Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Season 1

Pilot

1. Simmons calls their mission a "Journey into Mystery," which was the title of the comic that debuted The Mighty Thor. The character was so popular, the book was eventually renamed for him.
2. The aircraft and team are referred to as "SHIELD 6-1-6". In Marvel Comics continuity, the baseline universe is referred to as Earth-616.
3. In the 1960s, in the early days of Marvel Comics, "Lola"-style flying cars were often seen in S.H.I.E.L.D.-related issues. This is why Coulson said, "People tend to confuse the words 'new' and 'improved.'"
4. There is a reference to Project Pegasus. In the Marvel Comics Universe, Project Pegasus (Potential Energy Group/Alternate Sources/United States) is a secret US research project into alternative energy sources and a containment program for various arrested supervillains. It was referenced in The Avengers (2012) via signage in the bunker housing the Tesseract. Captain Marvel's powers are a byproduct of the project.
5. During the 15 day shooting schedule for the pilot, a splinter unit traveled to Paris, France to film part of Agent Ward's introduction. They had one day to prepare, one day to film and one day to return.
6. All of Cobie Smulders's scenes were filmed on the final day of production for the pilot (February 11, 2013) to accommodate her shooting schedule for How I Met Your Mother (2005).
7. One of the compounds used in the centipede is Extremis. Extremis was developed by Aldrich Killian aka The Mandarin, and was introduced to the MCU in Iron Man 3
8. The S.H.I.E.L.D agent to whom Agent Hill entrusts a Chitauri artifact wears the name-tag Skadden, Kirk. The same name appears in a newspaper's obituary notice in Runaways: Gimme Shelter (2018).
9. J. August Richards is part of the "Whedonverse", having previously starred in Angel (1999).
10. Ron Glass was a main character, Shepherd Book, in the show Firefly, which was created by Joss Whedon.
11. The license plate on "Lola" is California, 681 PCE.
12. At 03:51- Tu Es Partout is a French love song. Also heard in Saving Private Ryan.

0-8-4

1. When Coulson tells Skye that the last 0-8-4 was a hammer, he is obviously referencing Thor's hammer (Mjolnir).
2. During production of 0-8-4, on July 19 2013, the cast and the executive producers traveled to the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con to unveil the first public screening of the pilot episode of this series.
3. Although only the second episode, this is the lowest rated episode of the whole series as of October 2020.
4. The staff weapon that agent Ward uses in the beginning of the episode is reminiscent of the staff weapon that Simon Tam uses to rescue his sister River in the beginning of the movie Serenity, another Joss Whedon movie.
5. Samuel L. Jackson: At the end of the episode, reprising his role as Nick Fury from the various Marvel Comics movies.

The Asset

1. The St. Agnes orphanage Skye refers to growing up in is the same one Foggy Nelson mentions in Daredevil (2015).
2. In the comics Doctor Franklin Hall is also known as Graviton, a very powerful Super Villain who has physical control over the forces of Gravity.
3. According to Quinn's presentation Gravitonium's atomic number is 123, and its atomic mass is 308. Both these numbers are higher than anything on the Periodic Table in reality.
4. The title appears to reflect the intelligence community definition of an 'asset' as well as the proprietorial approach S.H.I.E.L.D. takes to Dr. Hall.

Eye Spy

1. Footage labeled "Zloda, Belarus" is actually from Uppsala, Sweden. It is Sweden's fourth largest city and an hour drive from Stockholm - most likely a convinient location while filming there anyway. Seen in the episode is, among others, Uppsala's cathedral and "Järnbron" i.e "The Iron Bridge". Not too far a leap from a familiar MCU character.
2. First appearance of the alien writing that will come to haunt Agent Coulson.
3. First appearance of the Words of Creation, Kree writing that is important theme primarily in Season 2.
4. In speaking with Coulson, Ward says that Coulson must feel bad being betrayed by someone he trained. Later in the series we'll discover that Ward is Hydra.
5. While Ward is driving the car with the special glasses pretending to be the women, he'd need to use the cars mirror and in doing so, the "Contoller" would've noticed the switch.

Girl in the Flower Dress

1. The character of Scorch from the episode, "Girl in The Flower Dress" in Marvel comics is actually a mutant but because the X-Men film franchise is run by FOX Studios, the character is never identified as a mutant only slyly alluded to as gifted or special, which are slang terms for mutants in the comics.
2. During production, this episode was going to be named Scorch, but by the time it was shot, Ruth Negga's performance as Raina impressed the producers so much that they renamed the episode to reference her character.
3. Actress Ruth Negga (Raina) originally auditioned for the role of Simmons.
4. First appearance of Raina.
5. First mention of 'The Clairvoyant'.
6. In the show, Skye and Miles Lyndon are dating. In real life, actors Chloe Bennett and Austin Nicolas once dated
7. In an early draft of the script, Raina met Ian Quinn in Washington D.C. during the end tag, revealing his association with Centipede. But the producers decided to keep this connection a secret for a while longer and so created the new character of Edison Po.

FZZT

1. The Chitauri helmet prop had to be created from scratch because all the Chitauri soldiers seen in The Avengers (2012) were purely computer-generated.
2. Agent Blake (Titus Welliver) made his first appearance in the Marvel Universe in Marvel One-Shot: Item 47 (2012), a short movie taking place shortly after The Avengers (2012).
3. Skye mentions The Dude from The Big Lebowski (1998) who is played by Jeff Bridges. Jeff Bridges also played Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger in Iron Man (2008) which is part of the same universe as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
4. Simmons makes a reference to an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever, "Typhoid Mary." Typhoid Mary is also a character featured in Marvel comics.

The Hub

1. The working title of this episode was "The Sandwich Incident"
2. One of the direction posts in the S.H.I.E.L.D. base The Hub has a sign that points to the H.A.M.M.E.R. hanger, a sly nod to the Spider-Man comics when S.H.I.E.L.D. was run by long-time Spider-Man villain Norman Osborn.
3. It's revealed that Leo and Jemma have level 5 security clearances.
4. After Agent Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Jasper Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernández) is another character to make a cross-over from the Marvel movies to a Marvel television series. He was also seen in Thor (2011) and The Avengers (2012).
5. First appearance of Victoria Hand.
6. First reference of the triskelion in the MCU
7. After Skye fails to convince Coulson to divulge information about Ward and Fritz's mission, she tells Gemma that "he's acting like a robot version of himself right now." The irony is that by the end of the series, Coulson is in fact a robot.

The Well

1. In the flashback/dream sequence at the end when Coulson is getting the massage in Tahiti he asks the masseuse "Did I fall asleep?" to which she replies "For a little while." This was the question and answer response for all of the "Dolls" when they had undergone programming in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse (2009).
2. This episode takes place after Thor: The Dark World (2013).
3. Coulson identifies Professor Randolph's pen as a "Waterfield '44 with a 14ct nib and mother of pearl inlay." If a company named Waterfield existed which made fountain pens, there appears to be no remaining evidence of it. 14ct nibs were typical for any but budget models during the era of fountain pens, making that an easy guess for Coulson. The pen in the show is made from celluloid in an iridescent pattern which is commonly called mother of pearl, but there's no inlay. Based on its limited on-screen exposure it appears to be a 1930s era Gold Bond with a lever filler (also very common at that time). Additionally, as of the episode's air date and excluding particularly rare models, a vintage fountain pen is easily within a professor's or Federal agent's salary.
4. May-December relationship (no pun intended): Ming-Na Wen is 20 years older than Brett Dalton.
5. Agent Simmons says that she is going to give Agent Ward 20cc's of Benzodiazepine to help calm him down. Benzodiazepine is a classification of medications, like Valium and Xanax, and not a medication itself. The use of this term is because Valium and Xanax are trademark-protected names.
6. While Ward's older brother is listed in the credits as 'Maynard', his name is later changed to Christian.

Repairs

1. The gas station seen at the beginning was a Roxxon station. Roxxon is a fictional energy company in the Marvel Universe. Roxxon is often depicted as corrupt and at odds with various Marvel heroes.
2. The UpWords board in the end scenes shows the words "strange" and "tales." Strange Tales is the comic book where Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., debuted.
3. The call-sign for The Bus is "S.H.I.E.L.D 616". 616 is the allocated number for the mainstream Marvel universe named Earth-616 in the Marvel comics continuity.
4. First appearance of Agent Davis, who becomes a regular in later seasons
5. The "other world" briefly visible in the recording Jemma uncovers of the portal created by the accident (that the town blames Hannah for) is clearly Maveth, home of the Hydra God and the same planet Jemma is unwillingly transported to in season three.

The Bridge

1. This episode informs the viewer how Mike Peterson has been able to withstand the extremis element of the "Centipede Experiment" despite the fact that he never received the serum made from Mr. Chan's "Scorch" blood platelets.

The Magical Place

1. Fitz, at the beginning of the episode, tells Simmons: "Embrace the change". This was the recurrent tagline for the Secret Invasion crossover in the comics.
2. The dealer 'Vanchat', who is captured and interrogated by S.H.I.E.L.D., was previously mentioned by name in 'Pilot' and 'Eye Spy'.
3. While rehearsing the scene where she had to kick the Lamborghini into gear and pull away like a pro, Chloe Bennet kept stalling the car's engine. She has been teased for her driving record constantly, she even got banned from driving the golf carts used to move around the studio lot, but she pulled off the driving scenes like a pro.
4. While imprisoned, Coulson tries to pick his handcuffs with a pair of tweezers and when he's attempting to open the left cuff, the right one pops open.

Seeds

1. Donald "Donnie" Gill, in the Mainstream Marvel Comics, is the Supervillain known as Blizzard who has a suit that can allow him to generate and control extreme cold and ice.
2. The Wall of Valor in the Science and Technology academy uses different designs of the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo which have been featured in the comics over the years, except for the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) logo which was designed as part of Marvel movie continuity.
3. Daniel Zovatto and Dylan Minnette would later work together again in Don't Breathe (2016).
4. The name from the Wall of Valor that Skye reads, Bucky Barnes, is Captain America's best friend from Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and reappeared four months after this episode premiered in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) as the titular character.

T.R.A.C.K.S.

1. On the jet Coulson tells Ward if anything goes wrong he'll spend rest of career in Alaska, doing night shift on Blonsky's cryo cell. Blonsky refers to Emil Blonsky, aka the Abomination, the main enemy from The Incredible Hulk (2008).
2. Ming-Na Wen suffers from a fear of heights and had to muster up all her courage to film the scene of May walking atop the moving train.
3. Agent Coulson ( Clark Gregg ) reveals that The Fridge is located in Barrow, Alaska. This is the northernmost city in the United States, located on the north coast of the state, and experiences two months of darkness in the winter.
4. Because there was no equipment in existence that would fit to stand in for the hyperbaric chamber Mike was kept in, the production team had to design and build one themselves, and they had to do it quickly. So much so, that the paint was still literally drying when the set was wheeled in for filming.
5. At 40:05- Hollywood cliche #089: male actors must always punch something when they are angry.
6. "T.R.A.C.K.S." originally aired on ABC on February 4, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 6.62 million viewers.

T.A.H.I.T.I.

1. When Simmons first mentions she wants to phone Dr. Streiten, many people mistakingly thought she said 'Dr. Strange', referring to the comic book character Doctor Stephen Strange, the Sorceror Supreme. However, in subsequent scenes she is clearly saying 'Dr. Streiten', the character played by Ron Glass who appeared in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Pilot (2013) and in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Magical Place (2014).
2. The comic book version of John Garrett first appeared in the mini-series 'Elektra: Assassin". He also played a supporting role in comic series Secret Warriors.
3. "T.A.H.I.T.I." originally aired on ABC on March 4, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 5.46 million viewers. It was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for its visual effects.
4. The alien body is part of The Kree, the alien race who plays a significant role in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
5. The alien body was produced using a body scan of Brandon Kolpack, son of series Visual Effects Supervisor Mark Kolpack. Since the creature had to be muscular, Brandon, who is a personal trainer and amateur body builder, was chosen.

Yes Men

1. Because this takes place just after Thor: The Dark World (2013), when Sif says that Odin ordered Lorelei back alive, it is more than possible that it was actually the masquerading Loki giving the order. To what end is unknown.
2. Jaimie Alexander reprises her role as Lady Sif from the "Thor" films.
3. This episode takes place after Thor: The Dark World (2013).
4. In this episode Fitz's "night night" guns are replaced with the "icers", which are what are used subsequently in the series.
5. Elena Satine also played mutant Beautiful Dreamer in The Gifted (2017), who also uses her voice to control people.
6. The biker gang "Dogs of Hell" is the same gang that makes an appearance in Season 2 of Daredevil (2015).
7. "Yes Men" originally aired on ABC on March 11, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 5.99 million viewers

End of the Beginning

1. When Deathlok is seen on the screen through night vision, his appearance bears a striking resemblance to his look in the comics.
2. This episode takes place before and during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).
3. Brad Dourif's appearance in the role of Thomas Nash, the presumed Clairvoyant, is likely an homage to the The X-Files: Beyond the Sea (1994)," in which Dourif played a convict with questionable psychic abilities.
4. At 13:07 Ward & Triplett go to "Milton Keynes Prison" to investigate Elijah Fordham, serving multiple life sentences and one of the suspects possibly The Clairvoyant. There is a high security prison near Milton Keynes that would hold this type of prisoner. HMP Woodhill is one of eight national high security prisons, holding Category A prisoners, some in the "Close Supervision Centre".
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) takes place in between this episode and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Turn, Turn, Turn (2014).
6. Trying to figure out why they were paired together, Agent Blake asks Agent May if she is a Scorpio. Ming-Na Wen, who plays Agent May, is in fact a Scorpio.
7. "End of the Beginning" originally aired on ABC on April 1, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 5.71 million viewers.
8. Agent Sitwell is assigned to go to the boat Lemurian Star. This is the same boat from which Captain America rescues him and the other hostages in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).
9. When Mike Peterson/"Deathlock" targets Agent Coulson in the basement of the compound where the supposed "clairvoyant" is, Peterson's targeting system does not target Agent Garrett. This maybe the fact that Garrett was the "clairvoyant" and a Hydra agent.

Turn, Turn, Turn

1. This episode takes place during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).
2. At one point, Agent Garrett says that he isn't a true believer. Stan Lee often refers to Marvel fans as "true believers".
3. After the team decoded the Hydra signal, Coulson quotes the Hydra Oath 'Cut off one head and two More shall take its place'. Garrett reacts confused and ask if it wasn't a limb. This is a reference to the comics, where the Hydra's oath is: 'Hail, Hydra! Immortal Hydra! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off a limb and two more shall take its place! We serve none but the Master--as the world shall soon serve us! Hail Hydra!'
4. "Turn, Turn, Turn" originally aired on ABC on April 8, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 5.37 million viewers.
5. The creators did not tell Brett Dalton that Ward was going to be a Hydra agent until right before they filmed "Turn, Turn, Turn". He was the first cast member to learn about Ward's duplicity.
6. Many fans responded to Brett Dalton (Grant Ward) badly after his character was revealed to be a double agent. However, there is a large fan base on social media called Ward's Warriors who openly support the character and a potential redemption arc for him. They often trend hashtags like #standwithward during episodes.

Providence

1. The repeated phrase "Agents of Nothing" in dialogue is a reference to the "Secret Warriors Vol. 1: Nick Fury, Agent of Nothing" collected edition that contains the story arc written by Jonathan Hickman, originally published in six parts in 2009. In this story arc also, HYDRA is revealed to have infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. after World War 2.
2. The coordinates sent to Agent Coulson's badge point to a nameless road in eastern Ontario, Canada, less than 20 miles from the border of Quebec.
3. John Garrett mentions Johnny Horton, a criminal who gave himself lion paws for hands. In the comics, Johnny Horton is the supervillain Griffin.
4. Adrian Pasdar, who plays Glenn Talbot, is no stranger to working on superhero-based projects. He is also known for playing Nathan Petrelli in Heroes (2006), and has been the voice of Tony Stark/Ironman on many projects such as Avengers Assemble (2012), Ultimate Spider-Man (2012), Lego Marvel Super Heroes (2013), and Phineas and Ferb (2007)'s Marvel special.
5. First appearance of Adrian Pasdar as Glenn Talbot.
6. "Providence" originally aired on ABC on April 15, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 5.52 million viewers.
7. How they enter the HYDRA station on Cuba is a reference to how agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. used to enter their New York base in the original 1960's comics, where they sat in a barbers chair and were lowered down into the facility.

The Only Light in the Darkness

1. In The Avengers (2012), Pepper Potts mentions to Coulson that she wants to hear about the cellist and if it was still a thing. Phil tells her she moved back to Portland. This is of course a reference to Audrey Nathan who appears in this episode.
2. During the lie detector test Agent Koenig tells Triplett that if his grandfather were a member of the howling commandos he would have it tattooed across his chest. This is a reference to the comic that takes place "Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos" which had a character named private Eric Koenig.
3. Amy Acker (Audrey Nathan) is a skilled dancer but not a cellist. In order to make her cello playing realistic, she trained with a cello coach to fake three brief pieces of music composer Bear McCreary wrote for the scene. He then had to alter the music after shooting in order to synchronize the soundtrack with her hand movements.
4. Marcus Daniels (Blackout) first appeared in Nova issue 19 in 1978. He was created by Marv Wolfman, Carmine Infantino, and Tom Palmer.
5. Coulson can be seen loading a Smith & Wesson M&P "Shield" model carry pistol.
6. Amy Acker (Audrey Nathan) and J. August Richards (Mike Peterson) previously starred together in another Joss Whedon TV series, Angel (1999).
7. Grant Ward's middle name is revealed to be Douglas. Whether or not he's lying is not addressed.
8. Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson) and Amy Acker (Audrey Nathan) previously played uncle and niece in Much Ado About Nothing (2012).
9. Amy Acker later appeared in another Marvel TV Show, co-starring in The Gifted (2017), a FOX show based on the X-Men Universe.
10. "The Only Light in the Darkness" originally aired on ABC on April 22, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 6.04 million viewers.
11. The car that May's mother picks her up in has a Pennsylvania license plate. However, Pennsylvania only issues one plate per vehicle, and it is displayed on the back of the car.
12. Marcus Daniels/Blackout chronologically first appeared briefly in Captain Marvel (2019) as the bartender at the desert bar where Carol Danvers would hang out and perform karaoke.
13. In the end scene in which Melinda May gets into the car with her mother, actresses Ming-Na Wen and Tsai Chin were also both in The Joy Luck Club (1993) together. The film portrayed the struggles and relationships of four Chinese women and their American-born daughters. Tsai Chin played the "auntie" of Ming-Na Wen's character.
14. Guest star Tsai Chin, who plays May's mother, is one of a rare few actresses who have played a Bond girl more than once. She appeared for the first time in the Bond franchise as Ling; a Chinese agent in Hong Kong who sets up Sean Connery's Bond to be killed at the beginning of You Only Live Twice (1967). She returned nearly 40 years later to appear opposite Daniel Craig's Bond as poker player Madame Wu in Casino Royale (2006). The ABC television network has had a long standing TV broadcast arrangement with the Bond franchise in the past.

Nothing Personal

1. While on the phone with Pepper Potts, Maria Hill asks "Who or what is a Man-Thing?" This is a reference to the The Marvel comic monster, originally Dr. Ted Sallis, whose attempt at a Super Soldier Serum turned him into the titular Man-Thing, a vegetable based swamp monster. Sallis also worked with a Dr. Barbara "Bobbi" Morse, also known as "Mockingbird."
2. When intercepting Ward before his taking off, Maria Hill calls, "Maria Hill to SHIELD-616..." 616 is the designation given to the main universe of the Marvel Comics.
3. "Nothing Personal" originally aired on ABC on April 29, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 5.95 million viewers.

Ragtag

1. Throughout this episode and the next, several characters state that they were "only following orders" or "I have orders to follow." HYDRA was originally a Nazi-offshoot organization. "I was only following orders" was a defense used several times by Nazi officers and soldiers at the Nuremberg Trials.
2. When Coulson uncovers the Cybertek files on the Deathlok program, he notes how the program goes back to the 90's. The original Deathlok (Luther Manning) was introduced in 1974, but set in a post-apocalyptic future of 1990. The second Deathlok (John Kelly) was introduced in his own comic series in July 1990.
3. When Phil Coulson ( Clark Gregg ) and Melinda May ( Ming-Na Wen ) are in Cybertek's storage center, two cabinets they pass by are labeled 'Brand Corporation Security' and 'Metrobank Correspondence.' In the comics, Metrobank is a New York bank owned by the Brand Corporation. Brand is owned by Roxxon, making all three Hydra cover businesses.
4. In a flashback scene, Garrett drives a red Dodge Ram. Bill Paxton, who plays Garrett, starred in Twister (1996), where his character, Bill Harding, also drove a similar red Dodge Ram.
5. "Ragtag" originally aired on ABC on May 6, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 5.37 million viewers.
6. In one of the flash-back scenes, Garret says to a young Ward "Speak up kid, I'm not a mind reader." Garret winds up portraying The Clairvoyant which is basically a mind reader.

Beginning of the End

1. According to Ming-Na Wen, it took 17 hours to shoot her fight scene with Brett Dalton.
2. The outfit Nick Fury wears in this episode is exactly the same outfit he is seen wearing in the last scene of Captain America: Winter Soldier--sunglasses, a beanie, and a leather jacket and hoodie instead of his usual eye patch and trench coat.
3. Samuel L. Jackson and Ruth Negga previously co-starred in Fury (2012). Coincidentally Fury is the surname of Jackson's character in the Marvel universe.
4. "Beginning of the End" originally aired on ABC on May 13, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 5.45 million viewers.
5. In the final battle scene to take down Garrett, Fury hands Coulson a large gun and says, "This packs a pretty good punch." To which Coulson replies, "I know what it does." It is the same weapon Coulson fired on Loki in The Avengers, the BFG he pulled out of the weapons locker and told Loki, "Even I don't know what it does." After Coulson is stabbed by Loki, Coulson fires the weapon sending Loki through the wall behind him and says, "So that's what it does."
6. The disembodied form of Franklin Hall aka Graviton can be seen in the scene when Garrett and Ward confront Ian Quinn and Colonel Jacobs over the super soldier, deathlok program.
7. This is the second MARVEL appearance of Glenn Morshower playing a U.S. military general who gets killed by another character overpowering him. He previously played Colonel Hendry in X: First Class (2011).