Last weeks episode saw the capture of the team by Giyera, Hive’s new right hand (Inhu)man and also saw a look into Malick’s backstory. We discover that Malick has been following the belief in the exiled Inhuman his entire life – and then we see it cost him his beloved daughter, Stephanie.

This weeks episode sees us gather some previously introduced Inhumans – Joey, from the opening episode of this season, and Elena (AKA Yo-Yo) from SN3E11 (Bouncing Back). Joey and Elena are called in by Daisy and Lincoln, in order to take back the SHIELD bus from Malick’s grip.

This episode was amazing. Remember last review when I said that SHIELD were launching pieces forward? This week, it was kind of like we were having a really pleasant, fast paced game, and all of the sudden the other player has flipped the board and started beating you with it, whilst jamming the pieces up your nose. In a good way.

The Kickass Stuff;

The Secret Warriors were absolute badasses this episode. Their rescue of the team and capture of Malick was fantastic – it looked great, and it was just awesome to see a team of all Inhumans going on the mission. They worked amazingly together, in incredible sync. Seeing Yoyo and Joey work together and take down six men at once in one hallway? Awesome.

Lincoln making his electricity into lassos and holds to throw his adversaries into the air? Awesome.

Daisy in general, but especially swinging down on that chain and sending Giyera flying? Awesome.

Malick had some really great lines this episode too, about religion and faith. I really liked two in particular;

“I believed I could resurrect a God; but instead, I freed the Devil.”

“Oh no, Mr Coulson, it is a God. It’s just not ours.”

I really like these lines because it really is about his faith and how awry it’s gone. All of his and Phil’s interrogation scenes this episode are like that. Phil asking Malick what he expected from bringing back a creature like this, and Malick explaining he was brought up in the faith that it was a God due to bring him good fortune – a God he thought he could work with for power. The breakdown of all of the Malick belief systems has been a great watch, and I love it.

There was also more fun, violent grossness that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seem to be piling on lately, including but not limited to Simmons cutting open Lucio’s head to examine his brain, us being treated to his scalp being pealed back, his skull pulled off and his infected brain placed on show. But, alongside this grossness, comes the solid evidence that Malick is telling Coulson the truth – Hive can infected Inhumans, make them part of his hive, and control them under his bidding.

Family;

Malick’s grief over Stephanie is absolutely heart breaking to watch. He’s so blatantly devastated by his loss, and it’s hard to watch him talk about her. When he tells the story about her riding Arabian horses, and how he felt so proud she could tame such a difficult breed of horse to ride, it was just really damn sad. I never thought I’d feel this awful and sympathetic to a member of Hydra, but the writers managed to do that with Malick and Stephanie.

The relationship between FitzSimmons is just so wonderful now. It’s developed so naturally, and in the beginning, I never would have wanted this relationship – but now that it’s happened like this, for all these good reasons and through a lot of character development, I’m really happy. And their adorable little interaction near the end of the episode; “I have a magnificent thing right here…it’s the painting, my painting of space.” It’s such a sweet, funny couply moment.

“The seal gonna hold?”

“I hope so, it’s chlorine gas. If not, we’ll all go blind.”

“What?”

Elena and Joey really shined in this episode. Them two speaking Spanish to one another was a lovely touch – shows and movies tend to overlook this small detail, and often make two characters whose first language isn’t English, speak it even when they’re alone together. I like that SHIELD gave them these moments, which are very real and how they would communicate naturally.

MACK AND ELENA. They’ve clearly been keeping somewhat in touch – and I find it beyond sweet that whilst Elena has been learning English, it isn’t all on her to learn how to communicate in his language – Mack has been learning Spanish for her. How cute can two people possibly be?

It makes it all the more devastating when later this episode, she no longer speaks to him. The team had this amazing synergy and togetherness, and it was ruined in one episode.

Witnessing the secret warriors team, who flew into this episode being so kickass and having this really great team dynamic, be torn about. Hive manipulated them horrendously easily, by turning their very fears on each other. It destroyed the trust the team had for each other, by aiding in trying to show that it was Humans vs. Inhumans in this episode. Hive played on all their insecurities and drove this really great start just straight into the ground. The paranoia even spreads to the human agents – May instantly pointing out that Lincoln tried to “pump her full of meds” and Mack having to point out that Lincoln is a doctor and she was injured.

The “OH MY GOD” part;

Yeah, I replaced the “Meh” section with an “Oh my God” part, because this episode deserves it more than anything else. That reveal at the end was absolutely heart-breaking, and it was a huge deal. This episode is just pure, everything people love about this show, because when it kicks it up a notch, it kicks really damn hard. The utter betrayal and loss of someone who is their own is so evident, and it’s a pain we haven’t felt since Grant Ward’s betrayal to Hydra.

After all that happened this episode, Daisy is the Inhuman who’s been infected by Hive. She frames Lincoln, using memories of his violent and short tempered history to manipulate how everyone sees him, destroys her team, steals alien tech and destroys their base – their home. She’s also the one revealed as killing Malick.

I do love that Hive isn’t just controlling Daisy – she’s not totally brainwashed or unaware. She’s completely aware, but it’s more like a heavy inclination – a euphoria and desire to do what she’s told. It’s insanely creepy She’s also so dangerous – she’s a formidable Inhuman, and her fighting skills alone without her Inhuman abilities make her scary enough – throw in the fact she’s a master hacker and that she’s been alongside Phil to know some seriously deep info, and the team are hugely screwed.

If anything, I think this is worse than the Ward betrayal – Ward was in complete and utter control of his senses, and he made the decision to go undercover and hurt the people he was with. Daisy is infected, and doesn’t have a choice in what she’s doing, and no one knows how to cure her or if she even can be cured. It’s a precarious situation for her to be in, especially when we know someone from Team SHIELD is going to die by the time the finale rolls around.

I also noticed this fits in with a recurring theme that’s been going on since season 1 – once again, it’s Grant Ward trying to bring Daisy onto his team. It’s been happening since the beginning, with Ward trying to convince Daisy that his side is the right side, that they could be unstoppable together – and now it’s two seasons later, and Hive possessing Grant Ward’s body goes after a woman he still refers to as “Skye” – it’s pretty sickening, actually, that this need to have her on his team never seems to end regardless of how much they change in-between.

I’m just so absolutely blown away by this weeks episode. It was absolutely excellent, with some of that cold-hearted betrayal I’m somehow still unused to after three seasons. It had awesome acting, great fight scenes and just really flung our story forward full force. I can’t wait to see what more this show has for us, as we are only four episodes away from the two part finale.

The Singularity will air 26th April 2016.