I absolutely agree that the whole "Puh, ESP" was weird because, like Skye said, a year ago she would have been all "Puh, aliens." And I could see them introducing some science-y ESP.

Loki was able to mind-control people and zap van-sized objects around with his tesseract-powered scepter, so there's an alien tech/magic equivalent to at least some psychic powers. Likewise, Odin appeared to be aware of Thor's redemption even in his comatose state, which implies some sort of clairvoyance or other mystical awareness.

Someone can always claim Clarke's Law (I think) that any insufficiently explained science looks like magic/mutant powers.

Or aliens. Dude! What can't they do? They could totally handwave some telepathy/ESP like powers developed from super advanced alien technology. Maybe that's what was written on the wall?

OK. That's totally what's going on in the SHIELD in my mind.

This episode finally hooked me in, I think. I'm not 100% in love, but I keep reminding myself that Buffy's first season was shaky in parts. I still find it jarring how young Skye acts. How old is she supposed to be?

I'm also trying to be patient because, well.. this may be ME but it's not the ME from back when. How involved *is* Joss? I haven't been paying attention to the writing credits (got out of the habit) but I was assuming it's an all new writing staff since many of Joss' alums are showrunners themselves, now.

There are definitely touches of cleverness and wit. That and Coulson and May and Fitz-Simmons are enough for now. I'm willing to watch it unfold. Skye and Ward are growing on me by centimeters per episode.

eta imdb says Jeff Bell wrote this one and the second ep. >[link]