Fans have been speculating on how Agent Phil Coulson could return for Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D tv series after being skewered by Loki in Joss Whedon's The Avengers ever since Clark Gregg was announced as reprising the role. Theories ranged from the Coulson in the movie being a "life model decoy", to him returning as some type of android, to being resurrected through some other -- possibly magical -- means. Well in their review of tonight's pilot ep, JoBlo reveal (at least partially) what happened, and it's...kinda rubbish.
"They do some walking and talking and Coulson reveals that he had “only stopped breathing for 40 seconds” after his run in with the “Asgardian Mussolini” aka Loki in THE AVENGERS and that he had recovered for a few weeks in Tahiti. He’s aloof about the incident and plays it with the same Coulson humor we’ve all come to know and love. There’s also an underlying, almost romantic link between Coulson and Hill, which I’m not sure was intentional or not. Their “moment” is broken when a medical S.H.I.E.L.D. agent enters the scene and Coulson exits. The medical agent turns to Hill and says something to the effect of “He still doesn’t know, does he?” to which Hill responds that he “never can know.”
So although there's obviously still something Coulson is not being told about the incident, as far as he know he just ..survived it! That's what we'll be left with for a looooong time I'll wager -- at least until the writers can come up with something better! Cynical? Sure, but then so is cheapening a beloved character's death by bringing him back for ratings. That being said the show IS getting pretty good reviews, so I'll be tuning in along with the rest of you.