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

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season 1, Episode 11 “The Magical Place” (B-)

I half-liked this episode, since it is intriguing to find out that Coulson was dead not for a few seconds or minutes but for a few days and was actually begging for his life to be ended. It doesn’t quite fit, however, with the show’s light tone, and such serious gloom and doom, including the ending shot of Mike waking up without a leg and ready to be the next unwilling weapon to be killed in the service of an evil enemy. Coulson remains a strong character, and it’s good to see the relationship between him and Skye continuing, highlighted by his verbal command to deactivate the bracelet. Skye posing as Agent May and exhibiting some tough girl techniques wasn’t entirely believable, and her character is the ultimate reason that this show feels childish, always demonstrating its characters’ desire to be like the superheroes they saw on TV growing up. May’s approval of Skye does mean something, as does Ward’s, and Skye’s undying loyalty to Coulson is commendable. After remaining at large for so long, it didn’t take much for Raina to find herself in custody, though I assume she’ll follow suit of her recently deceased associate Po and try to escape her confines soon. The Clairvoyant is an interesting idea, and I just hope that when we finally see him, it will be worth the wait. This show is continuing to provide a decent amount of action each week, but it’s not quite cutting it in the dramatic department yet.