Marvel's Agents of Shield Season 2 Finale Hits Record Ratings Low for Series

The Season 2 finale of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. aired last night and fans are still reeling from the shocking developments in the episode. But apparently there weren't all that many fans, as the episode hit a series low for ratings.

The show fell to a series low 1.3 rating/4 share with adults 18-49 and approximately four million viewers overall. It's a surprising number given that the show had no major competition on during the two-hour time slots, and also given that the series had averaged at least a 1.5 or 1.6 for the last five episodes. The ratings also represent an approximately 30% decline from the first season finale.

Keep in mind, though, that the series usually does well in DVR playback, so the ratings should rise slightly in the next few days.

Executive producer Jeffrey Bell sat down with Variety to break down the finale. Let's begin with the end of episode tag, in which the Monolith swallowed up poor Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge):

“When we first started talking about the Monolith, we knew that it needed to present a threat and we needed to demonstrate some of that threat and the promise of more story, because we want more people to watch next year...It’s easy to kill a character for shock value or whatever, and we did have a number of deaths this season, but I don’t think they were so much for shock value... We prefer to leave you with something to talk about…The idea of getting Fitz and Simmons — who had been one person — to become two whole people, come back together, agree to go on a date, and then have this happen, felt beautifully poetic and promises some really intriguing stories next season.”

He also talked about Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) and his return to Hydra:

“It sure looked like Ward’s starting his Fight Club version of Hydra, but one of our challenges [is] any time you have an evil, villainous empire, what motivates those people? Whitehall this past year was just an old school Nazi — he was literally from the ’40s, and so for him that was about power, eugenics, control, it all made sense, and for Ward to come to this place honestly… This is a guy who, a couple of episodes earlier, was really happy that he got to spend time with the old team and feel like he was part of that, but then after Agent 33’s death at his hands he did discover that he likes being part of a team. So for us, it’s a natural growth for the character, as twisted as he may be, and the idea of him with a personal vendetta against our group of SHIELD gives him all the motive he needs.”

Are you surprised by the ratings? Let us know in the comments section.