Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 14: T.A.H.I.T.I.

Hey, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is back, after a month or so off. 

I think the long hiatus was a bad idea. The show was finally starting to build up some decent momentum and then they torpedoed it by going off the air during the Olympics (which weren't even aired on ABC!). Bad move! 

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Plot:
Last time we saw the show Skye had just been gut-shot by evil industrialist Ian Quinn. This week Coulson does everything he can to save her and then some. Bill Paxton shows up a cocky fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named John Garrett who has a past with both Coulson and Ward. Everyone runs around for a while, they save Skye, the end.

Thoughts:
• Gettin' real tired of typing all these periods in your titles, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

• This whole "everyone's doing whatever it takes to save Skye" plot seemed a little forced. I guess I get why Coulson wants to save her so badly; he feels guilty for putting a newbie in harm's way. But why does Garrett care? He doesn't even know her, yet within five minutes he's flaunting direct orders and trying to save her as well.

Not to mention the fact that we're all supposed to be on pins and needles, worrying whether Skye will make it or not. It doesn't feel like the show or the character has earned such emotion from us yet. You shouldn't be fake-killing one of your characters this soon in your run.

• Nice to see Bill Paxton on TV again. Too bad he's not a regular.

• Wow, that Tripp (Garrett's subordinate) moves fast, doesn't he? Five minutes after coming on board the Bus he's macking on Simmons like nobody's business. This little subplot seems a bit rushed, doesn't it? 

I have to assume they're setting up some love triangle between FitzSimmons and Tripp.

• So Coulson wasn't saved by S.H.I.E.L.D. as we thought. Instead Fury took him to the Guest House, some super secret medical facility. Yet another layer troweled onto the mystery of his resurrection.

• Dang, those paper trails get you every time. FitzSimmons determine that Skye's best chance for survival is an experimental drug called GH325. Unfortunately the only place to get it is at the Guest House, the location of which is top secret. FitzSimmons figure out where it is by examining Fury's travel expense receipts.

Somehow I doubt a top secret agency like S.H.I.E.L.D. would be that sloppy, but they've only got 43 minutes to tell the story, so they had to move things along quickly.

• I could have sworn Simmons mentioned calling Dr. Strange, but according to the interwebs she said Dr. Streiten. You know, the doctor who brought Coulson back from the dead. Darn. I was hoping they were using this episode as a way to bring Dr. Strange into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

• The Team arrives at the Guest House and politely ask to come in. The two security guards quite rightly won't open the door for them, so Coulson and his Away Team kill them. Yep, kill them. 

Were these two guys working for Centipede? Hydra? The I.R.S.? Were they in any way evil? We'll never know, as they were gunned down for doing their job, just so Coulson could save Skye. Whose survival supersedes all else, dontcha know.

Kind of have a problem with this. Killing them seemed a bit over the top. What happened to Fitz's non-lethal Night Night Gun?

Coulson continuously violated direct orders all through this episode, forced his subordinates to break the law by read classified documents, and killed security guards who got in his way. This guy's supposed to be a hero?

• Fitz finds a cryo tank chock full of vials of the GH325 regeneration formula. He grabs exactly one of them, conveniently leaving the rest to be blown to kingdom come when the Guest House explodes.

How did he know one vial would be enough? What if it takes a series of injections over time? And why wouldn't you want to grab all of it you could to study it, and even replicate it?

• I'm betting the GH325 formula's somehow going to unlock Skye's latent super powers.

• Right before the Guest House blows up real good, Coulson finds a medi-pod containing what looks to be half of Dr. Manhattan's body. Whoops! Wrong comic universe!

So who (or what) was the blue guy? Was he a Kree (a blue-skinned alien race that plagued the Avengers in the comics)?

I have to admit the blue guy took me by surprise. I was fully expecting Coulson to see a clone (or series of clones) of himself inside the pod.

• After Skye's saved and everything's OK again, why is Coulson so shaken by the discovery of the blue guy? Surely not because it's an alien (if it is one, that is). Earth's already encountered Asgardians and the Chitauri, so humanity knows it's not alone in the universe. What's the big deal about one more alien race?

I'm guessing the GH325 formula was derived from the captive alien and Coulson was repulsed by the idea of alien blood coursing through his veins.

• In the tag scene, fourth-rate Thor villain Lorelei shows up in the desert. She's teamed up with Loki in the past, and I guess that's why she's showing up here. When you can't get Tom Hiddleston to come on your show, you have to settle for his henchmen (or women).

Like Thor and Loki, Lorelei is an Asgardian. She's got all their usual powers, plus, as she demonstrated here, the ability to influence men's minds.

Not too keen on the actress who plays her though-- Asgardians need to be much more regal in attitude. Still, I'm looking forward to some hot Asgardian girl on girl action next week, as Lady Sif shows up to toss Lorelei back in the slammer.