Orientation, Parts 1 and 2

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has begun its new season, and a new premise, with the two-part episode "Orientation." I'm trying not to read too much into ABC unceremoniously dumping the show on Friday night, the killing field of science fiction television. For years now, the thing that has kept this show on the air has been its so-called "Live+3" ratings, the number of viewers who catch up with the show within three days of its first airing. But I suppose 5 years is a good run for most shows, so I'm beginning the season-long process of preparing for this year to be the show's last.

It certainly starts in a fruitful place. Over the course of the two-parter, we learn that our heroes (minus Fitz) have been transported across both time and space, to an alien station of the far future, orbiting a dead Earth. Someone, yet to be identified, sent the agents there in the hopes they can save the day. But in the concentration camp atmosphere of the alien station, they're hard-pressed to get the revolution started.

The meta-commentary throughout the installment was perhaps the most delicious part of it. There was constant joking on the inevitability of being placed in this situation ("the only thing we haven't done"), the plots of alien/horror movies, and more. With such a dark story, the humor was all the more important, and landed well throughout.

There was also good work done in starting individual story lines for different characters. Simmons has been conscripted into the inner circle of the Kree ruler of the station, and it's already clear that the "pampered life" will have dangers of its own. Daisy has been paired with Deke, a defeated entrepreneur of the future that she'll have to whip into a hero. (She also learned, in the episode's final moments, that she is responsible for the end of the world. If true, she's got a truly incomprehensible amount of guilt to reckon with.) Coulson, Mack, and Yo-Yo are all consigned to a slavery within slavery, caught working for a "middle man" human who has them under his thumb. (Played by one of the creepiest, best "working actors" in the business, Pruitt Taylor Vince.)

There were a few misfires for me. The degree of May's injury conveniently came and went, depending on how much ass she needed to kick. I would have liked to see them play her wounded leg as truthfully as possible; it would be a nice turn for May's character to see her have to work without one of her strongest assets, her ability to beat down enemies with her bare hands. (But I also hope that ship hasn't yet sailed, depending on the time scale in which this season unfolds.)

I also was disappointed at the contrived separation of Fitz and Simmons once again. The writers hung a lantern on how the couple is, as always, cursed, but this obstacle thrown between them feels unnecessary to me. There's already the fallout of the Framework to deal with, and Jemma now being a servant of the Kree. Separating them by time travel is just one more obstacle on top of all that, and actually prevents the thoughtful exploration of the other two obstacles. Perhaps my opinion on this will shift if the story bounces back to the present and gives us an episode showcasing Fitz, but for now I'm just missing his presence of the show.

Overall, though, the episode(s) kicked off a promising arc to come. I'd give the two parts of "Orientation" a B+.