Board Thread:Television/@comment-1713281-20131004113215/@comment-1895174-20131122191708

A reference that only highlights the show's insignificance in the greater MCU, a crucial flaw in the program's structure. It does not lay any groundwork for the episode; it has no bearing on the episode. They've been able to talk about Asgardians before. Agent Hand referencing Widow and Hawkeye when talking to Coulson is her bringing up two highly-trained agents he's worked with. Raina talking to Scorch about Captain America was her way to make him think he was a superhero. These are off-the-hand remarks. They're annoying to various degrees, but there's nothing more to be done with them. This is not the case here, this was their chance to actually have an impact on the MCU, and they blew it. If this is just another one of those references we consistently give the show crap for, it is certainly the most offensive.

But that assumes it is just a reference, which I disagree with. Given the timing of the episode, there is no way to see the Thor 2 connection as just that. If they wanted to write an episode that tied-in directly to Thor: TDW, they should have written an episode that tied-in directly to Thor: TDW. If they wanted to write an episode about other Asgardian stuff, they didn't need to open the episode with an extended trailer for the movie. The bait-and-switch exists on more than just a metatextual level, it's something the writing staff is complicit in. The advertisers may have promoted the episode as something it wasn't, but it's exactly what the writers wanted them to do.