Agents of SHIELD needed to come out of the corner swinging, and that’s exactly what it did.  There’s none of the angst of Daisy/Skye trying to come to terms with her new role; she stands a lot more confident in herself and her place in the world.  Coulson’s mandate is all about the Inhumans and helping Daisy build her unit, while dealing with the realization that the spread of terrigen cannot be contained and others want to exploit the aborning Inhumans for their own purposes. 

There’s no doubt that the Inhumans are meant to fill the gap left by the absence of mutants in the MCU, and for the most part, it works on the same level.  There is a definite “God Loves Man Kills” vibe to the way Inhumans are being seen as a threat, and there is the obvious question of whether or not SHIELD is any better than their adversaries when it comes to how they choose to handle Inhumans as a whole.  There are certainly more than a few problematic tactics employed, taking a lot of agency out of the hands of the “afflicted”.


The writers did drive home the metaphors a bit heavily; after all, if mutanthood has long been viewed as a coded treatment of societal views and discrimination of the LGBT community, and Inhumans are the mutants of the MCU, then isn’t it beating the drum pretty hard to have the new Inhuman at the center of the storm be a gay man?  It’s less an objection to Joey’s orientation than an irritation at the lack of subtlety.

Of course, if SHIELD’s containment and utilization strategy is problematic, it looks like paradise compared to what the US government has in mind.  It’s good to be reminded that SHIELD is still considered a threat themselves, and also that in the wake of Age of Ultron, the MCU is a far more paranoid place.  Is the government’s treatment of Inhumans part of the lead-up to Captain America: Civil War?  It would seem so, and from that perspective, it doesn’t look good for society as a whole.  Battle lines are clearly being drawn.


Meanwhile, there are a lot of Inhumans out there, and more emerging over time, as the terrigen-infused food chain activates those with the right genetic background.  What is interesting is that some of the existing Inhumans aren’t particularly pleased with the idea of letting this process continue.  It’s another source of external conflict that can serve to help the team bond more closely, now that the internal strife is at a relative low.





The premiere also gave Fitz some much-needed love, as he is coming out of his previous ordeals with a sense of purpose: Simmons.  While she is off in the cosmos somewhere, Fitz is risking everything to figure out what happened to her.  That final scene of him screaming at the monolith was amazing, and it once again highlights how far the characters have come since the beginning.  FitzSimmons has become the emotional core of the series.


There was even some gratifying character shading for Bobbi and Hunter, both as an apparent couple and as individuals.  I love that Mockingbird’s scientific side is getting some screen time!  The only piece missing is Agent May, but something tells me that will be addressed soon enough.  There were too many other plot and character items to address as it was!