Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “Devils You Know,” was written by Paul Zbyszewski and was directed by Ron Underwood. There were plenty of good scenes and some good action in this episode – after all, what S.H.I.E.L.D. episode doesn’t feature those? However, this was really an episode that was about moving the story ahead. That said, did anyone else find it was getting hot in their living room every time Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Price (Constance Zimmer) were on screen together?
The episode opens in the apartment of a young couple. They’re cooking dinner and Lori (Alexi Wasser) is checking to see if their dinner is cooked. She tells Shane (Nick Eversman), “I can’t tell by looking at it.” He replies, “Nobody can. It’s chicken.” I loved this exchange because it beautifully reflects the human/Inhuman relationship. Once you get past their abilities, Inhumans are just people. We know this from Daisy (Chloe Bennet) after all. The only way we realize these are Inhumans is when the shot cuts to Shane who is levitating as he prepares the meal.
Alisha (Alicia Vela-Bailey) arrives and we learn they received a weird email. Lash (Matthew Willig) breaks in and kills all of them. Luckily, it’s only one of Alisha’s incarnations – most of her is actually with Coulson as she’s now working with S.H.I.E.L.D. to help bring in other Inhumans. However, feeling part of herself die has a lasting effect on her, and the next we see her, Andrew (Blair Underwood) is observing her in the fetal position on her bed at headquarters – not that he’s been asked to see her as a therapist.
Mack (Henry Simmons) and Daisy take off after Lash and track him to an industrial site. I adore these two together! And let’s face it, if Mack can get past his prejudice about Inhumans, everyone should be able to. He is convinced that Lash is simply a killing machine like a Great White shark, however. Daisy suspects he is more than that. And of course, she turns out to be right about that.
While Mack and Daisy track Lash, Coulson, Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki), and Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) quickly examine the scene before ACTU can arrive. I loved Bobbi and Fitz working together. Bobbi finds a hair and is going to place it in a clear bag when Fitz stops her. B is for blue bag is for biologicals! It’s just logical. And it’s the system that Fitz and Simmons devised together. When Bobbi remarks that blue is for recycling where she’s from, Fitz remarks, “That’s insane” and starts mumbling R is for red….
Later in the lab, Bobbi tells Fitz that the hair sample is dissolving. I loved her rolling her eyes when he questions her methods, but she’s also too much a team player not to recognize his authority in asking. When we learn that Lash can actually shapeshift, it makes sense that his hair would dissolve like this – it clearly “dissolves” in some way when he shifts. It’s also in this scene as well that Fitz discovers Simmons’ (Elizabeth Henstridge) notes. Simmons freaks out when she sees him with them and initially blames Bobbi for betraying her confidence.
In the field, Mack and Daisy come up against a door with something clearly behind it that turns out to be ACTU with Coulson in tow. Daisy feels particularly betrayed by Coulson about his new relationship with Price. Price is clearly having the same issue with her second in command. Coulson insists that ACTU is there to help, and Price tells her people that S.H.I.E.L.D. is not the enemy. I loved every scene in which Coulson and Price are clearly sparring to maintain supremacy in their relationship. Coulson insists to Daisy that the relationship is simply a means to an end, but Daisy clearly thinks that Coulson doesn’t really have control of the situation.
Daisy is really appalled when Coulson tells her to work with ACTU in tracking the virus she finds in the email. Of course, they learn that ACTU knew nothing about the virus or the emails. Daisy still has her hacker-fu and traces the emails to Dwight Frye (Chad Lindberg), a government employee. This makes her suspect that he may simply be working for ACTU. When Coulson doesn’t buy it, she is upset that he’s defending them and “the dragon lady.” She even tells him, “there’s that first name thing – it’s a dead giveaway. She’s sharp, attractive, head of a big shady organization…” Coulson simply tells her to get Mack, and they head off to get Frye.
However, Price is there when they arrive because Coulson told her. Frye will be taken to the ACTU holding area, and Daisy says she’d like to inspect it. Price is all for it. Mack and Daisy go in first and they find a cocoon. Which begs the question, if he changed a while ago, why wouldn’t he get rid of it? I mean YUCK! Regardless, they find Frye in the closet and discover that he has a violent physical reaction around Inhumans. What kind of a super power is that? I really love Chad Lindberg, so it was great to see him here even if it was only for the one episode.
Frye tells them that Lash came to him and that Lash is only a guy trying to do the right thing. He’s killing Inhumans because that’s the only thing that lessens Frye’s pain. Who didn’t love Coulson putting the new hand to use?! And claiming it has a laser finger! Please, please, please, Fitz, make this happen! Possibly the flirtiest scene yet between Coulson and Price is when she asks if he really does have a laser finger and he teases her that it’s classified.
Daisy insists on accompanying Frye to the ACTU holding facility. Coulson tells her that he needs her for an important HYDRA mission, but she refuses, insisting that Frye needs her more. I wonder what ramifications might come from her not having gone – though clearly Coulson’s team is too late anyway.
Daisy and Mack are sure that the van is circling both to throw them off the location of the secret facility and to allow them time to hide anything they don’t want the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to see. Lash attacks the van. Mack’s shoulder is dislocated and Daisy uses her power to try to stop Lash. Was anyone surprised when she flipped the van? What was she thinking?! I know, I know, save Mack…
Frye tries to explain to Lash that he didn’t tell them anything other than the truth – that Lash is being merciful. Lash clarifies, “I’m not merciful. I’m necessary.” And then he kills Frye. Daisy wakes long enough to see Lash’s shadow change into a human. So, whoever Lash is, he can hide in plain sight. Now the speculation can begin. Who could it be. I wondered about Price or her right hand guy, Banks (Andrew Howard), but they were both together when Daisy and Mack opened the door – and then there was someone lurking in the shadow afterwards as Daisy and Coulson talked – again couldn’t have been Price or Banks. My guess is possibly Andrew! And I’ll come back to this….
We see Andrew a few times throughout the episode. He’s not happy about how Coulson is treating the Inhumans. He has a session with Simmons. She confides that she dreamed about strawberries the whole time she was gone, but when she returned they weren’t as she remembered. One of the dangers with someone as smart as Simmons, is that she knows why Andrew is asking what he’s asking – smart people are hard to shrink! Simmons knows he’s looking for signs of PTSD – and we know Simmons is lying to hide those symptoms from him. Andrew, however, remarks that he’s always been interested in survivor stories – is that because he’s also survived something? Simmons tells him that she’d rather look forward than backward. Andrew tries to reassure her that she’s safe now, but she tells him he’s wrong.
May (Ming-Na Wen) returns to the base because she’s worried about Hunter (Nick Blood) being reckless in going after Ward (Brett Dalton). Naturally she runs right into Andrew and Coulson. We know that it was Andrew who left her and have it confirmed that he pretty much ghosted her. She says they went away to find out who they were away from S.H.I.E.L.D. She’s decided that he clearly didn’t like what he saw. For his part, he admits that he did it all wrong and wants to talk to her. Why did he leave so abruptly?
May fills Coulson in on what’s going on with Hunter. She tells him that Hunter is in too deep and that it’s affected his judgment. Coulson is clearly really happy to have May back: “It’s like you never left.” But she reminds him that she did. He offers to get rid of Andrew if it will make things easier for her because “I can replace him. You? Not so much.” May remarks on Coulson’s missing tie, and he confirms he’s still having trouble with the new hand. She also tells him that Andrew left because she was lacking in some way, and Coulson tells her she’s too hard on herself.
I’m really liking the chemistry between May and Hunter as a team too. May tries to tell him he doesn’t have enough intel to go through with his plan, but Hunter is desperate to kill Ward before Bobbi gets back in the field because he’s terrified that Ward will try to kill her again – and succeed this time. May tries to get him to see that Ward is not worth either Bobbi’s life or Hunter’s own life. It’s an interesting parallel to Coulson trying to get May to see her own worth too.
In the end, Hunter does go off with Kebo (Daz Crawford) when he shows up. It’s abundantly clear that Ward is still obsessed with S.H.I.E.L.D. given his using “Director” and telling Kebo about level seven and so forth. I loved the scene in which Ward enters and Hunter’s back is to him, so Hunter gets the dramatic reveal. It’s a terrific action sequence to follow – how do you NOT love May back-flipping into the action? In the end, Ward escapes with Kebo’s help but not before Hunters shoots him in the back/shoulder. May is furious when Hunter won’t stand down.
Of course, before he goes, Ward reveals his first plan for revenge. We see why Werner/Alexander (Spencer Treat Clark) was assigned to Andrew as his men surround Andrew in the store. They’ve brought gasoline. What’s most interesting about what happens may be what we don’t see in this scene. We don’t see Andrew at all. We see his phone with May calling. We see gas and blood all over the floor and we see someone’s feet. Alex comes racing out of the store just before it explodes, looking terrified. It’s possible those are Andrew’s feet and that’s his blood and he’s dead. It’s also possible that Andrew transformed into Lash and ripped out the hearts of those threatening him and then fled. Underwood is listed in future episodes, which could be proof he’s alive or he may just be in flashbacks….
The episode ends with Fitz confronting Simmons about her notes. Bobbi also tells Simmons to talk to Fitz. I loved that Fitz was able to figure out what the notes were all about. Simmons tells him that she has to get back there and that she needs his help to do it. She then tells him she’s going to tell him everything – leading to this week’s episode that tells us – hopefully – everything too! I loved the look on Fitz’s face. You just know he can’t deny her anything!
The title of the episode resonates in several ways. The reunion of Hunter, Ward, and May – he is the devil they know. But the title can also be a nod to keeping your friends close by your enemies closer – so Coulson and Price try to get to know their devil (each other) better. It’s also a nod to not knowing – they really don’t know who or what kind of devil Lash is. The proverb is ‘better the devil you know than the one you don’t’ so is there an even bigger bad out there? What is the team missing? What did you think of the episode? Favorite scene? Who do you think Lash is? Is it someone we know? Is Andrew dead? Is Coulson falling for Price? Could they make a good team? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.
