
Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. was a brilliant idea.
The recipe practically screams success. First, take a widely successful movie universe, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then add a hugely popular character from that universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), mysteriously resurrected. Then add a promise of finding out what S.H.I.E.L.D. does in between assembling Avengers. Then sprinkle it all with the Whedon name and the show should be awesome, right?
But as Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. progressed, the show turned out to be a disappointment. Due to how hyped it was it could be said that it was the biggest disappointment of the 2013-2014 television season.
There are several reasons why the show isn’t working. The reasons cover a distinct lack of superheroes/villains, ill-defined stakes for the characters, and the lack of character development for said characters. Some people are even saying that the show is just boring and that the characters are facsimiles of a million characters we’ve seen before.
Personally, I wouldn’t be so harsh. Many first seasons are far from perfect. A show has to work out exactly what it is and who these characters are. Growing pains are expected and characters, unfortunately, often start out as cardboard cutouts before they’re given flesh.
As you watch the show throughout its first season, you see how these other problems are beginning to be addressed. But what isn’t being addressed, and what I think might be the biggest problem, is the character of Skye (Chloe Bennett), who I’ll argue is a Mary Sue character type and who, in her sheer annoyingness, is holding the show back.
To show how Skye is the quintessential Mary Sue, and why it hurts the show, I’ll cover the typical Mary Sue traits and then discuss how each one applies to Skye (these traits are from TVtropes.org’s useful entry on Mary Sues, worth reading for those unfamiliar with the concept).
1) She’s exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye color, and has a similarly cool and exotic name.

It’s an ABC primetime drama so being gorgeous is like a prerequisite. Actress Chloe Bennett is hot. She also has an “exotic” beauty due to her genes since her Dad is Chinese. So her character Skye, naturally, can be considered to be exotically beautiful.
Skye also has a cool name and is the only character on the cast without a last name. Again, exotic.
2) She’s exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting.
Skye is the best hacker ever. Since S.H.I.E.L.D. has to deal with hackings from Tony Stark, they probably try to do their best to keep the systems at the top of their game. A paramilitary organization that deals with espionage and superheroes run by Nick Fury is going to have top-notch stuff safeguarding their systems.
But Skye breaks into S.H.I.E.L.D., an agency which probably eats the C.I.A. and N.S.A. for breakfast and deals with otherworldly beings with superpowers, from the back of her van with a laptop that she won in a bet.
She’s never even really learned code. She says that it “just comes naturally to her.”
Whoa, wait a minute. Tony Stark secretly building the first Iron Man suit in a cave in Afghanistan made more sense than this.
She also knows how to expertly manipulate others around her. In the episode “The Asset,” she tries her first real world secret agent experience and, during this outing, is able to talk her way out of being captured during a dangerous situation. So in addition to being a genius hacker, she is able to psychologically outmaneuvers people who do this for a living. I’m sorry but even in a Marvel setting it’s hard to accept that anyone can naturally be that good at everything.

3) She lacks any realistic, genuine character flaws. The “flaws” that she does have are obviously meant to be endearing.
One of Skye’s supposed flaws is her relentless questioning. She’s supposed to represent those who go against “the Man” (in this case S.H.I.E.L.D.) because she wants a better world.
The issue is that while she does question authority and power, she does it in a way that is self-congratulatory and snotty.
She also has the flaw of “caring too much.” In the pilot episode, she is the one who tracks down Mike Peterson and puts the idea in his head about being a superhero. Skye starts the chain of events that leads to Mike nearly blowing up at the end of the episode.
In this and in other episodes, we see that even as she shows how much she cares she manages to do it in the most annoying, bratty way humanly possible.
Meanwhile, she calls everyone else out on not being good at dealing with the human element. In “Repairs,” she repeatedly demands access to the girl that they’re protecting with claims that she is the only one who can reach her despite the fact that Coulson is trained to deal quite well with “gifted” people. And then she does it again in “The Bridge” when they bring back Mike Peterson despite the fact that she was the one who kind of triggered his berserker mode.
4) She has an unusual and dramatic backstory. The other protagonists are overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her as one of their true companions, even characters who are usually anti-social and untrusting. If any character doesn’t love her, that character gets an unsympathetic portrayal.

Skye’s backstory is largely shrouded in secrecy at the moment. She doesn’t even know her own origins. Coulson tells May that Skye can never know the truth about her parents.
She is also “witty.” She always has a quip or a line stashed somewhere in regards to the situation at hand.
When she does something wrong, the other characters are very quick to forgive her for it.
In “The Hub,” for example, she blatantly manipulates Simmons into risking her own job and security clearance in order to hack into the database. She uses Simmons’ own feelings of camaraderie toward Fitz against her. She has her so-called friend risk her job so that she can get into the network. Then she selfishly attends to her own problem first. Yet, for uncovering certain information, she is still considered a “hero” for her actions.
Agent Grant Ward falls under the minority who are untrusting of Skye, and he is portrayed as someone who has trouble connecting with people on a larger level in general. He doesn’t think Skye is good for the team but she wins him over by playing Battleship and doing forced witty banter with him. He is hurt by her betrayal and despite it being only weeks since then, she is still shocked that he doesn’t trust her and we’re clearly supposed to side with her on this. We’re supposed to be upset that he is not trusting her again quickly enough.
Agent May doesn’t like Skye either. She doesn’t trust her and probably doesn’t think that highly of her. She looks annoyed when, in episode 10, “The Bridge,” Coulson tells May that Skye is going to try to talk to her regarding her parents. She visibly snaps at her when Skye chooses epically bad times to approach her regarding her parents. They’re trying to stop an international terrorist organization and Skye is still focused on her personal thing.
When May tells Skye off, it is framed in such a way that we’re supposed to be mad at May for telling Skye off when, in regards to common sense, May is totally in the right for telling Skye off. Wait until after the international terrorist organization is dealt with before talking about your parents.
5) She has some sort of especially close relationship to the author’s favorite canonical character — their love interest, illegitimate child, never-before-mentioned sister, etc.

Agent Phil Coulson is the only character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon that the audience dealt with previously and has a connection with from the get-go. And being our central character, he has a very close relationship with Skye. It’s clear the writers are going for a surrogate father-daughter bond. They interact more than Skye does with her love interest-to-be, Ward. During these moments, they talk a lot about a number of things and Coulson tries to teach Skye about being an agent in the gentlest of ways possible.
Fury, in his cameo in Episode 2, “0-8-4,” warns Coulson about the risk he is taking by bringing Skye on board but Coulson believes in her. When Skye betrays them he gives her a second chance by letting her back on The Bus with the provision of a bracelet that monitors her online activity. When she goes against his orders in “The Hub” by tracking down that information, he tells her off for going against him but also listens to her.
He’s the one who suggests that she becomes a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He’s the one who offers her his help in finding out about her parents. He tells her how great she is.
He also confides in her really personal details about May’s past in the episode “Repairs.” This was an effort to get Skye to like May. May clearly doesn’t want to talk about it but Skye was given access to the info over everyone else.
Coulson, a badass agent who took out two armed robbers with a bag of flour, is putty in Skye’s hands because she just really gets the human condition.
So there you have it. I hope I’ve been able to clearly show how Skye fits the Mary Sue character type to a T.
Now before you all start calling me a hater, let me say that I wanted to like Skye. I like actress Chloe Bennet a lot, and I like the hacker, snarky, outgoing, socially awkward, weird type of character so I really gave Skye multiple chances.
Abby Scuito from NCIS. Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds. Kaylee from Firefly (just one among numerous Whedon examples). These are the types of characters that I believe the writers and producers of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. want Skye to be – the heart of the team, someone honest and outgoing but who has to overcome a personal tragedy in order to find peace with her place in the world. They want her to be the outsider who questions the status quo. I am all for a character like this.
You can tell that effort was put into Skye. The problem is that the function that the writers wanted her to play on the team could be filled by two other characters: Simmons and May. Simmons, who genuinely does care about her teammates and wants them happy, easily fills the heart of the team. The person with the mysterious past who can get things done is filled by May.
Skye, for all the talk of her being an amazing hacker, spends most of her time either arguing, looking things up on people on social media, and not hacking all that much. Hacking probably isn’t the most interesting thing to watch but I was hoping to see more of it.
I hate to say it but for a Whedon show, Skye is just badly written. It’s on the writing because an actor can only do so much with what they’re given. This is unfortunate because while the other characters are slowly growing out of their cardboard selves and showing more depth, the same doesn’t apply to Skye.
I hope that with the second half of the season coming, Skye becomes better written and that they do some sort of overhaul. You can salvage a Mary Sue with time and a good game plan. The writing just needs to be more focused, Skye needs to be less perfect, and the other characters need more opportunity to shine and be unique.
Then, hopefully, Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. can become the good show it’s capable of being.
There is much more that hurts this show….perhaps not seeming at all like SHIELD is a start….
Lol, kinda like how G.I. Joe didn’t feel like G.I. Joe?
I COMPLETELY AGREE!!!!!
Like a said after tues episode…
F This show.
any other show would have been canceleld.
She’s fine to me.
The problem is that Coulson only works as a foil to the other members of The Avengers. On his own he has no real defining personality traits. The dialogue is flat out atrocious doing a very poor intimidation of an already poor dialogue formula (everyone speak snarky and throw in a pop culture reference) and nothing about the show is grabbing. The problem isn’t that audiences are expecting too much or that the show can’t improve from a first season but nothing about it has enough interest to keep people continuously tuning in.
I stopped watching weeks ago.None of the characters hold my interest besides Coulson
I really do not get why skye is that important…is shield really that undermanned and undertrained that they do not have someone much better than her…they should have just introduced maybe mockingbird or cage or whoever or maybe cameo from other avenger stars from time to time…
I couldn’t figure out why they needed her either when they have Fits and Simmons for anything she could do. Initially I think they put her in as a point of view character so they could explain stuff to the audience through dialogue with her, but it seems like they are implying that she is either Coulson’s daughter or the daughter of a now deceased Shield agent he knew and cared about and made some deal with to watch over her.
Skye and the main male character (who is so boring I can’t even remember his name) are reasons why I’m totally losing interest in this show. They’re so cookie cutter, uninteresting, and lacking in chemistry. I agree May and Simmons are more appealing compared to Skye. This show has just become style over substance. At this point I just watch because there’s nothing on TV before New Girl and The Mindy Project.
I agree. The character is badly written. I get that Coulson’s team is supposed to be a bunch of misfits, but she should have at least had to go through some sort of training. Knowing Whedon’s penchant for killing off characters, I wonder if she’ll be the one to go. I would be fine if she just ran away and never came back…maybe remake herself as a villian and turn the Rising Tide into something more than two crazy kids with a van.
Great article. Watching the latest ep of the show, I was thinking, “eh, I guess i’m starting to like it, but oh my god this annoying Skye woman isn’t worth putting up with.” It’s not that she’s a Mary Sue, sometimes I think stories need that sort of character. But that kind of character should NEVER be the focal point of the story. Their purpose is to highlight the attributes and shortcomings of the main characters of the story. And provide friction, driving action and humor.
I think the too much focus on Skye and her character type is what annoys me the most. I would love to see more episodes focused on other members of the team. The bits of “The Hub” where we saw Leo and Ward work together? That was great. They’re just being too heavy handed in Skye’s use.
Spot on…maybe more of may or coulson…or more organized and shield like operations perhaps…
I literally couldn’t disagree more. I love the show and think it’s going really well. I love all the characters except Ward because I think he’s a dick. I REALLY like Skye and don’t see at all how she’s annoying or holding the show back. So yeah, I don’t agree with any of this myself. This is the best new show I’ve watched in a long time.
The purpose of skye is eye candy
Yeah, because we REALLY need eye candy is SHIELD…….
Hey, if people are more focused on boobs than lack of character it works (being sarcastic btw)
She’s the worst
Yeah, Simmons is such a better character than Skye.
Dont care what you guys say. I look forward to every episode and so does my husband. Nor do I overanalyze like critics do. I love the characters and dynamics. So to you I say…. :p lol
I don’t really like Skye but I still love the show
This show has been so disappointing. It’s just boring…
I agree Skye is what i hate about the show.
This author is a douchebag
I also love the show and it’s way better than any of those crime of the week bullshit cop shows on every channel!
Skye is sort of “meh” for me right now. If they were to kill off her character next week i would not even react. With that said….I REALLY like the show.
“Some people are even saying that the show is just boring and that the characters are facsimiles of a million characters we’ve seen before.”
That’s true of every story really IMO. As if this is the ONLY show on tv where that statement fits
I think a lot of people didn’t like the pacing of the first half. But it looks like things are gna pick up in this second half of season one
It’s times like this that I really wonder if I’m watching the same show as other people. I have yet to have any issues with the show. No complaints at all. I’ve been hooked since the first episode.
I just don’t like Skye just like you don’t like Ward. other than that I love it
People had unrealistic expectations. They thought Coulson would be carpooling with Spider-Man by now
She can act, you may not like her role in the show, but she’s doing the best she can for that role, which (in my personal opinion) cannot be said for the rest of the cast.
I agree that Chloe Bennet is doing the best she can. I like Chloe, which makes my frustration with Skye grow. They have a good actress in the role. Without Chloe, I would probably hate Skye more. Unfortunately even a good actress cannot do much with a poorly written character and script.
But really, main problem is the script, nothing in the script is exciting or even interesting, which is strange considering they have HUGE Marvel universe to play around with.
i think it would be cool if she ran off and came back a season or so later. she could have been trained for some enemy organization or something? This show is really lacking in the character writing department.
That would have been a much better option. I would love to see something like that.
How about a real Marvel villain? Hydra?
Joss Whedon LOVES female characters in major roles! That’s probably why she’s there and their best commando is a fifty year old Asian chick
I feel like Wheedon, and Marvel for that matter, came into this show with a long term plan, but like most shows, people don’t like waiting and they hate to have to think. The success of mindless comedies and reality shows is a clear reminder that a deep show that is shoring up the infrastructure of a complete entertainment universe is beyond the average TV viewer’s capacity.
WTF is a “mary sue”
You people do realize that she is the daughter of Coulson right?
Aaron, a Mary Sue is (typically) a written in character who is a rival to the main character who can best them in any way and form and who also doubles(most of the time) as a love interest. The term is most used from a self added character ( I.E. The writer as a character) who’s not part of the regular cast but falls right in and is chummy with everyone.
Typically used in fan fiction. Like say you really love a character so much you write fan fiction about them and you.
I think there is much more to skye and her back story and I think she maybe superpowered in her ability to manipulate the people around her,and isn’t hacking a way of manipulating a computer system into giving up its secrets ? she is one of my favorite characters and whether she is ultimately gdd or evil I just don’t know,if she is someones tool I hope she turns the tables in the end
I think there is much more to skye and her back story and I think she maybe superpowered in her ability to manipulate the people around her,and isn’t hacking a way of manipulating a computer system into giving up its secrets ? she is one of my favorite characters and whether she is ultimately gdd or evil I just don’t know,if she is someones tool I hope she turns the tables in the end
If they do have a long term backstory, then I hope it pans out. It’s the way that she has and is being presented currently that causes my issues with her. It’s bad writing. I don’t like not liking characters, especially this type, outright. The way she was in addition to how she is presented annoys me. I fully admit that this can be my own bias.
If they do have a greater plan for her, then fantastic. The whole show needed better handling and I just picked the part that annoyed me the most. Maybe if her backstory is revealed and we get some answers, then I could revise my opinion. Right now, however, Skye is just poorly written and, much like the show, needs a bit of an overhaul.
Never thought of it like that…LOL
I think there are more problems than just this character. I tried watching.. saw the first 3 eps & couldn’t continue like Sonny Liston.
Lol
Show is trash
The arguments for it are spread a bit thin. I mean, there are plenty of valid criticisms that can be leveled at this horribly sub-par show (I can picture the meeting where the idea came to them: “hey, let’s put the Marvel name on a show, but barely borrow anything from the extended Marvel universe! that’ll really piss the nerds off!”), but this one in particular seems like a bit of a stretch.
what if she’s a mutant?
Marvel mutants are with fox
all of them? or if a character is a mutant, they automatically go to fox? from some of the things she’s able to do. she could be a mutant.
I think one of my first problems with Skye was that she was a double agent (now a triple agent?) selfishly working within Shield for info about her parents with and to aide rising tide. This is Agents of SHIELD not Agents of Rising Tide. SHIELD, are the good guys here and RT are a troublesome terrorist/activist cell. So I have no reason to like her as my interest lay in Shield.
As it was pointed out this is mega agency Shield, they don’t have a fresh off of the training cadet with mad hacking and personal skills that could serve as the audiences in to the world and lingo?
I say all this because it reveals my disappointment with creativity and writing. Chloe is a decent actress and is easy on the eyes so the problem isn’t her, it’s her character.
Aside from that I do generally like the show and hopes it pays off. I can handle a slow burn, but the writing has to be there. Lately it just seems like the writing isn’t there.
I totally agree with you, John. I think part of my problem is in addition to some Sue like characteristics. Skye is just not needed. I understand the idea of having someone outside the organization coming in. But why can’t it be a new recruit? They still have yet to be fully indoctrinated into SHIELD. I would have been a lot more forgiving toward it.
I do like the show. I also agree about Chloe. It’s just bad writing. So I hope that they can improve it. A slow burn is all well and good. They have done it in the past. It’s just that ultimately they’re not doing it well HERE. Which is the problem.
The problem with your argument is that you’re seeing what you want to see! Essentially, the first prerequisite could be fulfilled by pretty much any female character; Natasha Romanov? Elektra Nachios? Melinda May (nicely alliterative)? Skye exists in the comics universe, and this is pretty much a prerequisite of being female in the comics universe.
She’s implausibly talented in a ‘wide variety of areas’? Well, no, she’s a talented hacker. That’s it. Unlike most geniuses in the MU, she’s not an expert in anthropology who builds the prototype Sentinels (Bolivar Trask), or a geneticist who maintains Shi’ar technology (Beast). And her manipulation in The Asset nearly went wrong.
I’m not so sure about 3) – I think the items you quote are indeed character flaws.
You mention that she’s “witty” – so’s anyone in something written by Whedon!
Nah, I just aren’t persuaded by the argument I’m afraid.
I feel like Wheedon, and Marvel for that matter, came into this show with a long term plan, but like most shows, people don’t like waiting and they hate to have to think. The success of mindless comedies and reality shows is a clear reminder that a deep show that is shoring up the infrastructure of a complete entertainment universe is beyond the average TV viewer’s capacity.
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!
These are all great comments. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on the show!