Television: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., "Laws of Nature"

It seems like the team managing this show decided they'd better start Season 3 with clear issues rather than the utter muddle of last season. The result is a season premiere that at least makes some kind of sense and establishes stakes.

S.H.I.E.L.D. is looking for more "Inhumans," those who carry the alien gene and are affected by whatever has been unleashed into the environment (namely the oceanic environment, meaning people who take fish oil supplements are at risk if they harbor the gene).

Fitz is still trying to figure out the monolith so he can save Simmons. Everyone keeps telling him to channel his inner Elsa (that is, let it go), but he refuses.

Bobbi and Hunter are . . . whatever. Flirting but not really or something.

And Coulson has been tracking a mercenary black ops group that seems also to be targeting Inhumans. The result is a meeting with Rosalind (you recognize her from Entourage), leader of said group. After "cagey" discussions, the two of them realize there is a third something-or-other hunting Inhumans . . . and killing them. We get a glimpse of this thing, which is sort of like an alien porcupine? ::shrug::

Meanwhile, out in the world, presidents and other leaders are trying to determine how to handle this influx of Mutants Inhumans. (Let's not pretend this isn't the exact same fight as from X-Men, okay? Regulate them? Kill them? Embrace them? Send them to a special school? When does Patrick Stewart show up?)

Oh, and we get a glimpse of Simmons in . . . some other world? Is the monolith a doorway to an alien planet?

We do still have Ward to contend with at some point, which seems to be Bobbi and Hunter's key focus: revenge. But this premiere had enough to be getting on with, and as I mentioned, at least they set things up relatively clearly, giving me hopes this season will be better than the last.