'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Gets Small Boost from 'Thor'

This week's episode of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." was something that fans have been waiting for: the series' first direct tie-in with a new Marvel movie that is currently playing in theaters. The episode's connection to "Thor: The Dark World" was tenuous, and the hammer-wielding god didn't make a real appearance (at this point, no one really expected that he would), but it was the closest link to date between the series and an actual Avenger.

The episode, titled "The Well," begins with a Thor-like voice over, a few shots from Thor's movie (including a couple of face-less, split-second glimpses of the God of Thunder himself) and a reference to the mess left behind by the movie's battle scenes. From there, the episode is off on its own plot line, which involves a shattered ancient staff left behind by Asgardians; the artifact's power is wreaking havoc on the humans who stumble upon it, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team has to find all the pieces and get rid of them before it's too late.

The episode's "Thor" tie-in had been advertised well in advance, and ABC hoped that the synergy would help to stop the slide in the series' ratings, which had set new lows each of the past two weeks. It seems, though, that viewers have figured out that promises of "Avengers" tie-ins are mostly teases, and the ratings bump for the episode was modest; this week's ratings were up slightly over last week, but only up to the level of the previous series-low ratings of two weeks ago.