#rewatchingaos3

For all its somewhat heavy-handed bloodthirstiness, Season 3 definitely subverted expectations when it comes to its conclusion. Not with Lincoln, of course, whose fate was sealed (especially in retrospect) the minute Daisy told him her vision, but with Miss Johnson herself.

The superhero of the piece won’t regain her sense of self and purpose saving the day in a triumphant battle against the Big Bad, which could have been a satisfying if conventional resolution for the misery she’s been subjected to.

Quite the contrary. First, she surrenders to the villain and to the mother of all withdrawals. Then she’ll fight him and fail. And finally, her self-sacrificing play will be hijacked, driving her to leave everything behind.

Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded the triumphant saving the day one bit but what we’ve got is a baller writing move and the show is probably better for it.

Choosing to return to the oblivion of the sway is by far Daisy’s lowest moment, her one and only true betrayal, firstly of herself, then of Lash, who died to free her, and then everyone else, since the consequences would have been apocalyptically bad. I mean, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which S.H.I.E.L.D. succeeds if Daisy is backing Hive.

Of course the show will never bring it up again past this season😏 If you’d start watching from S4, you’d think all that happened to turn her goth grunge and brood-y was her boyfriend’s death.

Lincoln will of course figure it out next episode but did she ever tell anyone? Given how most characters won’t seem to understand how terrified she was of bringing them harm, I’m going to assume she didn’t.

Mack Therapy:

Jemma goes for clinical detachment, Coulson tries it and can’t sustain it, so switches to reason (“no one blames you for this [...] you were brainwashed”), but Daisy can’t be receptive to either approach right now: she thinks she deserves much worse than coldness and is drowning in self-loathing.

Mack can’t fake dispassionate and doesn’t try to convince her of what she is currently incapable to accept, that she’s the victim, not the perpetrator. He just gives her forgiveness and unconditional friendship. With time, no impending doom and no proximity to Hive as a walking quick fix, I’m convinced the Mack Way would have truly helped Daisy fight out of her funk.

In any case, regardless of the final outcome, their partnership, set up in 2x22, pays off beautifully.

Stuff that crossed my mind:

In Daisy’s nightmare, the entire Earth is dead and Coulson is dying. Hello, Season 5. I wasn’t missing you. 😈😁

If anyone had somehow forgotten that May is a kickass pilot, here she flies a Quinjet underwater. I mean... 😍

They only send you. Why? It’s because you’re the only one I didn’t hurt...personally, I mean. That’s why. Oh, baby...😭

And of course Fitz does a monkey impression to test his awesome green screen trickery. If he doesn’t have a monkey companion while playing Time Lord in S7 I’m going to be so pissed...

Am I the only one who is a bit concerned that to obtain nuclear missiles codes in the Marvel Universe all you need is two generals asking, one undersecretary agreeing and another guy with a (fake) badge picking them up? I mean, it’s an abort code and not a launch code, but still... 😬

Quick Key Fitz, the Fastest Typist in the West.😁

Every time I see his face, I want to punch something. And I would love to see you punch him, alas...

Your work, it's too slow. -- Well, I'm sorry, we all don't have superspeed. -- Oh, this isn't about superspeed. This is about your turtle speed. You work and then you stare, and work and then more staring. We have to go. -- Hurtful. 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

[The cross she gifted him] isn’t a lucky rabbit’s foot. This is a symbol of faith. Who would return such a gift? Someone who is well versed in tropes and knows a mark of certain death when he sees it. 😁

I’m gonna call you “Ronald” and you... “Ronald Two”. What a disappointing lack of imagination. You could have at least called them Ronald and Donald, sheesh.

I don’t know how Radcliffe can even look at the Primitives without curling in a ball and go catatonic with guilt.

Daisy... you were brainwashed. -- So was Ward. I’m going to read this as the ultimate sign of how utterly lost Daisy is at the moment because in any other way this line would be some heavy revisionist BS. Ward was certainly groomed by Garrett but his free will was intact all along, as was his ability to discern right from wrong. He even rejected the brainwashing angle himself when it came up in S2. Also, Garrett never swarmed his brain with mind-controlling parasites.

You have to understand, Lincoln, I gave [Daisy] something you never could ... happiness.True happiness comes from belonging. That's something she needs that you could never offer her. Now, deep down, you know this. Sadly, Lincoln believes him, at least in part, as later in the episode he says “there's nothing I have to offer Daisy that she wants or needs”.

What the hell did you do to them? -- Well, it's not my finest work, but I was under extreme duress. There’s having a healthy ego and then there’s this. But he still cracks me up. 🤭

You got to hurry. -- Oh, turtle-man wishes for me to hurry. Tiene suerte esta guapo (he’s lucky he’s handsome). 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

Good thing we brought the very small plane to carry [all the hostages]. 🤣 🤣 Elena’s on fire this episode!

We caught Hive. Well done, team! And especially Elena, whose self-satisfied smirk is a joy to behold. Now, would you all be so kind to drop him into an active volcano? You’re in the Pacific, there’s bound to be one in flying distance...

I can tell by your mustache that you're a man of importance and not to be trifled with, so I will be absolutely honest with you ... the process is irreversible. -- And I can tell by your beady little eyes that you're a worm. Ah, the beginning of a beautiful friendship...😁

You got a lot of good people on this team...real heroes.That's not me. I know what you’re doing, AoS. And it’s working. Damn you.😭

Is anyone gonna talk to [Daisy]...at least let her know we have Hive? -- That's not a great idea right now. We need to stick to the security protocols. -- You got to be kidding me. [storms off to visit Daisy] Mack, you’re the best. Also because you finally managed to get rid of the Necklace of Doom. Phew!!

We've had enough tragedy. A little fun wouldn't kill us. With your record? Going on vacation might just trigger another alien invasion.😁

Snorkeling is an interesting choice for two people who almost drowned at the bottom of the ocean.

The worst part about Hive is, when he's making you hurt the people you care about, he makes you love him for it. If Hive isn't the devil, he's the closest thing to it you and I will ever see. A hug and a few minutes chatting with Mack and Daisy is already starting to put the blame where it belongs. I’m telling you, Mack Therapy. It would have worked. 👍

Is [the necklace] yours? -- No. I think it's YoYo's. -- All right. I'll give it to her. Too soon to stick, AoS. I’m sure nobody panicked. Right?😁

[Hive] can't be contained. He has to be destroyed. Well, I suggested a volcano but nobody ever listens to me...

We're safe. Coulson's sealing up the base. Ah, well, alright then...we’re lucky the Playground didn’t blow up by the end of the episode 😁

Hi again, Agent O’Brien who was in Bahrain, tailed Fitz during the Grand Theft Toolbox and recently infiltrated Hivetown. It was nice knowing you.

FitzSimmons plan a romantic getaway and all hell breaks loose. Naturally.

Professor Vaughn's Third Year Compiler Theory? The esteemed (?) Professor Vaughn (third year? I thought you guys graduated the Academy in one?) had already been unfavourably mentioned in 1x02 and 1x12. I want to meet him.

They’re gone. We have to cut our losses. It’s all we can do. Elena does not approve. But I mean, the one guy in the opening credits is safe and he managed to save one redshirt. You can’t reasonably expect more. 😁

Please...take me back. First time watching, this was shocking. Now, there is only pain... 😭 😭 😭

“My first duty is to her, not S.H.I.E.L.D.” Andrew had stipulated way back in 2x13, when he had been re-invited aboard the crazy S.H.I.E.L.D. train. One year and one terrigenesis later, Daisy is still his priority.

Lash was hurting Hive more than anyone had managed since our unfriendly neighborhood octopus recovered his health - Fitz almost killed him with a flare gun on Maveth but he was severely weakened by the hardships of his exile - yet when Daisy shows up, nothing else matters more than her (I can identify with that 🤭)

I Don’t Think That Word Means What You think It Means:

“Their lives have been filled with such hatred. Now they’ll find peace with us. [...] Every human deserves a chance to be freed from his prison. Their emancipation will be my gift to you.” -- Hive

Hive puts no value in independence, freedom, individuality, so he’s quite satisfied with the Primitives, who have no discernible individuality at all.

The Inhumans he has enslaved still retain their core inclinations - if irreparably twisted, see how Daisy wanted to “help” her friends - and the capacity to act on their own, even if it’s completely in service of Hive’s agenda. They are also a diverse bunch, both as humans - two Asian-Americans, one Australian, one now dead South American - and as Inhumans, with their varied set of powers.

The Primitives can’t speak and while they retain the skills they’ve learned before their botched Terrigenesis, they’re otherwise the very definition of (mostly) mindless drones, all basically the same in both looks, behaviour and power (enhanced strength).

Overall, it’s a bit disappointing. Hive says he wants “connection” and a peaceful world but here he shows himself as nothing more than a tyrant who only wants a great number of obedient and thoroughly unremarkable minions.

May’s Boundless Badassary:

We don’t often get to see May using her brains without her brawns being involved, too, but we do here and as desperate measures go, hers are definitely the clever kind.

"You do whatever it takes to end this”, Coulson tells her, and she gets everyone to pitch in without them knowing it, save for Lincoln and Coulson himself (and Lash). It’s a gamble and a ruse and brilliant all around. If only Hellfire had gone to buy his beer some place farther away.😢

Wall of Valor:

I suppose in most ways Dr. Garner was gone when his transformation became permanent and there’s an argument to be made for Terrigenesis itself, given how fundamentally different what drives Lash appeared to be from what seemed to drive Andrew, a warm, compassionate man, genuinly interested in helping people.

Yet now the loss is complete.

One thing that annoys me is that, as far as I can remember, it’s a loss that won’t be openly discussed or felt beyond S3.

Sure, we know May feels responsible for him being involved in the first place (“Every terrible thing that has happened to you could have been avoided if you’d never met me” she told him in Spacetime) and it’s easy to imagine how Daisy must feel, as he was brought in to help her and then died saving her.

Still, it would have been nice and compelling to have May and Daisy talk about him at some point. And May and Coulson too, especially in S5 when Phil refused any attempt to save him and May had to relive it all.

Stuff that crossed my mind:

This episode is basically the last time a MCU movie (CA: Civil War in this instance) truly impacts the show, at least until we see what S7 will do with the whole Thanos and Endgame thing.

The Sokovia Accords are law of the land now. The Sokovia Accords can go diaf. #teamcap ✊

In our regular update on all the computer-related side jobs Daisy’s apparently been doing while we weren’t watching, we learn that she’s also responsible for the anti-subversion code that’s keeping the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s software safe from tampering and intrusions. Well, from other people’s tampering and intrusions, at least.

Your friends are very persistent. They keep fighting us, forcing us to move, wasting valuable time. If it happens again, there'll be no absolution. “Absolution”, huh? Funny you should use that word...

We destroyed all our work on the Hive cure, and now you have to spend all your time Daisy-proofing security. Is this what happened to the potential Terrigenesis vaccine, then, the one Daisy and Lincoln argued about in 3x12? All research data and blood samples destroyed? I had been wondering. 🤔

Don’t report our Inhumans. Some battles need to be fought with secret warriors. AoS, you are such a damn tease...

It's a protected list. It's highly classified.You had an index...-- Which is why I know nothing good ever comes from putting people on lists. Eventually they get misused or fall into the wrong hands, and then innocent people suffer. Well! I am *so* glad to hear you say this! Too bad this realization didn’t come a little sooner, say mid season 2?😏

The Sokovia Accords are a joke. We don't need registration. We need extermination. Aaand the racist canine cosplayers are back. Tell me again how gestapo Daisy was being in 3x14, AoS. I dare you.😡

Are you okay? -- Fine. Just feeling a little drained. I imagine seeing Daisy like this solidified Lincoln’s determination to go ahead with the plan because there’s no way a doctor couldn’t tell something was *very* wrong by how sickly pale she looks.

Do I sound brainwashed to you? I mean...just last episode you were planning to rip your friends’ hearts out if they didn’t agree to become Inhumans...if you think that’s your standard behaviour, you’re also amnesiac.

What’s he doing in here? Thought this was a germ-free zone. Ha! Good one, Lincoln!

I came here to fight, to save Daisy. 🤗 🤗 In S6 Elena will successfully save Daisy from Izel’s possession at the cost of her own.

Armaggedon. Whatever he's doing, is pure evil. I'm talking end-times Biblical evil, 2,000-years-of-darkness evil. Poor Mack. I think he needs something much, much stronger than a beer, Elena.

It’s about protection. -- Whose protection? -- Everyone’s. People need to be protected when one of you runs amok. Some of you need protection from yourselves. Unsurprisingly, Talbot’s “everyone” doesn’t include protection for the Inhumans from bigoted humans (and overreaching government agencies). The accords, and even more so their enforcerers, are hopelessly biased because they view the “enhanced” only as a problem and as the only problem.

But seriously, who follows a stranger down a dark alley dressed as pups? Racist scumbags with delusions of relevance, that’s who.

Do you really think he'd sacrifice [Daisy] just to make a few more Inhumans? With her powers, her knowledge, she's worth a hundred. Phil..he’s not you.

These are volunteers? Radcliffe’s enthusiasm for his new experiment is quickly waning as the enormity of what he’s being asked to do becomes more and more difficult to ignore.

Are you still confident? -- 100 % fairly certain. 🤣🤣🤣

Please rest. We may need some more blood. I’m really hating Hive right now.😡

Daisy fools the security door with a tape dispenser, a pencil, and a mirror. Add the containment rooms to the growing list of things S.H.I.E.L.D. will probably need to overhaul when she leaves.

Oh, my God. What have I done? The words “crimes against humanity” come to mind...

Hothead is loose, and he's getting help from Swazy Daisy. I generally prefer Mack’s style of nicknaming, but Talbot is great competition.

Actually, Daisy could fly him out. -- She’s nowhere near here -- If she hacked into the Quinjet systems and reprogrammed them for autopilot, she could fly him out from anywhere in the world. This exchange makes it sound like Daisy can actually fly a plane and later she will indeed fly the Quinjet back. But they must have meant on autopilot all along or the Zephyr One’s flying systems are somehow radically different from the Quinjets’ because she most definitely can’t fly the Z1.

Are you serious? These Primitives are an abomination of science...and a very poor reflection of my talents.🤣🤣 I know he’s being kind of awful but I can’t help it, he cracks me up. 

I’m thinking maybe I’m not the Inhuman whisperer. 🤣🤣

[The Primitives] are part of us. Our children, really, from our own flesh and blood, and we're gonna make more of them. So we'll need more blood. -- How much? -- All of it. I’m really, *really*, hating Hive. 😡🤬

Why do you think this Lash can defeat Hive? And who in tarnation names these things? Comic books writers. I thought that was obvious.😁

Ragtag base, come in.This is Agent Daisy Johnson. I'm coming home. Repeat... I'm coming home. First, she said “home” which, really, it says everything. Second, did they rename the base?

And the little Necklace of Doom starts making its rounds.Back in the day I freaked out every time the thing was being passed on. I didn’t want to lose anymore characters. 😟

Life was starting to be good to Daisy for more than five consecutive minutes this season.

I mean, sure, growing intolerance against Inhumans, multiple close calls for everyone, loss and sorrow hitting both her quasiparental figures and this episode started with all her family longtime friends in mortal danger, but that’s just routine at this point.

She was at her most capable and confident yet. Her friends, dangers of their job aside, were all reasonably fine. The passion, dedication and plain hard work put into becoming an agent was starting to pay off in a big way. The team she had been building for months was successfully coming together at last. And she was in love, with a fairly decent guy, too.

So of course some ancient a-hole comes along, swarms her brain with creepy mind-controlling parasites and she loses everything, including herself.

You just love it when your characters are miserable, don’t you, AoS? 😩

The hint that something isn’t quite right with Daisy arrives early: she doesn’t pick up on how troubled Joey is, having killed Lucio, and has to be told to check on him. It’s just a line, thrown in during Daisy’s and Lincoln’s after-mission chat, together with a bunch of other stuff that will make Lincoln look bad when the paranoia hits, but, on rewatch, it’s a red flashing light.

Because Daisy is usually very attuned to the emotional state of the people around her. But Hived Daisy is not, her empathy numbed by self-involvement - where the “self” is the bond of The Hive - and fake fulfilment .

And that infuses her with uncharacteristic ruthlessness, making her quite the calculating spy, best evidenced by the way she frames Lincoln, playing on what he fears the most about himself.

She also manages to completely fool Coulson and May, probably the two people who know her best, and she’s not exactly difficult to read to begin with, under normal circumstances.

It would be impressive if, well, you know. 😔

Stuff that crossed my mind:

If there's some sort of secret afterburner you haven't kicked in yet, now would be the time. [...] Fly faster. Hate-fu, check. Hand to hand, check. Guns and sniper rifles, check. Planes? I guess she skipped that day and Professor May doesn’t believe in making up missed classes? 😁

The rescue mission is a resounding success (well, ignoring the small issue of Daisy being effectively captured by the enemy...) despite the fact they had no intel and a plan that amounted to “drop in, destroy stuff, find our peeps”. The Secret Warriors would have been so much fun. 😔

Well, I guess we can call this area clear. If by “clear” you mean “totalled”, sure!

This seal gonna hold? -- Hope so. It’s chlorine gas. And if not, we’ll all go blind. -- What? 🤣 🤣 This is not the same Fitz who tried to “explain in great detail using the Queen’s bloody English” why the Peruvian 0-8-4 was dangerous, speaking of “fluctuating power cores”, “photon emissions” and “binding energy structures”. He’s learned how to use “it’ll blow us into pieces” English. 😉

Yo-Yo politely knocking on the door had me in stitches.

May! You can’t even walk! -- But I can still fly. 😎😎😎

We lost them again. And achieved nothing. -- Not true. Now we have one on the inside. Silly me, for a minute there I thought he meant Malick. 😔

He killed [my daughter]! It cares nothing for us. Duh. That trope, about Good being dumb? Well, Evil isn’t that smart either.

Can’t be easy having your boyfriend on the team. Daisy is in command of a team with her boyfriend as one of her subordinates, the heads of the science and technology department will eventually marry, the current director has fatherly feelings for one of his field agents, the future director will be in a relationship with another...personal, professional, what’s the difference, right? 😁

I have a new name, too. They all call me “Yo-Yo”. Your fault. And speaking of personal mixing with professional, it’s Episode II of Mackelena: Origins.

Well, you’re the doctor. Is he dead or not? Schröedinger’s Inhuman? And I guess Dr. Simmons, MD, is now a fait accompli.

There’s some sort of metabolic activity. Fascinating. -- No, not fascinating. Quarantine. Jemma’s definitely over her “contain first, ask questions later” phase from S2.

I'm saying that those that were loyal to me now serve him. He infected them, became a part of them, and they instantly joined the hive. Fine, you get it. You’re still a big, dumb idiot for arranging Hive’s comeback.

We were “C” and “E” Catholics. This is brand new information! No, seriously, I did not remember this at all. It’s something more Coulson and Daisy have in common, both raised as Catholics (I mean, it seems like a fair assumption, with the nuns and all) and both non believers.

I believed that I could resurrect a god. But instead, I freed the devil. [...] -- the devil promises everything and then lets you destroy your own world. Not the last time Hive will be compared to the devil. Mack and de-Hived Daisy will have a pretty heavy conversation about it in 3x21.

I’ve met gods. Gods bleed. Of course, Coulson couldn’t let the season pass without at least one more reference to the fact that he knows Thor (and Sif. And Loki, too, I guess).

We’re S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Today could be worse. It is. 😭

Your team may have been exposed in the rescue. One of you killed Malick. [...] -- My team wouldn’t do that. And you would know, wouldn’t you? 😔

[Antigovernment tirade in angry Spanish] -- What? -- Screw. S.H.I.E.L.D. [...] -- Could you please speak English right now? -- ¿No eres una espía? Aprende Español*. -- 🤣🤣 Did I mention that I love Yo-Yo? Because I do.

We can’t leave and let an infected person escape! The doctor is speaking.

Today wasn’t your fault. -- Doesn’t feel that way. Does it ever, to you? Although this time you have reason...actually, scratch that, because you’re brainwashed, which wasn’t your fault either, so...ooh, I need a hug. 😩

Yo-Yo... -- My name is Elena. Ouch. Don’t worry, Mack, the frostiness won’t last.

I think I don’t want to be here anymore. This, however, will stand, unfortunately. No more Joey from now on, which is a damn shame. The character had great potential, IMO.

One of these days, we'll find something out in space that's magnificent, right? [...] -- Who needs space? Because I’ve got something magnificent right here. A picture of space. I like cheeky Fitz. And someone should be happy right now. Besides their possible first night together is about to be rudely postponed by an earthquake caused by their brainwashed friend. Not that they’re cursed or anything...

How did you get out of your cell? -- I’m the one who programmed the security features. And judging by that grin and how easily she’ll get out of the containment room in 3x21, she’s built into them quite a few backdoors for her own private convenience. They gave the mouse the keys to the cheese storeroom.😁

I found the answer...and it’s beautiful. -- Beautiful? Daisy, people are dying! -- Malick? Yeah, can’t say I’m terribly broken up about him either...

I’m here for you now! We care about you. The plural...so damn creepy.

I gotta say, Daisy’s power exit is very cool and cathartic when viewed out of context and I might have rewatched it a few times during 5B... 😊

“Why is everyone making this about themselves”, May complains, and it’s obvious who she’s primary thinking of.

After going just a little bit crazy last episode - a father worries, alright?😁 - Coulson is now valiantly reining in his feelings, refusing Mack’s hopeful reading of Daisy’s slip-up and trying to distance himself by calling her “one of his best agents”, which sounded a bit like when he insisted with Weaver, back in 2x21, that he was going after Skye for her usefulness.

Yet he’s still very much into “this is all my fault” mode and not in the “I’m the boss, so the buck stops with me” way. He killed Ward for personal reasons and that gave the dying Hive a fighting chance, but Octopus Face is the product of many evils, starting with the Kree’s abduction and torture of the mesoamerican hunter he used to be.

Then there’s Lincoln, who Dr. Dr. Simmons diagnoses as a “lovesick fool trying to make a grand gesture” and I think we can defer to her superior expertise on the subject. 😁

But seriously, poor Lincoln. Daisy is the one and only reason he’s with S.H.I.E.L.D. at all and without her he’s unravelling faster than a FitzSimmons when their other half is in trouble.

And finally Mack, whose hope that Daisy’s fundamental nature could break free from the parasites’ control is figuratively and quite literally crushed. He’s been beating himself up for not seeing what nobody else did, including people who have known Daisy longer and more intimately than him, and it’s a testament to how much he’s come to care for the girl he once felt he needed to be protected from. Sadly, here, he actually needs protection from her.

Which brings us back to May. Who, once again, has to tap into her apparently inexhaustible reservoir of pragmatic resolve and shoot someone else she cares about. Her expression watching Daisy writhing in pain in Hive’s arms shows very clearly how much it continues to cost her.

Prior to the beating, the exchange between Mack and Daisy is very interesting because what she says - how S.H.I.E.L.D. has been conditioning her to be something she wasn’t - has a ring of truth.

A part of unswayed Daisy must miss the anarchist hacker who noped at the idea of shooting people and while it’s a bit of a shame that this has never been explored, it does add another layer to her decision to leave S.H.I.E.L.D. behind at the end of the season.

Stuff that crossed my mind:

That poor hunter. Going about his day, getting a pretty great catch and suddenly he’s a lab rat for Alien Mengele. I’ve never understood this experimenting on live subjects while they are awake. Ethics aside, wouldn’t the squirming and screaming be detrimental during a medical procedure?

Okay, but, then, we find a way to test it. -- And who’s going to volunteer for that? Yeah, if only we had a lovesick Inhuman with self-sacrificing tendencies on the premises...

In addition to writing their security software, Daisy also reprogrammed a good chunk of the face recognition software. Mace’s people are going to have to wipe those servers clean.

So... to the moment at hand. -- [Hive speechifying] -- Does, uh, does that mean we can get started? 🤣 🤣

Piper!! 🤗 And agent O’Brien, who was in Bahrain and tailed Fitz back in S2.

Daisy would never want someone acting so recklessly to save her. Yes, but since she seems perfectly happy acting recklessly to save others, I generally heart anyone who does her the same courtesy.

Please tell me you're not pining over Stinkin' Lincoln. James has never left grade school, it seems.

Why are you just telling me [Hive’s blood won’t work to make new Inhumans] now? -- Ohh, I wasn't sure. I was swept up in the moment! I wanted to change the world! And besides, you're very frightening. Radcliffe’s entire set of motivations in one bit of dialogue. Nice.

May, Mack and their band of four land in Inhuman City while the sun is still up. I’m hardly a military strategist - videogames don’t count, right? - but wouldn’t this sort of infiltration work better under the cover of darkness?

Jemma dated a human Brussels sprout named Milton. Who, going by Fitz’s impression, sounds like someone I absolutely don’t want to meet, ever.

Lincoln does his lovesick fool thing in style, electrifying the entire lab. Prettiest Inhuman power ever.

I'm James. Single, 33, originally from Brisbane. I'm a Leo, with a little dab of Scorpio thrown in there for good measure. I like a decent drink, a decent meal, and an indecent lass, and not necessarily in that order. And you are...? -- Nauseous. 🤣🤣 🤣

Becoming Inhuman doesn't change your personality. Heh. I think May could make the case that sometimes the change can be that radical.

Aww, even hived, Daisy just wants the best for her friends even if her idea of what’s best is a little, well, twisted. And what if you fail, if they decide to turn on you instead [...] -- Then I would rip their hearts out. Er...ahem...ok, maybe “best” isn’t the right word, exactly.... 😏 😬 🤣

Coulson gave you a direct order, and you disobeyed. Oh c’mon, orders are more like suggestions when main characters are involved, right? 😈

I fought a Kree before. They won’t be easy to kill. Bobbi fought a Kree. You just stood there widening your big brown eyes and then you broke your own gun.

Like alien footprints, right? That's what we're talking about here? [...] The frickin' aliens just landed.We're not... We're not gonna take a moment and let that soak in? Piper freaking out about aliens may just be the most endearing thing on this show for me since Skye gave Mike her special version of the “with great power” speech.

Goodbye Alisha. Five slaughtered Inhumans for the price of one in less than 20 episodes. S3, the season that keeps on killing. 😩

Hived!Daisy is definitely a more efficient fighter than regular Daisy. She wised up immediately that hand to hand wasn’t gonna cut it and disabled the Kree breaking arm, leg and spine in less than five seconds. Her tolerance level for Radcliffe seems however on par with regular Daisy’s. That is, very low.

Bobbi was your partner once. How'd that work out for you? [...] They left S.H.I.E.L.D. because there was no reason to stay, because nobody else at S.H.I.E.L.D. mattered to them.It wasn't hard to leave. Zeroing in on the painful. When empathy works in reverse.

What happened to Bambino, the big plasma gun Coulson used in the Avengers and last seen, if I’m not mistaken, in 2x12? That looked potentially more effective against Hive than a rocket launcher.

Your immune system is completely shut down! And yet you’re not even wearing a mask around him? I’d make a joke about the scarcity of PPE supplies hitting S.H.I.E.L.D. as well but...it’s definitely way too soon for that. 😟

And so the “cure” saga is concluded. It didn’t work to stop Andrew’s transformation and it doesn’t work against the sway. And I suppose we’ll never know if it could have worked to immunize potential Inhumans against Terrigenesis. I wonder what happened to that data when Talbot and Mace took over.

It looked like John Hannah had absolutely no clue how to apply a bandage.

“What's tripping me out is that we only knew to try to save the guy because he heard Daisy's name when we went to try to save the guy”. -- Lincoln Campbell

The coolest thing about this episode, which is probably the coolest AoS episode to date, isn’t the blatant reference to Flatland - although that’s awesome, too - but its use of retrocausality, the idea that the effect can precede the cause and information can “travel backwards”, and how that anticipates the season’s ending, when the knowledge of the future - the Quinjet blowing up in space - will motivate both Daisy’s and Lincoln’s actions.

In both episodes - Spacetime and Ascension - it appears as knowing the future cannot change the events, but is this really true? It seems to be the case in this episode, where the fact that Charles ends up saving Daisy and not the other way around can be easily attributed to a matter of interpretation. From the images she saw Daisy characteristically assumed she was going to do the saving but she was simply mistaken. What about Lincoln, though? Was it always him in the Quinjet? Or was it going to be Daisy and, knowing what was coming, he managed to insert himself in her place?

In Season 5 the team will manage to change the future they knew was coming, leading to Jemma’s earnest declaration that time is “a fluid, ever-changing, beautiful thing”(5x22), directly refuting Fitz’s assertion in Spacetime.

Season 7 has an opportunity to reconcile both concepts, making explicit that time is indeed fixed but multiple - infinite? - parallel timelines are constantly created by people’s choices and that Robin Hinton's foresight isn’t limited to one singular timeline like maybe her dad’s (and Raina’s) but contemplates a tapestry of different realities.

And maybe the first major split in AoS’ timeline wasn’t saving Earth from Graviton, but Lincoln sacrificing himself in Daisy’s place to stop Hive.

Gotta Catch ‘Em All:

Charles Hinton is one of the unlucky Inhumans, because his gift is most definitely a curse: he sees the future, and it’s always a future where someone dies, but can’t change it. Until he does. Well, sort of.

By the rules of this episode he doesn’t actually change the future and the death in the vision was always his. It just happens to be a meaningful death, as he loses his life while saving somebody’s else, which to him feels like he’s finally made the difference he so desperately wished for.

Hinton is yet another example of someone who tried to use his Inhuman abilities for good and when he couldn’t, he went on a self-imposed exile from everything he cared about to avoid hurting others. He would have happily renounced his “gift” but never meant any harm and went to remarkable lengths to avoid it.

He’s also an argument against the idea that the Kree designed the Inhumans with a perfectly planned system of “checks and balances” in mind, rather than experimenting their way through and getting a bunch of unexpected and even unwanted results together with what they were actually looking to create. Because what’s the use in knowing what’s going to happen if you can’t affect the outcome? Although, in this case, it may be that the Kree’s efforts were simply spurned by the very nature of reality.

Stuff that crossed my mind:

You're coming? Good. With Mack on bed rest, we could use the extra muscle. -- Well, he's the only one with extra muscles, but I'll come anyway. 🤣

And who are you, now? -- Daisy Johnson, ATCU. The ATCU went from leading the government response to the “Inhuman Outbreak” to the public front of S.H.I.E.L.D., used as a cover by the most prominent of the Inhumans. That’s some irony.

Edwin Abbott is, of course, the author of Flatland, the premise of which Fitz pretty much illustrates a few scenes later.

Mr. Hive Anderson just loaded into the Matrix.😁

Malick is truly despicable. He’s got literally everything already and he still wants more. He’s going to lose all he cares about before he dies but he makes it really hard to feel sorry for him.

Then I'll just ask the question that someone should ask at some point: is this even possible? -- Technically, it's-fourth-dimensional perspective. -- Well, Hermann Minkowski would say yes, for one. -- That guy Edwin predicted everything that happened. -- We had a similar experience with Raina, remember? -- That's a dumb question. Leave it to May to boil things down to the essential.😁

What? No. I have to go help him! [...] I can handle this myself. Coulson, I was meant to save him. -- If you want to try to stop this man from dying, then this is how we’re doing it. Understood? He did it! Coulson stopped Daisy from doing what she had set her mind to. This is the first time someone managed what Jemma said was impossible in 1x14 and is now scaled down to “pretty damn hard”. Of course it’s only temporary but still...I’m very impressed.

You should worry about yourself. -- Because Daisy saw me shoot her? -- Because I'd kill you if you did. Ehhhhh...settle down, Lincoln. I’m sorry, I cannot buy this from him at all.

Every move we make changes the future. The real feat would be changing the past. Oh. *eyes S7* OH!!! 🤯

I have an advantage. -- I can’t cause earthquakes, but I’m faster than you. -- Foresight. I know what’s coming. -- Then get off your ass and show me. This may be one of the most mother-daughter-like exchanges between them. Also, May is faster than an Inhuman (who are faster than the average human or at least they *should* be).

What’s your name again, man? -- Doug. I so envy Doug, spending the day playing with the Bus Kids and May. Although at the end of the season he might have been turned into a Primitive or mangled by one. So, uhm... 😏

Crushing objects with your hand isn’t the sensation I was talking about. If you want to feel true power, crush him. -- What will that achieve? -- I know you’ve had people killed. You’ve even considered shooting someone. But to drain a man’s life with your own hand, to feel the life go out inside him as Mr. Coulson did to me. That look in his eyes. A feeling so powerful, it scared him enough to leave that hand behind. This is straight from Ward’s playbook, isn’t it? Not that Malick needs to be “corrupted” like Kara did.

If it goes south, get out. Don’t try to be a hero. Yeah, that’ll work...

And for God’s sake, Skye, come home. -- It’s Daisy, sir. -- Damn it. Daisy, right, Daisy. Just come home safe. This ep is really pushing the family vibe between Philinda and Daisy.

I really dig this grungy edition of Andrew.

I wanted to tell you that I know becoming Inhuman changed me. -- And you needed a PhD to figure that out?🤣

I feel like [Lash]'s fighting for a cause we don't understand yet. And I don't know. You might need him. Go ahead, keep hitting us with the Hammer of Foreshadowing, AoS. Half your audience is permanently concussed by now.😁

Every terrible thing that has happened to you could have been avoided if you'd never met me. -- I wouldn’t change a thing. [...] You’re still the center of the best moments of my life. If this isn’t the most perfect thing he could have told her and with the utmost convinction, too. 🤗

Daisy's so confident in her ability as an Inhuman, she believes she can change the future. Do I detect a certain amount of motherly mentorly (sic) pride in that smile?

I think we’re supposed to hold hands now. This is how I know I’m bad at shipping, because my first thought here was: “this is cute and all, guys, but people are dying!”

I'm afraid that [my daughter] could grow up to be like me. So she will always need protection. I was hoping you could help. -- Yes. I'll protect her, I promise. Always. And yet you won’t tell her mom to avoid seafood, apparently. Tsk, tsk. 😁

He's fine, though he sounded a little strange. -- Strange how? -- He sounded...afraid. About damn time. Everything about the Hydra cult and Hive himself is completely creepy and terrifying and anyone with any sense would have noped hard a long time ago. 😡

“I hunted down and murdered Grant Ward. Not to serve any good. Not to serve any belief. I wanted revenge. I wanted to feel him die.  That's the sin that gave your Devil new life. To come and take everything we love.” (Coulson, 3x17)

I think this episode could have also been called Sins of the Fathers.

Gideon Malick loses his daughter because of his past sins - which is the whole package of following in his own father’s footsteps and bringing Hive back, not just the stone trick, really - and Coulson will lose Daisy, whose daughter-like status was already fully aknowledged in 2x22, because he let revenge override his better nature. Daisy won’t die, of course, but she’ll be effectively lost to him (and herself) while hived and arguably lost again for some time after.

This episode also makes a good case for Hive being influenced by the memories of his hosts. He has already exhibited some Ward-like behaviour in 3x15 and here there may be more than a little Nathaniel resurfacing, given how personal the “lesson” he imparts Gideon feels and what a miscalculation it is otherwise, since from this point forward Malick isn’t an ally anymore. Although they won’t need him.

May’s Boundless Badassary:

May proves she can go blow for blow with Inhumans taking Giyera on, possibly the best hand to hand fighter she’s ever faced (if only because he’s portrayed by Mark Dacascos who is a gifted and accomplished martial artist). And she clearly impresses him because when it’s time for a rematch, he prefers to avoid the fight altogether, manuevering to take her out first.

Gotta Catch’ Em All:

James Taylor James aka Hellfire, although I don’t think his full name was ever used in the show, is a demolition expert twice over, before and after Terrigenesis (“I was lighting fuses long before I was the fuse” 4x04). After his Inhumanity is unlocked, he is able to ignite every object he touches, including metal chains, his signature weapon in the comics, where his power is literal hellfire that he channels through his chain. He is also not Inhuman in the comics but neither was Daisy before they retconned her origin (and the two of them have a thing).

A former Afterlife denizen, Jiaying denied him Terrigenesis and banished him from the Inhuman community after she found him stealing from her private archives. However she apparently never considered the Kree beacon important enough to send anyone after him to retrieve it. Which is a little strange.

James will never get the chance to adapt to his Inhumanity in a “natural” way, as Hive will sway him immediately after Terrigenesis and maybe this is partly why, once freed from Hive’s influence, he will go to the opposite extreme, hating all Inhumans and electing to help the Watchdogs exterminate them.

Stuff that crossed my mind:

Don't worry, sir. Nathaniel and I will do everything we can to continue our father's work. -- I'd expect nothing less from the Malick boys. And I’d expect a moral compass that points to “evil, do not join” when sacrificial deaths and world domination enter your lives. But I guess they had a bad childhood... 😈

I don't know what I expected, but tall and handsome were certainly not at the top of the list. And he eats people! Total catch! 😁

You said you killed him. -- I did. -- Well, you didn’t kill him hard enough. Hey, give him some credit. The rest of you barely managed to wound him or killed the wrong people instead. 😁

Just feel like we’re only fixing problems that we created. I have a list, you know. But I don’t want to depress you further, Phil.

You got to be kidding me. Ward? What a pain in the ass. Yes. *high-fives Mack*

Tremors, you saw the future, right? You see anything else? Anything that might help us out? Thanks to Agent Assistant, Daisy was timely interrupted so she could keep her mouth shut. Not that anyone who sees or knows something about the future ever shares their information freely or speaks plainly *sideyes Raina, Daisy, Yo-Yo* *pats Robin affectionately* I didn’t mean you, sweetie. I’m sure you would have explained everything thoroughly, if you could have.

This is not Ward. -- Sure is creepy like Ward. No, no, Hive’s definitely creepier. But your neverending affection for the guy is once again noted and appreciated.😁

A ceremony where grown men draw stones from a bag and one unlucky participant draws a white stone and is sacrificed to a liquid rock.[...] Your rituals are foolish. Oh god, I agree with Whitehall. I’m going to need multiple showers.

I tried to raise [my daughter] right. Same as my dad raised me. Yeah, top notch parenting there. 🙄

Trivial thing, daylight, until you spend a few centuries in the dark. At least two millennia and half, dude. I did the math. It’s probably wrong, but not this wrong. 😁

The firing pin won't engage without the designated hand on the trigger. -- Great. So instead of shooting us, he'll just bludgeon us to death. Mack is especially grumpy this episode and can you blame him? He just got back to work after a blissful week of 24/7 gaming (bed rest? Please.😁) and he finds an ancient Inhuman that eats people and more Hydra shenanigans. It’s Monday, it’s pouring and the car broke.

We shouldn’t use our powers cautions Lincoln. Then less than two minutes later Daisy quakes the entire minefield and he shocks James into unconsciousness.🤣Shaked and baked, JT! 

Dad would swap in this stone during the ceremonies and feel for the notch to make sure he never drew it from the bag. [...] Dad was afraid to be the Traveler. He was a coward and a cheater. Nah. He was smart and knew a bad deal when he saw it. He was also evil, most likely, but this being Hydra we probably shouldn’t hold that against him.😁

I don’t really do things out of the kindness of my own heart. Haven’t really understood that behaviour, to be honest. James cracks me up. He’s like a douche version of Hunter. It’s really a shame how overboard with the self-hatred he’ll go after Hive.

Looks like you’re the muscles and the brains, huh? He’s just the haircut. This season, she is also the haircut. Well, most seasons, really. I give Jemma season 2 and May season 1. And Yo-Yo wins the braided hair contest but Skye’s braid was really cute and criminally underused.

According to the story James gathered from Jiaying’s notes, Hive was specifically designed to lead the Inhumans, the perfect general to command unquestioned obedience and loyalty from a singleminded, superpowered army (😬). The Kree, however, clearly forgot to add obedience to them in his genetic mix. Oops.

A parasite that retains the memories of the body he took over. --  Sounds even worse when you say it like that. Believe me, it’s even worse. 😢

You did the right thing, but I crossed the line. Ward deserved to be punished, but no one deserves to have the life -- No, he did deserve it. He did deserve to have his chest caved in, no question. -- That's not the point. It was payback. That's not what we do here. I think we could make a decent drinking game for every time a character - usually it’s Coulson, Mack or Daisy - says that S.H.I.E.L.D. should do better than revenge murders and unthoughtful violence. And it’s not like it’s a terribly high bar when you think about it.

We don't have leaders. We're working towards a common goal. -- That’s what they tell you when you join a cult, but it’s actually not true. “The Hive” has spoken and yet Mack’s correct, because it’s really just Hive calling the shots. The other Inhumans’ agreement is chemically induced.

I’m not overly sadden by the demise of Fraulein Hydra but that was a really awful way to go.

[Lincoln’s girlfriend] was basically dead. But then Gordon showed up, said he’d been watching me. They saved her and me. This makes me wonder whether Jiaying could use her gift to heal other people and not just herself. Although “saving her” may just mean they took her to the hospital in time.🤔

May checking on Simmons before radioing the S.O.S.... 🤗 

Gather ‘round, folks, hear the Legend of the Shotgun-Axe.😁

A truly fearsome weapon that will fight aliens and robots, travel through time, stand for peace (ahem) and justice, defend the weak and punish the wicked.

Portents of Its coming were already present in the Season 2 finale, when Alphonso The Righteous carried a bright red emergency axe as his trusty companion.

Its advent was foretold in 3x01 when our Virtous Hero, undoubtly struck by divine inspiration, wished for “a shotgun-axe combination of some kind” to face the Inhuman Menace yet to be known as Lash.

“Really got to commit to that shotgun-axe idea”, the Stalwart Champion then vowed to the Gods in 3x07.

And now comes a makeshift avatar, only a shadow of Its Holy Form that will be unleashed upon the unsightly Primitives in 3x22, yet already mighty.

Seriously, this thing has had more episodes than many regular guest stars and a longer arc and more development than some (humanoid) characters get. I bet the writers were joking about what weapons the AoS characters would use in a Zombie Apocalypse, couldn’t decide whether Mack was the shotgun or axe guy, then someone went “Both. Both is good”.

And a legend was born.

The Big Sister?

*climbs on the Daisy-shaped soapbox that’s been collecting dust in a corner since 1x05*

So, this episode suddenly introduces a concern about sidestepping civil liberties because Daisy has been tracking the Watchdogs online, matching the louder keyboard warriors’ IPs to their meeker offline selves, not caring at all for their freedom of speech to hate.

I could point out that Daisy’s been doing this kind of stuff since her name was Skye, with Coulson’s blessing.

Or that the sidestepping of civil liberties has been occurring since the Pilot, when a certain wayward hacker was abducted out of her van, with a hood over her head, and interrogated with no access to legal counsel.

Instead, I’ll just list a few highlights from this season so far:

Mack put a tracker on Lincoln without his knowledge or consent.

S.H.I.E.L.D. conducted illegal surveillance of a government agency and government personnel (the ATCU, Rosalind, Banks).

Coulson, Bobbi and Hunter kidnapped Thomas Ward, threatening his personal safety.

Coulson ordered FitzSimmons to subject Von Strucker Jr., a gravely injured patient, to a torturous experimental procedure to extract intel and then Lincoln to perform an unorthodox, non-consensual medical treatment to facilitate it.

S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltrated a diplomatic conference and conducted illegal surveillance of several international delegates.

Yet, tracking a hate group that advocates ethnic cleansing is what prompts a lecture on the abuse of power, and breaking a car window to obtain intel is what warrants the Face of Dismayed Disapproval.

🤨😒🙄

I would love a storyline exploring how much Daisy needs to hold herself back with the kind of power she has (all of it: the hacking, the quaking and the belonging to a secret agency with no accountability) and what happens when she doesn’t.

But this isn’t it.

*steps off the soapbox, tucks it in for future use*

Stuff that crossed my mind:

PSA: the Watchdogs are scumbags.

I thought you were gonna finally ride it when we drove to Baja. -- [...] Look, I told you, I got buried in work. Big Mack was thinking to go with Mack Mini on this Baja trip back in the S2 finale. So it’s really Jiaying’s fault he didn’t get the chance.

Yeah, honestly job hasn't been great lately. Management's out of control, new people keep coming in every day, no experience. And the two friends I was closest to, they just got, uh, transferred for good. So, Mack’s not a fan of Coulson’s command decisions this season anymore than he was last season, is wary of Joey and Lincoln (I suspect he has no objections to Elena’s involvement 😉). And he’s not as close to his partner Tremors or his friend Turbo as he was to Bobbi and Hunter.

[The Watchdogs on TV imploding the ATCU building] This is awesome. Right? Wrong. Although that imploding trick is cool.

Nitramene is another nod to Agent Carter’s season 1.

Thank you, Nerd Herd. Daisy watched Chuck.

Do we take this debris back with us, study it? -- Uh, yeah, sure. If if you've been working out.  'Cause it weighs like 100,000 tons. It's a building. 🤣🤣

I’m quite comfortable blaming myself, actually, for the lot of it. You guys should have t-shirts made.

What happened to those Inhumans, not your fault. It isn’t your fault either, May.

We should go pick one [of the Watchdogs sympathizers she’s been tracking] up and see what he knows. --  And what? Shake him down? Without even knowing if the guy we picked was actually involved?  [...]  it's kind of Gestapo, don't you think? Indeed, nazis were notorious for recruiting mixed-heritage young women who wanted to stop violent, racist bigots set to exterminate her and her people. 😒😁

It's not about how they act. It's about how we respond. I agree with this sentiment (no snark) but are you familiar with the Paradox of Tolerance, Mack?

Ok, Fitz, you’re with me. -- Uh, am I? The chain of command in these field missions remains very confusing. Neither Mack nor Fitz want to go along with Daisy’s plan but Mack refuses, Fitz grumbles and Daisy just does what she wants.🤔

I get that Lincoln’s powers make him a potentially invaluable field asset but maybe, given his reluctance, a position in the science department should have been considered instead, as he’s also probably the best expert on all things Inhuman still alive.

I can’t afford the house. I can’t afford to leave. This is how they get you. System’s rigged. They want to keep you down and in the dark, man. -- You sound like those Watchdogs nuts. -- Well, they got the right idea. Someone’s got to fight back. Target a vulnerable (Inhumans are individually powerful but are very few and scattered) minority and channel against it the anger people are legitimately feeling about the state of things, so that anger isn’t used to foster real change. That’s what the Watchdogs (rather, the puppet masters behind them, Malick at this point in time) are really doing, isn’t it? Depressingly mirroring real life.😩

I just feel guilty all the time. How do you make it stop? -- You don't. You use it, channel it. The Hate Fu Master has another Padawan. 😎

Don’t interrupt me! You got it? You haven’t earned that right yet. I don’t know you. I vetted every member of this team except you. Well, I believe Daisy vetted him quite extensively and, frankly, I am offended on her behalf that you apparently don’t trust her totally professional judgement on the matter. 😂

Don't give me hope, Jemma. I don't want hope. And I was fine without angst for once. 😔 

We’re done. Go to black. [...] -- Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! What are you doing? She’s going after the violent mob that wants her dead and currently outnumbers her several tens to 1 with no plan, no backup and no thought to the possible consequences. Why? Is that a problem?😁

Maybe we slowed it down, but..must be the modifications that Blake made. -- What does that mean? -- That sooner or later, this bomb is gonna go off. And then I'll implode. Which is gonna be messy. Fitz’s weary, matter-of-fact delivery both amuses me and saddens me. He’s already seen so much that imploding is just another day at the office. Daisy’s reaction is much more frantic, with good reason: nitramene is weird and her friend is now in deadly danger because she was too caught up with going after the Watchdogs.

I searched for you. I wanted to make you part of the new S.H.I.E.L.D. Add Blake to the list of people Coulson wanted to involve but couldn’t find and, all things considered, nuS.H.I.E.L.D. is probably better off without.

I’ll quake it off. -- No, no, no! It’s too unstable. One single line of dialogue and the question “why can’t Daisy quake it” is dealt with and out of the way, without undermining her (and other characters’) intelligence nor well established abilities. See, S6? How is this difficult?

What you're doing's not about truth. It's about hate. -- And you're above that? You've never just killed someone because you hate them, Phil? Hate's a good motivator. This is the line that made me permanently dislike Blake. Because, yeah, Phil just killed someone for revenge. It’s bad but he had plenty of good reasons to hate Ward and Ward was a terrible human being. Blake is targeting an entire group of people, none of which have done anything to him personally (and the majority of them have done nothing to anybody at all), just to rile his idiots up. 😠

Is liquid nitrogen safe with all that exposed skin? 🥶 I mean, yeah, safer than imploding but... 🥶🥶

You did it right. Offered a dissenting opinion, but when the time came, you did what I asked. Well, a slightly less lethal version. Which is good, yes? Not shooting to kill? Sometimes I can’t tell with you this season.

He wanted one, an Inhuman, someone for his men to go after. We brought him Daisy. Well, Daisy kinda brought herself.

So, this is what you do at S.H.I.E.L.D.?  This kind of stuff? -- Ruben, I'm a mechanic. I hate this stuff. Mack is really missing that espresso machine... 😁

What the hell are you doing? -- Shotgun-axe. A moment of reverent silence, please. 

If everything goes as planned, we'll all get what we want, Mr. Blake. Our common enemies will be dead, and you'll have troops, armed to the teeth, at your command. -- Yeah. Sounds right. Sounds wrong. Because Blake will disappear from the face of the Earth and the following season the Watchdogs will be run by Senator Evil and the Superior Scumbag.

The thing that would really suck about being Inhuman is that, before Terrigenesis, there’s apparently no way to know what your new abilities will be and what else will change. Which makes an informed choice impossible.

You could be lucky, like Lincoln and Daisy, and get a cool power that won’t really change who you are. Or unlucky, like Gordon and Raina, whose otherwise very cool powers came packaged with some major and less than desirable physical alterations.

And you could be massively screwed, like Andrew and the hunter who became Hive, who likely didn’t have plans for mass slavery and world domination before the Kree messed him up: becoming someone that it’s not you anymore on a fundamental level and not because you look different or because some extra bits of dna give you a new ability.

Andrew is a compassionate man whose life revolved around helping people. Lash has no compassion and his idea of “helping” is murder.

The system Jiaying had set up at Afterlife made sure people knew the risks and had the support they needed before and after the transition. She also acted as a filter, only allowing through the mist those who she thought could handle the power and the drawbacks. This probably gave her too much power over people’s lives, but it worked, or Katya would have been the norm and not the tragic exception.

Now that none of that is in place anymore and Terrigenesis is an accident rather than a choice, a cure is certainly an attractive solution if you’re Andrew (or Frye, who didn’t even get a cool power for his troubles). As an option it is even desirable, ignoring the real life allegory. But treating Daisy as the token “good Inhuman” means dismissing all she went through to reach her current aplomb. And it’s a bit infuriating coming from Rosalind, who has very little experience on the matter - the ATCU has been active for a few months only and being Inhuman is not a terminal illness, outlier cases like Andrew’s notwithstanding - and is currently being manipulated by Malick. I don’t know what the female version of mansplaining would be called, but she’s doing it to Daisy.

Daisy felt like a monster and wanted to get rid of her powers until Jiaying and Lincoln helped her, the kind of help - knowledge, acceptance, capability - she is trying to give other Inhumans. And it’s hard - though it’d be easier if the ATCU hadn’t been meddling and stirring the public’s fears - but it’s real and it works.

May’s Boundless Badassary:

Welcome to Bahrain 2.0.

Life teased it to May for two full seasons: in S1 she had to prepare for the possibility that resurrected Coulson might have needed to be “put down”(1x17). In S2, he asked her to do it if his carving obsession led to madness (2x04) and then there was the business with Skye and her mom.

And now it’s finally really happened with Andrew, the last person May could have imagined to find herself with in this situation.

That he doesn’t die when she shoots him is a small mercy but once again May made the call, at her own expense.

Gotta Catch’ Em All:

Lash has many talents. His energy blasts can kill in gruesome fashion, cut through walls (and probably most materials) but also isolate and remove mind-controlling parasites from people’s brain, providing immunity against further infestation (and boy, am I ever thankful for that).

He’s also very strong, capable of taking the combined force of Lincoln’s electrical attacks and Daisy’s concussive blasts in stride and treat gun shots as no more than annoying mosquito bites which implies that he might also have some form of very fast tissue regeneration.

His coolest talent though is only temporary, the ability to switch back to Andrew’s human form. Imagine the possibilities, if it had been permanent and Andrew had gotten hold of his “monster” persona. 😔

Lash hunts and kills Inhumans he believes cannot be trusted with their powers which, as far as we’ve seen, it’s basically everyone but Daisy and possibly Joey, if what Andrew told May, that he had no intention of hurting him, was the truth.

She’s Got the Powers:

Daisy saves Rosalind with a new application of her powers that she makes up on the fly (#excelsatimprovisation). She will use a variation to block Hive’s hits in their fight in 3x22 and to safely land after her flying jumps. She’ll do it in reverse to levitate in 5x06 and she’ll cushion herself to absorb the impact with the ground when Talbot slams her in 5x22. In 6x09 she will create a “bubble” around Sarge’s nuke, suspending it mid-air to protect it from the crash. Given all of these, “projecting” a “air shield” in front of herself (or someone else) or enveloping herself (or someone else) in a “air bubble” as a mean to protect from hits, bullets, shockwaves or other physical threats should be feasible for at least a short period of time.

Stuff that crossed my mind:

What would you say if I didn’t go back to S.H.I.E.L.D.? I would say whatever makes you happy but I would really miss you...ah, right, you’re not asking me... 😊

Listen, we’re older now and wiser. And I don’t plan on losing you a second time. 😭

Why did Jiaying kept her notes in English? For her successors? 🤔

We're not monsters. You can't just lock us up in some ice prison because you don't know what else to do. [...] They’re putting people in stasis! [...] We are not a disease! [...] Everyone deserves a chance to be who they are. Not that you needed to convince me but you totally convinced me. #teaminhumans 😎

Just because you learned how to control your powers doesn't mean everyone else will. I mean, what if a person's hurting themselves or those around them? What if they can't stop? -- Take Lash. If putting a bullet in that monster's head doesn't do the trick, then what? -- That's not fair. That's one guy. Indeed. And I suspect pre-Lash Andrew would not make such generalizing statements. As for post-Lash Andrew, if he wanted to come clean, he probably just reconsidered. 😏

Are you sure [the meeting with the president about Inhumans] is a good idea? -- We can't afford to miss it. That's why I want you to talk to Rosalind before the meeting. Win her over to your side of things. Introducing your kid to the girlfriend, huh? Good luck. 🤣

[the meeting with the president] could be a real start toward legitimizing S.H.I.E.L.D. Reminder that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s been operating illegally since 1x18 and they have no official authority whatsoever.

I had totally missed Mack there in the background, agreeing to meet with an unknown party that will turn out to be Lincoln. Nicely done.

It's quite damaged, but I kept it on me as a remembrance. I was hoping you could recover the data. It's probably pointless. Yay! The Epic Tale of the Magic Smartphone continues!

Well, everyone at H.Q. says that Andrew's fine. He’s way more than just fine but also, he isn’t.

Mack’s hugs have the unmatchable wingspan but the way Daisy puts her entire body when she hugs someone makes up for it. I still think it’s advantage Mack in the Great Hug-Off, but it’s close.

I don't want either of us to go after Ward. [...] I think you've been reckless and stupid. [...] I don't need a knight in shining armor, Hunter. I need you alive. I don't want to lose you. [...] Or lose ourselves. Become so obsessed with revenge that we turn into monsters just like him. The first half of S3 had a truckload of characters but it still managed to give everyone meaningful scenes and story bits that were all about them.

So, where does the tour begin? -- That's actually up to Daisy. She's gonna show you around. And she’s so obviously thrilled at the prospect...🤣

Take Mr. Gutierrez back to base. [...] Do it, now. -- Ma’m, we have protocols. Brave redshirts, antagonizing May at a time like this. Or, you know, ever.

If you've got intel on the guy, why not call Daisy? -- 'Cause I can't put her life at risk, too. [...] you fought by my side against that thing. It eliminates you as a suspect. Detective Campbell is on the case.

Mankind’s scary enough as it. Some psycho gets a gun and watch out. But now people are their own weapon. -- Not everyone is like -- Some is enough! Exactly, that’s why guns are completely banned and nobody has them, judgemental heads of government agencies included. And why nobody was ever murdered before we invented them. Oh, wait...

I protect people! -- It doesn’t matter. [...] because for every Daisy Johnson, there’s a Lash, and it’s ignorant for you to think otherwise. And as far as regular humans go, for every Bobbi Morse, there’s a Grant Ward. What’s your point? Besides, I think you have it backwards. For every Lash there’s a Daisy Johnson (and a Joey Gutierrez and an Elena Rodriguez and a Lincoln Campbell and a Flint...). Also, between the two of you, the one with actual knowledge about Inhumans is Daisy. You are on her home turf. Honestly, the ATCU is the Initiative of AoS, the Army guys who thought they knew better than Buffy about the demon world while being duped by the bad guy the entire time.

I wonder about us a lot, actually. There's this small cottage in Perthshire we drove by once when I was a girl, some family holiday, and I don't know why, but I found it so lovely. Yes, struggling for survival and yet she was thinking about you the whole damn time. Feeling better now? Good. Let’s keep the ball rolling, then, you have an ancient cult to uncover.

I'm not sure how long this battery will last. Rough estimate? Just enough. 🤣

Jiaying must have rigged [the genealogy book] with a Terrigen crystal to keep out anyone who couldn't survive the mist. Lucky me. How to be incredibly lucky and incredibly unlucky at the very same time.

Afterlife? -- I'll explain later. Without oversharing again on personal information, if possible?

You saw firsthand what Inhumans were capable of. If you hadn't killed that little girl, everyone around you would've suffered. They all would've died. But you saved them. -- This isn't you! You would never say that. We don’t know how Andrew reacted when she told him what had really happened in Bahrain but one reaction he clearly didn’t have was telling her she did “what had to be done”.

Do you remember our first apartment? The one on Cranbrook. One room, a stupid futon for a bed, and that winter when it got so cold, we used the oven as our heater. And not the safest way to keep warm, but it did the trick. You kept yourselves warm with the oven? As newlyleds? That sounds like a tragic missed opportunity. 😁

I never gave up on you. Please don't give up on me. Oh, this hurts.

Sorry to interrupt. Still waiting on Joey’s reassessment. Hey. The director of T.R.O.L.L.S. is here.

Remember, this is Coulson's op. We do not move unless he gives the order. Uhm. Oh, fine. I like you again. Just don’t upset Daisy, ok?

He's not just gonna let us take him. He's gonna defend himself. Especially if you push him and don’t let the people who have accepted the risk try to talk him down.

Who the hell made you judge, jury, and executioner? He’s self-appointed. Or, I suppose, technically it was the Kree.

Andrew, listen to me. We can help you. The ATCU is close to a cure. -- I am the cure. Not to cheesy action movie one-liners, you’re not. 😁 (I actually live for one liners).

Our goal is to capture, not kill. We just got to get Lincoln on the same page. In hindsight, it might have been better to leave Lincoln on the plane. He’s a primary target, has a personal axe to grind and he’s a civilian who probably shouldn’t be tagging along tact teams and secret agents just yet.

I've thought about my death enough times, the different ways that I could go. I just never thought it'd be you. I never knew why you married me. I was never as kind and empathetic as you. That's why it was so easy for me to walk away, why I gave up on you. I lost something when I left you. I won't do it again. But you have to stop this. 😭 😭

Well, I'm just gonna say what we're all thinking: he has a hog face. -- He does have a hog face. Can we please not speak ill of the dead? The heroic dead, at that? Thank you.

Please don't tell me you think some ancient order's behind all this, 'cause that's a bit mental even for you. It’s even crazier. The ancient order worships an ancient “god”, and it’s been waiting and scheming for its return for thousands of years.

What would you do? -- Well, it's a temporary solution. I think we can all acknowledge that. But Andrew helped me. So I'd do whatever it takes. Aww, Daisy. 🤗

Do you need to go after her? -- She wouldn't want me to, not right now. I suppose you know her best.

I was as clearheaded then as I've ever been when I said all those things. What do you think we should do about it? -- For now, let's just watch the sunrise. Yes, please, drag this out more. There’s still one full episode before you are kidnapped, we certainly can’t have you sort it before that. 😁

I never thought I deserved this. [...] Happiness. This kind of happiness. -- Of course you do. We both do. You know, AoS, I watch the show for fun. And this isn’t fun, it’s sad and miserable and heartwrenching. Clearly, I’m a masochist. And the single tear? *dead*

I'm going to cut off the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. Because without Phil Coulson, S.H.I.E.L.D. won't grow back. Silly Ward, there’s two seasons that say otherwise.

I will bring him to you soon enough. And once again, I thought she was evil. Poor Rosalind. I’m really sorry. 🥺