'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Recap: 'Uprising'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

The new season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has thus far been quite a fascinating reinvention of the show. Gone are the days of campy jokes and light hearted storylines. Those have been replaced with a darker world and atmosphere that quite frankly has drawn all of us in, but there is one glaring flaw that has come about because of these changes...the fact that the show is missing a true villain.

We've spent the last few weeks getting to know the Ghost Rider only to find out he's a misunderstood vigilante in the same vein as Daisy, that there was at some point an experiment that turned a handful of people into ghost like creatures that drive mortal men insane when they touch them, and we've met the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and learned that the agency is about to return to the public light...but as of yet, there's nothing major for this team to defend against, no grand threat to give them a true purpose...that is until last night. Because 'Uprising' gave us a grand conspiracy that is now brewing behind the scenes and judging from what went down in this episode...whomever is behind it has deep pockets and far reaching power.

The conspiracy in question was hidden under the guise of an Inhuman uprising, where electromagnetic pulses were deployed in various cities around the world to knock out the power and leave the people in chaos and panic while 'Inhumans' demanded the end of the Registration Act, and equal rights...or more cities would go dark. That meant it was time for Coulson, Mack and Fitz to spring into action, and their mission took them to the heart of Miami to find Yo-Yo and the location of the EMP and that's when things got interesting. During their travels they encountered a few men trying to capture and harm Yo-Yo in the name of keeping the people safe, but after a quick struggle, because hey, guys like that are no match for S.H.I.E.L.D., we quickly learned that they were part of the Watchdogs and that this particular hate group was responsible for deploying the EMPs and generating the fear gripping the planet.

But while Coulson and the gang were busy saving the day, other problems were being posed by the Watchdogs and their attack upon America, one being that May nearly lost her life. As it turns out, the end result of making contact with the weird non corporeal 'ghost' people is prolonged madness and eventual death as is, so with the help of Dr. Radcliffe, he and Jemma were to able to determine the cause of what these creatures do. These beings more or less induce a waking nightmare on their victims, leaving them in a perpetual state of heightened awareness, meaning that the cure, would be to stop the heart, let brain activity fade and then resurrect the patient. But in the middle of letting May's brain cool down, a Watchdog power outage struck the D.C. area, forcing the Doc to think quick and use the power source from his android to save May not only physically but mentally, since she is finally free of the madness that has been plaguing her the last couple of episodes.

But while it was great to see May pull through her living nightmare, and see S.H.I.E.L.D. return to prominence, this conspiracy is quite the concern and it would appear the backers and brains of this...are domestic. The exact person behind this whole mess still remains a mystery, but so far the signs are pointing to Rota Nadeer, an outspoken, anti-Inhuman member of Congress, since she is someone who would have access to the Inhuman Registration List. However, despite her joy at hearing that seventeen Inhumans were slaughtered during the blackouts, we still don't one hundred percent know her exact role in this mess, but we do know she has a deep hate for Inhumans, one that is no doubt related to the fact that someone in her family is waiting to emerge from their Terragen Shell. Either way, someone is declaring war against Inhumans, and is ready to go to extreme lengths to ensure that their kind are wiped out, meaning this season has now revealed its true direction...a grand battle to keep the Inhumans safe. Until next time.

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