shield-4-8Eli is plotting something huge, drunk on his apparent new found power to create matter from nothing at all. As the team race to find him and put a stop to whatever he’s doing, Fitz and Simmons fret about how he’s doing it at all, in violation of all known science, and Mace has a lot to take in about the team he’s leading.

After the properly weird of last episode, SHIELD is back to firing on all action cylinders as we push towards a holiday break mini climax for the season. To that end, Eli has an evil plan, centred on apparently creating some massive doomsday device, and the team must find him and take him down.

But first, Jeffrey has to bend his head around a few things: AIDA being an android, Holden having been doing secret, suspiciously Ultron-y research for the last few months (levering in a Sokovia mention too) and Daisy and Robbie being absolutely key to taking Eli down. It’s a lot to take in, oh and no pressure, but it seems like Eli is cooking up something that could destroy all of LA so the clock is sort of ticking, Mr Director sir.

And it has to be said, that amongst all the fairly standard action we get this time out, the dynamics of the characters is what really keeps the interest, and I suspect that’s quite deliberate. Here we get to see Jason O’Mara really earn his paycheque as Director Mace, a character who even at this point I am not 100% sure what to make of. There were moments in the last episode and this where it’s tempting to believe he’s absolutely a straight down the line guy with the best intentions for the team and the organisation, but then you remember the shady meetings, the odd new approach to security and O’Mara’s studiedly blank façade at crucial moments and it all seems up in the air again. If Robbie Reyes is the standout interesting character of this season so far, Mace is a close second.

Elsewhere we have the continuing slow burn of the relationship between Mack and Elena. As someone who waited three whole seasons for FitzSimmons to get their act together, I am hoping that MackYo (patent pending) move a little quicker. Still, it’s nice to see a genuine relationship born of mutual respect and equally mutual independence and spikiness develop. This isn’t a simple boy meets girl romance, and it works all the better for it. The payoff, if it ever comes, can’t help but be worth it.

And speaking of relationships developing, is that a fresh set of eyes that May is making at Coulson? It feels odd, not least because I don’t recall any past point since the pilot episode at which a ‘PhilLinda’ (blame the internet, not me) entanglement seemed even remotely possible. It sort of works, because of the shared history of the characters and the tremendous job the actors do, but it still feels a little rushed, as if they are being paired off more to fulfil some external story arc than out of any genuine development between the characters. Still, we shall have to wait and see.

The climax of the action part feels a little like an afterthought, much in keeping with the action throughout the episode, and this is borne out by another 5 minutes or so of that lovely relationship stuff before a sting that quite literally turns at least one element squarely on its head and rather nicely sets up a new threat for when the gang return in the new year. Something tells me, we are looking at a war on multiple fronts for SHIELD in 2017.

Verdict: A mixed bag. The main action plot running through the episode feels a little by the numbers, but that also feels deliberate, keeping the focus on the personal interactions of the team. The episode manages to pull it off, but only just, mainly thanks to affection for the characters themselves rather than quality writing. A slightly damp squib saved by a genuine moment of surprise before the fade to black. 7/10

Greg D. Smith