The first two episodes of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s third season seem to have the main purpose of laying the groundwork for the long-term story arc. Last week, we were introduced to ATCU and Lash. This week, episode 2 almost felt like it should have been the second hour of a 2-hour premiere, as key characters missing last week finally got their time in front of the camera.
SPOILERS AHEAD
First off, we finally get to see where May has been hiding since the end of last season. She had given the impression that she wanted to take some time off from S.H.I.E.L.D., but come on, did anyone actually believe that would last? S.H.I.E.L.D. without May would be like MI6 without James Bond. And as I stated in my Eight Burning Questions for the show earlier this week, May is just not the type to sit around and drink tea at home.
But that’s where we find her – at home, hanging out with her dad (played by none other than James Hong, whom you will remember as “Lo Pan” in the criminally-underrated “Big Trouble in Little China”). From their chats, we learn that May’s mother and father are divorced, and she’s just like her mother – tough as nails. But as much as she might enjoy reminiscing, we get the sense that May is just not the homebody type – she has a home, and it’s S.H.I.E.L.D.
And sure enough, right on cue, British class-clown Agent Hunter comes knocking on May’s door, using all of his trademark sardonic wit to try and convince Agent May that she needs to come back to S.H.I.E.L.D. At first, May brushes him off with her trademark “I’ll kill you before you hit the floor” stare, but Hunter plays the Ace card: Ward is still out there, and they need her help to take him down. Smart move – May is as good as back, folks.
Speaking of Ward, it turns out he has been busy lately, planning to kidnap a rich brat for ransom. After Ward captures the little punk off of his very expensive yacht, we learn that this is no ordinary spoiled brat – this is Werner Von Strucker, the son of Baron Von Strucker, the legendary leader of HYDRA. Ward’s plan is unveiled: little Werner will take over as a sort of “figurehead” leader of HYDRA, presumably with Ward as the Puppet Master.
With this episode, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. answers two of the big questions we had going into this season – how much of a role Ward and May would have in the season’s story arc. Clearly, the answer is, a lot, and it almost seems like they are setting the two up for a collision course as the series comes to a head. Will this season see a final confrontation between these two rivals? I am betting the answer is yes, as there is still a lot of unresolved bad blood there that never really got addressed in previous seasons. Now, May is coming back pretty much just to get Ward, and if she is denied that, things could get really ugly.
As for the other threads from episode one, Fitz, Morse, Daisy and Coulson continue to try and figure out how to use the alien portal to rescue Jemma from … whatever it is she needs to be rescued from. She is on some alien planet, somewhere, but nobody is even sure where she is, or if she is still alive. Good old Fitz, however, refuses to give up, and in his dogged quest to save his friend, he seems to have finally found his Mojo. Hell, even his stammer seems to have cleared up.
Fitz convinces the rest of the team to help him, and they enlist the help of Elliot Randolph – you remember, the thousand-year-old dude who helped them with that Berserker Staff from Season 1. He takes them to an abandoned British castle with – naturally – ancient Hebrew inscriptions all over its walls. The crew deciphers the clues and finds a hidden passage to an underground lab containing another alien portal. Is it me, or did Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. suddenly turn into Uncharted? Moving on.
Using Daisy’s powers, Fitz travels through the liquefied portal and somehow saves Jemma. It is a truly heartfelt moment, despite the improbability of it all – I mean, he happened to come out right where she was? And she stayed near the portal the whole time? And she looks pretty well-fed despite …. ok, it’s a TV show, I know.
Bottom line, “Purpose in the Machine” has put a lot of the show’s pieces back in place. May is back (ok she didn’t actually say she is yet, but she is). Ward is back to being … Ward. And Jemma is reunited with the team, and seems to finally feel for Fitz what he feels for her, if that last hug she gave him is any indication. Plus, we met some new players this week as well – Werner Von Strucker clearly welcome’s Ward’s offer of leadership in HYDRA, and Dr. Andrew Garner looks like he will be staying a while at S.H.I.E.L.D. after things didn’t work out with May.
But the episode was missing the ATCU and Lash – who were huge parts of last week’s show. It looks like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will have a number of concurrent threads running at once, and how they all tie together is not yet clear. There is a danger that it could all get too confusing – the show’s writers have hopefully not bitten off more than they can chew with all the different elements going on. This season is certainly the most “full” of any so far – let’s hope that’s a good thing.