Lash’s true identity was only part of the parade of monsters on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3×06, “Among Us Hide…”
Hunter, gatherer
After last week’s riveting episode, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3×06 returns to business as usual. But for all the chaos, a clear thematic thread winds several disparate elements together this week.
Almost every character is trying to untie the knot on a dangerous question — but the answers they find only bind them more painfully together.
Daisy, for example, is fixated on capturing and identifying Lash. Her profound distrust for Rosalind Price leads her to suspect that the Inhuman killer is affiliated the ATCU, so Daisy jumps on Mack’s suggestion that Price’s associate Banks is the culprit.
Banks-as-Lash is not a bad theory, but Daisy’s conviction makes it her only theory. So she and Mack are quite shocked, when — after Hunter delivers an unconscious, bleeding Banks — the man’s blood sample clears him of any Inhuman DNA. Dumped back at square one, Daisy, Mack, and Hunter follow a summons on Banks’ phone to observe a “delivery” at Endotech Laboratories.
Where they watch as a man stored in a box of orange goo is packed away on a shelf like an old report card.
Daisy is incensed, convinced that she is witness to the apex of Price’s villainy and that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s connection to the ATCU must be dissolved. But this is not the case; the DWARF she uses to spy on Endotech soon picks up both Price and Coulson, watching the delivery as calmly as you please.
Daisy doesn’t confront Coulson this week, but the stakes have once again been raised in their increasingly volatile relationship. This bomb might not be about to go off, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is definitely laying down the fuse for a considerable explosion in the near future.
Surface tension
While Daisy is trying to answer the Lash question, Coulson is determined to get the answers he seeks from Rosalind Price. Fed up with what he interprets as delay tactics, Coulson demands that Price bring him to the long-avoided ATCU facility. She and Coulson arrive just in time to watch the arrival of Man in Orange Goo.
But though Coulson is more shaken by Price’s methods than he appears, he allows the head of the ATCU to make her case. And she actually does have a case – Price compares her methods to inducing a medical coma. She does not want to harm the Inhumans, just to get rid of the “disease” that afflicts them and makes them dangerous.
(She also claims the ATCU is close to developing a cure for Inhumanity, which seems like kind of a big deal, but Coulson does not pursue it.)
More human than not
Price’s argument is an interesting one, and it does hold some water. It’s not a stretch to believe that some Inhumans would rather get rid of their powers and resume normal lives — especially those like Frye, whose powers are rash-getting and painful headaches.
And after all, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s “solution” for Inhumans isn’t much better. Consider their attitude toward Joey Gutierrez — Joey has no options beyond being locked up, trained, removed completely from his old life. He also might take Price’s route, if given the choice.
Choice, of course, is the key element here. Neither the ATCU or S.H.I.E.L.D. are currently offering the Inhumans much input on their own fates. With such poor options, and the vacuum created by Jaiying’s death, it’s not that surprising that someone like Lash has arisen to take control of the Inhuman problem.
Either way, it’s certainly no coincidence that Coulson and Price conclude their meeting by admitting that their jobs often make them lose touch with their own humanity — and that, by the way, they kinda-sorta-maybe like each other.
Side-splitting
The last major thread of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3×06 involves a few people who like each other… and a few who definitely don’t.
Ward’s main concern is locating and killing Werner Von Strucker, the failed experiment with too much information. (Ward also wants to get lots of grenades. Which he does.) Ward doesn’t have to work very hard at finding Von Strucker, as the mysterious Gideon Malick promptly turns the young man over to Ward.
Ward isn’t impressed with Malick, who seems to have had a significant role behind the scenes at Hydra. But Malick clearly has a longer game in play. “You just remember, when I come calling,” he tells Ward. “I chose a side.”
Yeah, totally expect fair treatment from Ward. Let me know how that goes.
Coming out parties
Meanwhile, incredibly, Andrew has survived the explosion — and is actually doing pretty well. He attributes his survival to a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent at the scene, and enjoys more than one Deep Meaningful Conversation with Daisy over Lash’s identity and motivation.
Which is ironic.
Nearly losing Andrew lights a fire under May, who recruits Bobbi to finally take out Ward. They hunt down Von Strucker as Bobbi battles her insecurity at returning to the field. May can relate, no stranger to returning to duty after a trauma, but she promises Bobbi that her experience has made her stronger.
And when the Mockingbird hits the water, May’s promise is fulfilled; Bobbi’s stubborn strength allows her to defeat most of Ward’s goons, including Kebo.
But while Bobbi fights her demons, May is just meeting hers. Tortured and pathetic, Werner Von Strucker tells May the truth about the explosion. Von Strucker never even got close to hurting Andrew, instead experiencing a massive mindf**k when Andrew transformed into a monster, killed the other men, and then deliberately blew up the store.
Because Andrew is Lash.
Nice Doctor Andrew — who left May in Hawaii without an explanation, who is overwhelmed with concern for Lincoln’s safety, and please let me know when you find him, Daisy — is murdering Inhumans for apparent funsies.
“What is he?” Von Strucker whimpers.
May, who has just lost the man she loves for the fourth time, has no answer.