"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Recap: "Spacetime"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

I have to admit that when I sat down to watch this week's episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I found myself nervous. After last week's strange turn of events for the characters and their respective personalities I was hoping that the show would find a way to redeem itself big time this week and not let any more of that ugliness pop up at all this go round.

As it turns out, last week was indeed a one off because "Spacetime" is exactly the redemption I was hoping for. This was an episode filled to the brim with fascinating storylines. We saw our new villain in action, we had a moment of heartbreak, heck we even saw this story set up an important plot point or two for the rest of the season. But what mattered most, is that the team was unified for the first time in a long time against what appeared to be impossible odds and that was perhaps the most impressive part of the night. 

After all, it really looked like Daisy's life was in incredible danger, and I give the show big time credit for weaving such an intricate story by making it appear that Daisy was facing down her final hours on this planet. By giving us a quick look at her vision of the future you were instantly drawn into the experience and every single time we saw a flash from the vision come true...you simply had to wonder if Daisy was indeed watching the clock countdown to zero. But the best part about Daisy's story last night was that she was willing to do anything and everything to save a life this week. That's the Earthquake we have come to know and love and that alone helped wipe away the bad taste of last week.

But as I mentioned before, we finally saw Hive/Ward do his thing and if anyone was wondering whether or not a little bit of Grant Ward was still alive in that rejuvenated corpse...the answer is now clear, Ward is dead and gone and what remains is ruthless and terrifying. If anything it was bone chilling to watch Hive encourage Malick to take a life, and equally chilling to see Malick enjoy doing it and while this week may not have featured their grand plot to take over the world...it's clear S.H.I.E.L.D. has met its match. The saddest moment of the night however, came by way of Andrew's goodbye to May. Last night featured his final transformation into Lash and it was tough to watch these two finally hash out whatever bad blood was left between them before Andrew faded away forever.

Yet, despite everything that this episode threw at us and our feels...it did bring forth a lot of questions as it set up the rest of the season. For starters, why do I get the funny feeling now that Lash is not the villain we thought him to be...but a misguided hero? All this talk about how each Inhuman is created to bring about a balance, perhaps Lash is the only being that can stand up to Hive and perhaps his murdering spree was designed to remove dangerous Inhumans that would have helped Hive in his mission to take over the world. It may take some time to get all the answers on Lash, but I really do feel as though he will redeem himself by the end of the season. The other question in my mind...is what exactly is coming for the team with the return of that image of a Quinjet burning in space? Is there indeed a death coming for a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Or can the future be changed after all? Only time will tell. Until next time.

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