‘Agents of SHIELD’ season 3, episode 1 review: Simmons’ fate, Daisy’s quest, Lash, and many questions

Marvel’s “Agents of SHIELD” did not have the luxury this season of getting a two-hour premiere, and therefore, they were stuck with having to cram a hell of a lot of important content into a very short amount of time.

Were they successful? We’d say so, mostly because they did just a good enough job giving answers, but leaving enough questions open to have something to explore more in-depth later. Here are just a few that have popped into our brain, which is currently super-charged, spinning, and possibly wanting Inhuman powers after watching all of this.

1. Where is Simmons? – Is she stuck in the same desert as Vince Vaughn from “True Detective,” or is she on another planet? If only Jemma knew that she should feel secure knowing that Fitz is out there being probably more brave than he has ever been in his life, securing artifacts and trying to figure out precisely what they mean. There’s not a whole lot of movement in getting her back yet, but at least take a breath that she’s alive. (Not that we’re really that shocked; she did take that promotional photo above for season 3…)

2. Is Lincoln going to join SHIELD? – Given that Luke Mitchell is a regular this time around, we have to assume that the moment may be coming. For now, Daisy is the college recruiter trying to offer as many different scholarships as she can. Maybe he’ll find something cool in taking out big, terrible bad guys? Lash certainly fits that bill, and is one of the more intimidating foes we’ve seen so far.

3. What’s up with Coulson’s new hand – Apparently, that thing did not come with an instruction manual. Also, Coulson needs help from Michael Scott in coming up ways to remember Daisy’s new name.

4. How is Agent May enjoying her time off? – It’s too bad we didn’t get a montage or at least a scene like we did with Olivia and Jake on “Scandal.”

5. Should we care about Bobbi and Lance? – Given that there is a spin-off being developed around them, we presume that we should. We just haven’t brought ourselves yet to the point of getting excited about their relationship versus some others that have been more established. Bobbi and Lance kicking butt, however, is awesome. We’ll take more of that.

6. Why can’t we have more Ward? – Who do we have to beg among the production staff to make this happen? Should we send them a replica of Coulson’s new hand as tribute?

Overall, a fine beginning to an “Agents of SHIELD” episode; for the most part, we complain at this point because it’s fun, and not because the show is flopping around like a fish in the aforementioned desert like it was back during the first few weeks of season 1. Grade: B+.

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