S.H.I.E.L.D., Jan 7 - The Magical Place

And so, “Agents” are back! Their latest episode, “The Magical Place”, was worth the wait. True, their reference to 36 hours that passed in their world seem almost mocking, considering that in our universe we had to wait for the new year to see it, but it paid off.

First of all, the biggest fixture was Coulson. We learn more about his biography than we have ever before. He was the son of a single mother who died from grief when he died in the battle of New York (i.e. the first Avengers movie). He was also dead for days and had been rebuilt using some unbelievable machinery that is not even shown. He also wanted to die during his rebuilding and had to be brainwashed, or at least manipulated by S.H.I.E.L.D. into believing that he stayed in Tahiti in order for him to recover mentally as well as physically. Obviously, this just may backfire into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s collected face now that Coulson knows the truth, but Coulson in many ways is like Homer’s Odysseus, who kept loyal to his Penelope no matter what – only Coulson is loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. instead.

And his team reciprocates this fully – but it may not be just them. After all, to both Hill and Fury, Coulson was obviously important to bring him back, and while their methods were questionable, their motives probably were not – something to think about in the future. Coulson’s team’s loyalty, of course, is evident now, in this episode, as they work around the clock and partially against agent Hand’s wishes in rescuing him.

As always, the Fitz and Simmons duo are together, but they are showing greater independent thinking – they are thinking less by the book and more from their personal experience, as do agents Ward and May. In May’s case it was to let Skye go out into the field, away from Hand’s more stifling atmosphere and command methods, while Ward resolved to some tougher ways in interrogating Van Chet. (I am not sure if the man will reappear in the following episodes - considering that Poe is either dead or incapacitated, and Raina is arrested, someone must take up the mantle of lesser evil!) Fitz and Simmons, of course, are just being more independent-minded – last time that agent Hand was involved in “The Hub”; they were much more willing to go with what she says.

Also, it should be noted that Ward and May have finally resolved to verbal communication - clearly, they have drifted apart (at least as characters, maybe not as a couple) not to understand each other with just glances. A minor detail, but it may be important.

If the main characters are clearly evolving as, well, characters, so does the main story plotline – but in more unexpected ways. For one thing, as it was said above, Poe is probably dead and Raina was arrested, plus the Centipede itself was disabled and defeated by S.H.I.E.L.D., so the mysterious Clairvoyant has to find new flunkies, or go back to his/hers day job...considering that he got “the Hooded Hero”, Mike Peterson, under his control at the end of the episode...yeah, the Clairvoyant just doesn’t need the Centipede anymore.

So: the titular team is back together, they have risen to the challenge and emerged changed for the better, but so has the final villain too, and the show isn’t through with Mike Peterson yet. The next episodes will be interesting ones indeed!