Coulson found himself outplayed as Inhuman elements grew increasingly unpredictable in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3×12.
“The Inside Man” acts as something of a throwback for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., taking Coulson, Glenn Talbot, and a handful of agents on a good, old-fashioned spy job. (Remember those?) But of course, the work of gadgets and gumption is, in every possible sense, serving the most Inhuman of masters.
And what a master. With Coulson and Talbot embedded seamlessly into the Inhuman summit, the Director believes that he is playing at the story’s most secretive level. The work of sniffing out Gideon Malick’s spy should be a simple process of intrigue and elimination, the attitudes of each leader towards Inhumanity acting as clues guiding his way.
What Coulson fails to realize, at this “alien”-free summit, is that the Inhumans are an active factor in this game — and that means that Malick is, as well. (Coulson is keen enough to draw this connection at the end of the episode, though he doesn’t yet understand his instincts.) Instead, it is Coulson who becomes the pawn, as Malick arrives and accuses Coulson of being the head of Hydra. The Director is left in the embarrassing position of having a shabbier resume than Malick, and his advances from last week whither to dust as Hydra wins another game of chess.
Ironically, it is Carl Creel who changes the game into the kind of dust-up Coulson and crew are more comfortable with. Creel is not only a reformed former Hydra villain, of itself a neat call back to Creel’s projected-but-forgettable experience with the Faustus Method. Thanks to Talbot, he is also an agent of good, to thwart Malick’s most pressing Inhuman plans. Creel’s is an interesting transformation; from season 2’s hulking terror to his new quiet loyalty, he proves both himself and Talbot to be true to Coulson’s cause.
But Creel’s actions also reflect a deeper reality. Simmons discovers that Creel’s changeable blood acts as an anti-body to Terrigenesis — he not only literally stops Malick, but can halt Inhumanity itself.
This discovery is, to put it mildly, a fundamental shift in the story of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Appropriately, the seismic implications immediately causes a rift between Daisy and Lincoln, who argue about the rightness of a vaccine for Inhumanity. In a reversal of form, Daisy now believes that her genetic abilities are a “birthright,” an “awakening.” Lincoln argues the opposition — “Not everyone who can change should change,” he tells her.
This is, frankly, a tired argument on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which has been grappling with the question since Skye transformed last year. (Bobbi and Daisy even rehash the debate over good and bad Inhumans, for no apparent reason.) That said, the argument does gain more heat now that it is more than theoretical. With Lash on the loose, Lincoln sizzling with electric rage, and Hive lurking potently in the background, the issue is becoming urgent. This divisive simmering pot, I suspect, will boil over imminently.
Speaking of boiling over, Daisy and Lincoln resolve their differences with a long-awaited consummation. Tryst or no tryst, the pair is as bland as ever; still, it’s a welcome step forward for a couple that never seemed to get past nose-nuzzling. With tension rising in other areas, hopefully some real friction will develop between “Shake and Bake.” (Thanks for that, Hunter. I owe you one.)
Of course, as much tension as may rise among the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — Hunter’s cranky loyalty, May’s general crankiness, Coulson’s setbacks, the vaccine, and all — the true danger still awaits them. Speaking (partly) in the third person and absorbing all the media he can reach, Hive becomes more fascinating every time he appears. (It’s also unnervingly satisfying to watch Malick nearly piss himself in the careful-what-you-wish-for presence of his god.)
But though Hive’s powers remain enigmatic, he is also increasingly terrifying. It’s entirely unclear what his “dusting” did to Guiyera and Luciano, especially since Hive apparently cannot “feed” on Inhumans. It’s also baffling how that is different from the swirling cloud that consumed those five healthy, innocent humans, and how that act restored Grant Ward’s body to the prime of un-dead health.
That doesn’t really matter, though. (At least not yet.) What matters is that Hive has a deity’s eye on the entire game of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the strength to enact a deity’s will. In “The Inside Man,” Coulson found himself in checkmate; going forward, we can only hope that he forms a better strategy.
