Dangerous facts about the ATCU are discovered by the team; Ward’s plans to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. do not go as expected.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. puts a lot of its cards on the table as dots are connected and we learn the truth about ATCU and Hydra.

Thankfully Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is forging its own path away from the comics a bit tying in Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D., ATCU, and even the Inhumans in a story that takes a little from the comics, but a lot is new. It’s all pretty solid in that aspect, and actually had some exciting original ideas in this episode.

It’d be nice to see the series get past Hydra, and you have to wonder about the vetting process in many ways, but the series is keeping the fight against Ward, and it feels like they’re really building towards something with him.

The episode is a solid one in a season that’s been very uneven. In a way, it gets back to basics, and in doing so finds its footing. Hopefully, we get more of this in the future.

Overall Score: 7.6

As Daisy and the team fight to protect Inhumans, S.H.I.E.L.D. discovers the shocking truth about one of their biggest foes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reveals a hell of a lot tonight as we learn about the origin of Lash and some of the logic of Garner keeping it a secret. The episode though moves the story along a hell of a lot.

We get the origin, the motivation, and we also get a showdown between Coulson, his team, and Lash. It’s a lot to pack in to one episode. Interestingly the fight goes on and on and feels like it’s building up a bunch, only to feel a bit anticlimactic. It’s a bit of a weird ending and I’m sure we’ll see more of it all, but still, for such a build up of a threat, the end is very meh.

Then there’s the storyline of the portal and trying to get back to it. A revelation is made that seems… idiotic.

For all of the interesting things in this weeks episodes and all of the good spots, the blah parts are about equal, creating a very uneven episode that just doesn’t feel like it has paid off much at all. The series was building Lash to be this big bad, and it just doesn’t feel like he was much of one at all.

Other than the portal, it should be interesting to see where the rest of the season goes, but looks like to be more secret organizations to deal with.

At least the episode ended well. There was that.

Overall Score: 6.8

The stakes get higher as May and Hunter pursue Ward and Hydra; Coulson thinks the ATCU could be keeping a big secret.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. splits its time between two stories. There’s Melinda gathering a team to seek some revenge for the attack two episodes ago, going after Strucker in hopes of finding Ward. Really the episode should be entitled when Bobbi and Melinda got their groove back.

The rest of the episode revolves around Coulson finding out a lot more about the ATCU. It lifts the veil a bunch about the organization.

There’s a huge reveal as to who Lash really is, and I want to spoil it, but holy crap is it silly. Just really, really silly. This organization really needs to do better background checks. And Lash looks horrible in make-up.

Oh well.

The episode had some good, it had some bad. But mostly back to the so-so entertainment of this season.

Overall Score: 7.5

After her dramatic rescue from another planet, Simmons is still reeling from her ordeal and reveals how she had to fight for her life in a harsh new world.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. shifts its focus as we get to see what Jemma experienced during her time on another planet. It’s a fascinating episode in its style and storytelling.

First for about a quarter of the episode we get Jemma just by herself as she attempts to survive, but also deals with the fact she’s on an alien planet by herself. Not only does actress Elizabeth Henstridge‘s acting kick up quite a few notches, but it also fleshes out Simmons as a character. She goes from a generally interesting, but not used background character, to having a hell of a lot more depth. It’s kind of sad it takes trauma such as this to get her to this point, but at least she’s there.

The last episode ended with her statement that she had to go back to see what happened, and we find out why in what is an interesting solo episode for the most part. She goes from follower to stronger leader, and the ending of the episode sets up an interesting direction for the show, which is great since direction is something I’ve had issues with.

The look of the episode is particularly interesting in its look, relying on blues to color everything. Stylistically it makes what’s probably just normal desert to feel alien. Solid choice.

Overall, easily the best episode of the season and one of the best of the series.

Overall Score: 9

Having reluctantly agreed to share information with Rosalind and the ATCU, Coulson and the team search for the Inhuman who is killing other Inhumans; May feels that Hunter’s mission to take down Ward is getting too personal.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a new a new big bad in the form of Lash who is a major focus of this episode. The mysterious Inhuman is hunting other Inhumans, and we don’t quite know exactly why. This episode doesn’t really answer that part at all.

Part of my criticism about when we first saw the character was the fact that he looked ridiculous and created a serious cheesiness factor about the show. This episode has that exact same problem, and adding in some really flat dialogue reading and the episode is a bit of a step back.

The series has been finding good footing though when it comes to Hunter’s pursuit of Grant and this episode sees him and May get really close to achieving the goal of killing Grant. Yes, it’s more SHIELD vs Hydra, but that’s where the story works best, and has in the comics.

And *SPOILER* what the fuck is it with them killing off the black character!? (highlight to find out). No, we don’t see a body, but do you have hope considering the history so far of comic shows in general?

A very uneven episode, continuing a so far very uneven season.

Overall Score: 6.7