What I’m Watching: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season 3, Episode 20 “Emancipation” (B)

It’s hard to tell whose side certain inhumans are really on these days, and this episode was all about deception to get to its big and admittedly cool reveal. The first thing I’ll say is that I still haven’t seen “Captain America: Civil War,” and the only thing that seems like news to me is that these accords have divided the Avengers and it’s relevant to this show because the inhumans, as powered people, are supposed to register themselves so that the government can determine whether or not they should be classified as threats. Talbot being paraded through the S.H.I.E.L.D. base to express his constant disapproval at the seeming level of disorganization felt like a waste of time, and then it ended up being even more of a theatrical thing since all Talbot had not seen outweighed the incompetency he thought he was witnessing specifically because of how covert and smooth their operations were. Lincoln seemed all too eager to leave to be with Daisy, and May swapping him out for Lash so that the inhuman-hunter could get rid of the ultimate inhuman was an extremely smart plan. This was the first time we’ve seen anything close to fear in Hive’s eyes via Ward’s body, and it’s a shame that the chain-happy James killed Lash before he could truly finish the job. I don’t think Hive is down for the count, which makes me wonder whether anything can truly defeat him, and this army of zombie inhumans that even Dr. Radcliffe isn’t proud of is going to be a formidable threat to the continued existence of humans and inhumans on earth, one that should be thoroughly addressed in the two-hour season finale.