When the next episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - titled "The Magical Place" - finally comes on next Tuesday, January 7th, it will have been nearly a month since the last episode. The Marvel Studios series aired its mid-series finale back on December 10th and left us with an effective cliffhanger: how is the crew going to rescue Coulson? Where did the team leader really go after he was stabbed and killed by Loki, and why does Centipede want to know? At this stage its unclear exactly how many answers next week's episode will provide, but this new clip, shared with us by Yahoo!, does tell us one thing: the higher-ups at S.H.I.E.L.D. still aren't a bit fan of Skye.
As you can see in the preview, "The Magical Place" will feature the return of Saffron Burrows as Director Victoria Hand, who was first introduced in the seventh episode of the season, "The Hub." It would appear that she has taken command of Coulson's team while is he in Centipede's hands, and my bet is that Skye is going to do something before the end of the show to earn some of her respect. As for what we'll see in the rest of the story, here's the official logline:
"“The Magical Place” -- Coulson uncovers vital information about the mystery of his death, but, with Centipede out for blood, this knowledge may come at the cost of one of the team on MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., TUESDAY, JANUARY 7 (8:00-9:01 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.Guest starring are Saffron Burrows as Agent Victoria Hand, Ron Glass as Dr. Streiten, Ruth Negga as Raina, Rob Huebel as Lloyd Rathman, Aiden Turner as Vanchat, Felisha Terrell as Emily Deville, Cullen Douglas as Po."
The title of the episode is a reference to Coulson's repeated line about Tahiti - the place where he was supposedly sent following his altercation with the God of Mischief. The way he has said the phrase over and over seems to suggest some kind of brainwashing, but the jury is still out on exactly what is going on. Could he be a life model decoy? Did he go to Valhalla? Answers could be here soon.
To refresh you memory on what's been going on with the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. gang, be sure to read Kelly's recap of "The Bridge" and get another, broader sneak peek at next week's episode by watching the promo below:
