After the credits, the action shifts to Death Valley, where we see a newlywed couple preparing to leave a hotel.  Out of the desert walks a beautiful woman, whose outfit and expression make her seem very out of place.  She walks straight up to Jimmy, the new husband, and takes his bottle of water and gulps it down.  She tells him that she is “parched and weary” before asking if all of Midgard is like this.  he explains that they’re actually in Death Valley, and she says she seeks passage to a more bountiful land than the desert.  He explains that their convertible only holds two people, and that he just got married.  The mysterious woman asks whether he prefers his new wife to her, and he gallantly replies that he prefers his wife to everyone.  She says that she admires such loyalty in a man, but that she needs his help.  Next thing you know, Jimmy’s wife comes out from paying for their room and calls after him, as she sees him cruising away with a stranger.  As they drive off, Jimmy swears loyalty to the woman, even though he doesn’t even know her name.  She smiles and replies, “Lorelei.”

Tonight’s episode was an interesting one to say the least.  It looks like Skye is going to survive, which is not a huge surprise but it is a relief.  This is a Joss Whedon show after all, which means anything goes.  We got some interesting answers this week, including a hint at how Coulson was revived, but those answers just raised more questions.  We got some new characters, as well as the sense that SHIELD is perhaps even more shady than we might have thought before.  Particularly, Nick Fury didn’t come out looking very good tonight.  He continues to lie to Coulson while promising him the truth, and it seems like he’s up to some seriously diabolical things in secret.  I can’t wait to see how it all shakes out for the rest of the season!

 S.H.I.E.L.D. Thoughts

So I have to start with the blue alien guy.  I’m just assuming he’s an alien, as he seemed to be not exactly human, but I could be wrong.  Perhaps he’s some kind of mutant, or he’s not actually blue and it’s just the liquid that makes him look that way.  Regardless, it seems they are harvesting something from him that goes into the drug that was injected into Skye.  Obviously, this is not exactly the most ethical thing in the world, as I doubt blue alien guy consented to this.  The question is why did Coulson want to prevent its injection into Skye?  Is it simply that he knew Skye would object to the drug’s source and would rather die than be saved by it, or was he worried about the effects or side effects of the drug on her?  I’m sure we’ll get more answers in the weeks ahead, but for now we’re left with many questions.

How about the tease for next week?  Not only did we get a “next time on SHIELD” preview, but the entire “post-credits scene” was devoted to a lead-in to next week.  We already had one tie-in to Thor this season, and it looks like we’re going to get another.  Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) will return to Midgard (Earth) on the trail of the mysterious Lorelai, who seems to have some powers over men.  In addition to Jimmy, who is bound to suffer as a result of his encounter, she also puts the moves on Ward.  We see them kissing (and perhaps more, if she’s the one kissing Ward from the extended trailer for the rest of the season that has popped up recently), and May doesn’t like that at all, especially after he points his gun at her.

I‘m loving Bill Paxton as JohnGarrett, who’s been investigating Deathlok and who will be in at least 3 more episodes this season.  Paxton is a favorite actor of mine, and I love the attitude he brings to his projects, whether Twister, Big Love, or any of the dozens of other films he’s been in.  He’s just the right level of actor for SHIELD, famous enough to be interesting and exciting but not so famous as to overshadow the rest of the cast.  I’m looking forward to seeing more of him.

Everyone might not have caught it, but recent previews of SHIELD have been advertising the rest of the season with the subtitle “Uprising”.  We obviously don’t know what this means yet, whether it indicates some larger uprising threat from the Clairvoyant and Centipede/Deathlok, or perhaps something close to home.  With all of the lies that have been fed to our crew, perhaps the uprising refers to a rebellion by Coulson against SHIELD, perhaps leading the crew into becoming a high-tech A-Team (awesome TV A-Team, not horrible movie A-Team).  All we really know is that it’s supposed to tie into the upcoming release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  Regardless, the addition of a subtitle, while seemingly innocuous or silly, seems to suggest a strong focus for the rest of the season, giving the show a sense of forward momentum and overarching story, something audiences, particularly the impatient ones, have been clamoring for since the first episode.

Let’s not forget poor Skye.  She came awfully close to the end in this episode, but I’m glad she’s still with us.  I wouldn’t be too shocked if SHIELD killed off a major character, but I would be really surprised if it were Skye.  The more important issue now is what happens to her going forward.  Assuming she survives, will she be the same as she was, or will GH-325 have changed her in any way, particularly given her origins as an 0-8-4.  Maybe she’ll get superpowers, or will have some complications from the drug.  The other question is whether (or more likely when) Coulson tells her of the drug’s origins.  I would doubt we get much of an answer next week, but I’d expect it to play a key role in the rest of the season going forward.

Don’t tell me I was the only one who got choked up when Coulson said, “We’re her family.”  That’s a common theme among Joss Whedon shows, the idea that the familes that matter are the ones we choose for ourselves.  We saw it in Buffy with the Scoobies, and explicitly when Buffy stood up to Tara’s relatives by saying that the gang was Tara’s real family.  It was there in Angel in a slightly more complicated way, as Angel dealt with having a child and a surrogate family to raise him together.  And of course, the crew of the Firefly was a family by choice, as was the Dollhouse in the end.  Our group of Level 7 agents have come a long way in a short while, and watching them in the waiting room worrying over Skye really brought home the idea of them as a family at last.  That and watching May beat the crap out of Quinn…

What do you think?  Did you enjoy “T.A.H.I.T.I.”?  What do you make of the blue alien guy?  Where did the come from and what’s special about him that allows them to make a healing drug from his fluids?  What do you think will happen to Skye as a result of the GH-325?  What is the Uprising?  What did you think of Bill Paxton’s addition to the cast?  Are you looking forward to a visit from Asgard next week?  And what was Mike Peterson up to this week?  Let me know in the comments!