Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: The Well

"This guy has lives through all of the scary stuff- the crusades; the Black Death; disco..."

As if I wasn't already feeling unenthused by Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, they go and cynically make an episode that ties in to Thor: The Dark World while it's still showing at the cinema. and this is no more than a dull and disposable tale about yet another MacGuffin, an Asgardian academic and a bunch of baddies who probably listen to Burzum. Yawn.

The only interesting things to say are at the edges, as the plot just plods along pointlessly and a potentially interesting theme of science vs. magic is never developed. I suppose the brief discussion, early on, about Thor helps with the ongoing contrast between our protagonists and the big superheroes; this sort of thing reminds me of an old Marvel limited series called Damage Control. Also, speaking of Marvel Universe stuff, Vibranium gets a mention. that's about it for this rather poor episode.

There's an intriguing postscript, though, as we get a flashback to Coulson waking up in Tahiti. "Did I fall asleep?", he asks. "For a little while" is the reply in what has to be a deliberate reference to Dollhouse. Is this just a metatextual nod, or something more?