The mysterious team led by Coulson’s doppelganger continue to cause mayhem with SHIELD doing their best to catch up. Meanwhile, in deep space, a familiar face has troubles of their own.

So, last week Fitz had weird eyes and was speaking in some alien language? Was that even Fitz? Given that there’s someone out there wearing Coulson’s face, anything is possible, right? Mysterious…

That’s the main issue this episode struggles with from the outset – there’s lots of ‘mystery’, sure, but it’s mostly being provided by the show throwing new characters, places and ideas at the viewer every other minute and then moving along to the next thing without bothering to pause for breath and explain itself. Like the recent Endgame, this isn’t interested in babying along newcomers – unfortunately, unlike that movie, SHIELD isn’t exactly accommodating long term fans either.

Two episodes in and it is still far from clear who the mysterious ‘Sarge’ and his crew are, or – more worryingly – what exactly it is that they are up to. Certainly it seems that whatever it is will be bad news for all us mere mortals on planet Earth, but there’s not even a hint of a motive beyond destruction for the sake of destruction. As if to emphasise this, the plot then obnoxiously tries a little bait and switch as to a certain object of the gang’s attentions, but it comes across as naff rather than clever.

What is clear is that SHIELD ain’t what it used to be. I know they started over again and probably have far more limited resources than they’re used to, but it’s a little dispiriting watching this new, Mack-fronted SHIELD fumble around after the bad guys, always several steps behind and with the universal look of incomprehension writ large across their faces. The only one who actually seems to be still capable is May, which makes me wonder whether the show has plans for her at some point.

Meanwhile, in space there’s another subplot going on that at least gets slowly drip fed to us so we have a vague idea of who this person is that was revealed to us last week and what they’re up to. I mean I say vague, to be fair by the end of it, it’s practically spoon-feeding us the gist, but it’s also clearly setting up one of those running plots where not everyone is in the right place at the right time, and people keep missing one another, and that can get boring really quickly. There’s also a slightly tin-eared attempt at someone standing on principle which then gets spoiled not very long afterward, but at least it’s trying, I guess.

I know that Season 5 wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and started off similarly weirdly, but it did its best to at least let us feel like we were on board with the team and learning things as they did. This just feels like it’s being deliberately obtuse, and given that it’s a shortened episode run this time out, it needs to start giving us more, and fast.

Verdict: Oddly enigmatic, almost like it wants everyone – long-term fans and newcomers alike – to feel equally at sea. This needs to get some sense of direction, and soon. 6/10

Greg D. Smith