Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Magical Place

November 23, 2014 8:01 PM - Season 1, Episode 11

36 hours have passed and a key member of the team is missing. So how will they get back together?

I'm finally getting around to seeing the rest of the first season, thanks to Netflix streaming. I'd appreciate no spoilers for stuff after this episode in the series, but most of the MCU is okay to spoil since I've seen all the movies to date.

Outside of the reactions on my blog entry on this episode, my biggest concern about the show is that it only serves to confuse more than it illuminates. I think I kinda like how Dr. Streiten thinks that someone who has lost the will to live is wrong somehow because that's just the kind of a doctor he is. That's a great character moment there. But I'm also wondering if the "the dead should stay dead" notion is an oblique commentary on Joss Whedon's reliance on the "Anyone Can Die" trope as well as one on the Revolving Door of Death thing that the Marvel Comics have done so often over the years.

posted by TrishaLynn (3 comments total)

I kept waiting for S.H.I.E.L.D. to get better in the first season, and this episode is where it lost me. For the whole season up to this point, they were hyping the Coulson reveal. And when they finally got there, it felt like such a letdown. Also, is there anything stupider than an airplane making a k-turn? That will shave, like, 30 seconds off of the total flight time?

Fortunately, I was curious to see how it would handle the aftermath of The Winter Soldier and discovered that the show had suddenly gotten a whole lot better.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:21 AM on November 24, 2014

I think the first season of S.H.I.E.L.D. is an object lesson for show runners: never let external forces dictate the pacing of your show.
posted by Pendragon at 11:42 AM on November 24, 2014

Well, I'm still trying to catch up to at least the first season. Glad to know it gets better.
posted by TrishaLynn at 5:43 AM on December 4, 2014