Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD has come to an end – and series finale managed to go out on some high ratings for ABC. Agents of SHIELD aired two episodes (“The End Is at Hand” and “What We’re Fighting For”) in a two-hour block. The finale scored a 0.4 rating in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic, with around 1.5 million viewers total. That was a season-high for Agents of SHIELD, and not a bad score for Wednesday night, comparatively speaking. Variety reports Big Brother had 4.2 million viewers (1.1 rating), while America’s Got Talent Wednesday night results show scored 6.1 million viewers (0.7 rating).
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Agents of SHIELD has been the underdog champion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The show was the first test of Marvel extending its movie universe to television – and the first big victim of Marvel Studios and Marvel TV never really being able to truly share. Season 1 sputtered as it tried to find relevance – but then things changed when Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released, and revealed HYDRA’s total infiltration (and disintegration) of S.H.I.E.L.D. Suddenly, Agents of SHIELD got enough space to craft its own story and identity, independent of the MCU movies – and a fiercely loyal (if smaller) fanbase to come along with it. Reaching seven seasons was no small feat; Agents of SHIELD seemed to keep fans guessing about its fate nearly every season, but ultimately, the collective passions of fans kept the show going.
You can watch a fond farewell to fans from the Agents of SHIELD cast in the video above – or read an excerpt from the message series star Clark Gregg shared with fans, below:
“Over the years, the show has gone through so many different worlds and iterations. All these corners of the Marvel universe that we were allowed to play with. And the amazing cast they put together, with Chloe Bennet and Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecker and Ming-Na Wen and Then Henry Simmons, Adrianne Palicki and Nick Blood and Natalia Cordova-Buckley and quite a lot of other amazing people. All of it with these intense tight relationships and conflicts. Some of the great villains: Mallory, Powers Booth, Bill Paxton, Kyle MacLachlan – oh my gosh, Ruth Negga. This team, this evolving team, took a heroic attitude, which was to care about nothing but continual evolution. And out of that, we built a family.
And Phil Coulson’s been at the center of that family. He’s gained, as I have, so much. If you would’ve told me as I sipped coffee on Iron Man 1 that I would go this many layers into this character, it’s really bittersweet to let that journey go. But I can only be grateful for it.
So thank you on behalf of myself and the team for giving us this incredible journey.”
Agents of SHIELD is now streaming on Hulu.
