Note: this review is being written at about the midway point in the first season.

I have been a shameless Whedonist since I first saw Firefly. I've since watched Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse, and all of the films he has been attached to. There are certain things I have come to expect from a Whedon television series. These are:

1.) The world of not be gritty and serious, it will be fun and campy. 2.) No matter how much money is thrown at it, it will look cheap. 3.) It will be a situation-of-the-week type of show. 4.) Rather than plot, it will be character driven, and they will grow and change.

So far, this has all been true of S.H.I.E.L.D. If you were expecting a gritty, realistic plot driven show like Breaking Bad, you're fooling yourself. S.H.I.E.L.D was never going to be that.

S.H.I.E.L.D. embraces the superhero universe it inhabits and does indeed cover certain clichés, but it works with them and weaves them into interesting character arcs. This does at times require a certain suspension of disbelief from the viewer, but it hardly makes the show stale.

Thus far into the series, each of the main cast has been given shades to their otherwise very caricature persona's. Several of them have been giving interesting plot lines that are beginning to unfold and change the characters and their relationships with one another. Yes, this series is a villain of the week type show, but the characters learn and develop. The acting also is not terrible, despite what several reviews may suggest. The main cast mostly is solid, and they have a good chemistry (particularly the inseparable Fitz and Simmons), though some of the side characters could use some work.

The show certainly does have its mishaps. I've learned to accept that Whedon loves his cheap aesthetic (no matter how hard he tried to escape it with Dollhouse), and often times the show focus's too heavy on character that are likely only to be featured in one episode. Although I'm not a comic book person, I certainly understand the frustration. If you're going to focus on new characters every week, at least reference the previously established cannon so there's something interesting going on.

But that being said, critics are not giving it the time to develop. It's campy and cheap nature are turning people away so their not giving it time like they would with Breaking Bad or Mad Men, but the show is developing. Obvious seeds that will grow into much larger, more interesting parts of the series are being planted. Lord knows Buffy and Angel were not masterpieces at their beginnings.

Have some patience, embrace the world and characters, and let the show grow before yet another Whedon series suffers a premature death.