The second episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. opens with Coulson saying that everything is going to be fine, which of course jinxes the plane we’re watching fly through the air; a giant hole is blown into the side of it and a person flies out. Then comes the logo and a “nineteen hours earlier” tag.

We’ve got some dissension among the ranks as the team questions whether or not Coulson should have brought Sky onto the team. Before long, we’re on the “bus” (what the team is calling Coulson’s tricked-out plane/action station), we’re off to Peru, and we learn what an 0-8-4 is: an object of unknown origin. There’s one in Peru, and the team needs to investigate.

We learn more about the characters, their personalities, and their secrets in this episode. Some different sides of them are starting to show; who knew Coulson was such a ladies’ man? I like everyone much more than in the last episode, because they’re getting more fleshed out. The banter continues from the previous episode, and the show absolutely has the sense of humor I expect from Marvel. I also love that there are so many callbacks to the other Marvel movies and characters (even moreso than the last episode). It really helps to ground the show into something that most of us are familiar with, as does Coulson. I would like to go on the record now as predicting a Ward/Sky hookup.

Make sure to stay for the entire episode, including the tag. You won’t regret it. I think if people weren’t hooked from the first episode, they will be after this one.

Score: A [And I liked it better than the previous episode!]

New episodes air on ABC on Tuesdays at 8pm EST.