The Magical Place

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is back on the case after a month-long break for the holidays, with an episode much improved over the lackluster cliffhanger we were left with.

The best material of the episode was the storyline for Skye, making use of all the training Ward has given her to date, embracing her inner May (and impersonating her both humorously and effectively) to go kick some butt in the field. It was nice to see the character forced out of her comfort zone, to find that she wasn't actually as uncomfortable as she might have thought. A nice showcase for the character.

Of course, the main attraction was the long-awaited reveal of "what happened to Agent Coulson?" Well, sort of. We sort of learned the "what" of his resurrection, if not exactly the "how" -- apparently he is not a robot, a clone, or anything like that. In fact, they seemed to be saying that the "how" wasn't actually important. Would any of us really be satisfied to hear a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo that amounts to: Coulson was literally brought back to life with machines and Frankenstein-esque science and stuff? Are we still meant to assume there are further layers of conspiracy for Coulson to mine here?

On the one hand, it was somewhat unsatisfying in its simplicity. The writers strung out the mystery too long, and with each passing week since the series began, the resolution needed to be exponentially better to live up to the hype. Certainly, we didn't get there. On the other hand, the show touched some real darkness, altogether different in tone from its usually light-hearted nature. Coulson was conscious and in intense pain while being operated on? He was begging to be allowed to die? That's seriously messed up, and this being a Joss Whedon-created show, the series is unlikely to just move on from that revelation. This will have some consequences for Coulson, and exploring them might give the series a much needed new dimension.

And for once, the throwaway tag scene after the final commercial was rather compelling. I think all of us in the audience expected that Mike Peterson wouldn't really be dead. But to reveal him maimed by the accident, and now under enemy control as we've seen in past episodes? There should be a good episode coming to deal with all that.

I'd call this a step back in the right direction for the series. "The Magical Place" gets a B.