Kyle’s Review

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. went a little against type with some its characters in “Among Us Hide…,” and while a couple of these choices worked (well enough), others—one in particular—left me confused. Hunter running off like a dog with a scent gave the show levity; I liked that. Agent May on the warpath was a little forced but understandable. Rosalind Price held up a mirror to what drives her and we find she’s human: a bit heavy-handed but good stuff. But a reluctant Mockingbird betrayed her character. I get why she wouldn’t want to return to field work but I didn’t get the impression until this week that she was scared to return to the field.

I smiled when Mockingbird suggested she and May use a gentle hand with a couple of guards. At the time I wondered why more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents didn’t use subterfuge and misdirection but we’re fed through exposition that Mockingbird has the yips. This wouldn’t be a big deal—even understandable—but it only took Mockingbird fifteen minutes in this episode to shake off the rust and that undercut any believability to her having yips in the first place.

The rest of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s team are scattered. Again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing but some of these disparate arcs can’t jive with each other and we have no idea which one, or ones, we should focus on. Do they want us to pick which ones we like best? Skye, Hunter, and Mack are on a wild goose chase uncovering Lash’s identity—that one might be one to forget. May and Mockingbird are tracking down Ward, who in turn wants to kill the von Strucker kid. While Coulson and Price play footsie under the table of lies, Fitz and Simmons still look for a way to return to Simmons’ alien prison planet.

As you can see there’s a lot going on, but the alien planet and Lash’s identity hold my interest the most. We find out who Lash is during “Among Us Hide….” I won’t spoil it for you here but it’s a doozy and when you find out who it is, you can rewind this past season in your head and find moments with subtle hints. I liked that a lot. And just because we know who Lash is, it’s still interesting to see how the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. when they find out.

Even though every story thread wasn’t a winner, “Among Us Hide…” presented a lot of good elements on which Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. can build.