Well, that was intense. And so good. So, so good, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
Following last week’s episode, “Chaos Theory” presented the aftermath of the reveal that the good, old Dr. Andrew Garner (aka May’s ex-husband) is Lash, the terrifying creature that has been opening holes in his fellow Inhumans’ chests. Agent May is pretty much in shock to find out that her sweet, mild-tempered significant other now turns into a monster and has been murdering people left, right and center. She flies back to base with Bobbi and immediately asks about Andrew’s whereabouts. She is told that he went to a training facility with Joey (remember him, from the season premiere?), so the newest Inhuman could be reevaluated so they could decide if he is fit to join S.H.I.E.L.D or go back to the outside world. Joey has a much better handle on his powers now and is so very proud of himself. Dr. Garner, however, keeps daydreaming about murdering poor Joey through the entire session and is a step away from doing just that when May shows up and tells the guards to get Joey out of there, so she can talk to Andrew. She confronts him and Andrew completely loses it and ices her. The dude has some serious anger issues.
When she comes to, she is trapped and handcuffed and Andrew tries to explain himself, but the guy has gone completely bonkers. We finally find out that it wasn’t the vitamin suplement that turned him; he actually went through the mist accidentally, as he was going through Jiaying’s ledger. Daisy’s mom had left some of the Inhuman stuff in it, as a safety net, in case anyone ever got a hold of it. If they had the Inhuman gene, they would turn, and if didn’t have the gene… well, we know what happens. But Andrew does have the gene and he turns into Lash. He explains that he feels a need to be near the Inhumans and – that’s when he takes a left turn to Looneyville – he kills them because he is sorting out the good Inhumans from the evil ones. So he decides to go after them, crossing out names in Jiaying’s ledger and tracking them down.
What he doesn’t realize, however, is that Lincoln was also tracking down his friends and, after finding out that most of them are dead, he figures out that whoever is killing them is getting their names from his former mentor’s ledger. He reaches out to Mack and tells him that he can prove Lash is within S.H.I.E.L.D. Mack takes him back to base, much to Daisy’s surprise, and tells Coulson what he knows. Except he is interrupting a planned trip to meet the president of United States, so Coulson and Rosalind can plead the Inhumans case. The ATCU leader had dropped by to catch a ride with Phil and Daisy was definitely not happy about it. She really distrusts Rosalind, and for good reason, as it was revealed by the end of the episode. But Lincoln drops the bomb on them about Andrew and they drop everything to go after him, especially after they realize that May is missing.
The sequence that follows was so intense and so well done. Hats off to the special effects department because the fight between Lincoln and Lash was so good. The entire sequence was amazing, but the ending was particularly bittersweet because it was May who got Andrew into the pod, after emptying her gun in his chest. When Phil asks her how she knew the shots wouldn’t kill him, and she tells him she didn’t, my heart broke in a million pieces for her. In the end, they use the ATCU’s technique in order to delay Andrew’s transformation.
Meanwhile, Fitz is working on finding a way to open the portal back to that planet, so they can rescue Will. Jemma gives him her phone and he manages to save the data in it so all of the recordings and photos and videos from the time Jemma was there are suddenly available to him. Iain De Caestecker kills in this scene because Fitz is so touched by everything Simmons is reporting to him and, after he gets over (somewhat) the fact that there are pictures of Will and Jemma there, he even manages to find a lead that could take them to a portal. When he goes looking for Jemma, she is waiting for the sunrise and he tells her he may have found something. He also confesses that he recovered the data from her phone and Simmons tells him she meant everything. The sun starts to rise and the irony of the moment is not lost on any of us. Fitz will do anything for her and she knows that.
And then we cut to the last scene and Ward is talking to that mystery guy Von Strucker Jr had reached out to last week. Evil!Ward reveals his game plan is to cut off S.H.I.E.L.D’s head – aka Phil Coulson and just when he starts to get into the dirty details, mystery guy’s phone starts ringing and it’s freaking Rosalind Price and she apologizes, saying there was a change of plans, but she would still deliver Phil Coulson. And then, cuts to her house as she is hanging up and Phil is there and they just spent the night together. Damn it, Rosalind, just as I was starting to like you. I am going to try to give her the benefit of the doubt because it really seemed like she genuinely has good intentions and maybe she doesn’t know that mystery guy has a secret agenda.
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Don’t miss the next new episode of AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. on November 17 at 9/8c on ABC.