Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Chaos Theory (3x07)

This was, no surprise, another great episode. I had a few things that I was a bit iffy about, but for the most part things are still going strong.

Cons:

Things come to a head in this episode, as Lincoln contacts Mack and tells S.H.I.E.L.D. what he knows about Lash - he's a S.H.I.E.L.D. employee. From there, they quickly put together that Lash is Andrew. By the end of the episode, he's been neutralized with ATCU's nifty suspended animation goo. All of this felt a little too hasty to me. Lash was a great mystery, and the revelation of his true identity was very impressive as well. For all of that buildup, the fallout of the truth was over so quickly. Obviously Andrew will come back into the story at some point... but why not explore this idea for a few more episodes before fridging him?

Pros:

That being said, the emotional weight of tonight's story was expertly handled by Ming-Na Wen. May is usually such an emotionally distant person, so to see her break under the weight of Andrew's true identity was really powerful. We got to see flashbacks of May and Andrew in Hawaii, exploring their renewed relationship, in which May was truly happy and at peace. Juxtaposing that to her obvious distress upon learning the truth made the whole thing quite a gut-punch. Andrew actually kidnaps May and takes her away to explain things to her, but S.H.I.E.L.D. and ATCU show up to neutralize him, having learned the truth. Andrew transforms into Lash and starts attacking everybody, and it's May who manages to neutralize him. How does she do it? Well, foregoing her usual instincts towards physical confrontation, she talks Lash down, until he becomes Andrew again, and then attacks him with no warning, pushing him back into a containment unit. That scene was ridiculously powerful, as we see how genuinely crushed May is about this whole thing. At the same time, she gets the job done, like she always does.

I liked the reveal that Andrew's transformations into Lash were temporary - he's still in transition, and some day he won't be able to change back into fully human form. Lincoln was the one to provide that little insight, and actually Lincoln might get the title of MVP for this episode. His contacting Mack was a really interesting move for his character, and he actually had relevant information to share with our key characters. Without him, who knows how long it would have been before any of them realized that May was in danger? And at the end of the episode we learn that he's sticking around. I'll be interested to see if they can make his romance with Daisy a little more compelling, but I'm also intrigued by the potential burgeoning friendship between Mack and Lincoln.

Then there's Rosalind and Coulson, who actually spent most of the episode working together really nicely. Coulson asks Daisy to show Rosalind around the base and try and make her see that Inhumans can be fully integrated members of society. Rosalind says that while she knows Inhumans aren't inherently bad, a lot of them are seriously dangerous. All of this comes to a head when Daisy actually saves Rosalind's life by using her powers to stop her from falling to her death. I think we're starting to see some really interesting complexities in Rosalind's character. At the end of the episode, she and Coulson finally hook up... but things are not as they seem.

The after credits scene features Ward and Malick. They discuss the fact that Werner Von Strucker is actually still alive, although in a coma. Malick takes a phone call, and it turns out that Rosalind is on the other line. She promises to deliver "him" soon. We don't know who "him" is supposed to be, and I don't think we should be writing this off as an automatic reveal that Rosalind is evil. Remember when there was the big reveal that May had been spying on Coulson? I'm sort of hoping that this is more akin to that. Maybe Rosalind doesn't know who she's dealing with! In any case, I'm anxious to keep exploring her character. She's too interesting to be the obvious baddie they're setting up here.

Then there's our two sets of love birds for the evening. Bobbi and Hunter had one scene that was really powerful and beautiful. Hunter is anxious to keep looking for Ward, but Bobbi tells him no - she doesn't want him to get hurt, and she doesn't want either one of them to lose themselves in the hunt for revenge. Hunter talks about how much he loves Bobbi, and the fact that he was only pushing so hard to catch Ward was because he was scared to lose her. Bobbi wants Ward to back off for just the same reason. I really do root for these two.

Then there's Fitzsimmons, which I saved for last because I love them most of all! Simmons gives Fitz her phone so that he can repair the data and see images of the alien planet. He sees a picture of her with Will, which upsets him, but he also watches her video and listens to her voice files to him, where she talks about how much she cares for him and how she imagines them going away to live in a cabin together. The best moment is when she talks about how strange it is to always want to be with someone the way she's always wanted to be around him.

The acting from Iain De Caestecker in this scene was amazing, as he watched the video and shed silent tears at the sight of Simmons so scared and alone. At the end, there's a scene where they stand and watch the sunrise together. Simmons admits she definitely meant all of the things she said in that video about their sharing a life together. But just because they've both basically admitted their love for one another doesn't mean smooth sailing moving forward. They acknowledge that their feelings don't change the tricky situation they're in.

Even though I still hate the whole Will thing, I'm very happy with how they're handling Leo and Jemma's relationship through all of this. It seems they're as united as ever, even if the circumstances are difficult. And hey - it looks like we have our first lead into figuring out how to get Will back - Fitz notices the badge on his uniform, and thinks that if they can research whatever organization sent him and his team to the alien planet, they might have more answers as to how to get back.

So there you have it. While I might be a bit disappointed in how quickly Lash was neutralized, I'd certainly rather rush ahead than remain stagnant.

8/10