Agents of SHIELD: "Laws of Nature" Recap/Review (Season 3, Episode 1)

Agents of SHIELD is back after a rockin' second season, and the third season is off to a good start, though its premiere episode left me wanting more, but not just in the good way.

The opening scene definitely has an "Aaaaand we're back" vibe to it, as we witness the reaction to a guy named Joey's newly developed Inhuman powers (Curse you, fish oil pills!!!). He has gained the power to make things liquefy, which is pretty cool for the audience, but not for poor Joey. Just as a troop of mysterious soldiers is about to take him away, Skye Daisy arrives along with Mack and Hunter and uses her powers to quake em' up.  Seeing Daisy's using her powers like a pro was very cool, and was a great payoff after seeing her struggle to control her powers last season.

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The three bring Joey aboard the new Bus (which Coulson is loving) and return to HQ. Coulson has managed to get a picture of the soldiers' boss and begins to do some digging on her past while Skye Daisy and Teddy Bear Mack break the news to Joey that he will need to kiss his old life goodbye. The world has seen his powers and the destruction they bring; there's no going back, at least for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, Fitz is following a lead on what the heck that monolith is, what it does, and where Simmons is. His scenes were thoroughly entertaining and showed how much Fitz has recovered since he was dropped in the ocean by Ward.

Coulson and Hunter track down the mysterious woman. Turns out she's had multiple identities over the years, usually as a high-ranking member of other influential organizations. Currently, she's known as Rosalind Price. They try to get to her while she's alone, taking the train home. But, they get Admiral Ackbar'd

What follows is a superb back-and-forth between Price and Coulson, showing that each is more than a match for the other in terms of dry humour and knowledge on each other's pasts. Price even knows about Coulson's "death" and Project TAHITI. When Price moves to another car to answer a call, Coulson and Hunter seize their chance to escape.

Joey's not taking his situation well, so Daisy and Mack track down Lincoln, who's trying to live a normal life as a doctor. They want Lincoln to help Joey with his adjustment to his powers, but Lincoln refuses. He's come to the conclusion that his powers are a curse, which is an interesting development for the character. Last season, it seemed he was one of the biggest cheerleaders for "powers are gifts." I mentioned in my review of Season 2 that he was basically there just to give Skye and the audience info about Inhumans, and the writers seem to have acknowledged this. Lincoln even remarks that everything he said about powers being gifts were "lies, shoved down my throat," or something along those lines.

Almost on cue, Lash (not named on screen or in dialogue) attacks the hospital searching for Lincoln and killing anyone who gets in his way. Daisy and Lincoln hold him off using their powers (awesome), Lash escapes, and Lincoln flees. 

I felt Lash's appearance was kind of shoehorned into this episode. It felt unnatural to have him attack just after Lincoln renounced his Inhuman heritage and expressed his desire for a normal life. Perhaps that's part of his powers? (Sarcasm)

So, things are looking kind of bleak. Joey's not doing too well, the President (the same character/actor from Iron Man 3) has announced he is assigning the ATCU (Advanced Threat Containment Unit, the organization Rosalind is running) to controlling Inhuman activity, and Coulson runs a test and finds out that the entire population of Earth will have Terrigenisized by early 2017. Yikes.

But the biggest punch to the  ol' emotions comes when Fitz returns from his adventure with his prize.An ancient scroll which contains the answer to what the monolith is. All it reads is "DEATH" in Hebrew. Coulson tells Fitz it's time to move on and accept Simmons' fate, and at first Fitz accepts this. Once Coulson leaves, however, Fitz grabs a shotgun, heads to the room containing the monolith, shoots the locks off its cell, walks in, and screams for it to do something. Iain DeCaestecker's performance here was heart-wrenching. Poor Fitz just can't catch a break...

...but maybe he will next week. The episode's final scene shows Simmons on what appears to be another world. Like, alien world. She's obviously on the run from something or someone, since she desperately tries to cover the smell of some blood coming from a cut on her head. The "where'd Simmons go?" cliffhanger from last season's finale is the one I'm looking forward to getting answers to the most, and those answers look as though they're going to be really intriguing.

Buncha notes:

• Hunter certainly didn't have much to do this week. For the most part, he was there just to make quips when situations are looking bad. But I like that he's getting ready to track down and get some sweet vengeance on Ward.
• Bobbi taking over for Simmons in the lab is a cool idea. I don't think it'll last too long,but, dang, she's good at it.
• Coulson's new arm looks as though it'll come in HANDY (sorry not sorry).
• Ant-Man reference!
• One of Price's aliases is "Margaret Campbell." When we see her take a look at Lincoln's ID, she looks a bit concerned. Hmmm...
• It wasn't until Coulson mentioned it that I noticed May wasn't in this episode. Kinda made me feel bad. Sorry. Ming-Na Wen!
• The above picture of Simmons on the alien planet makes me wish so hard that a Guardians of the Galaxy/Agents of SHIELD crossover was in the cards. 

All in all, a good start to Season 3. The episode set up a lot of stuff for the rest of the year than give us a good story, but I can't say I'm not excited for what's coming up.

Noah