The Girl in the Flower Dress

Just two weeks ago, I was asking if Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would "go there," and actually have Skye turn against her new team in a Jayne-from-Firefly-like plot development. It turns out, it didn't take long for us to get the answer to that.

This week's new episode of the show wasn't quite amazing, but I think I chalk that up in part due to that comparison to Firefly, which played a similar story so effectively. But certainly, the episode did do a lot of things right.

In only the fifth episode, the show was boldly addressing some of the big questions posed in its pilot: What is Skye really out for? Who is behind this superpower serum? And it managed to provide some answers on these fronts while turning the page to move another chapter deeper into the mystery: Who are Skye's parents, and what did they have to do with SHIELD? Who is this imprisoned kingpin, and what is his role in the "Centipede" organization?

The exploration of Skye's history and motives definitely started to flesh her out as a better character, more than her "hacker with a heart of gold" broad strokes. I look forward to similar episodes that pull back the curtain on the other five mains.

And the humor worked particularly well this week, too. I'm always a fan of a well executed running gag, so "you gave him a name?" certainly won me over.

I'm still not sure that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has delivered a "grade A" episode that makes me an evangelist, but it at this point it's safe to say it has made me a believer. I give this week a B+.