It’s been almost a month since we had a new episode, but Agents of SHIELD is finally back! The last episode ended with the team in disarray. Skye’s been shot and is comatose in critical condition. And after finding out the truth about his resurrection, Coulson doesn’t know who he can trust.
At the start of Tahiti, Coulson’s crew is airborne, desperately trying to find somewhere they can bring Skye. Coulson instructs the team to bring him to the SHIELD facility that treated him after the battle of New York. One problem: that SHIELD facility doesn’t exist and the main doctor who operated on Coulson seems to have disappeared. Coulson tries getting Fury on the line, which sadly does not lead to Samuel L. Jackson making a cameo.
Fitz, being awesome, figures out what the secret facility actually is, and in an audience-disbelief defying maneuver, manages to figure out that the 3D file he’s looking at isn’t actually encrypted, but rather an inside-out topographical map. In Fitz’s defense, this scene looked awesome, especially when the 3D map dissolved into the real mountain on screen.
A hamper in Coulson’s plan to save Skye occurs when the bus is boarded by Ward’s old SO, Agent John Garrett (Bill Paxton!!), and Garrett’s new Ward, whose name I forget, so I’m calling him Ward 2.0. Ward 2.0 has a thing for Simmons. Can’t blame him. Garrett and Ward 2.0 want Ian Quinn. Quinn was responsible for some of Garrett’s team dying and Garrett wants him for questioning. I was super-convinced during this episode that Garrett and Ward 2.0 were going to be double agents working to free Quinn. I kept waiting for them to turn on Coulson’s team. And it never happened. Sorry for not trusting you more, Mr. Paxton.
We’re given a question along with some answers in regards to Coulson’s resurrection. It’s not Tahiti. It’s T.A.H.I.T.I. What’s T.A.H.I.T.I. stand for? No clue. But we do find out what’s in this week’s McGuffin, the mysterious drug that was used during Coulson’s operation that could also save Skye. It’s alien blood. As least I hope it’s alien blood. The alien on ice that it’s coming from in T.A.H.I.T.I. is bisected at the waist. I hope that tube isn’t coming from its small intestine. “Here, Skye, take this alien juice. What is it? It’s not alien diarrhea. We promise you that. Definitely not alien diarrhea! Okay, we’ll be going now.” Coulson possibly had the same thought, because a very shaken Coulson is screaming for the team not to inject Skye…only it was too late. Skye’s got alien juice in her…and she’s saved! For now. I’m not saying she’s going to go all Jeff Goldblum in The Fly after that injection, but there’s got to be at least one unintended consequence that comes from it, right?
The final scene leads directly into next week’s episode. A red-headed Asgardian arrives by way of the bi-frost in Death Valley. She quickly hypnotizes a newlywed dude to ditch his wife and drive her away. I immediately thought we were seeing the Marvel Cinematic Universe debut of the Enchantress! But then she says her name…Lorelei, aka the Enchantress’s lesser known sister. We’ll get more Asgardian fun next week, as Sif arrives on the scene to take down Lorelei.
Comic Book Tie-Ins
John Garrett is an Agent of SHIELD that made his first appearance in the hit 1980s miniseries, Elektra: Assassin. I wish they let him keep his bitchin’ mustache on the show.
Lorelei can be easily confused with her more popular sister, Amora The Enchantress. Both are Norse gods with the power to bend men’s will to their whims. Lorelei first appeared during Walt Simonson’s run of Thor, in Thor #382. As a side note, Walt Simonson’s Thor run also saw the debut of Malekith, the main bad guy in Thor: The Dark World.
