As Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. prepared for a midseason break, the team at Marvel made sure to leave viewers with a real cliffhanger. While the focus of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) temporarily switched to Marvel’s Agent Carter on Tuesday nights in TV land, the next chapter in the story of the Inhumans on Earth was put on hold. Now that Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is back, there are a lot of issues to address .
The Monolith had been discovered, which was capable of transporting people through space to Maveth, a now-desolate planet that had been home to an advanced civilization before it was destroyed by an Inhuman (who had been exiled from Earth via the Monolith). Agent Jenna Simmons was stuck on the planet for six months, where she met an astronaut who had been abandoned there 15 years prior. Leo Fitz eventually found a way to bring Simmons back and then agreed to help her return to save the astronaut (despite the fact that Fitz still loved Simmons, and the feelings seemed to be mutual).
The director of the Advanced Threat Containment Unit (ATCU) and love interest of SHIELD Director Phil Coulson was shot by Hydra operative Grant Ward on the orders of Hydra leader Gideon Malick. When Coulson and Fitz get to Maveth, it turns out that the astronaut had been killed by the unnamed Inhuman, who was now inhabiting his body. After Fitz believed that he had killed the astronaut/Inhuman and SHIELD Director Phil Coulson killed Hydra operative Grant Ward, the Inhuman moved to Ward’s body and secretly followed the SHIELD agents back to Earth.
S.H.I.E.L.D.’s role is redefined
After the passing of ATCU leader Rosalind Price, the POTUS reaches out to Coulson to say that he would unofficially allow the SHIELD team to continue their operations. Price only had good things to say about S.H.I.E.L.D. before she died.
Look who’s back! #AgentsofSHIELD pic.twitter.com/6wH37hYcgY
— Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (@AgentsofSHIELD) March 9, 2016
However, to keep up appearances, the president would put a leader in charge of the ATCU that would understand the need to answer to Coulson. He named enemy-turned-ally Brigadier General Glenn Talbot to fill that role.
The Yoyo speedster vigilante from Colombia
In Colombia, there is some alien-like activity in which weapons being delivered to the local police are seemingly being taken out of thin air. Daisy, Joey, and Mack are sent to investigate. They learn that the Inhuman responsible has super-speed but always returns to the same spot — like a yo-yo — all within the span of one heartbeat.
The team encounters YoYo in a new clip from Tuesday’s “Marvel’s @AgentsofSHIELD ” at 9/8c on ABC! https://t.co/ghfYYuA1iG
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) March 8, 2016
Her name is Elena Rodriguez, and she’s based on the Marvel comics character Yo-Yo Rodriguez, also known as Slingshot , where Nick Fury recruited her for his team of Secret Warriors. At the end of the day, she returns to Colombia to help her friends and family fight the corrupt police and keep them from obtaining weapons they can use to remain in power.
The evolution of the enemy
Grant Ward, now harboring the previously-exiled Inhuman from Maveth, is not in great physical condition after transporting to Earth in his newly-revived body. But by the end of the episode, his true powers begin to return.
CONFIRMED: GRANT WARD Is HIVE On ‘AGENTS OF SHIELD’ https://t.co/6JojM5iUdt pic.twitter.com/cQAsn50bli
— ComicBook NOW! (@ComicBookNOW) February 29, 2016
So far, we know he can sense another Inhuman and is apparently able to read minds. As the episode ends, it appears that he kills Malick’s right-hand man, Giyera. They also run into a new Inhuman from the Colombian police, who is capable of paralyzing someone with his eyes, which he must keep covered like Cyclops of the X-Men.
In the end…
While Elena is offered the chance to join the SHIELD team, she declines in lieu of working with her friends and family at home. The threat in her hometown has been somewhat neutralized and she is ready to go back to keep it that way. It’s clear that she and Mack have developed feelings for one another, so this likely is not the last we see of her.
Next week
The following teaser/trailer has been released for next week’s episode, entitled “Inside Man.”
Where to watch
ABC airs Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Tuesday evenings at 9/8c. The five most recent episodes of S.H.I.E.L.D. are available at ABC’s website. Beginning Wednesdays, replays of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. can also be streamed on-demand with a Hulu Plus Subscription. The first two seasons of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. can be streamed on-demand through Netflix.
[Image via Marvel ]