Last season, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. left us with with a tremendous amount of loss. While the team remained more or less functional, the tragedy that befell our favorite Marvel agency was all too painful. Daisy (formerly Skye) lost the family she had been searching for since childhood, Coulson lost his hand protecting the team from the Terrigen crystal, Agent May decided to leave without so much as a goodbye, and Fitzsimmons was torn apart when Gemma was consumed by the mysterious Monolith, now believed to be dead. All the heartache aside, there was still a lot of clean up to be done. The remaining crystals which were thrown into the ocean, have now had their deadly power infused with the local sea life, and distributed among the populace.
The season three premiere introduces us to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new objective since we last saw them. The Terrigen matter, while not causing harm to any humans that have come into contact with it, has begun to activate dormant inhumans across the country, and its up to them to rescue and rehabilitate them. All the while, a new covert agency is working against them to capture and experiment on the inhumans for, so far, inexplicable means.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The premiere episode shows us a city in the midst of havoc as a scared and bewildered man names Joe is tearing apart a city block with powers he clearly can't control. He appears to have the ability to destabilize and melt matter just by being near it. Unaware of what to do or who to turn to, he is immediately stopped by a team of clandestine soldiers attempting to arrest him. After the troops are thrown around courtesy of Daisy in her full, comic book hero Quake uniform, he's carried away in a specialized cell and flown into the team's new "Bus" plane, a much nicer and teched-out replacement for their former flying fortress, which met its demise last season.
Right away, we get a season opener with a lot of action, suspense, and a brilliant showcase of how S.H.I.E.L.D. has bounced back since all their recent unpleasantness. Once Joe is given the "your powers are dangerous and you can't go back to your old life" speech we've admittedly heard a few times before, the team's focus shifts towards the organization that sent the soldiers after him in the first place. The first theory that comes to mind is obviously Hydra, but Coulson suspects something more complex, considering their apparent leader, a woman named Rosalind Price, has some ulterior motives in rounding up inhumans, and possibly a common enemy with S.H.I.E.L.D.
One of the most exciting acts of this episode occurs when Daisy and Mac attempt to recruit former ally, Lincoln Campbell (a.k.a. Sparkplug), from his happy life as an ER doctor. With the evergrowing rate of inhumans, S.H.I.E.L.D. has tasked themselves with finding and rehabilitating them before the wrong people acquire them and harness their abilities for otherwise nefarious means. Daisy first met Lincoln when he was working with her mother on the secluded retreat designed to help activated inhumans control their new powers, so who better to assist in the cause. His refusal, however, went unheeded as they are promptly attacked by a large, Saiyan-haired monster, who fans will recognize as the first inhuman villain from the comics to make an appearance, the energy manipulating Lash. It's unclear in the show why he's hunting Lincoln, but if the comics are anything to go by, Lash is an inhuman zealot, believing said powers are deserving only to the worthy, and seeks to eliminate those he deems unfit for them.
This brings us to Fitz. It was everyone's guess that Fitz would have been the last on the team to be able to get over the loss of Simmons after her devastating encounter with the Monolith. Refusing to believe she's dead, they reference that Fitz has had a number of leads and theories as to what happened, despite all tests showing the rock is inactive and completely solid throughout. As we know from past seasons, Leo Fitz is not a man to be taken lightly when he has nothing to lose. We see him on an unauthorized excursion to Morocco, where he plans to meet a black market dealer by the name of Yusif. Apparently, he's in possession of an ancient scroll said to explain exactly what the Monolith actually is. After Fitz pulls a total Heisenberg with the booby trapped weapons he planned to trade, he manages to get away with the scroll, completely unaware of the disappointment he was holding in his hands. As it turns out, the scroll was written in ancient Hebrew with a single word, which translates to "death". Fortunately, true to fashion for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the pre-credit closer left us with a massive cliffhanger, albeit confirming most of the fan theories from last season: Simmons is alive, but hardly well. She appears to be stranded on a desert alien planet, confirmed by the multiple planets and moons in the sky!
From the very beginning, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has had a rough start. While the show being helmed by geek icon, Joss Whedon, has always been well written and masterfully executed, it struggled to find a wider spread audience. Although it's commercially popular as an extended part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the ratings aren't as high as one would expect, despite being associated with the brand. The show's been hard-pressed to reach past the hardcore Marvel fans who just want to absorb and keep up with the overall mythos. The first two seasons introduced us to some lovable characters, unforgettable moments, and some very dark twists that deserve more recognition that they've been getting. This season seems to promise so much more. We've already been introduced to multiple superpowered characters, alien races, and several tie-ins to the films that will hopefully turn Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. into a much larger, respected franchise.
