TV Review No. 1 Marvel Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Laws of Nature (S3, Ep1)

Strong Points:
Stronger effects
Many character's storylines are expanded
Good acting
Fitz's story arc is great
Plenty of references to other Marvel ventures
Great costumes
New tech
Funny
More superhero than secret agent series now

Weak Points:
Set-up episode
Some story arcs were weaker than others
Some actors were better than others
Too interconnected for Marvel newbies
Missing some characters...
Plot holes are sometimes abruptly and badly filled
More superhero than secret agent series now

Due to the nature of reviews, expect some spoilers, so if you haven't watched the episode, watch that first!
In-depth Review:

New year, new S.H.I.E.L.D, new type of review. Laws of Nature is the first episode of season 3 of Marvel Agents of Shield, a spin-off to the Marvel series of movies, starring Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson. After the awesome ending to Season 2 in which Skye, I mean Daisy, accepts her new 'Inhuman' status, watches her mum be killed by her dad and the chemical that releases this Inhuman capability on certain humans be released into the ocean. And, Simmons becomes MIA. So yeah, a lot to live up to in this season eh?

Well, the first episode is never going to be the best as it has to remind people of the past season, set up the new season in terms of story and characters and include enough drama and humour to keep everyone enthralled to watch the rest of the season. In that respect, the new episode did quite well with at least 6 story arcs being set up in 45 minutes. Sadly, with the amount of content packed into this episode, some bits come out better than others.

The opening was great, with action aplenty, a new Inhuman with awesome abilities, new tech by the way of a jetpack lift and the introduction of the new plane to replace the Bus (R.I.P). The Inhuman in question is Joey, a person with the unique ability to melt certain metals at will, which is quite a cool ability if you ask me. Daisy and the rest of the agents are sent to find him and bring him back to Shield but another group has gotten there first, to 'take care of him'. Yes, after Hydra and the Real Shield we now have the ATCU, a task force sent from the government to deal with the Inhuman problem. They seem good so far, with a memorable scene from the episode being a 'nice' chat and a bit of KG banter between Coulson and their leader Rosalind Price although it will be interesting to see what other characters appear from the ATCU and rather than just the normal grunts.

So first story arc is the new Inhuman, second up is another new Inhuman. This time though, he doesn't seem friendly. A monster who has a physical change much like Rainer, and the ability to cut through walls with energy, the special effects and make up did a great job at bringing the character to life, and I can't wait to find out more about this character, maybe even what he was like before becoming Inhuman (if that is what he is). The next two story arcs involve Bobbi, who was last seen being shot by a trap laid by Ward. One is of her being posted in the biology section of the lab for rehabilitation and the other concerns Hunter and them thinking of getting married... Again. I thought this was tacked on a tad and was the worst of the new story arcs but we'll see what happens, especially with Hunter going off to hunt a certain someone...

The best story arc was Fitz and his search to find a way to reach Simmons. After, the sudden exit of Simmons from last season's finale, it was great to see the character of Fitz becoming even more fleshed out, with his own mission and what can only be described  as a 'shouty scene'. Iain de Caestecker did a great job as always portraying Fitz and is definitely becoming one of the best actors in the show, along with Clark Gregg.

One thing that bugged me was the abruptness in which some plot holes were filled from the 'deadly chemical that kills any non-Inhuman that comes into contact with it becoming harmless to humans while still being able to turn some humans into Inhumans' and 'material that can be configured to make your new abilities perfectly safe'. While they're there to keep the flow of the show, it is still rather too much like 'The Eagles are coming!'

Conclusion: overall, the show is becoming, for better or worse, a Marvel superhero film that a lot of people want and I can't wait to see how this season progresses.

Rating: 76%

Thanks for reading, Satamer.