I have to give credit where credit is due. As of late, Brett Dalton has definitely transcended the role of Grant Ward and become something more as Hive. I’m jumping around a bit, but the scene near the end when Hive confronted Simmons was pretty good. You could definitely tell that it was 'Will' he was channeling.
Even more so were the scenes in the beginning of the episode when Hive was talking with Daisy. It was a nice touch that he referred to her as Skye, since he only had Ward’s memories of her and he had no idea about her real name. His attitude towards her was very “non-villain” like. He wasn’t menacing or cliché, he was actually very kind towards her. He reacts similarly to the other Inhumans as well.
There’s a sense, to me at least, that Hive is a Magneto type character. He’s a man who wants to lead and take care of his people. He clearly doesn’t care about humans, as he does disintegrate one of the bodyguards going after Simmons. But he wants to give the Inhumans a home. He wants to give them a place where they can be accepted. That’s my theory at least, since the feeling he gives the Inhuman he infects is euphoric and they all treat each other like they’re part of a family. I desperately hope that there won’t be some reveal where Hive just wants to take over the planet for his own personal gain, or something equally lame.
Moving on, there was quite a bit of movement in the Simmons / Fitz romance plot. Fitz was his naturally awkward self about the whole thing, terribly afraid that sex would cause issues between them. A lot of their scenes together were very sweet. Even Simmons scene with Mac was kind of cute, as she attempted to put into words what was going on between the two of them. Despite that, they made the leap together at the end of the episode.
Mac’s in an interesting place right now. Because while the absence of Hunter and Bobbi hasn’t really been felt in these later episodes, Mac is the one exception. Now he’s lost his partner to the “dark side”. The man simply can’t catch a break. So he’s no doubt on edge about what’s going on here. I wonder if he’ll be the one who can shake Daisy out of her high?
Or maybe it will be Coulson? There was a lot of discussion between May and Coulson about how Coulson treats Daisy. Like May tells him, he’s not her father. But Coulson feels like she’s a daughter. He wants to take care of her and he isn’t willing to kill her even if it means their destruction. That said, he’s more than willing to kill Lincoln if he were to turn. The suicide vest seemed extreme, but I like that Coulson has taken a no nonsense approach these last few episodes.
The best scene of the whole episode was probably towards the end though, when Daisy attacked Fitz. There was a moment when she said she had to tell him something that I thought we’d learn she was a mole or something. Again, glad that wasn’t the case. Instead she revealed her vision from the future, about a SHIELD agent dying. She also gave him a warning, next time they clashed, she would kill him. So that’s pretty definitive. She’s not messing around.
Random note: I liked Hellfire’s insistence on trying to come up with a name. Even more, I liked that the other Inhumans weren’t bothered by it.
Also it was kind of odd that Talbot had a cameo in there and was the one to take down Hydra after all this time. It all happened off screen too. Like, to the point where I’m not sure if it’s true or not. Hive seemed unaffected. Did he move all of Hydra’s wealth off shore somewhere? He bought an entire town so he’s still got to have a bunch of money. Right?
Written by Peter Freeman, TV & Animation Beat Writer -- Click here to read Peter's posts
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