Thor 2.5? Review: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D - “The Well”

Season 1, Episode

Air Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2013, 8/7c on ABC.

Rating: ★★★★★

“You were right; he’s Asgardian.” – Ward

Pardon me while I rant a bit before beginning my review. I hate commercials for TV shows because they are never what they seem. I remember watching one for a show where there was a tense situation, a gun was drawn, a gunshot rang out, and the screen went black. Logic indicates someone was shot. Turns out the gunshot sound was added digitally to the commercial just to entice people to watch in order to find out who was shot.

ABC decided to take that kind of advertising to the next level while hyping “The Well,” saying, “In the aftermath of the events chronicled in the feature film THOR: THE DARK WORLD, Coulson and The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pick up the pieces — one of which threatens to destroy a member of the team.”

“The Well” really has nothing to do with Thor 2 other than the two-minute scene during which Coulson and the Agents literally pick up pieces of debris inside a building that was apparently damaged in the movie. While the Thor 2 connection is short, it does have its funny moments.

Coulson: “It would be nice if for once Thor and his people sent down the God of Clean Up After Yourself. They probably have a magic broom for this kind of thing.”

***

Skye: “I wouldn’t mind getting my human hands on Thor; he’s so dreamy.”

Coulson: “Sure he’s handsome but…”

May: “No, he’s dreamy.”

Instead of being tied to Thor 2 as was advertised, “The Well” is actually a story about Thor’s home world, Asgard, and how it relates to our own Norse mythology. While I found the premise to be interesting, the story is quickly weighed down by trying to squeeze in too many sub-plots.

The first one involves Jakob Nystrom (Michael Graziadei) and Petra Larsen (Erin Way), a young couple in search of the Berserker Staff, an Asgardian staff that gives whoever holds it supernatural powers while simultaneously putting them in a state of uncontrollable rage. Like every other bad character that has appeared on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Jakob and Petra are pointless and unconvincing as real bad guys. Almost instantly, you forget everything about them other than being the punching bags for Ward (Brett Dalton) and May (Ming-Na Wen).

We also learn more about Ward’s backstory, which, apparently, the audience is supposed to end up caring about but with the backstory spread throughout the entire episode, it fails to register any kind of emotion. Instead, it reminds me of an earlier episode where Skye (Chloe Bennet) jokingly asked if Ward was a robot. In the end, I found myself thinking, “Boo hoo, you have childhood issues but you’re a S.H.I.E.L.D agent now so get over it.” I’ll be honest, I think killing off Ward would be helpful in moving the show forward, especially since May is back in the field, and I find her so much more interesting.

What does work in “The Well” is the introduction of Professor Elliot Randolph (Peter MacNicol), a Norse mythology expert with a surprising secret about his background. I absolutely enjoyed every scene Professor Randolph is in and the mythology he brings with him. The revelation also sets up some fun dialogue.

Coulson: “So the myth is your autobiography.”

Randolph: “I didn’t write it. I didn’t want anyone to know about me. Then I had to open my big mouth.”

Ward: “Were you captured? Tortured?”

Randolph: “Horny.”

I found myself wanting to learn more about Professor Randolph. I hope this isn’t the last we see of him because frankly, I would love to see MacNicol join the cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D as a regular. He brings an interesting dynamic to the cast that is greatly missing; truth be told, he sngle-handedly saved the disaster this episode is. Imagine having an Asgardian on the team who is more scholar than warrior, and then wonder how that could be played out.

Just when everything seems to end on a positive note, once again we are compelled to think about the mystery surrounding Coulson’s death. After being teased for eight episodes, I have reached a point where I no longer care. Before the season started, ABC and Marvel hyped the term “Coulson Lives.” As a matter of fact, it became a popular Twitter hashtag when tweeting about the show as it got fans all worked up and excited. It seems like the writers decided to ride that momentum for as long as they could but instead, they come across as a petulant child who keeps asking, “Wanna hear a secret,” only to laugh and say, “I’m not telling” when you say, “Yes.” At this point, I don’t care if Coulson is an android, body double, clone or whatever else the writers can imagine.

In an episode directed by Star Trek’s Jonathan Frakes, and given the direction Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is heading, I had high hopes for “The Well.” Not to mention the episode was advertised as a follow-up to Thor 2, which basically ended up being a lie. The studio spent so much time pretending this episode was something it wasn’t, they failed to realize the good parts of “The Well” and expand on them more.

Tweet me @staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about “The Well.”

For more on the show, go to http://www.agentsofshield.com/.

Follow Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D on Twitter, as well as some of the cast: <Ward> Brett Dalton, <Coulson> Clark Gregg, <Simmons> Elizabeth Henstridge, and <May> Ming-Na Wen.

Like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D on Facebook.

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Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.