Agent Carter vs Agents of Shield: Which Show is Better?

[nottopbravo]

Let the discussion begin.  Actors, production, special effects, etc. 

 

Each show has its fans, and it's sad to see the Agent Carter series ending too soon. 

[FurryFury]

Eh, I doubt ANYONE would say AoS is better, really. Kind of a no-brainer, really.

[Advance35]

AoS has been on for a season and a half so clearly someone likes it, I don't know why it just doesn't gel for me.  One of my theories is that maybe Coulson isn't a character that's meant to be central to an entire show.   He's been prominent in past MU installments but that's different from being the center piece.   Skye is also a central character, who for me, is very uninspired.   I was far more interested in characters like May, Simmons and Ward (minus the Skye hang-up).     For me the characters just seem to have a lack of magnetism.

 

Contrasting with Agent Carter since I think Peggy is a WONDERFUL centerpiece.   As she's gotten to know certain characters and we've seen outshell's pealed away, I've grown to care and feel engaged with her supporting cast.   I wasn't overly enthused about Angie, Thompson or Dooley.  But in 7 episodes I've grown  to care about them and in one case, mourn the loss of a character I didn't think I would.

 

Peggy and the characters she's surrounded by, feel like they have more dimension than any of the one's on AoS.   I don't know how else to explain it.

[GinevradiBenci]

I'm pretty solidly a fan of both. I think Agent Carter benefited greatly from having a set 8 episodes to get in, tell a story, and get out, and probably more shows could benefit from that kind of treatment. Agent Carter has a lot of charm and is probably the better show between the two, but SHIELD has been doing some captivating storytelling and I'm eager to see where we're going when the show returns. I want both, and don't feel like I have to pick one over the other.

[Cranberry]

I've been enjoying Agent Carter more, but I don't think they can really be compared. AC is one woman's story and is more of a character study while AoS is an action show with a large cast. I also think that AC benefits from being a miniseries; there are no filler episodes because there's no time for filler episodes.

 

I will say that the dialogue is much snappier on Agent Carter, though.

[Shanna]

Eh, I doubt ANYONE would say AoS is better, really. Kind of a no-brainer, really.

Well, since I quit aos in irritation midway through the first season, I think you can guess where I stand!

I do miss Elizabeth henstridges character. And may. But not enough to watch Skye and Coulson.

[charis]

While I do think the two shows are inherently different and that it makes it harder to compare, I think Agent Carter definitely has the better writing (both in plot and in dialogue) and the better cast, all around. The initial popularity of AoS predicated, IMO, on two things: Coulson, and the Whedon name. I was tentatively interested at first, but got bored with it pretty quickly, especially when it wanted me to be invested in characters that it felt like it had given me no reason to care about (and who, unfortunately, also weren't the kinds of characters I cared about to begin with). I lost interest wholesale in the middle of season 1, and when I tried to pick it back up at the beginning of season 2, I couldn't even muster up the energy to watch the May-heavy episodes.  And May is the one character I'm actually invested in at this point.  (I want May-Romanoff-Hill SHIELD agent shenanigans instead.  Please?)

 

Obviously Agents of SHIELD is doing it for some people. I'm not sure if you can judge one as objectively better than the other, but overall I've found Agent Carter a much more engaging and interesting show, and I have no interest in giving Agents of SHIELD another go when it takes over the timeslot.

 

It would've been interesting to see how both shows worked in a short-run season -- ten episodes like BBC tends to do, or something like that. One of AoS' admitted problems was the amount of filler ...

Edited February 19, 2015 by charis

[Sakura12]

I like AoS and will be watching when it returns. However Agent Carter is miles above that show in terms of writing and characters. 

 

I think they need to get Fazekas and Butters to helm AoS or get JOSS Whedon to write a couple of episodes or give them some pointers. His family members just do not have his talent. 

[Bruinsfan]

Aside from the richer characterizations and more competent acting, one thing I notice Agent Carter being far better about is logistics and grounding the show in the real world. Yes, there are out-there elements like Acme'sStark's collection of improbably explosive devices, but the workplace is a building in Manhattan, the people have actual homes to go to, restaurants they frequent, and they have to cover the intervening space between locations when following leads. Contrast that to AoS's magic invisible VTOL plane that requires no maintenance crew or refueling, their clone-operated secret bases, the fact that almost all of the characters have no routine contact with normal people living in the real world. The handwaving away anything that might be an obstacle or distraction from the characters doing their self-assigned secret agent missions makes the whole thing seem like a shallow adolescent power fantasy.

[ChelseaNH]

Aside from the richer characterizations and more competent acting, one thing I notice Agent Carter being far better about is logistics and grounding the show in the real world.

 

This is where I'm at.  Peggy Carter is a specific person in a specific environment interacting with other specific people.  The AoS team were generic people defined mostly by their skill sets, dropped into a generic setting.  I "knew" Peggy a lot better after one episode than I "knew" the AoS team after a season.  Whatever investment I have in the AoS characters is largely due to the actors.

 

I do think that building a series around Coulson is something of a problem, at least the way they've gone.  What was most memorable about him in the movies was his nonchalance, and we rarely see that in the series.

[Traveller519]

The shows are just so different in my opinion.

 

Agent Carter has been good because it's focused around the mini-series format and was planned out in whole to begin with, focusing on a central character that went over well with fans.

 

Agents of SHIELD struggled to find it's footing before the Winter Soldier tie-in helped give the show some focus. I won't be dissuaded that the original intent of the show was to have a Scooby Gang run around in the background of the MCU dealing with the issue of the week, while trying to balance a larger story. Very few shows balance the procedural/development well (Veronica Mars: S1 is what stands out as the best to me). But I like the role it now plays in expanding the MCU. Agent Carter has done a bit of that, but, by nature of being a historical piece it's somewhat limited.

[FurryFury]

For me, it all boils down to character writing, and I feel like even popular characters of AoS are characterized worse than half of Agent Carter's cast, despite it having a much longer run. I just don't understand how their minds work - or if I do, I just don't care enough. I still don't mind AoS, it's OK and kinda entertaining, and it's not getting worse unlike some other comic book shows (which are...pretty much all of them except Agent Carter, really), but I'm just not invested. Also, Peggy is the rare main character who is actually my favorite in the cast. It's so refreshing.

[rujasu]

Coulson definitely worked better in a supporting role.  I don't hate him as the lead, but it's definitely not an ideal use of him.  It's like if they made a spinoff of Agent Carter where Jarvis was the main character -- I like him, but he's clearly meant to be a sidekick!

[tessaray]

I do have one problem with AC - it is much too clean.  (Like any western ever filmed in Canada... even their mud looks clean.) The cars are pristine and it takes me out of the show, temporarily at least.  So AoS wins there, especially when they film on location.

 

I wish we could get a mid-summer run of Agent Carter.  Maybe a tv movie or 2 night mini-series?

[stealinghome]

Agent Carter, by a landslide. To add to the comments about how it's better written/produced/directed (with which I agree*), honestly, a lot of it just has to do with acting talent and presence. The only actor on AoS who even comes close to having the kind of talent, or oozing the charisma, of Hayley Atwell or James d'Arcy is Ming Na. (And my understanding is that AoS finally realized this and has put May more front and center this season? Good for them, that was way overdue.) Coulson/Clark Gregg has been awfully exposed since they've turned him into a leading man, Brett Dalton and Chloe Bennett are competent but very very very average, and while I find Elizabeth Henstridge quite charming as Simmons (Iain de Caestecker is better than Dalton/Bennett but not as likeable as Henstridge), she's so lightweight comparatively. Whereas d'Arcy and Lyndsy Fonseca have been excellent in their roles here, Bridget Regan isn't farther behind, and even the interchangeable office guys, who are pretty average, are light-years ahead of most everyone on AoS in acting chops/interest/etc.

 

And there are no words for how much better a lead Peggy is than Coulson. No words.

 

Honestly, too--and this doesn't have to do with the shows exactly--but I was pretty put off by the attitude of some of the AoS cast/crew when its ratings were plummeting in S1. I just remember some very haughty, entitled "Well, we're only failing because people thought it would be superheroes every week and that's UNREALISTIC, people didn't really UNDERSTAND the show" and "People should stick it out to the end or they're WRONG or NOT TRUE FANS"-type comments. Whereas I was like, stfu you assholes, people are tuning out for the simple reason that your show isn't very good. In fact, it's pretty bad. Stop trying to make excuses or blame the fans, and put more effort into making an actually decent show. So I've found the Agent Carter cast to be much more likable on that level.

 

 

*=with the disclaimer that I don't think Agent Carter is as sharply written as many here do, and I do believe that Hayley Atwell's excellent performance covers some of the writing issues in a way AoS' less talented actors just can't cover the writing fails.

Edited February 19, 2015 by stealinghome

[Leia1979]

I think if AoS had to confine its run into only 8 episodes, it would also be a much better show. It's been very inconsistent, and I nearly gave up on it partway into season one. When it's good, it's incredibly fun to watch. I think the cast has become rather bloated in S2, especially when we didn't get a lot of insight into the characters we already had. I came to AoS for Phil Coulson and the Whedon name, but now I think Melinda May has become my favorite. I even rather enjoy Evil!Ward.

 

With Agent Carter, I came in on day one as a huge fan of Peggy from the first Captain America film. Peggy has beat Melinda for the title of most badass woman on my tv. I also love old movies, so the 1940s setting was a bonus. As a miniseries, it's forced to have tight plots and a limited number of main cast members. It's very well done and is one of the very few shows I watch without multi-tasking. I would be ecstatic if TPTB gave us another 8-10 episode arc next year with the formation of S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

While I like having new episodes to watch every week, I can't imagine how hard it is to write and film 22 good episodes of a show every year. I'm really starting to think a lot of shows would benefit from a shorter season.

[thuganomics85]

I will say that I like both series on their own, and I do think Shield stepped up it's game this second season.  But I vastly prefer Agent Carter (baring the final episode somehow being so disastrous, that it tarnishes the entire season, which would be almost impressive.)

 

For me, a lot of it was confidence.  I just felt like since the beginning, this show had a solid idea about what it wanted to be, how it was going to do it, and who it's characters are.  With Shield, yes, some of it was being in a holding pattern until post-Winter Solider, but they went at it the most boring way possible, IMO.  Some of the episodes were just so, so dull.  Here, even filler stuff, has charm to it.

 

Acting wise, it's the same story.  I do enjoy a lot of Shield cast; Ian de Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge had some great moments this season; but I really can't think of anyone that has come anywhere close to Hayley Atwell or even James D'Arcy.  They're just on another level compared to them, and the Carter supporting cast is right behind them.

 

I will say that I think Shield did a great job with having some fun villains; especially John Garrett and, currently, Calvin Zabo (Kyle MacLachlan.)  Even then though, I think Dottie is more then their equal, although that could be my Bridget Regan love talking.

 

In the end, the simplest way I look at it was that Shield managed to make me dislike Coulson, a character I liked in the movies, while Carter managed to make me enjoy a character played by Chad Michael Murray.  I still can't get over that.

 

That said, I really do enjoy both shows.  I just wish there was a way where Carter didn't have to only be eight or worse, be one and done, depending on what ABC decides.

Edited February 20, 2015 by thuganomics85

[Danny Franks]

Anyone who has read any of my posts about Agents of SHIELD will know that I think very little of the show. I was so hopeful and optimistic when it was announced, and while the reveal of Coulson as the main character gave me cause for concern, I still tried to give the show as good a shot as I could when it began. I enjoyed the first few episodes, in spite of the utterly bland, charisma-vacuum known as Phil Coulson. But as he became more integral to the plot and as Skye started to be written as more special to everyone on the show, without any real explanation, it all went sour very quickly.

 

I don't care why Coulson is alive, and I'd rather he wasn't. That mystery was one I actively wanted the show to avoid focusing on, because I just did not want to know. I've said it so many times, but I think the reason Coulson worked in the movies was because he was a grey, petty, bureaucratic little presence, amongst all the colour and bombast of Iron Man or Thor or all the Avengers. Trying to make him the headline of a show was a total disaster, because the character isn't good enough, and the actor isn't good enough.

 

I was one who defended Skye to begin with, and actually liked her. I enjoyed some of the gags with her character, particularly the "bang?" moment. But then they started making her too important. Some vital, as-yet-unknown player in the universe that Coulson just happened to stumble across and recruit. Suddenly everyone wanted her, and it just did not scan for me. The more attention they put on her, the less interested in her I got.

 

Beyond those two, there wasn't a whole lot else going on either. May was one-dimensional and boring, and ten episodes of her fixed scowl is enough to curdle anyone's milk. Fitz fit too neatly into the 'arrogant geek' cliché for me, and I found him generally offputting. I liked Simmons a lot, and found Elizabeth Henstridge's performances charming and warm, and felt she deserved better than being the technobabble girl who gets to have the arrogant geek crushing on her. I thought Ward had potential as a 'true blue' type guy who seemed to be stepping out of his comfort zone to forge relationships with all the characters. But they just turned him evil instead.

 

So no, there's not enough there for me to care, and one very specific reason for me not to. The writing just wasn't up to scratch, and the plot direction did not interest me. From what I've read of season 2, there's even less to interest me.

 

Agent Carter, on the other hand, is excellent. Tightly written, well acted, with intriguing characters and a beautiful period that has been lovingly recreated by a great effects team. Hayley Atwell is strong enough to anchor a show on her own, and the supporting cast are all really good. The way it builds into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is impressive, and I actually feel like they're giving me more information than I'm even consciously taking in.

 

It's a show that deserves all the plaudits it gets, and more. It should be given a second season, damn the ratings. ABC/Disney/Marvel should just decide, 'TV audiences are dumb. This show is great, it plays into the vision we have. We're going to keep it going'.

Edited February 19, 2015 by Danny Franks

[Shanna]

I think if AoS had to confine its run into only 8 episodes, it would also be a much better show.

I have to disagree, at least for myself, because I don't really think the plotting is where aos lost me. They lost me on characters, really, and acting.

Aside from Simmons, and to a lesser extent may, Fitz and ward, I just couldn't bring myself to care about the characters. Meaning I didn't care anything about Skye or Coulson and the show seemed SO focused on them that I just lost interest. And then I heard it was 'better' and I checked in and Skye was still there, and Coulson, front and center plus a bunch of new people and although the guy was pretty hot I definitely didn't care about the new people.

In the end, the simplest way I look at it was that Shield managed to make me dislike Coulson, a character I liked in the movies, while Carter managed to make me enjoy a character played by Chad Michael Murray. I still can't get over that.

.

Ha! The CMM love I am currently feeling proves that It's not just acting, clearly the writers know what they are doing.

As for the shade at fans, I didn't care one whit about super heroes and comic booky stuff. The lack of that was not my problem at all. Ymmv.

Edited February 19, 2015 by Shanna

[nottopbravo]

I started this topic because it seemed to me that as far as "storytelling" goes, it seemed to me that Agent Carter knew exactly where it was going, while Agents of Shield seemed to be making it up as they were going along. 

 

Skye, a fantastic computer programmer/hacker.  No, that doesn't work, let's change her into a super villain.  Agent Coulson, dead.  How did he come back to life?  No, that doesn't work, let's have him carving equations/maps on walls with injected alien blood. 

 

Get a good storyline and stick to it.

Edited February 19, 2015 by nottopbravo

[rujasu]

Honestly though, I do think Agent Carter benefited from being such a short season.  Whereas SHIELD suffered from being such a slow burn, Carter seems tighter because, well, it's literally being packed into a tighter schedule.  When you only have eight episodes, you can trim all of the fat and have each week matter.  If Carter had to deliver a 22-episode season, it would have had a much tougher challenge making three times as many episodes without adding a lot of filler and redundancy.  If the first season of SHIELD had been 8 episodes, maybe the first 2/3 of it wouldn't have sucked.

 

(Personally, I still think SHIELD post Winter Soldier has been really good TV, and very close in quality to Carter.  But I do understand why people were turned off by the first season.  I was very close to quitting on the show at that point.)

[stealinghome]

If the first season of SHIELD had been 8 episodes, maybe the first 2/3 of it wouldn't have sucked.

Yes and no. Generally speaking, I agree that shorter seasons are much better because the writing/producing tends to be much tighter. And I do agree that Agent Carter has benefited a lot from only being 8 episodes (one of the reasons I am holding out hope that we get a second season is that more than any other possibility, Peggy's story fits so nicely into 8-10-episode miniseries chunks that ABC can plug into the winter hiatus). But I think AoS actually needed to be a full-season order to make the Winter Soldier/Ward as HYDRA stuff impactful. We wouldn't have cared about Ward being a traitor and whatever if that was episode 1 of the series. We wouldn't have cared about how SHIELD falling changed everyone on the team if their lives in chaos was our first introduction to them...

 

...at least in theory. The problem is, AoS TOTALLY bungled the execution in the first 2/3 of their season. They had one job--to make us care about and like their characters in preparation for the Winter Soldier stuff--and they totally failed. That's why I've never bought the "oh, they had to wait for CA: TWS" stuff as an excuse for why the first 2/3 of last season was awful. Having to wait for a tentpole game-changer doesn't give you a free pass on producing crap up until that point. And as a result, while I tuned in for a few of the post-Winter Soldier episodes and agree the show improved marginally, I still just didn't care, because I didn't care enough about the characters to care that their lives had been so upended.

[Sakura12]

I don't even remember Coulson doing that much this season. I only remember him killing Whitehall and facing the wrath of Cal. Skye's super hacking abilities have been non-existent in season 2. I like that Simmons got to be a spy working undercover for Hydra for a few episodes and that she fangirled while looking through Peggy Carter's files. I really loved that we got see Agent Carter in flashbacks instead of just hearing about her. That made me more excited for her show to start up.

 

I liked that Ward isn't evil so much as crazypants. Skye just walking over to him after he rescued her and shooting him like four times was the best scene ever. 

 

That's why I'm enjoying AoS thus far. It's fun and entertaining and the women are treated like equals in their own unique ways (unlike on some other comic book shows on the air right now). 

 

Agent Carter still wins as the better comic book show overall. However compared to the other comic books shows (Arrow, Flash and Gotham), AoS is the only one I look forward to watching. 

Edited February 19, 2015 by Sakura12

[Shanna]

I feel like with aos, if it had been a tight 8 episodes they wouldn't have dragged on the Coulson mystery/Skye mystery stuff as much, but as a consequence of the short season that would be the only plot they had! And literally the only entertaining things about the show for me were the side character stuff. That would all have been cut.

[emma675]

 

In the end, the simplest way I look at it was that Shield managed to make me dislike Coulson, a character I liked in the movies, while Carter managed to make me enjoy a character played by Chad Michael Murray.  I still can't get over that.

Ha! And ditto.

 

I quit watching AoS midway through season 1 because I got so bored with it. I tuned back in a few episodes before AC started because I kept hearing that it had gotten so much better since Winter Soldier had premiered. And it's true, it's miles better than it was in season 1, but it's still not nearly as good as AC has been. I think it's a combination of a tighter time frame, excellent writing and a great cast. I feel like AC came in with a defined idea of what they wanted to do and how to do it and just went at it. AoS just doesn't seem to have that type of leadership or writing behind it. I'm going to give it a few more episodes once it starts back up, but it's tenuous.

[ChelseaNH]

For me, a lot of it was confidence.

 

John Rogers has a post about The Librarians here where he talks about the Goofy/Cool challenge: Creators want to make stuff that people enjoy, but they have to walk the razor thin and completely subjective line between goofy and cool.  This makes non-creative people really nervous.  Since AoS was more of an investment for the network, I can see a lot of people trying to hedge their bets to avoid looking goofy.  But AC was designed as more of a throwaway, so network reputations weren't really riding on it.  It feels like the show's creative team was given more freedom to pursue their specific vision.

[BooBear]

Agent Carter. I think Agents of Shield suffers from being in the current and having to work around the Movies. Agent carter has room to breathe in how she gets to where she gets and how it may or may not effect the MCU.

[Orion]

I deleted AOS off my DVR today because of my love of Agent Carter. I know it's not fair but I realized I was never that attached to AOS to begin with and my resentment that it was coming back again while Agent Carter's fate is up in the air was the final straw for me.

 

I prefer just about everything on AC. All of the actors but especially Haley, Jarvis, and Howard. I was invested in the characters for the first episode. I cheer for them. I'm nervous and scared for them and when they die I'm sad. AOS  has never managed to capture me that way. I disliked Skye early on and while I appreciate that they are trying to correct her character, I never got over my initial impression. Coulson and May work well in small doses and they lost me with Ward LOVES Skye storyline.

 

Add to it I just prefer a more grounded story. As soon as alien tech started being talked about on AOS I really started to zone out.  AC asks me to suspend my disbelief that a super solider is possible but just about every other storyline is realistic and that makes me relate to those characters even more. It's why despite its many flaws I am more attached to Arrow than to the Flash, why I like Batman more than Superman and why I prefer Peggy to Skye.

 

The writing for AC has been amazing. Humorous and smart. I never felt like the writers thought I was stupid, the story never bogged down in the history but the story didn't ignore the history either. I'm free to get out of it as much effort as I want to put into it. 

 

I can't go back to watching what I consider a mediocre show when I see what Marvel/ABC is capable of.  Someone in one of the episode threads said that it would be like going from steak to spam. I agree. 

 

I've got my fingers crossed for more AC and if I can't have that I want Butters? to replace her husband on Arrow in hopes that she could repeat the great story telling this show has on that show and I could have well rounded characters and characters that are developed beyond throwing on a mask and calling themselves heroes.

[shrewd.buddha]

I do think Agent Carter benefited from a shorter, more focused series and a central character.

AoS could have been written with tighter story arcs but purposely was not -- they stretched everything out. Each week there was a tease about Coulson's resurrection and Skye's parents, which became annoyingly repetitious. Everything was pointed out with neon signs. Basically the writing choices and style were subpar compared to Agent Carter.

Edited February 20, 2015 by shrewd.buddha

[SophiaD]

Agent Carter wins for me, hands down, for many of the same reasons everyone else has already stated so well.  The storyline is tighter.  The writing is better.  The actors are superior - OMG, that last episode.  The production values are superb and intriguing, like we're hopping back seventy years in time for an hour each Tuesday night.  Even the small things, how women carry themselves and dress, are superb.

 

More than that, though, the stories that this show tells, even with so few episodes, are brilliant and timely.  I really felt for Thompson when he told his war story, and winced alongside Sousa, when he was dissed early on; and, in the last episode, really felt for Dooley.  And that's without the brilliance that is PEGGY.  I'm a good two-plus generations younger than she is, and I STILL get overlooked for leadership positions, and I STILL get interrupted in meetings and I STILL get ignored when I say something in a meeting, but when the guy next to me says the exact same thing, they're all, "Hey, great idea!"

 

But there's so much more to this character - her determination to serve, to be useful, to carry on Captain America's legacy, not to mention her natural-born gifts to LEAD.  (Not to mention plot, strategize, shoot, and generally kick major patootie when the situation calls for it).  My inner six-year-old gives a happy sigh and curls her toes whenever she comes on screen.  This is the character I longed to see portrayed when I was growing up.  Oh, sure, we had women - Princess Leia, Lieutenant Uhura (although the original Trek was before my time), Dax, and so on, but the story was never about the women.  This one is.

 

I'm just sad we only get eight episodes - but grateful we got her at all.

Edited February 20, 2015 by SophiaD