes placed the focus on groups of people outside of the main cast, causing some fans to lose interest.
In the case of this particular episode, the focus shifted to Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) and former Agent 33 (Maya Stojan) as their relationship became serious - and seriously messed up. They took Hydra agents to help them with Agent 33’s mask and learn about her past. Unfortunately, Agent 33 AKA Kara, didn’t get much development beyond her relationship with Ward, so the episode became a waste for a lot of the audience.
17 Worst: Seeds S1E12 (8.0)
As a standalone episode, the season one hour “Seeds,” was an interesting one, even if it didn’t satisfy all fans. The episode took the audience to the Academy to see how cadets and scholars ended up S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
In addition to giving an early look at just how rare Fitz and Simmons were, even in a room full of geniuses, the episode gave us a look at how a different branch of the secret organization even worked. It would have provided a great jumping off point to flesh out S.H.I.E.L.D.’s backstory as an organization, but the show never returned to its training grounds, instead destroying it during the Hydra uprising.
16 Best: Turn, Turn, Turn S1E17 (9.3)
Most Marvel fans, including those that have remained loyal toAgents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.since the beginning, will agree that season one takes a while to really get into the meat of the story. The episode “Turn, Turn, Turn” marked a literal turning point in the series. It’s also the only season one episode to rank among the best hours of the show.
“Turn, Turn, Turn” occurred at the same time in the MCU timeline as the events ofCaptain America: The Winter Soldier.As a result, it was a tense hour that featured plenty of twists, betrayals, and action. For the audience, the reveal that Agents Garrett and Ward were Hydra changed everything - and almost nobody saw it coming.
