Contrary to popular belief, super-soldiers and alien demigods aren't the only superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Their feats may have attracted viewers to an unprecedented streak of blockbusters for the comics company, but people tend to forget about the little guys, the do-gooders running damage control and going after those threats that fall through the cracks. This is the conceit that fuels Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a TV show aiming to imbue the fantastic elements that have left superhero fans in awe for decades within the police procedural structure that's presently all the rage, too. Essentially, it's CSI: Marvel, but instead of following a colorful cast of characters on a series of action-packed adventures, we get a bunch of D-listers from the funny pages in cheap-looking efforts at replicating big-screen stunts. While the MCU's mundane side can effectively offset all the larger than life goings-on in the movies, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fails at finding an angle through which it can make these antics compelling on their own.

Heroes are among us. After the events of The Avengers rocked the planet, it's hard to hide the fact that folks with special abilities are out there, both working for and against mankind. But this is only the tip of the iceberg, for special agencies like S.H.I.E.L.D. exist for the sole purpose of sweeping even more strange incidents under the rug. Crusading hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet) is on a mission to bring all these secrets to the public's attention...until she's caught and brought onboard as a consultant by the same organization she's trying to expose. Her guide through this world of the bizarre is none other than Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), an agent supposedly killed in battle but brought back to head his own mobile S.H.I.E.L.D. unit. Along with Skye, Coulson also recruits lone wolf badass Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), stoic veteran Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), and techies Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). Together, the team crisscrosses the globe, called upon to investigate whatever instance of advanced weaponry or superpowers pops up on their radar. But as they struggle to keep the public safe, an insidious villain is scheming behind the scenes, doing everything it can to dismantle S.H.I.E.L.D. from the inside out...as well as learn the secret of why Coulson remains alive.

It's easy to joke about how no one wants to see what the normal people are up to in the Marvel universe, but the busywork that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s inaugural season lays out seems o boring and unengaging, it's difficult not to take this route. There is a lot going on here, from the subplots carried over across multiple episodes to the obligatory references reminding us that it's all taking place in the same world as the Iron Man and Captain America movies. But the latter is mostly done through stilted name-dropping, while the former amounts to a repetitive routine of forced dialogue, character quirks, and dramatic confrontations that fail to gain our interest. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't do much to take our minds off the fact that we'd rather be seeing Tony Stark blast up bad guys instead of these yahoos hovering over glowing tables and having stern conversations while cracking shoehorned one-liners. The actors themselves aren't awful, but by the time the last third or so of the season kicks our protagonists into crisis mode, it's almost too late for their humanity to shine. Be it Fitz and Simmons geeking out with technobabble or people discussing May's shady past in hushed whispers, the show hammers on basic traits like these for so long, our protagonists have barely had the chance to bloom when their stories start wrapping up.

But if Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a heart, one grace saving it from becoming a futile expansion of the Marvel universe, it's Agent Coulson. A fan favorite following his appearances in previous pictures as one of the few regular dudes with the resolve to keep the Avengers in check, Gregg works wonders here with his dry wit and deadpan delivery. This time, though, Coulson displays both a sense of authority and a certain vulnerability, one that emerges as he finds out more of the details surrounding his mysterious resurrection. It's the one storyline that maintains dramatic heft throughout the entire season, with Gregg doing an amazing job of pulling off a balancing act that has Coulson playing the determined leader of the pack while having to process the earth-rattling discoveries he comes across. As previously mentioned, the other actors fare as well as they can given the material, and there's no shortage of special guest stars (my personal pick of which has to be Jaimie Alexander, popping up as the warrior Sif from the Thor movies). But the gimmicks around which each episode is crafted (most involving some high-tech gadget everybody and their father wants), the action scenes are truncated to the point that they might as well have not even been included, and in terms of exploring the vast pool of Marvel history to wade in for material, the show barely walks away with its big toe moist.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is Marvel's first misstep in establishing a single, cross-media playground for its properties. The show definitely isn't without its moments of exhilarating thrills, clever gags, or even poignant acting, but when spread out over 22 episodes (at nearly an hour each), the plodding storytelling may inspire you to give up before ever reaching them. As an addition to the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. contributes little of note; as a show on its own terms, it's a super-sized bore.

 
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:

-Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe, a documentary charting Marvel's rise to masterminding some of today's biggest blockbusters

-Audio commentary on select episodes

-Behind-the-scenes featurettes

-Deleted scenes

-A blooper reel

(Released by ABC Studios; not rated by MPAA.)