But it wasn’t long before the mission was over and everyone was safe and sound. Or at least they thought so. When Joey was forced to kill the medusa powered Inhuman, more problems began to arise. The entire episode began to resemble something out of “The Thing” as we wondered if Malick was just getting in Coulson’s head, or if there was more to what he was saying. Did Hive really turn someone?
Naturally, the answer was going to be yes. The question was just which of the Inhumans was it going to be? I liked that Coulson took control of the situation immediately. He locked down the base and monitored their activity. He didn’t want to spook them, only watch them. So as viewers we were also watching them. Everything they did seemed suspicious.
Well, almost everything. Joey’s behavior was pretty sane, considering he’d just killed a man. Even Lincoln, who I don’t like, was just being doctor-like when he was treating May. But once all the Inhumans were in the same room, everyone’s little missteps seemed to point who Hive’s inside man was.
During this time, we took a break occasionally to see what Simmons and Fitz were up to. We got a peek at what might have been the “grossest” or “goriest” scene in SHIELD yet, as Simmons did an autopsy on Lucio (the medusa Inhuman). We saw her pull back the flaps of his skin, remove the top of his skull, and even got a peek at his brain. I didn’t mind, personally, but for a show that tends to play it pretty light in the realistic violence department, it was a tad surprising.
At first I was annoyed that the Inhumans were so unwilling to listen to what Coulson had to say. Especially when Skye of all people was their leader. I figured she’d be a bit more willing to trust Coulson with what was going on. My biggest fear was that we wouldn’t get any answers about who was Hive’s mole and that the Inhumans would escape. Then we’d have to wait until next week. Thankfully using Coulson’s secret elevator only led them into isolation pods.
My second biggest fear of this episode, is that the SHIELD writers would punk out and make either Joey or Yo-yo the turned Inhuman. Neither of them are characters of consequence so it would be easy to make them the villain of the episode. But no, instead all fingers pointed towards Lincoln. With his temper, and the fact that was fiddling with the Kree artifact, he was the perfect target. He even incriminated himself by freaking out on the whole group in the middle of the isolation pod.
I’m going to circle back around to a couple of scenes of note before getting to the ending of the episode. First were Coulson’s conversations with Malick. We didn’t get much, but the scenes we got were really interesting. Malick was a beaten and broken man. He spent his life’s work bringing back a god he believed in, only to be rejected by this god. His faith was pointless and now he’s paying the price.
This was also the episode that Malick’s vision of his future came true. Originally it took place off screen, but we later flashbacked to see his bones getting crushed. Naturally, my prediction of who his killer was, was wrong and I applaud the writers for setting that up so easily. It’s sad to see Malick go because he was actually a really good villain for this season – once the season settled on a storyline. But I’m also glad that we didn’t get to see him working with SHIELD in order to take down Hive because that seemed a bit of a clichéd route to go.
Lastly, we got a bit of romance between Simmons and Fitz. Their scene together towards the end of the episode was really sweet and I’m glad that they’re finally at a place where this feels natural. My hope is that the show will continue this storyline in a way that isn’t going to keep pulling and pushing them apart. Just let them be now, there are plenty of other conflicts to worry about. A small victory goes a long way.
Okay, now we can address the elephant in the room. After all this time of thinking Lincoln was the mole, it turns out it was Daisy! We got a brief flashback where Hive did his magic thing-y and swayed Daisy under his control. I’m curious to see if Daisy is the one who dies in the end, or if its yet another misdirect. I also have to wonder if they’ll find a cure, or if Hive’s defeat will break the spell.
Either way, I like that she’ll at least be against the SHIELD team for a bit. Her burying the SHIELD base with her powers was a pretty sweet scene. I’m curious to see what is inside the Kree artifact and how it plays into Hive’s plan. I’d also like to know what Hive’s plan actually is. Is he planning to make the whole world Inhuman? Daisy also took a bunch of crystals with her. Some clarity on his goals would be awesome. We don’t have long until the season finale, so things are really going to have to ramp up now.
Written by Peter Freeman, TV & Animation Writer -- Click here to read Peter's posts
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