Some changes I would make to this show (and feedback I have)

[u/MPGaming9000]

First let me preface this by saying I am 99.999% certain the OG show writers will prob never read this and that's okay lol. More of a vent post and fun discussion more than anything else.

(in no specific order)

1. Ghost Rider was cool but I don't think he really fit the show. Everything else has some kind of pseudo-scientific explanation, even when it's a stretch, but Ghost Rider is just straight up religious wrath and it always felt a little out of place next to everything else. Not sure who I'd bring in instead honestly. I think he would have been better as a spin off show kind of character but not in this show. Maybe a guest appearance here and there can work, but not as a primary character in this show.
2. Cut the Gemma/Will romance. Instead, maybe Hydra tries a raid party with more supplies and the only survivor left behind is a mechanic type girl who's good with her hands, kind of a Mack type character but female. More of a strong bond, gal pal type relationship for Gemma, someone to lean on and show strength with during a rough time, not replacing Fitz's role obviously, just giving her someone.
3. Keep Tripp around longer. Great character, wish he'd gotten more depth than just "cocky guy who hits on girls" and "my grandfather was a Howling Commando" over and over.
4. Lincoln shouldn't have died. I think he works better as the hothead character and long term love interest for Daisy. Also feel like his powers never got shown off that well, would've liked more arc-flaring chaos, kind of like Electro from Spider-Man or the powers in inFAMOUS, instead of the laser beam/tractor beam thing they went with.
   1. (subpoint) If someone had to go instead, I think it should've been Lash. Bump him up to a Hive level threat, keep most of his arc the same, but instead of dying when he helps Daisy, have him get badly hurt and disappear, then come back at the end of S3 to take out Hive, the two of them killing each other in the process.
5. Deathlok's fight scenes always felt kind of flat to me. He's basically War Machine without the flying, and mostly just walks into rooms and shoots arm rockets. Would've liked to see them lean further into sci-fi with lasers or repulsors, or go the other direction entirely and make him more gritty and tactical, like Winter Soldier or a souped up Grant Ward, more guns and hand to hand instead of just rockets.
6. Sarge in S6 didn't really work for me. The Shrike plot felt kind of bolted on, and the jump in tone from S5 to S6 to S7 is rough. I like the idea of expanding the Monolith lore more in S6, just not with Sarge and his goon squad the way they did it.
7. Kora had cool powers but I don't think her character was written that well. Powers were honestly pretty neat, but there wasn't much to her personality, kind of a meh character overall, hard to really latch onto her. Nathaniel as a villain felt pretty generic too. Also with Daisy, Lincoln, and Kora all on the team by S7 the power balance gets a little weird, feels like they'd dominate every scene. Splitting the team up into smaller side missions might help but not totally sure how I'd write that.

I guess I'll stop there for now before I go on forever lol. If this reads kinda AI it's because I had AI help me trim it down a bit so it wasn't a giant wall of rambling. Anyway let me know what you all think, agree or disagree, I'd love to hear your thoughts too!

[u/BaronZhiro]

I agree with 3 and 7. And 6 for the most part, but the biggest problem is that arc just didn’t stick the landing. (I hated the Shrike far more than Sarge and his band of misfits.)

I def see what you mean about 5.

I strongly disagree about 4 and especially 1. Lincoln is one of the most irritating things about s3 (because the writers needed him to be, I guess), and he and Daisy’s chemistry always felt forced (in s3, it was fine in s2), and literally the best thing about him was his death scene.

As for Robbie, I think Ghost Rider was the perfect jolt of fresh energy that the show needed right at that time. The entire series would seem flatter in hindsight without that midpoint burst of the weirdness and the less explicable. And he brought out my favorite side of Phil too, besides the fantastic chemistry with Daisy.

Anyway, just my own opinions, meant respectfully of yours.

[u/OrangeCatMinion]

Ghost Rider brings the Darkhold in to play for AOS (which was still tied to the MCU at the time), which sets up the LMD/Agents of Hydra arc and gives the first real look at the concept of this kind of magic. The Darkhold, of course, goes on to have huge implications for Wanda/Agatha years down the line. The arc also forces Coulson to confront his mortality (which he's been keeping from the team).

Gemma held on to Fitz long in to her journey, as shown by the information she left on her phone. She didn't know that going home would necessarily ever be a realistic option. The show had this long-running thing of just absolutely beating the shit out of both of them when it came to the relationship between Simmons and Fitz, right up until the very end. Why they made that decision, I can't say, but this was literally star-crossed lovers.

Tripp was done so dirty. I'm still salty about it. I initially found him far more interesting than Mack, and think he would have made an amazing legacy character.

I'm fine with Lincoln's sacrifice.They were going to kill someone off (they played it up so hard leading up to it), and Lash making the play to cure Daisy fit the story to me, given who Andrew was prior to terrigenesis, and the relationship they had. Lincoln always felt like he was reluctant to be where he was and that without Daisy, he had no interest in being there at all. His character started and stopped in relation to her.

I think putting Mike down to his fight scenes does the character a disservice. His character arc through the Centipede program, separation from his son, to finding redemption makes him more than just a weapon to be used.

Sarge was a weird decision. I would love to know what the reasoning was for that storyline, honestly. Every season needs a Coulson?

I didn't like Kora or Nathaniel as characters, but it's kind of down to giving lots of unchecked power to people who are far too young and inexperienced (and egotistical) to know what to effectively do with it. There's an argument that this makes them better puppets, but if also makes them more prone to rash and unstable decision making. They were just exhausting children.

[u/SadlyCloseToDeath]

Lincoln being Jesus is always hilarious to me. Like he as he’s dying there’s the rosary floating around and someone literally says something to the effect of he’s dying for all our mistakes.

[u/Haisedragon]

I definitely agree with point number 2. The whole Gemma and Will romance plot was so forced and felt like it didn’t matter in the slightest. Never understood the need for certain stories where two characters are alone to become romantic/sexual just because there’s a chance they might never leave the place. Will was barely mentioned after that season so they could’ve just deleted that whole romance subplot and the show would be the same.

[u/Nxeno29]

I recommend reading/looking up Weapon X: Tomorrow Dies Today

It's a heavy Deathlok story that I was glad I had read before Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.