The past and present collide as the Superior lays a trail of breadcrumbs for the team to follow, igniting some personal memories for Coulson of his and May’s shared past. But when the ultimate confrontation comes, will the team be able to win the day?

A flashback-heavy episode this week, as the action jumps between the present day of the team, still desperately trying to track down both May and the newly kidnapped Mace, and another slice of May and Coulson’s shared past – an old mission they undertook together to recover an 0-84, back in the days when life as a SHIELD agent was simpler, if no less dangerous.

If I’m honest, I’m a little torn on this new Phillinda angle that the show seems intent on. Gregg and Wen have always shared great chemistry on the screen, and it’s been obvious from the pilot that their characters share a long and tightly intertwined past, but there’s a little part of this that’s starting to feel forced. When they were colleagues with a long history and mutual respect, it felt like that was all the tension we needed – if the show continues the way it’s now going, it may lose that tension (and the chemistry) altogether.

Still, it is fun to be reminded of the good old days when Coulson was a geeky level 4 agent in a suit with terrible language skills and a penchant for talking his way out of trouble, and the younger May reminds one forcibly of one Ms Romanov, all gleeful energy as she bounds into the middle of danger.

Back in the present, other close relationships seem to be falling apart, and it’s hard to watch. Back in Season 2 when we first met Mack, it was him that really connected with the then brain-damaged Fitz, and the two have shared a great big brother/little brother dynamic ever since. Seeing them fall out is painful, the more so when you are forced to admit that in his way, Mack has a point. Again, it feels a little like it comes out of nowhere, but as the episode goes on and builds to its finale, you can’t help but feel that maybe this is intentional.

The showdown when the gang finally catch up with the Superior is suitably epic, with the requisite one liners, heavy action and fisticuffs fighting. Coulson in particular gets to deliver a zinger for the ages, before simply walking away to let Daisy work out some… frustrations.

The ending is interesting, and to say more might risk crossing the line into spoiler territory. Needless to say, it’s another episode where you may want to reach for the rewind button as the credits roll, just to make sure that you took it all in.

Unfortunately, the sting gives us an even more heavy-handed bit of interplay between past May and Coulson which then leaks into a final scene in present day that just makes it worse. This rather dampens the excitement of the finale.

Verdict: Schizophrenic might be the best word for this episode. There’s an inspired storyline running here, which all too often gets distracted from by a relationship that nobody (that this viewer is aware of) was especially clamouring to see and which just doesn’t seem to work. I can only hope that when the dust finally settles, the writers – and the characters – will regain their senses and resume normal services. 7/10

Greg D. Smith