Before you Marvel fans drag me to the gallows for heresy, let me say I love Marvel just as much as the next person and that I enjoyed Season 2. It was a fun ride—the last couple of episodes were spectacular. But…

Deep breath.

I found Season 2 disappointing. Some people didn’t like Season 1 (critics will be critics) until the life-altering shift that coincided with Captain America: Winter Soldier. I found it entertaining, but that’s when the roof blew off and I became a S.H.I.E.L.D fanatic.

Ward’s deception, Hydra’s takeover, S.H.I.E.L.D’s relative collapse, and the subsequent fallout with the team made for a batch of episodes that was better than eating chocolate on the beach. I watched the series on DVD and went through them in like two nights.

Yeah, it was epic and amazing.

After rising to that peak from the drudgery of the world below, I couldn’t wait for Season 2. Surely, it would continue to build to bigger and better things, offering more thrills than Iron Man has suits.

Sadly, that wasn’t the case.

Again, don’t get me wrong. There was a ton of cool stuff.

• The plot with the alien city and Coulson’s obsession with the drawings
• Skye’s revealed heritage
• Everything between Skye and her father
• Ward’s continued troublemaking
• The development of inhumans

All that was great, but for some reason, Season 2 didn’t sparkle like I wanted it to, like I expected it to after Season 1. Instead of a sword keen with more surprises and heart-wrenching scenarios, I got a semi-sharp blade that cut in places but didn’t leave me in shock and wide-eyed wonder.

I thought of two reasons why Season 2 didn’t live up to my expectations.

1. There were too many characters on the team

This made the team dynamics feel diluted to me. With more people vying for time, it spread every role thin, and I resented that. Who were these up-and-comers stealing time from Coulson, Fitz, and the others?

Everything the team went through together in Season 1 made them a family, and the inclusion of Bobbi, Hunter, and Mac came across as an intrusion. I didn’t care about the new characters as much and their presence bloated the team’s numbers.

That got them off on the wrong foot, and it took a while for me to accept them. I loved Hunter’s dry wit, and Bobbi went up in my estimation after the final episode, but I still don’t like any of the newer characters as much as the old standbys.

2. The plot twists weren’t as numerous or impressive

Overall, Season 2 lacked the intrigue and mystery of Season 1. Yes, there was Coulson’s drawings, Skye’s identity, Simmons’s undercover work at Hydra, and the search for the alien city, but for some reason it didn’t register as high on the cool scale.

After Hydra taking over and Ward turning traitor, and all the deliciously entertaining stuff that happened as a result, I wanted that same sense of unbalanced trepidation, sensing things were wrong but not knowing why. The last several episodes helped remedy that, but taking the entire arc of the season, the intrigue wasn’t as high or engaging to me.

In My Defense

One caveat to all this is that I watched Season 1 on DVD in about two weeks. The episodes weren’t spaced out over the span of an entire season. That might have contributed to me having such a glowing opinion of Season 1 or thinking Season 2 wasn’t as good. I didn’t rush through it and the breaks helped cool off some of the excitement I might have retained had I gone through it quickly.

Another caveat is that Season 2 also competed with some other great TV shows. I had those to hold my attention as well, so S.H.I.E.L.D ended up pushed aside to some degree.

All that said, I’m looking forward to Season 3 and I hope it’s more spectacular and Marvel-ous than anything we’ve seen yet.

Which season did you like more? What was your favorite part in Season 2? I would love to hear your thoughts.