Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D returned after its Castaway-esque episode last week with one that followed the formula set by the rest of the season a lot more. There were some quick quips, a bit of fighting, a bit of “We’re going to have to go behind Coulson’s back on this one!” and a few reveals. That’s not a bad thing though, as I’d rather watch a consistently good show that has the occasional special episode than a show that wavers in quality dramatically. Besides, if every episode was like last week’s none of them would be special.

It’s slightly jarring at first being thrown straight back into the swing of things. You quickly have to force most of last episode out your head; one of the risks that comes with having the odd, unique episode.

The first big moment this week was the revelation that Andrew had survived. I was almost certain Andrew was a goner, with his death demonstrating Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’s willingness to go dark, but alas, I was wrong. That’s not to say Andrew’s return wasn’t a pleasant surprise, as the man just has an aura of likeableness around him.

What I don’t understand is why everyone was so annoyed at Hunter? He made the logical decision; he couldn’t have let Ward get away with those weapons or hundreds would have died. S.H.I.E.L.D always struck me as the type who would let a few die to save millions (Remember the nuke from The Avengers) but clearly not. Regardless, this merely seems to be there to give Coulson an excuse to remove Hunter from his assignment.

At first, this is frustrating, as we’ve watched four episodes of Hunter talk about getting his revenge on Ward, for nothing to really come of it. Sure, the action sequence from two weeks ago was brilliant, but it clearly wasn’t a resolution to the Hunter vs Ward chronicles. I was looking forward to them two really going at it, yet one gunshot to the back later, the whole thing was over.  Well, I suppose there’s a reason I don’t write TV shows.

Hunter being taken off that assignment was actually a great choice, with him probably becoming my favourite character this week (Yes, even with his stupid hair). The way Hunter moped about looking for something to do was probably my favourite part of Among Us Hide. I thoroughly enjoyed his brief pairing with Fitz, something we’ll hopefully see more of soon, and he fit in perfectly in with Daisy and Mack. Every joke he made landed, and every scene he was involved in was engrossing. He also caused a lot of anxiety by, and there’s no nice way to put this, being a moron. This was the Hunter I’ve been desperate to see again.

Speaking of desperate to see again (I’m so good at segues) Bobbi was back in the field again, paired with Melinda May and sent after Ward. For some bizarre reason, despite the fact she’s been talking about how desperate she is to get back in the field for weeks, the writers decided to make Bobbi into a pacifist this episode. Well not quite a pacifist, but someone who would only use violence as a last resort. Whether this was simply so they could have a weird advert for Meta Spaceglasses (If you don’t know what I mean give them a quick YouTube, you’ll understand) or was just to fill time, which I doubt because this episode would have still been very full without it, but by the end of the episode she was able to hit a guy between the legs with a baton as hard as she could, so I guess that’s been resolved.

The paring worked well, with May being the veteran, helping Bobbi get back into action. They had decent chemistry and two good fight scenes. My only complaint would be in future, don’t make Ming-Na Wen (Or her stunt double) wear a dress she can barely walk in and then expect her to beat people up. It looked really awkward.

Mack and Daisy’s exploits and Phil Coulson’s exploits were intertwined to form the core of the episode. Both of them were trying to delve deeper into the clearly suspicious ATCU. Well, they both got what they wanted in the end. A look at Rosalind’s base. The ATCU have been capturing Inhumans, putting them into comas and placing them in tight boxes so they’re easy to store. You first see this through the eyes of Daisy, or more accurately the eyes of one of Fitz’s drones, and much like her, you’re outraged. How sickening!

But then you see it through the eyes of Coulson, as Rosalind explains what she is doing. She captures the Inhumans so she can keep them safe and happy, and so they are unable to cause any harm, while she works on a cure for them. We delve a little into Rosalind’s character, learning the reason she is doing this is because the death of her husband made her want to make everyone else’s lives a little bit easier. She wishes she had been able to put her husband in a coma, keeping him safe and happy, while they worked on a cure for cancer and saved his life. Coulson buys it.

And there is the moral dilemma. Credit where credit is due, I still can’t decided whether I agree with Coulson or Daisy. At first glance it looks horrific, but then when we delve a little deeper into Rosalind, we learn that maybe what she is doing is a good thing.

The episode also featured the return of Powers Booth, reprising his role from The Avengers, one would presume. He has menace in a way I believe Ward lacks. Werner Von Strucker returned, only to be killed in as almost an unmemorable way as his dad.

The final, and biggest reveal, was that Andrew is secretly the Inhuman Lash. Despite this not being a huge shock, something many people predicted and the show seemed to have a lot of clues towards, it was still an enjoyable twist. Andrew seemed like the smartest (most obvious) choice. Had they drawn the reveal out a few weeks longer, this would have been incredibly disappointing, but we’ve only known Lash could transform into a person for two weeks. My only concern is that they’ll make Andrew fully evil, and I’d rather an Andrew who feels his actions as Lash are justified, and isn’t just a meanie.

This week’s episode was a little convoluted, with it possibly biting off a tad more than it could chew. It was still enjoyable to watch, with enough happening for me to want to tune in next week. The pace of this show is fantastic, with reveals and plot progression coming thick and fast. As much as I hate Fitzsimmons being on the sidelines, making their parts any bigger in an already busy episode would have caused chaos, in what was otherwise a solid episode.

Verdict: 7.5/10