'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Recap: 'Orientation (Parts 1 & 2)'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

​When we last left Agent Phil Coulson and the gang on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the situation was…strange. After all, they had just escaped the horrors of the Framework and only wanted to settle in for a nice slice of pie, only to be kidnapped and find themselves in the depths of space and let’s be honest, that’s one of hell of a cliffhanger because every last fan of this series was in the same boat as Coulson. We were dying to know where they heck they were in the universe and why they were there, and at long last geeks and nerds, our questions were answered by way of last night’s season five premiere.
 
Because ‘Orientation’ wasted no time in giving us every single detail of what happened to this intrepid group, even going to so far as to fill in the blanks as to how they got into space by way of an incredibly meta (thanks to a soundtrack assist from the Talking Heads) opening sequence involving an alien and a different style of monolith. But once we returned to the intergalactic facility in question, we learned that Coulson and his team are aboard a space station and they are not alone. There are other humans here, and one of them was more than happy to see them since he firmly believed they would save all of mankind. From what exactly, well we didn’t learn that part right away, simply because this poor soul lost his life to some freakish aliens and they weren’t the only E.T.’s on board for that matter either, since the Agents quickly discovered that the Kree run this place.
 
Yet, none of these breathtaking moments answered our questions as to what the heck was going on and honestly, I think it was brilliant that the show took the time to not show its hand right away. Because such a move left me engaged and on the edge of my seat the entire time and honestly, the delay made the powerful reveal all the more worthwhile. Since as it turns out, the Agents aren’t lost in the depths of space, nor are they in their own time. The Monolith transported them to a time far in the future where our planet has been blown to pieces and the last vestiges of mankind are trying desperately to survive aboard this space station while under Kree rule and well…that’s about the only way you can top season four’s storyline and really, this little twist is a game changer for this season in so many ways.
 
After all, the Agents no longer have their vast resources at their fingertips. There are no ice guns and no Quinjets coming in to save the day. They will have to rely on good old-fashioned brain power and their own skill set. But as they quickly learned last night, sheer wits and brutal force can only take you so far. Because without proper knowledge or the ability to gather resources and plan, they’re already out of sorts and out of place and in debt to people that they should not be associating with and it will take pure gumption and resolve and guile to figure out what the hell happened to Planet Earth and how to get to back to their own time as well so that they can figure out how to stop this cataclysm before it even occurs and I’ll be honest, I’m hooked, this is an incredible way to kick off season five and I’m dying to know where it is headed next.
 
If anything, kudos to the powers that be for once again finding a way to take this MCU spinoff into bold new territory because in many ways, this already has the grittier and stronger feel of the Framework storyline from last year, and while it is devoid of evil doppelgängers, it still takes the chains off of the characters and allows them to go in powerful new directions since in order to save the world, this group has to survive above all else and considering how tough the future appears to be, that’s going to be quite the tall order indeed. Also, I do hope they find a way to pop in Fitz as well since he had the toughest story imaginable last season and it would be nice to see that he’s getting along and healing up mentally. Either way, what a kickass way to start Season Five, and despite the move to Friday nights this year, I’ll still make sure to be on my couch when the time arrives for this show to start, to see how this wild storyline turns out. Until next time. 

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