The gang discover more than they bargained for when they go in search of more Gravitonium. YoYo tries to adjust to her new circumstances and hold onto hope. General Hale tries to recruit another face from SHIELD’s past to her team.

So, Fitz fixed the issue in the basement last week using the Gravitonium contained in Deke’s belt buckle. Small issue being, that wasn’t a huge amount of Gravitonium, and this is a rift between realities, so he needs more to make the fix permanent. This leads to trying to track down anyone connected with the Deathlok program, and an encounter with someone who is a familiar face to one of the team.

Back at base, Deke is driving Fitz mad. Of course, in light of last week’s revelations, it’s likely that there’s a solid reason these two rub each other the wrong way, but also Fitz is less patient than he used to be, which doesn’t match well with Deke’s puppy-like enthusiasm for a world full of stuff he’s never seen before. Hopefully, Fitz will find his joy again soon, given that he’s finally tied the knot with Simmons.

YoYo is feeling understandably a little sorry for herself, but not so much that we don’t get some of the best exchanges of dialogue in the episode between her and Mack. This has ever been one of the enduring strengths of the show, where it threads just enough natural humour and quips among the serious, dramatic stuff to lighten the tone without destroying it. Honestly, it’s just nice to watch the YoYo/Mack relationship on solid ground. Now that we finally have the resolution to FitzSimmons’ will they/won’t they, it would be easy for the writers to have swung that dynamic onto these two and repeat ad nauseum, and it’s nice that they’ve chosen a different route.

But star turn of the episode has to go to General Hale, Ruby and their newest guest at the facility. What the show needed was a strong threat for the team, and in these two they get it. Not only do we have a secret, militarised operation to rival HYDRA/SHIELD in terms of resources and function, but we have a delightful dynamic of never quite being sure who is on who’s side. Honestly, by the time the credits roll, I defy anyone to tell me with certainty just what will happen, who is in charge of who and where the chips will fall. This isn’t just your standard set of cookie-cutter bad guys, it’s a genuine threat, in myriad different ways, and I look forward to seeing where they go with it all, moving forward.

This being Agents of SHIELD, there’s some crazy, over-the-top action as well. Honestly, this one I did not see coming, and when it happens, it’s understated but awesome. If you were to read the bland fact of it on paper, it would sound stupid, but credit to the show for making it work by pitching the tone as well as the FX work perfectly.

Verdict: I still feel that the first ‘arc’ of this series was the wrong length – it could either have been shortened or lengthened to better effect. That said, this new arc has really settled into a solid rhythm and is delivering just the sort of SHIELD we know and love, without feeling repetitive or hackneyed. 8/10

Greg D. Smith