What I’m Watching: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season 1, Episode 8 “The Well” (B+)

This is just the kind of episode that this show needs to have. Its best asset is its choice of guest star: Erin Way, one of the best things about Syfy’s prematurely cancelled sci-fi series “Alphas.” Though she didn’t get to say much as the rage-possessed Petra, she was still an instance of smart casting and a great nod to a dearly departed genre show. The incorporation of Asgardian mythology, of the Marvel variety, into this episode, was fun, and I liked the multiple references to Thor and his agreed-upon dreaminess. This show isn’t going to be able to lean on its “Avengers” roots permanently, and I’m glad that it’s choosing what to include and what not to include wisely. Drawing out the rage once experienced by Ward and then May through the power of the staff was cool, and it helped to humanize two usually stoic characters. Seeing them bond at the end of the episode in a very emotionless but likely physical fashion was unexpected though not too surprising when you really think about it, and it’s going to devastate Skye when she inevitably finds out. Seeing the transformation that Ward and May underwent through the eyes of Skye, Fitz, and Simmons made it all the more impactful, and I am liking the dynamics of this team more and more as time goes on. Coulson’s continued probing into what happened to him while he was in Tahiti is proving to be involving, especially when presented in such a haunting way as it was at the end of this hour.