'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' 1.14 "T.A.H.I.T.I." Review

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Apparently we're not quite done yet with the intricacies of the mystery surrounding Coulson's survival/resurrection as 'T.A.H.I.T.I.' raised a few more questions about his secret procedure. In the race against time to save Skye's life the team faces opposition and later assistance from fellow S.H.I.E.L.D agents, Garrett and Triplett, during a dangerous operation to an off the books medical facility.

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At first it seemed a little repetitive to explore something related to Coulson's resurrection. After all, much of the first season has followed along with the mysterious circumstances ending in a supposed conclusion that Agent Coulson was brought back from death thanks to a suspect medical procedure. It turns out that his second chance at life is possibly thanks to something far more cosmic in nature.

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Behind a hidden door, Coulson goes face to face with a bright blue alien who’s barely alive as half of its body has been cut away. I made a hell of a face at it if only because this show hasn’t gone so off the wall in featuring the truly strange things the Marvel universe has to offer--just a lot of people gaining powers because of accidents as well as asshole billionaires. So this bisected imprisoned creature that likely would be rasping ‘kill me’ if it could speak was a surprisingly graphic visual and it’s raised many questions about whether or not AOS is introducing a creature that so far hasn’t even been in any of the films of the MCU. Kree are an alien species that have the kind of advanced healing abilities which could reasonably be transformed into the GH serums it's been forced to produce. Of course this reveal opens up a slew of questions to ponder: how did it get to earth, who's the head of this project to use it against its will, and will being given the GH serums result in any nasty side effects down the line for Skye or for Coulson? Especially Skye who we already know has some sort of power within and perhaps the blood of the Kree will finally unlock her potential for the first time since she was a baby.

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In order to infiltrate this facility, the agents received a bit of help from fellow agents. Garrett and Triplett were sent to take Ian Quinn into proper SHIELD custody but a combination of Skye's plight along with Agent Garrett's past as Ward's S.O. led them to assist in the operation. I love everything about Bill Paxton on AOS and I can't wait for Agent Garrett to show up again. Particularly, we really need to see a flashback episode with Ward and Garrett back in the old days--on mission together kicking ass and taking names before things got as complicated as they are now. Paxton had the right swagger, humor, and his Garrett could go toe to toe with Melinda May in the 'whatever is necessary' category of interrogation methods. I just hope that for a future appearance, May gets to play alongside Garrett as relegating her to the Bus for most of the episode robbed us of the kind of skull-cracking we can only dream of from these two on a mission together.

As for Agent Triplett, he had some nice chemistry going with Simmons while she stood bedside for

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Skye. He was clearly impressed by her skills and compassion and it might be interesting to see our team interact more frequently with other agents. Things get a bit, dare I say, incestuous with the agents only hanging around each other all the time. It's good that the series is expanding the universe by bringing in more recurring characters who can function in a continuing capacity on the show.

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With the mystery of the alien creature in the background for now, next week we're dealing with an Asgardian smackdown between deadly seductress Lorelei and one of the MCU's most underused characters, Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander). Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is really taking on the accusations that the show isn't "Marvel" enough head on by bringing this battle to Midgard with the agents caught in the crossfire. The way the teaser tag was handled is the kind of thing the show could benefit from doing more--already I'm invested in why Lorelei has come to Earth and feel like I'm ready for next week's adventure.