Previously on Agents of SHIELD, Ward almost killed Bobbi, Coulson made a deal to work with the ATCU, and a Sonic the Hedgehog-looking guy went on a killing spree. This episode, “Devils You Know,” opens with Sonic picking up right where he left off and killing two of the Inhumans who used to live in Afterlife. He also kills one of the duplicates of Alisha (the redhead from last season), which sends regular Alisha into a catatonic state. Coulson calls in the ATCU to help SHIELD process the massacre, so there’s two times the bureaucracy at work. All in all, not the best situation.
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Strained Cooperation
No one is happy to come across this scene of destruction. Daisy is upset because these were her friends and she was hoping to recruit them, and Rosalind is upset because she was not told about their location sooner. She’s full of warmth, that one. And while Coulson spends most of this episode extolling the virtues of working with the ATCU and how they need to give a little to get a little, Mack and Daisy are far from convinced. They’re both still holding a pretty big grudge about the ATCU almost abducting Daisy for their ill-defined and nefarious purposes. Also, everyone notices that Coulson and Rosalind can’t stop flirting and suspect that this factors into the new agreement.
While the ATCU cart off the Inhuman bodies for who knows what, SHIELD manages to get a few bits of information. Bobbi finds some of the killer’s hair at the scene, which reveals him to be Inhuman. They also learn that the Inhumans got an anonymous e-mail shortly before they died. Daisy uses her computer skills (remember those?) and reveals that it’s a virus meant to transmit the location of anyone who opens it.
Excited that the writers remembered she’s a computer genius, Daisy goes a step further and tracks the e-mail to its sender, Dwight Frye. She suspects that Dwight is working with the ATCU, since he’s a former government employee, but Coulson still gives Rosalind and her team the benefit of the doubt.
Who Could It Be?
Coulson decides to contact Rosalind before they meet with Dwight as a show of faith. Daisy enters the apartment first, but this doesn’t go well because Dwight’s Inhuman ability is being allergic to other Inhumans. I sometimes play a game called “Terrible Superpowers” in which I try to think of the most mundane and useless powers a person could have, things that would make me sufficiently angry if I became an X-Man and they were all I got. The ability to always tear off exactly the right amount of plastic wrap, for example. Dwight’s power is far more useless than anything I’ve ever come up with, topped in crappiness only by Raina’s “My insides feel like knifes” transformation. It has no upside.
Like every other Inhuman we’ve come across, Dwight feels that his powers are a curse. In his case, he’s right. He admits that the only thing that eases the constant pain he feels is when Lash (our blue friend) kills other Inhumans. He explains that Lash gives him the names of Inhumans and he tracks them down with his computer virus, insisting that they’re doing the “right thing.”
The ATCU take custody of Dwight, but as a repayment, they allow Daisy and Mack to visit their facility. Both of them are uncomfortable, Daisy because she may see her people in dire conditions and Mack because he’s extremely protective of Daisy. But they never make it to the base because Lash attacks their van on the way. He pulls Dwight from the wreckage, who begs for his life by calling Lash merciful. “I’m not merciful,” Lash says just before he kills Dwight. “I’m necessary.”
Strangely, though, Lash doesn’t even attempt to kill Daisy. She watches as he walks away and his shadow shifts into that of a man. Later, when Mack regains consciousness in an ER, she tells him that Lash can change forms and could be anyone. Rosalind chooses this moment to make a dramatic entrance.
Reunited at Last
Over in the B-plot, Hunter is preparing to go on his first job with Hydra. He’s itching to kill Ward, but May realizes that he has no real plan about how to do it. Hunter is fueled by anger and the need for revenge. This is something May can respect, but she is first and foremost a skilled operative and can’t let his pathetic excuse for a mission go unchecked.
May finally returns to SHIELD after months away. Coulson is thrilled to see her, though he can’t get her to talk about exactly why she left. He agrees to send in a backup team for Hunter’s mission. This is the easy part of May’s return because Dr. Garner is also there. He’s been evaluating Simmons and the catatonic Inhuman in between lectures. We learn from their conversation that he disappeared after their vacation, presumably because he didn’t like the Melinda he saw there. He insists that this is untrue and wants to make it up to May, but she doesn’t give him the chance.
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Almost Got Him!
Hunter continues on with his mission, good sense be damned. In his chav-tastic undercover look, which I suspect is really just his leisure wear, Hunter is thrown into the trunk of a car and taken to Hydra headquarters. There, he is introduced to Hydra’s “Director.” Of course, they’ve met before, so it only takes a few seconds for a shootout to commence.
Ward is not the least bit intimidated by Hunter. And who can blame him? It’s hard to feel threatened by someone in an Adidas tracksuit. But the moment of pure panic on his face when May arrives is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed. He’s also still blaming her for Kara’s death because he has no perspective on reality or self-awareness.
Even though they outnumber her, and even though SHIELD’s backup team is far out of reach, Ward knows that he can’t beat May without playing dirty. So he slides her his phone and shows her a livestream of Garner, about to be killed by Hydra’s trust fund brat and his minions. He says that if May doesn’t let him go, Garner will go up in flames.
May would like nothing more than to kill Ward, but Garner is more important to her. Unfortunately, Hunter doesn’t agree. He goes after Ward, shooting him in the back before Ward manages to escape. Ward never makes the call to stop the attack on Garner. We see a pair of feet lying in a puddle of blood and Sidebangs von Strucker running away from the building before it explodes. Was this really Garner or does the lack of a face shot mean that he’s still alive?
Simmons is Ready to Talk
Finally, Simmons is still dealing with her issues. Bobbi hasn’t told anyone that she’s trying to recreate the Monolith, but Simmons isn’t exactly being subtle. She’s moody, she’s jumpy and she yells at Fitz for touching her file on the Monolith. In her therapy session with Garner, she reveals that she lost hope while in the alien world but won’t say anything else. Everyone is concerned. To Fitz’s credit, though, he doesn’t push her for information or get upset when she treats him poorly. Fitz is proving to be someone you’d want by your side in an emotional crisis.
Bobbi is, for a while, the only person Simmons feels comfortable talking to. They’ve both been through traumatic experiences recently that they are unable to easily get past, and they’re both having trouble with the men in their lives. Like Fitz, Bobbi says all the right things, gently encouraging Simmons to talk to Fitz without pushing or scolding her. I hope their friendship continues throughout the season because it is perfect.
Having figured out from her file what she’s trying to do, Fitz finally asks Simmons why she wants to rebuilt the Monolith. Simmons admits that she needs to go back. “Something happened to me,” she tells him. And in the next episode, we will finally get to learn what that something was.
Agents of SHIELD airs Tuesdays at 9pm on ABC.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
