Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) puts together a team of agents to investigate the new, the strange and the unknown around the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary.
This tv show contains 74 potentially triggering events.
Also thought I’d put this here, but one character almost exclusively goes by his last name and is shown to be uncomfortable when people use his first name due to reasons in his past
Fitz is implied to have something along the lines of schizophrenia or dissociative identity disorder and has a psychological break in s5 where he experiences psychosis, hallucinations, the whole nine yards. Take this as your warning that it’s handled very, VERY poorly.
skye/daisy early in s1 has a story about her trying to find her real parents and struggles with feelings of abandonment. there is also visual of a baby (skye) being abandoned in a nightmare in the opening of 2x09
Grant Ward and Leo Fitz were both abused as a child. Ward was physically and psychologically abused and Fitz was emotionally abused and neglected. In an alternate timeline (The Framework), Fitz is also physically and psychologically abused as a result of his abusive father being present again in his life. Note that the character Daisy Johnson, although not abused, grew up in an orphanage and all of her foster homes were unstable (and [SPOILERS] in s2 her birth mother attempts to kill her to drain her life-force).
of sorts. s1 finale, main characters trapped in a containment module underwater for a prolonged period of time. escape is extremely difficult and their situation was a result of someone else's malevolent actions
In 1x15 Grant Ward is enchanted and made to sleep with Lorelei while under her enchantment. Throughout season 1 Grant Ward sleeps with Melinda May under false pretences and continues to bring it up to her throughout the season finale and next season. In season 4 AIDA alters Leo Fitz's memories so he believes they are in love and it is implied that they slept together.
ward, under a hypnotic influence, has sex with an asgardian, and he never gave consent. the theme is treated lightly in the episode and his experience quickly dismissed
S2E5: character has alien language carved into her by someone else. S2E7: 32 minutes in someone cuts Coulson's arms and chest while he is hanging by his wrists. At the end of the episode a character uses an electric shaver to shave a beard. S2E8: very graphic surgery from 37:10 to 38:00 includes cutting into skin with a scalpel
S3E8: 24 minutes in someone cuts May slowly in the face
S4E11: May gets cut on a piece of glass S4E14: about 15 minutes in the SHIELD director or cut on the chest by a Russian bad guy
In 1x5 a villain is burned alive. Season 4 introduces Ghost Rider, who's head turns on fire, and who frequently sets people on fire throughout the season.
Technically. During s4 a character inserts herself into an avatar of herself in a virtual reality, and said avatar was dead, so she has to dig herself out of a grave
In 1x14, a character in cardiac arrest post-gun shot wound/surgery has multiple instances where they appear to be seizing. In 5x03, a guest character has powers that manifest in a way that looks like a seizure.
S1E19 Ward sticks metal under his fingernail to pass a lie detector test its shown being pulled out right after his test. S1E22 May uses a nail gun to nail someone's foot (in a shoe) to the floor.
S2E5 ends with a character dislocating their thumb to escape handcuffs S2E13: has a character with knives surgically attached to her fingernails S2E21: 17 min in Bobbi is tortured via needles into her fingers shown in a close up and is shown later in the episode in the background
S1E11 Coulson is tased on screen and it is implied he has been beat off screen. S1E13 character is waterboarded and beat/stabbed 19 minutes in.
S2E3 May gets tortured with electricity briefly S2E21: Bobbi gets tortured at length, mostly off screen (shown: getting punched, 17 minutes in: needles into her fingers)
S3E6: Von Strucker (villain) is shown very bloody after some torture 36 minutes into the episode (torture not shown, just the after effects) S3E8: Ward tortured 3 hydra agents mostly off screen S3E8: simmons is tortured by hydra off screen but you can hear her screaming. She doesn't get very bloody S3E11: Von Strucker is put into the memory machine. There's flashbacks to when he was being tortured
S1E4 has pretty graphic eye mutilation involving a needle being inserted and an eye being taken out for surgery. Both instances are indirectly shown, but it is definitely something to avoid.
not on screen but discussion somewhere around 1x12 of baby skye being forcefully taken from her parents by s.h.i.e.l.d agents. there is also a very brief but intense section in 5x04 about someone who had their baby taken from them as incentive for them to pay off a debt. around 27 mins in
In 1x9 a character talks about an event that ended with a child's death. In 2x17 the event previously discussed is shown. In season 4 a character talks about his dead child, and at the end of the season a virtual reconstruction of the child 'dies'
many characters! many times! sometimes not permanently, but it is a constant in the show. ranges from unnamed extra hydra/s.h.i.e.l.d soldiers, to side characters, to main characters and everything in between
skye/daisy's mom dies TWICE, once in 2x12 her first appearance and again in 7x10 in an alternate timeline. coulson (father figure to daisy, jemma and fitz) is terminally ill and leaves to die in 5x22. everyone is grieving a lot in the beginning of the next season. fitz also dies in 5x22 and he was obviously a surrogate brother/son to the group and they also grieve him. its brutal guys
In s2 an adult main character's mother is killed. In 3x15 the father of a young child dies. In s5 in an alternate future the same child's mother dies and she is raised by another character. This future is averted but there are a lot of scenes that take place during it. In 6x10 the father of a young child dies
SPOILERS
Ward and May get together, but then Ward cheats on May whilst under Asgardian mind control. Whilst under the mind control he admits he actually loves Skye, who he then goes on to kiss a couple episodes later
For the back half of season 3 (starting at episode 17), a main is possessed by an "ancient alien parasite squid demon". Earlier on in the season a supporting character is also possessed by this creature but it is not revealed until 3x10. In the season 4, finale a main character was temporarily a vessel of the Ghost Rider.
S2E7: Coulson goes under a memory machine and the memories he has aren't technically in a psych ward, it has hardcore psych ward vibes. S2E13: character is broken out of a psychiatric facility, it's very brief
S4E2: not a mental institution scene but it ends with May in a straight jacket
S5E13: starts with a therapy session in what appears to be a psych ward
In 2x2 a character discusses someone they know who has cancer, but this person never appears on screen. In s3 another character discusses her husband who died of cancer. Not cancer, but in season 4 a character is introduced with a brain tumour, and dies of it
fitz suffers from what is implied to be some kind of split personality/schizophrenic disorder post-framework and this causes him to kill and hurt multiple people
In 5x14, a character has a psychotic break where his evil alternate universe self briefly takes over. It’s treated VERY badly in my opinion and instead of getting help they blame the character and treat him like a villain despite his schizophrenia/DID. It’s a whole mess.
1x06 a character jumps off a plane after learning she has a potentially incurable disease. In 2x01 Grant tells Daisy he tried to kill himself 3 different ways, but all of these attempts were off-camera. 2x11 side character walks into traffic to try to commit suicide but is saved by another character Hydra agents take cyanide pills to kill themselves to avoid revealing info in torture conditions
For those sensitive to shakey cam, there are times during many of the episodes that mig by bother you. It’s easy enough to look away for the short periods of time without missing too much.
S1E3 38 minutes in a character falls into gravitonium and the screen rapidly flashes really bright for about 20 seconds. S1E3 on the subway after a woman breaks the emergency glass there are quick flashes as the lights go out for about 10 seconds. s1e4 16 min in theres a shot of a flashing computer screen. S1E8 has lots of flashbacks when Ward grabs a staff, they happen rapidly throughout the episode. S1E17 35 minutes in right after a character says "but shoot that one in the knee caps" there are some unexpected flashing lights as the lights go out. S1E20 3 min 22 seconds in there are police car lights for about 5-10 seconds.
S2E1 3 minutes in a character takes pictures with flash. S2E3 1min 48 seconds there is a screen with flashing lights that get increasingly bright for about 10 seconds. 19 min 47 seconds until 21 min 2 seconds has another scene with the flashing lights from the screen. S2E4 the power goes out in the bus and flickers a lot. S2E7: when Coulson goes under the memory machine there are big differences in light/dark for about 30 seconds S2E8: starts with some bright flashes S2E11: right after the shield logo goes on the screen around the 4 minute mark there are 3 bright flashes that last en total for about 5 seconds. When Coulson says "everyone deals with it in their own way" and it cuts to May hitting a punching bag there is a welder in the background. S2E12: about 15 minutes in while Coulson and Bobbi are in the ward there are flashing emergency lights in the background for a minute or so
S3E1: 29 min in the power goes out in a hospital and they flash some S3E11: starts with police responding to an emergency and their lights are on. Lasts several minutes. Later when they infiltrate the police station a building alarm goes off and there are strobe effects from the emergency lights on the alarm. Only lasts about a minute S3E17: at the end of the episode Daisy causes an earthquake and some of the lights flash S3E18: starts with the aftermath of episode 17 and has some emergency flashing lights S3E21: 2:40-3:20 has some flashing lights in a plane. Again from 18:27-19:20 when Hive walks into a trap. After this there are some single flashes in scenes with Hive.
S4E3: ends with a press conference. When the speaker drops a curtain there are lots of camera flashes for about 5-10 seconds. The last scene at 41 minutes has the conference on TV and there are flashes off and on screen for until end of episode S4E10: 9:42-11:40 flashing emergency lights after a plane crash
S5E7: 39:44-40:00 flashing emergency lights while in the trawler S5E19: full of flickering lights throughout episode S5E21: flickering lights throughout episode
S6E4: first two minutes of episode have flashy gunfire S6E5: 9:22-10:02, 11:19-:13:00
In early season 2 people don't know how to act around Fitz, and a character talks about their "psychotic" ex wife. Main characters regularly use ableist language about Skye's father.
While there is no explicit anti-semitism, the main characters frequently fight HYDRA which is a Nazi organisation (it is however poorly written and the Nazi side of it is regularly erased)
In 6x01 a gay man discusses his deceased partner. In 6x11 a manifestation of his partner is brought to life to torment him, and discusses his death in detail, before being killed. No non-manifestation gay people die on screen, however.
In season 2-4 (and the first half of season 5), multiple characters (including some mains) say that this (alien) group of people should be "exterminated" or there needs to be a vaccine to "cure" them. Mid season 3 and early season 4, has one of the alien (mains) fighting a group of people who spread hate, and occasionally start violent attacks against the alien group. In season 4, fourteen aliens were killed on one night by the hate group (offscreen).
People kiss and flirt freely.
In S1 there are multiple post-sex scenes with characters wearing half dressed (without a shirt, or pants).
In S4, there is a long conversation between two characters in bed while the aren't wearing any clothes.
Depends on the season, really. While seasons 1,2, and 4 have (in a way) a happy ending, seasons 3 and 5 do not have one because of Lincoln's death, Fitz's death, and Coulson's approaching death.
S2E1 end of episode someone gets hit by a car on purpose but has powers that keep him from getting hurt. S2E21: end of the episode Cal gets hit by a car but is uninjured
S4E1: ghost rider kills someone by hitting them with a car
General small scrapes and bumps from combat. S1E4 3 minutes in shows an amputated hand and the wrist up close for a few seconds. s1e4 there is an eye surgery in the end of the episode about 30 minutes in and there is a shot if the eye out of the socket but still attached via the nerve. S1E8 near the end of the episode an asguardian gets stabbed in the chest, CPR is done and Jemma's hands get bloody, Coulson has to shove his hand into the wound. S1E11 34 minutes in is a graphic open brain surgery. The last minute or two of S1E11 shows someone thought to be dead but actually lived, they are bloodied and have an amputated leg. S1E13 is particularly bad. End of S1E18 Ward gets beat up pretty bad. S1E22 16 minutes in a character grabs another and pulls out their rib with his bare hand (the sounds were bad).
S2E1 has a bloody start. S2E5 35 minutes in has the bodies of 3 murdered people with a lot of blood. S2E8: very graphic surgery from 37:10 to 38:00 S2E21: particularly bad. See "is there torture"
Season 3's big bad has a power to take people's energy and leaves them as bloody skeletons. S3E3: there's a bloody brawl that Hunter gets into S3E6: 36 minutes in Von Strucker is shown very bloody after being tortured (torture not shown) S3E8: starting scene ends with someone getting shot in the neck and dying S3E11: end of episode there is a brief scene with Hive with bloody skeletons in a circle around him S3E15: Hive uses his power to get someone to hand over their company. Gideon Malick squishes someone's head S3E16: skeleton from previous episode is being studied at the lab S3E17: graphic autopsy S3E22: character gets shot multiple times in the stomach and bleeds heavily
S4E11: May gets cut on a piece of glass (Stopped counting for a whole after season 3 until end of season 4, but s4 isn't too bad besides some robot beheadings)
S4E22: 16 minutes in a drill is put through a robot eye, it's very lifelike
S5e1:17 min in a new character gets a claw through the back of the head and out the eye. 24 min in May gets stabbed in the forearm on screen. S5E3: about 30 minutes in a girl who can control her density put her arm through a man's stomach and it's bloody as it comes out S5E5: 38 min two people are shot in the head on screen S5E7: 12 min a throat is slit and sprays across a wall. 36 min kree gets stabbed from behind and blue blood comes out of his mouth S5E7: 33 min Robin gets stabbed in the stomach S5E10: 10 min man bleeds black from his eyes. 34 min in a character's throat gets cut, then another character drinks a potion that makes them bleed form their eyes.39 min in a character gets an axe through the back all the way through their chest. S5E11: 35 min in Elena (Yo-Yo) loses her arms. There's a surgery scene after that shows bloody instruments and surgery smock. S5E13: opening scene ends with a man getting stabbed in the hand with a pen S5E14: daisy has a forced surgery to remove the inhibitor after getting kidnapped by The Doctor S5E17: 9 min in Deke gets shot in the shoulder, once back on the plane he bleeds a lot on the floor. 13 min in he coughs up blood. There are surgery scenes throughout the episode after. 36 min Ivanof's head gets smashes when he gets pushed out a window. S5E18: 29 min a characters head gets crushed vividly on screen. 37 min in Yo-Yo cuts Ruby's throat it's very bloody until the shiels logo comes onto screen at the end of the episode S5E19: several people are crushed mid air it's very graphic and has awful audio S5E20: 6 min in a person is crushed mid air. 26 min in close up shot of a brain dissection S5E22: 29 min in a main character gets metal sheeting through their abdomen
S6E2: 23 minutes in two men are murdered and the first one gets sliced in the throat and blood sprays S6E4: autopsy done 17 min in. A chest cavity is splayed open S6E5: 20 min in character gets shot in the head S6E6: Heart gets torn out of Fitz's chest by Jemma's mind monster S6E10: very last scene man gets shot multiple times S6E11: opens with bloodied body shot. 24 min in possessed Piper shoots herself in the hand.