It’s more than a little irritating to see how low the ratings are getting for Agents of SHIELD, when the show hasn’t been better creatively.  Coming off the heels of the tour de force that was “4722 Hours”, this episode was a bit more scattershot, but it ended on a terrific reveal.  Some might have suspected that Andrew was going to play a bigger part in the story, but for my part, I missed any hints that he was actually Lash. 

In retrospect, there were a number of hints. Andrew left May rather abruptly, he was able to locate the new Inhumans quickly, and he allowed Daisy to live.  The problem, if it can even be termed one, is that this is another example of an insider on Team Coulson turning out to be the enemy.  It’s probably not going to play out the way it did with Ward, per se, but it does seem slightly repetitive. 


Like Ward, what makes Andrew/Lash interesting as an adversary is his knowledge of the team’s strengths and weaknesses, both as a collective and as individuals.  It’s just a question of how far the writers are willing to take this latest existential threat.  Ward took it pretty far, and he’s already a villain who could care less for redemption.  Lash might feel justified in his actions, but how often is the plot going to be a threat against SHIELD or the characters we follow?

It might seem like a minor issue, and for the episode, it is.  I keep coming back to the original comment about the audience and ratings, however.  If the story feels like it is stuck in a cycle, however well-managed, then the audience is going to feel like they’ve seen it all before.  Not necessarily those who are dedicated fans of the franchise and the characters, those invested in seeing them rise above, but those with more casual interest in the MCU.


For the fans, of course, the interconnected nature of so many conflicts is the fun part.  SHIELD is struggling with its relationship with ATCU and the difference between helping someone manage a life change and trying to “cure” it.  This puts characters like Daisy and Lash in a position where they are at least partially justified in taking a negative view of ATCU and the politics behind it.





And then there’s Fitz-Simmons.  Oh, it’s just a small portion of the runtime for this episode, but it’s so damn compelling.  It can’t be easy to rescue Will, of course; that would defeat the purpose.  But that means that every step of the way, Fitz has to see Simmons run through that gamut of emotions and absorb the fact that those emotions aren’t for him.  I hope they don’t sully his motivations along the way because there is something so damn perfect about his selfless love right now.