Agents of SHIELD Still Feels Fresh After Six Seasons

Another day, another Agents of SHIELD episode that wildly impresses. After last week’s hilarious episode, “Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson,” many assumed this week’s episode would return to the dark nature fans have gotten accustomed to over the last couple seasons. However, “Code Yellow” provided a refreshing mixture of hilarity, horror, action, and camp. So far, season six has managed to blend all of the best parts of the previous seasons, and we’re loving it.

One of the main things that makes this season feel so different is the stakes. There’s a good chance the fate of the world will eventually be in danger (as it always is), but seasons four and five began and ended with serious threats to the world. Now, the stakes are personal, so the audience is just as invested, but we don’t have to spend the entire 45 minutes holding our breath. The big bad as of now is Sarge, the man who is walking around with Coulson’s face (although, jury is still out on whether or not he’s actually evil). The team in space is also on the hunt for a missing Fitz, but again, these missions are more personal than anything.

After going from Ghost Rider to LMDs to the Framework to space (in the future!), this season could’ve easily plunged deeper into the darkness, but instead they’re playing with what they’ve been given in past seasons and turning the show into something that feels new while still holding true to its roots. Once space was introduced, why not have aliens and galactic adventures?

The beauty of this season is that the show isn’t relying solely on the camp. This week’s episode saw a great homage to Alien, but also the devastating loss of Agent Keller, which managed to make us sad despite only knowing him for three episodes. The fight scenes were epic (May vs. Snowflake was excellent), and the humor was out of this world (shoutout to Maurissa Tancharoen for slaying as Sequoia).

Written by Lilla and Nora Zuckerman and directed by the show’s visual effects supervisor, Mark Kolpack, “Code Yellow” proves that a show can still feel fresh in its sixth year. Thanks for keeping us entertained, Team SHIELD!

Agents of SHIELD stars Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson/Sarge), Ming-Na Wen (Melinda May), Chloe Bennet (Daisy “Quake” Johnson), Elizabeth Henstridge (Jemma Simmons), Iain De Caestecker (Fitz), Henry Simmons (Mack), Natalia Cordova-Buckley (Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez), and Jeff Ward (Deke).

Agents of SHIELD airs Friday nights on ABC at 8/7c.