It still seems tame, almost like the creative team is holding back. Skye and Coulson continue to be the saving grace of the show. The nerds are growing on me slowly.

What I liked:

• A closer look at Agent Ward’s troubled past and why he became the man we see before us.
• A hint of what Agent May faced and what ghosts still haunt her.
• The possible Faith-Xander like hook-up that occurred in tonights.
• The potential traumatic/sinister nature of Coulson’s stay at Tahiti.

What I was expecting:

• The focus character of the week to be Vali Halfling instead of some generic Asgardian or at least a reformed Skurge the Executioner, an Asgardian known for his blood rages and cursed weaponry.
• The MacGuffin  was the Blood Axe instead of a random spear.
• Some of Steranko’s trippy spy fiction.
• Some sense of threat or true danger… it’s missing the “ZOMG What just happened” endings that Buffy/Angel happened.
• High tech weaponry and gadgets… either Steranko inspired or something taken from Millar’s or Ellis’ ventures in the Ultimate Universe.

Review (Spoiler Free):

The villains were weak this week. They came off as a background annoyance rather than a real threat. They were even brushed off as some rowdy punks. It was the common “Find the MacGuffin before the baddies get it” plot. Fortunately it did give us some detail about May’s and Ward’s past in addition to giving us another spin on Coulson’s stay in Tahiti