Teevee

Agents of SHIELD - I'll go against convention and say the previous episode, with Victoria Hand, was the first that really fell flat for me. Pretty much the moment someone said "Trust the system," you knew the system would prove to be corrupt, maaaan, and so that's forty minutes you could've spent chopping onions instead. I suppose it's just that the "spy agency that is secretly corrupt and evil" is such an overused trope--even spy movies that don't use it have so many traitors and obstructive bureaucrats that the place might as well work for Satan. And we've met so much of SHIELD's top brass--Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Clint Barton, Black Widow, et al--that it comes off as silly that, oh, aside from ALL THOSE PEOPLE, it's terrorists with a badge. Like claiming that the crew of the Enterprise, aside from Kirk and Spock and Bones and Uhura and Chekov and Sulu and Scotty, are all secretly rapists. What are the odds?

I think it would just work better if SHIELD were this idealistic spy agency that actually does color inside the lines, and there were outside forces (like the World Security Council, pissed over Fury defying them in the Avengers) who were trying to corrupt it. Like there's one "bad apple" SHIELD agent who our heroes butt heads with constantly, who they can't just complain to Fury about because he has political standing. Instead, they've got Titus Welliover and Victoria Hand and they'll probably be a few more asshole SHIELD agents showing up before either of those two recur.

And I don't mind Hand being corrupt or amoral, it's being stupidly corrupt or amoral that gets me. The explanation we're given is that she wanted to have an extraction team for Fitz and Ward, she just literally didn't have the manpower, so she's secretly pleased that Coulson figures out her game and goes to rescue his guys himself. Okay--why not just tell him "Fitz, Ward, you're going in. Coulson, you, May, and the nerdy ladies are in charge of getting them out"? Instead of having our heroes just sit there doing yoga and debating whether secrets are bad (I'm sure Skye is also shocked, SHOCKED, that police departments don't give out every last detail of high-profile murder cases to the lowliest rookie patrolmen). And it would be a much better twist if SHIELD really were benevolent and Skye were preying on Simmons' fears just to get access to SHIELD's files and find out about her parents.

Legend of Korra - ( Spoilers for the season finale. )