I love season long arcs and themes that stretch for dozens of episodes. It's just that I think that were are now so deep in the story, with so much happening already (like, well... Shield getting destroyed), that I'm afraid that the show will loose itself with all the things that are going on.

Where's "The Rising Tide"? The end of 0-8-4 strongly hinted there was something going on there and that Skyes allegiances weren't with Shield. Puff. Vanished, never really explained what happened to them. Got thrown out when Hydra was established as a bigger threat. Now the same happens to them. Where's Ian Quinn and what happened to Centipede? How the heck was Raina both working for the Clairvoyant and Skye's dad?

Don't get me wrong, I don't care too much for those plot holes. But Buffy was always very straight forward about those things. (Funny things happen when you live on a Hellmouth, better not think about it too much, not important anyway...) Totally fine if Shield went the same direction. But being part of Marvel means that the show simply can't ignore the established universe and just bend or break the known rules of the world. That is, imho, more of a burden than a blessing.

I watch Shield because of the Whedon connection and I want it to be more like Buffy, where Sunnydale and Vampire mythology were so completely unimportant that the show regularly broke the fourth wall and made fun of it. (Why is there a medieval castle in SoCal anyway?!?) Shield can't do that, so I'm hoping they ignore the world around them as much as possible and focus on the characters and the loose plot lines that have already been established. I can understand the people coming from the other direction, who know the Marvel universe and love the references to that. But for me, this should only be texture that makes the world feel alive, not the basic point of the show. I think Agent Carter did this really well.