As season 2 draws to an end, there is a huge cliffhanger, made all the more enticing by the (apparent) destruction of some characters, the introduction of a new one, and the transformation of two others.

"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." exists in the Marvel universe, populated by some historic Marvel characters, but not so dependent upon knowledge of the characters that a novice viewer cannot enjoy it.

The writers have done on a good job of producing dramatic episodes and surprising story lines. The characters--as you expect from a series based upon comic books--include likable hero types and evil villains. The strong cast is up to the challenge. And they are capable of delivering the occasionally cheesy line as required, made all the more delicious by the tongue-in-cheek humor, the intentionally melodramatic lines.

For those who wish to take their viewing to another level, the Marvel world is expanding on television and the big screen. In some cases, there are overlaps that are fun to discover. In January, Agent Carter will have her own mini-series, for example.

I am looking forward to the third season.

Update 1/13/18: I should have updated this review before now because this series has earned more than a 7. I am going straight to a 9 because season 5 comes with a genius-level transformation of the plot. Very gutsy. High risk yields high reward here. It's an inspired game-changing twist.