Fitz, Gemma and Daisy’s daring escape leads the whole base to be on lockdown, with a deadly Kree warrior unleased to hunt them down. The other members of the team are dealing with their own issues, but when Flint takes matters into his own hands, things really get interesting.

Kasias’ humiliation at the escape of his prize specimen in front of the eyes of his assembled guests, including his brother, is further compounded as the latter orders his finest warrior to hunt down the escapees alone, laughing at the suggestion that Sinara might be of help.

For the first time, we start to get a real insight into the relationship between Kasius and his deadly enforcer – what brought them together, and the sort of bond which unites them. It isn’t a relationship that is without its fraught edges – he did throw her into a fight to the death against the Destroyer of Worlds last week after all – but nevertheless, there’s more there than a simple master/servant relationship. That’s been hinted at before, but here it really gets brought out.

It’s also great to see Fitz and Simmons back together again, although not in the best of circumstances. I just wish someone would tell the scriptwriters to stop having either of them constantly saying things about definitely not leaving one another’s side ever again. We get it, they’re the star-crossed lovers, but can we please get a break, if not from their torment then at least from the foreshadowing?

Coulson, Mack and YoYo are trying to comfort the distraught Flint, still trying to come to terms with his powers and the fact that the Kree are murdering people to try to find him. When he finds out that Tess is already part of the body count, Flint quietly disappears with a plan of his own, meaning that just as things seem to be going right, they start going wrong again. Once again though, it’s nice to see Mack stepping up to try and relate to the boy – it’s maybe a little on the nose having the character so clearly adopting-in-all-but-name a young child he sees some of himself in, so soon after dealing with the trauma of losing ‘Hope’ in the alternate reality of the Framework, but it’s acted well enough that the show gets away with it.

What Flint does, and the events that ride off the back of that, are not entirely expected, which is nice in an episode where quite a few things seem telegraphed. The resultant showdown, and the politicking among the Kree which results, are both entertaining and intriguing.

Oh, and remember May, stuck out on the surface? Yeah, she gets to meet up with Fitz’s new friend after all, who rather humorously reveals a bit more of himself to us in introducing himself. What they end up finding between them though, is a whole other mystery we’ll have to wait until next time out to unravel.

Verdict: Still brutal, though not quite as dark as last week and with rather a few more elements of humour laced throughout to balance it, it’s a frantic episode with a fair amount packed in. Bits of obvious telegraphing slightly hurt certain bits, but that’s made up for elsewhere. 8/10

Greg D. Smith