History Recap / AgentsOfSHIELDS1E8TheWell

* NoPronunciationGuide: The characters pronounce the name Nyström with a "Nye-", it's supposed to be more like "Nyh-".

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Ward being particularly susceptible to berserker rage.

* SuperStrength: Those who hold the staff (in whole or in part) get a strength boost, with a side order of UnstoppableRage. Randoplh has it naturally, due to being an Asgardian.

* SuperStrength: Those who hold the staff (in whole or in part) get a strength boost, with a side order of UnstoppableRage.

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Alien in the sense of foreign, rather. The Norse supremacists in a Norse park cutting down a Norse tree speak... English. Then, in downtown Oslo, they write "WE ARE GODS" in English. And their message board is written entirely in English. Even the runic writing on the Berserker Staff itself is in English--the words "rage," "inspire," and "fight" can be read by any English-speaker who knows this alphabet.

** Simmons is still dealing with aftereffects from her near-death experience in "FZZT". She's been avoiding talking to her family, and is hesitant regarding heights (though she's resisting letting it become a full-blown fear).

* {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s: He's not even the fancy "I'm an architect and my job is all management" kind of stonemason. Professor Randall spent thousands of years breaking rocks.

Coulson and his team deal with the aftermath of ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' by cleaning up after the battling titans and searching for any Asgardian or Svartalfheim tech they may have left behind. Meanwhile, a Norwegian paganist hate group has already found an item that's been hidden for centuries -- the Berserker Staff, which gives anyone who touches it SuperStrength by drawing on their hidden rage. The paganists want to take Earth back from the gods by [[AGodAmI becoming gods themselves]], so they use the staff to create a small army of berserkers. To stop all this, Coulson's team seeks the help of Professor Elliot Randolph (Peter [=MacNicol=]), an expert in Norse mythology who is more than meets the eye. Along the way, Ward touches the staff and falls victim to its power, becoming emotionally unstable as he's forced to remember a traumatic incident from his childhood.

* CatFight / DesignatedGirlFight: Ward takes out the four Berserked men, but when the girl comes out to fight May tells him to accept her help and she takes the girl out.

* ScreamingWarrior: Holding the staff frequently causes this.

* SuperStrength: Those who hold the staff (in whole or in part) get this, with a side order of UnstoppableRage.

** The beginning of this episode has Coulson's team doing cleanup at [[Film/ThorTheDarkWorld Greenwich University.]] Coulson also explains that Professor Randolph was consulted about Mjolnir during the first movie.

* FreezeFrameBonus: When Skye is discussing the chatter on the paganist hate group's message board, a selection of posts is shown. One of them is hilariously off-topic. "I rode a horse today"

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Alien in the sense of foreign, rather. The Norse supremacists in a Norse park cutting down a Norse tree speak... English. Then, in downtown Oslo, they write "WE ARE GODS" in English. And their message board is written entirely in English.

* AllMythsAreTrue: Briefly discussed by Skye, who wonders if other pantheons are just SufficientlyAdvancedAliens like the Asgardians.

* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: He's not even the fancy "I'm an architect and my job is all management" kind of stonemason. Professor Randall spent thousands of years breaking rocks.

** Coulson suggests that Randolph relocate to Portland, noting that it has a great philharmonic. One is reminded of the cellist he dated before she moved there as was mentioned in ''Film/TheAvengers''.

Coulson and his team deal with the aftermath of ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' by cleaning up after the battling titans and searching for any Asgardian or Svartalfheim tech they may have left behind. Meanwhile, a Norwegian paganist hate group has already found an item that's been hidden for centuries--the Berserker Staff, which gives anyone who touches it SuperStrength by drawing on their hidden rage. The paganists want to take Earth back from the gods by [[AGodAmI becoming gods themselves]], so they use the staff to create a small army of berserkers. To stop all this, Coulson's team seeks the help of Professor Elliot Randolph (Peter [=MacNicol=]), an expert in Norse mythology who is more than meets the eye. Along the way, Ward touches the staff and falls victim to its power, becoming emotionally unstable as he's forced to remember a traumatic incident from his childhood.

!!Tropes in this episode:

* {{Expy}}: The Norse-anarchists are clearly meant to be the MarvelCinematicUniverse version of [[TheMightyThor the Wrecking Crew, a group of DumbMuscle criminals given Asgardian powers by accident]]. Rather than a 4-men group of dimwitted thugs who just want money, [[AdaptationalBadass they're now a cult obsessed with using the Berserker Staff to become gods]], and only lost because Ward and May are trained in combat and just got better with the Berserker Staff.

* FreezeFrameBonus: When Skye is discussing the chatter on the paganist hate group's message board, a selection of posts is shown. One of them is hilariously off-topic."I rode a horse today"

* KillTheGod: The Norse Pagan hate group seek the berserker staff so they can kill gods.

** Regular humans gaining power from an Asgardian weapon is similar to Thor's first appearance in ''JourneyIntoMystery'' #83, when Dr. Donald Blake found Thor's hammer. Blake was not established as Thor in a human form for a few issues.

* NoOntologicalInertia: PlayingWithATrope in regards to the Berserker Staff. The strength wears off within days if it's not being held but the rage is more or less permanent since the user has to cope with their memories to deal with it.

** Ward makes some brief insinuations about Fitz's relationship with Simmons (or inadequacy therein, in reference to the end of "FZZT") in order to get to him while under the influence of the berserker staff. At the end of an already pretty nasty exchange, it's what finally drives Fitz from the room.

** The ArcWords of a previous Whedon series show up: [[{{Dollhouse}} "Did I fall asleep?" "For a little while."]]
** The hunt for the staff and the flashbacks to the boy trapped in the well are very similar to TheDaVinciCode.

-->"In ancient times, people believe the heavens were filled with gods and monsters and magical worlds. Then, as time passed, those beliefs faded into myth and folklore. But now we know the stories are true. Other worlds, with names like Asgard, do exist. And beings once revered as gods, like [[Comicbook/TheMightyThor Thor]], have returned, leaving us with more questions... and an enormous mess to clean up. "

* ShipTease: Ward follows May into her hotel room (and shuts the door behind him) after the two exchange a prolonged glance and the latter leaves her door open.

** Fitz, on the other hand, seems more than a little [[GreenEyedMonster irritated]] by the above.

* FreezeFrameBonus: When Skye is discussing the chatter on the paganist hate group's message board, a selection of posts is shown. One of them is hilariously off-topic.

** Coulson suggests that Randolph relocate to Portland, noting that it has a great philharmonic. One is reminded of the cellist he dated before she moved there as was mentioned in ''Avengers''.

* WhamLine: "He's Asgardian."

** BerserkerScream

** Randolph is openly admiring of Simmons, both for her intelligence and her looks. Despite being the least romantically-inclined of the lead characters, she eventually begins to seem a little flattered.
** Fitz, on the other hand, seems more than a little [[GreenEyedMonster irritated]] by the above.