Danny Hale reviews the twelfth episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3…
This week on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. we got more of a glimpse into Lincoln, Talbot returned and the Hive continued to feed. It feels a bit redundant to say this anymore but I feel like a lot happened this week including getting to see a bit more of the Hive. I like the idea that the Hive has some minor fascination with Ward’s body although it is technically dead. We were led to believe that Ward was meant to inhabit the Hive so I find that a justifiable reason to keep Brett Dalton on the show. I’m also enjoying watching him onscreen, trying to work out exactly what’s going on in that head. His display of powers in the post credits scene last week seems to show that the Hive can create drones out of people it infects, a power which he again showcases when ‘Medusa Eyes’ from last week tries to use his powers on him. No word on how long the effect lasts but something tells me the only way to get out from under the Hive’s influence is to probably kill it.
Lincoln as a character seems to be a slow burner. I’m not as aggrieved by him as others seem to be so this week to see him out on a field mission being mentored by May was great and reminded me of her training with Daisy or Skye as she was known at the time. That coupled with he and Daisy’s training room scene, it’s clear that they are shaping him up for more field missions. The main thing that seems to occur with Lincoln is that he is very emotion driven; again tonight we saw him go slightly overboard with his powers when attacking Creel and again in his disagreement with Daisy, his powers manifested alongside his frustration. Daisy’s slight bicker with Bobbi about Inhumans rolled into her talk with Lincoln and although I understand where Daisy was coming from I couldn’t help but feel she was being a little defensive about the whole issue so I was happy she admitted as much and apologised to Lincoln.
It was great to see Talbot back and his wife Clara; Talbot can be comic at times, an antagonist at others but what always kept him grounded was his wife Clara and son George. It’s the perfect way to highlight what makes him the most human and the best way to reintroduce him. In fact, Talbot and Coulson ‘s scenes were my favourite part of this weeks episode; off the back of Coulson meeting with President Ellis last week it was great to see the symposium of world leaders taking place to discuss the Inhumans. It gives the show more integrity and sheds some light on how these characters and stories exist within the MCU. I hadn’t really given much thought into who the ‘inside man’ was, even as May, Bobbi and Hunter searched the various delegate’s hotel rooms. I was just along for the ride which happily meant when Talbot turned on Coulson I genuinely was surprised. At first I was unsure, hadn’t Coulson and Talbot worked through all this previously? Happily Talbot’s actions were due to Malick having his son at ransom and with a nice touch it’s clear that Coulson knows as soon as he sees Malick that Talbot’s being coerced. Powers Boothe once brings an incredible presence to his scenes as Malick. I feel we haven’t seen that side of him as much as the bulk of his scenes have been among his own people but here is a reminder of why this man has such influence and sway. He makes a great villain and I‘m delighted he’s still a part of this show.
Where I felt previously that Coulson and Talbot had worked through the kinks in their tumultuous relationship I thought this episode did an incredible job of bringing these two together and really building trust and respect. Seeing Talbot upon being freed by Creel fly into a rage looking for his son brings his character right down to earth all the while making him feel far more real and far more relatable.
It was nice that Creel didn’t betray Talbot, taking him from being a simple brute to a more developed character. Creel was first introduced as a villain and I remember at the time thinking how great it was to see some powers on the show but assumed he met his demise when he came into contact with the terrigen. Interestingly it appears that Creel’s blood may hold a cure for Inhumans. It won’t change anybody back but as Lincoln states it would grant people a ‘choice’. If this was a device by the writers just to raise the issue or the start of another plot line has yet to be seen. Creel’s first appearance back in the season 2 premiere Shadows saw him result in the death of Isabelle Hartley (Lucy Lawless), close friend of Bobbi, Hunter and Mack’s. This creates a great dynamic for those three with Creel if he is sticking around.
This week’s main strengths for me were successfully detailing and solidifying Coulson and Talbot’s partnership, bringing back an old player like Creel who has such strong history with our current characters and the bad guys making steps towards their end-game. One of the world leaders, Pedrov proposed the idea for a sanctuary state within Russia to home all Inhumans, safely. This may seem like a solution to some but there are many problems; does Pedrov wish to win the Inhumans to his country’s side and why is Malick so keen on helping him realise this wish? As I’m sure Pedrov’s intentions are more or less selfish I don’t believe he knows what Malick is capable of. In other small gems it was great to see the tension between May and Hunter still very evident. It would have been an insult to May to have her forgive him that easily although May’s ‘I don’t hate you quite as much,’ line was an absolute killer. To end the episode we got a look at the Hive after feeding on five healthy, innocent humans. It seems the Hive has managed to return Ward’s body to peak condition. Hopefully this means we’ll see some sort of physical confrontation soon and once the Hive doesn’t infect May and get her to his side we should all be fine.
Danny Hale
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Originally published March 17, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
