What I’m Watching: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season Premiere)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season 3, Episode 1 “Laws of Nature” (B)

This show is back for its third round, a surprising reality given the fact that it’s never really caught fire. Fortunately, last season was an improvement over the first, emphasizing action and a perpetual state of living on the run. Now, this show seems determined to become something else, establishing S.H.I.E.L.D. as an organization with a mission to bring in those who will be certainly shunned by the world now that their existence is coming to light and to recruit new members for their group of good doers. Naturally, they’re not the only ones after the inhumans (not to be confused with the evos from “Heroes Reborn”). The latest player to join the show is Constance Zimmer, well known from “Entourage,” “The Newsroom,” and “House of Cards,” as Rosalind Price, a fitting new nemesis for Coulson who will likely end up being more than General Talbot, an unwilling ally with similar if not entirely aligned goals. The team is in shambles, with May apparently gone vacationing – a likely story – and Simmons apparently trapped within the Monolith, though seen at the end of the episode in some sort of arctic locale running for her life. A newly confident Fitz is doing his very best to get himself killed, and an injured Bobbi is confined to the lab while struggling about reconciling with Hunter, who is dead set on killing Ward. And then we have Skye, now known as Daisy, leading the strike team with Mac by her side and Lincoln as an occasional unwilling consultant. This should be an interesting season if nothing else!