Tancharoen added the series was "more case-of-the-week" when it first premiered, but that allowed them to plant various story devices that could be fully explored once they got passed the Hydra reveal.In October 2012, a casting sheet for five lead roles was sent out.All season-two principal cast members returned for the third season,Gregg, Wen, Bennet, De Caestecker, Henstridge, and Simmons returned for the fourth and fifth seasons.Wen, Bennet, De Caestecker, Henstridge, Simmons, and Cordova-Buckley return for the sixth and seventh seasons, and were joined by Ward.Betsy Heimann was the costume designer for the pilot, but left the series because of film commitments. Dutch's relationship with Tina becomes complicated following meddling by Billings. The agents rely on their strengths to survive.The series finale, Part 1. Mackey puts weight on Murray to secure Vendrell fully blames Mackey for his situation, and has Mara coerce Corrine via phone call in providing them with information on the police's search activities, asserting she is as involved as Mackey is in his corruption. Wyms becomes furious that Mackey has effectively protected himself from police arrest. The attack falls through, and the cops discover from the crook of Vendrell's involvement. Akers is credited as co-composer alongside McCreary for the seventh season.In July 2013, Jed Whedon said the series would work in tandem with the Marvel films, both past and upcoming, to weave in between the films, and to "try to make them more rewarding on both ends. The team must figure out their role, delving deeper into this nightmarish mystery to try to right what has gone incredibly wrong.The series finale, Part 2. The walls close in on Vic when Kavanaugh invades the Barn and sets up office. However, Kleinheinz felt that this mindset also came from within the series crew rather than just from Marvel, saying, "there's also the storytelling modus operandi that showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen have very obviously demonstrated during their four-year tenure. Dutch and Claudette begin to suspect Kavanaugh's integrity. If the executive producers sign off on a story, a member of the series' writers room then produces an outline, gets notes on it from the showrunners, writes a full script, gets notes on it from ABC and the production crew, and then goes to set to produce the episode.In January 2013, Joss Whedon deflected any direct influences from other series, such as the efforts of On the balance between creating new material and drawing from existing mythology, Bell noted that telling stories that can entertain both Marvel fans and non-Marvel fans is challenging, and that for the series they try to add nods to the MCU films or the comics in a way that works well on its own for all viewers, but could also mean more for a fan.In September 2015, Bell looked back on the first two seasons and talked about the challenges of and changes in the series. After defeating AIDA with the help of Ghost Rider, the team went to a diner to celebrate but were interrupted by a mysterious man who rendered them frozen. There was a lot of excitement surrounding the Series 5 ruleset for online Pokemon Sword and Shield battles. A meeting between the Armenians and cartel is arranged, one which Mackey expects the Armenians will be wiped out; as he still does not trust Vendrell, Mackey has Gardocki tamper with his sidearm, and when Vendrell is at the meeting, he barely escapes with his life, and arranges with a small-time crook to perform simultaneous hits on Mackey and Gardocki. Julien, after suffering a beating during the season 2 finale has toughened considerably leading Claudette feeling alarmed that he may wash out.