Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - S3E17 - The Team

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Previously on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, ‘“Paradise Lost”

With the bulk of the team, i.e. all the regular team members (henceforth known as regs), in danger from Mr. Giyera and Hydra foot soldiers, Daisy and Lincoln zip around the world to scoop up the rest of the Secret Warriors. All two of ‘em. While Yo-Yo dismisses her ride to wait for Daisy, poor Joey has to cancel the nightcap with his hot date. Daisy effortlessly takes the lead, getting her team together to save Coulson and crew from the evil clutches of Hydra. Okay, that was dramatic. Talk about throwing new people in the deep end; Daisy admits they have zero intel on the mission, except where they’re going. And oh, yeah, they have to parachute to their destination. How’s that for the first day of work?

Starting a new chapter in your life is always difficult, and joining a team of Inhumans has to be hella difficult. Good thing Yo-Yo and Joey have each other. They commiserate in rapid-fire Spanish, just before taking the plunge out of the jet. Two newbies, becoming friends is very heartwarming; the conversations in Spanish make them that much better. Especially since not one other “agent” there understands the language. It becomes their thing and anchors them to each other.

Malick, Hive, and Giyera meet up for a tete-a-tete-a-tete, as Giyera brings his new boss up to speed. Malick can’t handle what’s going on anyway; who can blame him? Lucio and a team of men are on the SHIELD bird, wrecking shit, looking for Coulson and crew. Speaking of, they find a broom closet to hole up in. There’s no way out, Hydra is outside the door, May is injured, and there’s very little hope they’ll be able to keep the bad guys at bay. Coulson puts Fitz on a way to get them out.

Team Inhuman makes their way into the base with an explosive entrance, taking out a few Hydra agents in the process. Daisy and Lincoln break off to fly solo; Daisy finding the control room and hangar where the Zephyr is docked and Lincoln showing off some decent close quarter combat skills both with and without lightning. Joey and Yo-Yo take off for the elevators, talking about his ruined date and speculating on how many men will be waiting for them; Joey guesses six, Yo-Yo thinks four. The dynamic between the two of them is awesome. Although they both seem nervous and unsure about SHIELD, they’re able to put each other at ease so they can get the job done. Hydra agents are ready to shoot as the elevator doors open, but they’re not ready for Joey’s Matrix level attack; stopping and melting the bullets. Yep,stopping and melting. Stunned, the agents become easy pickings for Yo-Yo to subdue. By the way, there were six guys.

Lincoln’s fighting leads him to Malick, who he grips up to take along for the ride back home.

FitzSimmons prove their genius works just about everywhere when the broom closet concoction they create knocks out the bad guys outside the hatch; everyone accept Lucio who looked unbothered. The team, minus Daisy, plus Malick, board the Zephyr only for Mr. Giyera to bop Joey upside his head with an extinguisher. What’s with this guy and extinguishers? Before he can do anymore damage with anymore extinguishers that just happen to be lying around, Daisy rappels down and quakes his ass into a crumpled heap.

It won’t be so easy to just fly away with the Zepyr, not with Lucio turning folks to stone. Seeing Lincoln go down, Joey grabs a piece of pipe, fashioning a shiv, and stabs Lucio as he walks around the corner. Joey get his first kill, which he doesn’t realize at first, but when he does he’s upset. So he didn’t realize he made the pipe turn into a pointy, stabby object? Yo-Yo rescues the rest of the crew from the broom closet, looking quite giddy to see Mack. And hell if he don’t look giddy, too. Daisy apologizes for the delay in the rescue; she had to get the band back together (1).

Hive arrives in the hangar in time to see the Zephyr depart, not a care in the world, because he has an inside man on the Zephyr.

The Secret Warriors locker room banter is lively and upbeat. First time out and not only did they rescue Team Reg, they captured the head of Hydra. Not bad for a day’s work. Lincoln thanks Joey for saving his life, but he can see how much killing Lucio upset him; but team leader Daisy doesn’t. (2)

Completely ignoring conflict of interest, Coulson interrogates Malick, the man responsible for having Rosalind killed.  Protocol is different from organization to organization, but this can’t be okay no matter what. Coulson is still so damn bitter about Rosalind. This may sound coldhearted, but can we get past this? It’s been some time, they didn’t date very long, he got his revenge on Ward; let’s stop bringing up the dead lady. Coulson wants info on Ward/Hive/Alveus; what he is, how to stop him, but Malick is not very forthcoming. Malick tells Coulson a story about his daughter and the circumstance that made him bring her into the Hydra fold, ending with the fact that Hive killed her. He also left out why Hive killed her, but that’s neither her nor there. Malick goes into full crazy, tinfoil paranoid about Inhumans, warning Coulson that siding with them is a mistake. Coulson looks disbelieving and unmoved until Malick tells him all Inhumans will worship him; he infects Inhumans and becomes a part of them. Any of the Inhumans on base could have turned. Way to bury the lead, Malick. Just in case, the base is locked down.

While Coulson gets the deets on Hive, the rest of the team unwind from the mission. Lincoln is caught with the orb by Daisy. She seems suspicious of him; him stealing a Terrigen crystal does not make him look good. And she still hasn’t checked in on Joey. Mack begins the spy mating ritual with Yo-Yo, taking her on a tour of the base, speaking in Spanish. Look, it’s cute that he’s trying, but could he have a worse accent? His goal is to make her feel okay about being there, because she still doesn’t fully trust SHIELD. Her mama didn’t raise no fool. FitzSimmons are dealing with Lucio’s dead body when they realize the body temp is still 98; off to quarantine they go.

We need to have a talk about FitzSimmons This is the couple that has been OTP for a lot of people from get. They’re so cute together; the way they understand each other and finish each other’s thoughts and sentences. That said, the way Fitz talks to Simmons can be grating. It’s like he thinks she’s not as smart as him and it’s annoying.

Coulson calls the Team Regs meeting to order, so he can update them on the bombshell Malick dropped. They have no way of knowing who is infected and no way of testing them to find out. Fitz suggests talking to them, which is cute, but will get them nowhere. Of course Mack is all for containment. Just when you think this dude has changed.

So much for the Yomack love affair that seemed to be on the horizon. You can’t start a relationship with mistrust. FitzSimmons offers to look at Lucio’s body to see if they can find the infection, because it’s stupid to just trust the head of Hydra.  One thing is for sure; they can’t let Team Inhuman leave the base. Daisy interrupts the secret meaning to ask about the lockdown and to see if Malick has given up anything on Hive. (3) And she still hasn’t checked on Joey. Malick is a little less calm now, talking slightly crazy, but he does have a reason to slip. He’s willing to help SHIELD by giving up Hive. He plays the unwitting fool pretty well; feels responsible for what he unleashed. Yeah, only because his daughter is dead, because he sure as shit didn’t care when he killed the head of Transia. Coulson tells Malick that he killed Ward for revenge, that’s why Hive exists. Nice one, trying to make him feel better, but no. Malick had to know resurrecting Hive wasn’t a good thing. Geez, Hydra had been feeding it sacrifices for centuries.

While Simmons performs the autopsy on Lucio, Fitz laments that he would like a moment to not have to worry about being killed by his teammates. Yeah, that’s a legit concern. Ever the Pollyanna of the group, Simmons says they need to worry about helping their friends. Fitz says their friends are lucky to have Simmons. Oh, he’s so gonna die. There is indeed an infection, but still no way to test for it. With this news, Mack and May are both on board for quarantine. Why do they automatically suspect the infected will hurt them?  The base’s power is blown, which is not really suspicious. During the blackout, Malick ends up dead. Nope, still not suspicious; no one liked him anyway. The killer uses a bomb to destroy his body. Okay, that’s suspicious. It’s funny how quickly Team Regs turn on Team Inhuman. Lincoln sees FitzSimmons are hurt, but they shrug off his help. May comes around the corner with Mack and a few more guys, guns ready. Just ice them and be done with it; stop treating them like they want to do Hive’s evil bidding. Coulson finally tells them what Malick revealed about Hive and the infection, oh yeah, and he’s been murdered. It begins to come together for the Secret Warriors; everyone thinks one of them did it. Daisy denies it, saying her team wouldn’t do that. And she’s very calm about it. (4) Lincoln and Yo-Yo, however, are not so calm; he sparks and she snatches May’s gun.

Sensing it won’t end well, Daisy grabs Lincoln and dives into room. (smacks teeth) She didn’t even try to save Yo-Yo; team, my ass. Joey yanks Yo-Yo and the two of them take care of the doors and locks so no one else can get in. Since they’re contained, Coulson tells May et al. to search bunks and lockers for clues. Although they saved each other, Team Inhuman are a team divided. Joey and Yo-Yo are ready to bounce, but Daisy and Lincoln think they should stay.

They all take turns accusing each other of being infected and killing Malick, until Daisy tells them they need to stick together. She leads them out via a secret elevator, straight into a containment room, with Coulson waiting. Damn, Daisy, you turncoat. Coulson announces who the infected person is: Lincoln; they found the orb in his locker and they know he’s stolen before. Not only that, he’s been infected since the mission at Transia, and Daisy buys it. (5) Lincoln denies it all and loses his temper on his team, leaving Daisy to take him down. Why would Coulson think he’d been turned at Transia? It’s not like whoever was infected would admit to seeing Hive; but wait, Lincoln did.

FitzSimmons try to figure out how to help Secret Warriors, but have no real way of doing that outside the lab.  So basically, they’re hanging out and mackin’ on each other. They’re worried about Hive, but Fitz says they’ll take care of him. Yeah, he gon die. Stuck in that dirty room, they finally have their moment, so they commence to kissing.

Coulson breaks the news to Daisy that he’s benching the Secret Warriors, because they can’t be near Hive; they’ll have to stay in quarantine. Daisy is understandably disappointed, but tells him they’ll be stronger next time. (6) No fight at all, Daisy? She escapes quarantine to go see Lincoln. Everyone knows she designed the security protocols, why wouldn’t they alter them if she’s locked up, too? Lincoln maintains he didn’t betray the team. Not to worry, boo, Daisy is there to let him out so they can runaway together. Lincoln doesn’t want to leave because he’ll be proven innocent. Then it hits him: Daisy is the infected. She’s sick, no she’s happier than she’s ever been. She describes the infection as a bond. Lord, she sounds like one of Jasmine’s followers on BtVS. Yep, she killed Malick. Lincoln is equal parts disbelief and bitterness as he realizes she his past against him. Damn, she’s like a combination of Jasmine plus Raven from The 100. She can’t convince him to go, so she leaves, taking the orb and a fair number of crystals with her. It’s not enough she’s a lying liar who lies, on her way out, she disables the locking mechanism so no one can escape and destroys the base.

Giyera and Hive are off to find Skye; Hive knows where she’s headed. Malick is dead and with no heir, there’s a whole lotta money just sitting around; $960 million. How does one apply to Hive?

Best line “The devil promises everything and then lets you destroy your own world.” ~Malick

Second best line “I believed I could resurrect a God. Instead I freed the devil.” ~Malick

Badass moment Daisy with that housequake-er, basequake. She’s gotten better with her power over time, but it’s always been small, controlled quakes. Although this was definitely controlled, it was in no way small. For a second, it looked like she might even take flight on the vibrations. 

Why it should have been sorta-kinda obvious it was Daisy

I’m fan enough to admit I had no idea Daisy would be the infected. Nope, never saw it coming. But when I re-watched the episode, I realized the writers gave us a few clues:

1. When she rescues the original gang from the broom closet, she tells Couslon she was held up because she was getting the band back together. Ward said the same thing when they brought him in to help them in season two.
2. Daisy is not only shaping up to be a great leader, she’s a consumate team member. It’s strange and very un-Daisy-like for her to not notice Joey’s upset over killing Lucio. Not only did she miss it, she never sought him out to discuss it.
3. When she interrupted the Team Reg meeting, she didn’t ask a million questions; matter-of-fact, she asked only one pointed question about Malick giving up the goods on Hive. The Daisy we know hasn’t quite grown out of questioning Coulson or anyone else in charge.
4. Daisy doesn’t seem surprised when Coulson tries to corral Team Inhuman and remains unusually calm in the face of icers being pointed at her.
5. With very little convincing, Daisy buys the story that Lincoln is the infected and that he had been infected the entire time. She usually needs more time to believe her friends are bad.
6. After hearing her team is being sidelined and stuck in quarantine, Daisy quips that they’ll be stronger next time. Mmmhmm, because they’ll all be under Hive’s spell.

I started off hot, because ABC News pre-empted the show with election news nobody wants. Luckily for us, ABC is wise to the game and instead of letting the show run, they hit pause. Big ups to whoever thought of that. This episode was so damn good, it took me 24 hours to recuperate. The writers did a good job of making all of the Inhumans, accept Daisy, look suspicious. Hell, for a minute, I even thought May was the mole! Not once did I consider Daisy; more fool I. The infection doesn’t cause permanent damage and it seems like Daisy won’t go around killing any-old-body, you have to wonder how the team will be able to come back from this. Once they get over Fitz’s death, of course. Look, I don’t want him to die either, but that brother keeps talking like he’s on his way out. Seriously, who is Daisy going to kill in her Hive infected euphoria? What are they gonna do with all those crystals? What’s with the orb? Am the only person anxious for next Tuesday?