NerdLush

Stewart here…

It’s hard to believe that Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD has managed to survive five seasons, let alone be renewed for a seventh one months (!) before the sixth is to be released.  It was meant to be adjacent to all the big goings on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but without a heavy link to them (save a cameo or two from Nick Fury early on), it seemed a slave to whenever those big events in the movies happened.  That was true of the first season (and we’ll get into that soon enough), but as the show continued and became less motivated by the movies, it became a better series for it. And now 110 episodes later, it’s somehow managed to survive fluctuating ratings and schedules, and with barely an end visible for now.

The setup in a nutshell: we follow SHIELD agent Phil Coulson (and since this is after The Avengers movie, it’s strange because he DIED in that movie) as he puts together a team of agents to deal with the growing superhuman threats across the world.  That team consists of field agents Grant Ward, Melinda May, scientists Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons (FitzSimmons, respectively), and newcomer Daisy Johnson, and they all have their own respective baggage with them.  As the show moved on, their ranks grew and shrunk, they dealt with betrayal between themselves and from SHIELD itself, and occasionally dealt with threats not just superhuman, but alien and supernatural. Hell, they even went to space.  Some of the team more than once.

So, in order to help you get caught up before the sixth season premieres sometime in the summer, here’s a list of 20 of its best and pivotal episodes from all five seasons that are worth watching.  There are mild SPOILERS, but the summaries are kept vague as possible to avoid revealing some of the surprises in store.

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Tags: Agent May, Agent Ward, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., AoS, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Clark Gregg, Coulson, Daisy, Daisy Johnson, Fitz-Simmons, Ghost Rider, Hail Hydra, Marvel, Ming Na Wen, Ming-Na, Nerdtastic Ramblings, Nick Fury, Quake, Samuel L. Jackson, Skye, Stewart, Television