SHIELD under new director Mack finds itself stretched as it contends with the search through deep space for Fitz and weird and inexplicable events on Earth.

Season 5 of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD went very deep into bonkers Sci-Fi territory, and an awful lot happened, not the least of which was the death of Fitz and the confirmed imminent doom of Coulson. Both characters cast a long shadow in this opening episode of season 6, and that’s all the more impressive given the nature of both the MCU generally and this show in particular when it comes to characters dying.

But it’s difficult to escape the feeling that there is too much of a gap here – this opener takes place around a year after we last saw the agents, and it dumps us straight in at that deep end with what they’re up to with precious little in the way of explanation, not just for what’s occurring but also in terms of where the characters are at.

Mack is struggling with the mantle of leadership, which makes sense given that he’s Mack and everyone else feels like he’s the perfect man for the job. Simmons is harder and slightly meaner than we’ve ever seen her, Henstridge clearly enjoying the chance to explore a very different side of the character. YoYo is difficult to fathom at this point – after the events of last season things between her and Mack have obviously altered on a fundamental level, but it’s not really completely clear to what extent and whether it’s permanent.

Elsewhere, there’s a whole bunch of new characters whose names haven’t really stuck yet but it’s early days. The dissonance between the stuff in deep space and back on Earth is pronounced, making it feel almost as if it’s a deliberate decision on the part of the writers to try to wrong foot the audience in the same way as the characters and help immerse the viewer more in proceedings. It’s not shy with its FX budget either, which is perhaps because this is a shorter season or maybe just that the show got more money – either way, proceedings both in the big black and on terra firma are impressively rendered.

But in true SHIELD style, it’s an opener that leaves us with more questions than answers. A big reveal at the climax doesn’t quite land the way the show might want because certain giveaways in the basic DNA of the writing point anyone paying attention in the basic direction a good thirty seconds before it drops, and that effect is compounded in the credits sting as well, but all things considered, it does enough to intrigue me as to what it has planned for this coming season.

Verdict: Won’t win over any new viewers (because they would be completely lost by everything) but for fans like me, it’s a strong, if not totally perfect start. 8/10

Greg D. Smith