Marvel's Ambition: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America 2

Marvel broke into television this past fall with the launch of their first television show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and for the most part, the first part of the season fans sort of yawned.  There was a lot of character development, a lot of middling episodes and by midseason you got the impression that the vast majority of the nerd commentariat was either fed up with the whole thing or just bored by it.  

But something changed midseason--  Deathlok showed up.  Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) figured out how he had managed to survive getting stabbed in the heart with a big alien deathstick in The Avengers and ever since then, it's become an increasingly interesting show and the producers weren't shy about letting everyone know that Captain America 2 was going to have some very interesting ripple effects on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D- how much of a ripple effect only became clear this past week- and the depth of Marvel's ambition and sheer brilliance became clear along with it.

So the Tuesday before Captain America 2, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D had a very interesting episode.  They got together with some buddies and went looking for their mysterious bad guy, The Clarivoyant- they found a creepy looking dude in a wheelchair who got shot by Agent Ward and much drama ensued. But one of their buddies/fellow S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Agent Sitwell announces, almost as an aside at the toward the end of the episode that 'he has a boat to catch.'

Seems like nothing, right?  Well then, if you went to go see Captain America 2 when it dropped- guess where Cap and Company drop into right away?   A boat- where none other than Agent Sitwell is waiting, hostage of some random pirates, to be rescued.  But wait- it gets better!  The events of Captain America 2 (no, I'm not going to spoil it, go see it already) lead directly back into the episode of this week's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Everyone is aware of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how all their movies are loosely connected to each other, but I don't think I've ever seen a concept like that cross mediums and do so as seamlessly as Marvel managed to do with AoS and Captain America 2.  Their ambition is seemingly limitless and color me really, really impressed.   If you haven't been paying attention- or missed it, go check it out.   It amazing and unique to watch.