When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and its sister series on Netfix have always been outliers. While the television dramas tend to react to MCU events, they have little to no influence on what happens in the movies themselves. Over the years, S.H.I.E.L.D. experienced some growing pains as it tried to strike a balance between its own stories and the films' game-changing turns. With Avengers: Infinity War, the show accomplished its best crossover yet by building the gravity of the blockbuster's situation into the season and giving the team a villain powerful enough to rival Thanos himself.

For the sake of comparison, let's take a look at how the show handled major MCU events in the past. The first -- and very brief -- crossover took place in "The Well," the eighth episode of Season 1, which opened with an unglamorous look at the life of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, as the team was assigned to clean up Greenwich after the events of Thor: The Dark World. However, this minor "crossover" of sorts lasted only a few moments before seguing into the discovery of an Asgardian artifact from Norway called the Berserker Staff. While the episode tied into The Dark World thematically, it breezed over the actual events of the film pretty quickly.

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Those disappointed by the dismissal of The Dark World found some solace in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which fundamentally altered the show moving forward. Like The Winter Soldier, Season 1's 17th episode, "Turn, Turn, Turn," revealed Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. As a result, the covert organization was dismantled and the team's roster, shaken up after they discovered Grant Ward to be a Hydra sleeper agent. The show felt the effects of The Winter Soldier's fallout for years, up through the recently concluded Season 5.

However, The Winter Soldier may have hurt S.H.I.E.L.D. more than it helped. Until such time as the Hydra twist was revealed, the show was stuck twiddling its thumbs, more or less. Prior to "Turn, Turn, Turn," the series bided its time with the mystery of Coulson's resurrection, team building and a rather straightforward procedural narrative, where the team searched the globe for 0-8-4s, or “object[s] of unknown origin." That simply wasn't enough to hook the audience it brought in with its pilot episode; the ratings dipped by more than half between the series premiere and the Season 1 finale. While S.H.I.E.L.D. fans hail "Turn, Turn, Turn" as the narrative turning point for the series, it was just a little too late, and the show suffered for it, through no fault of its own. So, while that is certainly one of the best MCU crossovers the show has pulled off, it wasn't wholly effective.

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. played a more active role in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, which featured a scene where Nick Fury shows up in a Helicarrier and saves the day by evacuating Sokovian refugees from the doomed city. As explained in the Season 2 episode "Scars," Fury and Coulson secretly worked together to rebuild a damaged Helicarrier spared from the carnage of The Winter Soldier and called it the Theta Protocol. Overseen by Sam Koenig, the Theta Protocol existed as a fail-safe to be used in the event of a world-ending scenario. When Ultron attacked Sokovia, Coulson and Fury agreed it was time to enact the Theta Protocol.

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Although the Theta Protocol came to fruition in "Scars," it was mentioned in the preceding Season 2 episodes "What They Become," "Melinda" and "The Dirty Half Dozen." As such, it's clear the show had a plan for how to deal with Age of Ultron, which explained S.H.I.E.L.D.'s involvement but excluded Coulson's team. It also built to that moment over the course of the season. However, that plotline served the movie more than it did the show. While it did have ramifications on the series, inspiring the two warring factions of S.H.I.E.L.D. to unite, it was merely a brief subplot; it only enhanced a necessary story beat that would have happened with or without Age of Ultron's interference. The show didn't benefit from the crossover so much as it dutifully explained why Coulson's team wasn't on the helicarrier in Age of Ultron. The Age of Ultron tie-in established a formula for the Infinity War tie-in, but didn't provide a similar sense of balance.

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For Captain America: Civil War, S.H.I.E.L.D. took the middle road between The Dark World and Age of Ultron. The Season 3 episode "Emancipation" opened with a news broadcast about the Sokovia Accords, only for Brigadier General Glenn Talbot to show up moments later to discuss them with Coulson, who addressed the fact some of the Avengers weren't on board with the agreement. The two went back and forth about it for most of the episode, until they faced an Inhuman threat that tabled their conversation. The Sokovia Accords didn't come up again until Season 4, when Daisy agreed to enlist so she could rejoin S.H.I.E.L.D. (and do a little spying on the side). That is, perhaps, one of the show's more unsatisfying crossover moments, as it didn't quite impact the show or the films. While S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Inhuman operatives ultimately had to sign the Accords, that didn't impact their work or their lives.

While this brings us right up to Infinity War, several other MCU movies dropped while the show was on air. However, it makes sense that some of those never became involved with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. For instance, both Guardians of the Galaxy films and Thor: Ragnarok took place entirely in space and had no impact on Earth. Additionally, Ant-Man and Spider-Man: Homecoming released during the summer while S.H.I.E.L.D. was off the air, and thus the show didn't need to address them. So far as Doctor Strange goes, the series decided to tie in thematically; in Season 4, S.H.I.E.L.D. tapped into the more mystical side of the MCU by introducing Ghost Rider and the Darkhold book of spells, but never directly referenced the events of the film.

Although we didn't know it at the time, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. started its Infinity War crossover right off the bat in Season 5. After Coulson and his team were kidnapped in the season premiere, they were thrust forward in time to the year 2091, where they discovered the world had been cracked apart. As they soon learned, they had been sent there to witness what would come to pass if they didn't change the timeline. By midseason, they returned to their proper time, where they experienced a series of events that led to this potentially world-ending moment -- and it had everything to do with Thanos' impending arrival.

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Almost as soon as they returned to the present, Coulson’s team soon found themselves in the crosshairs of Hydra's General Hale, who had inherited a teleportation device with a direct link to a group of alien warlords known as the Confederacy. Before Hale came into possession of the device, the Confederacy had struck a deal with Hydra for Earth's protection in exchange for gravitonium and Inhumans, but she wasn't very interested in upholding the bargain. She eventually enlisted Coulson to help her fight back against the Confederacy, which led to the creation of Graviton. With a show of force, Graviton ultimately got the truth out of the Confederacy.

“The Confederacy never intended to honor this agreement, nor could it, even if it so desired. It was merely a deception to extort the resources from your planet before time ran out, which now it has,” the Kree member of the Confederacy finally confessed. “Thanos and his forces have begun an assault on your world even as we speak ... Thanos’ strength is unrivaled. You will lose, even with your powerful friends fighting alongside you.”

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To break the story down to its most basic elements, then, the Confederacy got wind of Thanos' plans to attack Earth. Realizing this, they approached Hydra, who they believed to be Earth's custodians, after the insidious organization came into possession of the teleportation device following the attack on New York in The Avengers. The Confederacy offered Hydra a deal in order to sap Earth of its resources before Thanos destroyed it, with no intention of upholding their end of the bargain. Hale quickly realized this and turned to an old Hydra program designed to create the Destroyer of Worlds in an effort to fight back. The Destroyer of Worlds program created Graviton, who -- in the 2091 timeline -- lived up to his name and cracked the planet apart with his powers. Fortunately, Coulson and his team were able to avert this, but for a price.

As such, Thanos' impending arrival set the story of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 into motion. However, he didn't even need to be involved for the stakes to feel high. He was responsible for the Confederacy's interest in Earth, but he didn't dictate their plan nor the events that followed. Thus, the show was able to craft a story all its own, while acknowledging the influence of the wider MCU in a way that wove throughout the season without feeling forced. Thanos' involvement, however light, felt organic but essential to the season-long story arc.

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The crossover never dismissed the threat of the Mad Titan, but it did give Coulson's team a Thanos-level villain to deal with: Graviton. Per the 2091 timeline, his abilities were strong enough to trigger an apocalyptic event. Worse, Coulson's team -- and, by extension, the viewers -- had evidence Graviton would use his powers for a cataclysm; they witnessed first-hand the destruction he would wrought. Thus, the show never needed to explain why they weren't with the Avengers during the events of Infinity War. Their need to stop Graviton didn't need to be pointed out or overstated; all the proof the audience needed was on screen.

While Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't lean into the repercussions of Thanos' success, the show managed to pull off a spectacular season-long story arc that felt relevant to the MCU at large. Season 5 gave Coulson's team with a threat powerful enough to rival the Mad Titan, providing a satisfying explanation for their absence from the fight in Wakanda without needing to say it outright. However, the season wasn't dictated by the events taking place in the wider MCU, allowing the series to craft a fresh and unique story. With its Infinity War crossover, S.H.I.E.L.D. finally struck a balance it hadn't quite managed yet.


Returning in summer 2019 on ABC, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. stars Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Ian De Caestecker, Natalia Cordova-Buckley and Elizabeth Henstridge.