Danny Hale reviews the eighteenth episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3…
This week’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. really got things building for the impending finale; Hive gained more Inhumans to his side and we started to see the full extent of his unique brand of corruption. Our team has been pushed and they’ve lost Daisy to Hive. This is where I enjoy the show the most; our team have been backed into a corner, the lines have been drawn and their main motivation to fight is to rescue one of their own. All great components for the final four episodes!
My favourite thing about ‘The Singularity’ was that we learned that Hive’s ‘mind-control’ is in actual fact an addiction. His subjects and he are “one organism” in Hive’s own words but instead of being mindless drones his victims still retain their own memories and personalities all the while revering Hive itself. I know we saw a glimpse of this with Giyera in previous weeks but now with one of our own infected coupled with Simmons’ expertise we get a much clearer picture of his powers and their effects.
I can’t state how thankful I am that Daisy and Hive didn’t ‘shack up,’ I know Hive has Ward’s memories and we know how Ward felt about Daisy but I can’t see any foreseeable reason why the writers would or should have any sort of romance develop other than to placate some fan’s regrets that Ward and Daisy never got together back in season 1. It also raises complex issues concerning consent, especially when Daisy retains her own memories and personality while under his will.
I have to say I really enjoyed Lincoln this week; the glimpses of his past we’ve been privy to of late are all adding up. His refusal to join Daisy after she broke free of her cell last week showed a loyalty and maturity previously unseen in him concerning S.H.I.E.L.D. and now that he and Daisy are on opposite sides it’s allowing him to stand out a bit more. His scene with Coulson and May was a great one; he insisted on going in to extract the Inhuman Alicia given their history even while he wore a suicide vest as ordered by Coulson. As Phil quickly pointed out a suicide vest is self activated but he bestows the trigger to this ‘murder vest’ to May. The following scenes played out very well; at first I thought we were duped into going after Alicia while Daisy and Hive approached James who was in possession of the Kree artefact from last week. I figured James was about to die at Hive’s hands so his reveal as Hellfire was a nice surprise! Throw in the fact that Alicia had already been compromised and you have two new players on Hive’s team. May and Lincoln’s clash with Alicia left May unconscious and forced Alicia to kill one of her own copies, highlighting the extremes those under his influence will go for him. Hive and Daisy meanwhile with James’ sudden compliance acquire another Kree artefact that is “the only thing that can destroy” Hive. We’ll be seeing that again soon.
May was on fire this week; from giving Simmons that gun and advice for her assignment to her conversation with Coulson in the truck. I did feel it was a bit harsh of Phil to order Lincoln to wear the suicide vest considering he tells May that she is not to shoot Daisy. One of my favourite things about Coulson is his attachment to Daisy. Phil’s character has been forced into a darker place over the past three seasons but his father’s love for Daisy harkens back to that gentler, loving man and it shows that he is still the same person underneath all that has happened. It was great this week to hear him call Daisy his daughter; it just adds more weight to her absence from the team.
Fitz’s attempt at discussing sex with Simmons was absolutely adorable. The to and fro with these two had started to get stale but this week did an incredible job of putting me right back into their romance and it’s beyond time for them to have a little happiness. With this happiness so fresh I keep reminding myself that neither Fitz nor Simmons can fly a quinjet so there should be no reason one of them should burn up in space . . . right? I was delighted the pair got to head out into the field; it has been way too long. What I didn’t expect was for them to come face to face with Daisy and Hive! But before that their mission wasn’t going too badly. Their first hurdle came when In order to gain an audience with Doctor Radcliffe FitzSimmons were requested to prove their eye technology by operating on a live specimen. I will admit I did shy away from the screen a little as Simmons jabbed the needle in the mostly covered specimen’s eye. The specimen is revealed to be Doctor Holden Radcliffe himself and I loved the energy that he brought. It was so great to see John Hannah in the role and I can’t wait to see more. I also love this braver Fitz we keep seeing and how he fought back against the doctor’s security and made a last ditch plea for his help. Fitz wasted no time in throwing out words like ‘alien’ and ‘inhuman’ playing on the doctor’s desire and fascination with science and mystery. Now enter Hive and his team. Seeing Daisy with Fitz did a great job of showing us just how strong Daisy’s will is versus Hive’s. She is aware enough of Fitz to allow him a warning but also delivered the chilling “I’ll snap your neck” if they meet again. Simmons meanwhile came face to face with Hive and Jemma more than anyone feared this creature so I was very grateful she didn’t buy any of his lies and instead popped three rounds into his gut before fleeing. We haven’t seen enough of Hive to know how three bullets will affect him but I can’t imagine it would stop him for long.
Another great week this week and the wheels are well and truly turning for the season’s end. A small moment late in the episode which maybe should have gotten a bit more attention was HYDRA’s fall. In one way I’m glad the show is moving away from HYDRA, it was a great set-up for Ward’s betrayal and led to Hive’s presence on Earth as well as tying the show in with the MCU as a whole but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is strong enough to stand on its own two feet and to evolve past HYDRA with its own villains. So even if HYDRA’s very swift defeat was a little jarring in its execution, in the grand scheme of things it’s probably a good move. Finally, our post credits scene revealed that with Malick’s immense fortune Hive has bought an entire town. This creates the potential for a massive amount of Inhumans and for Hive to create an army. I just hope we get an all-out battle between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hive in his town as it is presumably civilian free and therefore allows our characters to display their powers in all their glory. Roll on next week.
Danny Hale
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
