Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “Emancipation” was written by Craig Titley and directed by Vincent Misiano. If you feel like you missed anything because you didn’t see Captain America: Civil War, you didn’t. Hopefully, the two or three throwaway references will be proof enough! In more sobering news – and what has me really sad – is that Agent Carter has been officially cancelled. However, this was a terrific episode, setting us up for the major events of the finale – which is also a double feature.
The episode begins with Coulson (Clark Gregg) and May (Ming-Na Wen) discussing the Accord to register Inhumans as they wait for Talbot (Adrian Pasdar). Talbot isn’t happy to be meeting in an out of the way gin-joint and not the base as promised – of course he IS at the base – adored that booth elevator!
Talbot wants Coulson to bring S.H.I.E.L.D. in from the shadows. Coulson points out that the Accord wasn’t good enough for all of the Avengers – and of course, Coulson is most likely to follow his hero’s lead and Captain America was not on board.
Daisy (Chloe Bennet) is being drained in the name of Hive’s (Brett Dalton) grand plan. Radcliffe (John Hannah) actually turns it off so as not to kill the golden goose. Daisy is trying to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D. but Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) is keeping her busy. She’s watching Lincoln (Luke Mitchell) but tells Hive it’s over between them. Hive is not happy about being followed and threatens to kill the team if they don’t back off.
May delivers food to a seemingly petulant Lincoln. I loved the long game they play in this episode! Utterly keeping us in the dark until the big reveal at the end. May threatens to turn Lincoln over to Talbot – so far everything Lincoln has done has made things worse. Lincoln is pissed that he’s locked up.
Fitz complains to Simmons that stopping Daisy is like playing wack-a-mole. He’d like to have Mack’s (Henry Simmons) help, but he’s still healing from what Daisy did to him. Simmons is worried about his spirit more than his body, however. May tells them to stop playing defense and get on with the offense. She wants to know what Hive’s end game is.
Talbot didn’t even know about the base. Coulson asks Talbot not to tell anyone about their Inhumans. Elena (Natalie Cordova-Buckley) arrives and tells Talbot that if her name appeared on the list, the Colombians would immediately put a price on her head. Talbot assures her that it would remain secret – yeah, right… I loved that she called him naïve. Elena demonstrates what she can do. Talbot maintains that it’s a protected list and highly classified. He points out that Coulson had a list – but Coulson knows firsthand why having the list is a bad idea.
The Watch Dogs are still hot on the trail of Inhumans, and they single one out to make an example of. Unfortunately, it’s James (Axle Whitehead). I loved the flaming chain whip. Of course, considering that they have guns, it’s a bit stupid for them not to pull them out until Ward arrives and tells them that he wants them to become what they hate. They are his latest guinea pigs for Radcliffe.
Lincoln reaches out to Daisy, knowing that she’ll be able to hack the system. I loved her sending a closed caption message via his tv. She creates a loop of him sleeping, and then communicates with him directly through his tv. He tells her that they don’t trust him, and reminds her that she’s the only reason he’s at S.H.I.E.L.D. to begin with. He tells her that he just wants to be with her – no S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hive.
Talbot comes to see Lincoln. He tells Lincoln that people need to be protected. Coulson tells Lincoln he’s just on medical observations. Talbot only remembers Lincoln’s control list. Talbot runs down how the registration works, and Lincoln volunteers – he’ll tell them everything so long as they let him out. Talbot wants to know why Lincoln doesn’t just fry them to get out, and Lincoln tells him that just isn’t who he is. Is Talbot forgetting that he had control issues too when his son was in danger?
Mack is not happy to see Elena because it’s a fight they can’t win. He tells her that Daisy lost her soul to Hive and he doesn’t want that to happen to anyone else he cares about. He also tells her Armeggedan – Hive is pure evil. This is a great scene. Elena tells him he needs a beer and some faith. He asks her if she wonders whether that’s just a word people use to fool themselves. To give them false hope. Elena tells him that’s how evil wins – when good people begin to doubt and run the other way instead of standing up to fight. She tells him that evil preys on the weak because it fears the strong.
Talbot tells Coulson, “I’ve seen the good and the bad. Now show me the ugly.” And it’s time to visit Lash (Matthew Willig). May is with him. Coulson tells Talbot who Lash used to be – and Talbot doesn’t care who Rasta-Hulk used to be. I adore that they can make fun of themselves like this! Talbot wants Lash frozen in a Gel-matrix cube. But Coulson argues that Lash is an asset – and he proves it by the end.
Talbot asks where Daisy is. May tells him she’s on assignment, and he asks for who. Talbot knows Daisy is with Ward. When Coulson asks why he didn’t say so, Talbot says he wanted to see if Coulson would lie to his face. Coulson says he had no choice – the stakes were too high. Then Talbot asks what Coulson is up against and Couslon tells him: The world as we know it.
Talbot struggles to make sense of what’s going on. They try to explain Hive’s link to the Devil and Talbot says a demon possessed Ward? Coulson says there’s nothing demonic about him, he’s an Inhuman, and Simmons clarifies that he’s made up of an “indeterminate” number of nano-parasites that can consume human flesh on contact. But when the parasites contact with an Inhuman it controls them. Simmons has to break it to Coulson in front of Talbot that Ward may have everything he needs now to make his experiment work. He has the Kree blood in Daisy – and Simmons also points out that the same blood flows in Coulson! Does this make him a target too? I’m betting yes.
Coulson doesn’t think that Hive would want to completely drain Daisy due to her powers and knowledge – she’s worth a thousand others. But Simmons and Fitz point out that Hive could make that many and more – all completely under his sway with her blood. And it certainly doesn’t seem like he’s too concerned with taking too much.
Radcliffe is looking for “volunteers,” and doesn’t seem too comfortable with the fact that they clearly aren’t volunteers. Daisy says they don’t deserve to be transformed, but Hive insists that there emancipation from their human prisons will be his gift to her. He tells her to rest, in case they need more blood.
I love that Daisy “MacGyver’s” him out – and clarifies that it’s not Firestarter! He’s not blasting his way out.
Talbot is freaking out and is bemused that Coulson isn’t – it’s an end of the world situation! Coulson says he’s getting used to it! Coulson tells him that they’re exploring some options – and we soon find out that it’s not just “options.” They do want to know what was taken from the ACTU facility. They ask Talbot to trust him – and then they discover that Lincoln has escaped.
Meanwhile, Radcliffe is horrified at what he’s done. The WatchDogs have been transformed into deformed Inhumans. The Watch Dogs are super strong and highly obedient. Hive tells Radcliffe that they’ll do very nicely, and Radcliffe is taken aback: “These primitives are an abomination of science and a very poor reflection of my talents.” Hive takes umbrage at the term abomination, but James agrees they are very ugly muffins! Hive wants more, however – lots.
May and Elena go to secure the exit through the bar. Mack turns up to help Fitz and Simmons, trying to lock Daisy out. Mack points out that Daisy could use the quinjet to get Lincoln out – and it’s too late. She’s locked them out of it. Daisy can’t access the upper deck camera. Mack is waiting. Lincoln has to zap Mack to get him off. Lincoln asks Daisy if it’s just going to be them, far away from everyone, and Daisy says yes, just them – but she’s lying.
Daisy is also horrified. Hive calls them their children and tells her that he needs more blood to make more. She asks how much blood, and he says all of it.
Talbot is on the warpath and is going to call the President and have the plane shot down. May tells them he didn’t escape – and Lincoln is right there with her to prove it. May tells Talbot – desperate times, desperate measures.
When the plane’s door opens, Hive and Lash are both surprised to see the other! They fight and Hive is unable to infect Lash. Lash kills the mutant puppies. James is on a beer run, and Daisy is weak from blood loss. Radcliffe just runs away.
Lincoln and May were the only ones in on the plan – along with Coulson, of course. Lincoln never did trust Daisy – not under Hive’s control. He apologizes for hurting Mack, and May points out that Mack wasn’t supposed to be there – Mack retorts, “sorry for doing my job!” Lincoln points out that every Inhuman has a purpose – and it seems that Lash has one too: to kill Hive.
Lash sucks the parasite out of Daisy and crushes it, telling her that she is free. And of course, he’s not paying attention when James shows back up and kills him from behind. Daisy is able to tremor James out. She gets to the controls and checks in, telling the base she’s coming home.
Coulson welcomes her back, and Lincoln tells her that it’s good to see her. She tells them that Lash died saving her – but wasn’t able to kill Hive. Lincoln and Fitz realize that Lash’s purpose wasn’t to kill Hive but to save Daisy.
May has a moment with Lash.
Talbot wants to know how they know this isn’t a trap as Simmons performs scans on Daisy. Coulson points out that they’ll know soon enough, and Mack adds, “In the meantime, have a little faith,” earning him a smile from Elena. Simmons gives Daisy an all clear, no parasite is left, but she is suffering from withdrawal. Coulson takes the good news, but realizes that there’s bad news too. They think they know what Hive is going to do with his new pathogen. With the proper delivery mechanism, Hive could infect a significant number of people. Talbot tells them he has a way to disperse it high in the atmosphere – he has a fully operational warhead – that’s what he stole from the ACTU.
Elena comes to see Mack. He’s working on schematics for his bike. She asks him if that means he sees a future now. He’s still non-committal about their chances of winning, but he tells her that he’s ready to stand and fight. She tells him to hold out his hand and close his eyes – and not look until she leaves. She tells him to keep the faith. I was not happy when he opened his hand to find her cross in his hand. We know that whoever has that on the space ship is going to die. Or at least, that seems to be the only explanation.
What did you think of the episode? Is Hive stoppable? Did you love Lincoln and May’s sting? Were you sorry to lose Lash? Are you happy to see Daisy home? Who is going to die in the season finale? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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.
