The past two episodes of Agents of SHIELD took a break from the main plot of the current season; Parting Shot focused on the departure of Hunter (Nick Blood) and Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki) from the show, setting up Marvel’s Most wanted whilst Watchdogs brought Mack (Henry Simmons) to the forefront, featuring him coping with the loss of Hunter and Bobbi as well as highlighting his relationship with his brother. Both episodes deepened the emotional content of the show whilst also expanding on the Marvel Comic Universe. Spacetime on the other hand brings us back into the thick of it, putting us back on track with the season’s main plot surrounding Inhumans/Hive.
Spacetime is directed by Kevin Tancharoen, who has also directed episodes of Arrow, Flash & Supergirl and is written by Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon. This trio has created, in my opinion, the best episode of the season so far.
The episode starts off with a sombre tone and sets the mood for the episode; Ward à la Hive (Brett Dalton) is back and looking like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix as he works towards his own agenda, propping up Mallick along the way, whilst the SHIELD team (minus Mack) comes to grip with an Inhuman who can see the future when they touch someone.
SHIELD finds out about the Inhuman, named Charles, when he touches a grocery store owner who foresees his own death and Daisy (Chloe Bennet). When SHIELD hears about the grocer’s attempt to reach out to Daisy the team comes into investigate, confused when he says he saw the moment they met and that Hydra is coming for him, down to the point that someone yells it out when a Hydra aircraft swoops in and kidnaps Charles, killing the grocer in the process, who saw his death coming. The buildup to the death is rife with action, with bullets flying and cars exploding, ending with the grocer stating that he dies a split second before bullets rip through his body. Sudden realization washes over Daisy as she figures out that the Hydra-craft is after Charles. In a bid to stop them from kidnapping him, Daisy touches Charles, prompting a series of scenes that depict Lincoln bleeding, Coulson (Clark Gregg) apparently shooting her, an unnamed woman crying, Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) & Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) holding hands, Daisy taking down a series of security guards and Charles saying “I was hoping you could help.” The flash forwards are beautifully done with a powerful score of music supporting them which kept me on the edge of my seat.
Spacetime results in the team doing their utmost best to alter the future that Daisy saw, with Coulson taking drastic steps such as banning Daisy from rescuing Charles and having May (Ming-Na Wen)do so herself, the team helping May prepare for the fight scene that Daisy saw herself in and Coulson himself choosing not to touch a gun till they recover Charles. Throughout all this Fitz however insists that nothing will help as time is 4th-dimensional and that it is beyond their power to change; ultimately he’s proven to be right as, lo and behold, Dr. Garner aka Lash (Blair Underwood) surrenders to SHIELD after his disappearance, informing them that he is about to turn into Lash permanently and that he wants to see May one last time.
The team’s attempts to alter the future are endearing and even Fitz’s explanation of the space-time continuum was both informing and humorous as the rest of the team struggled to understand his dumbed-down explanation. Lincoln also sees more prominence this episode, following in the steps of Coulson everywhere who. after hearing that the former never watched the original Terminator series, kicks him of the team. Humourous quips like this added levitity to the episode whilst but not overtly so; soon after that humorous exchange Lincoln states that he would kill Coulson if he killed Daisy. Lincoln also reiterates that all Inhumans have a purpose and that perhaps Daisy is meant to save Charles. This reiteration of Inhumans having a purpose didn’t see to have any weight until Dr. Garner enters the episode; Lash kills Inhumans and it is probable his purpose is to take down Hive.
The unnamed woman Daisy saw in her flash forwards is found to be Charles wife, who explains Charles’ powers to them; he and whoever he touches experience events that have yet to unfold with each ultimately ending with the death of someone. Despite his best efforts, Charles attempts to change the future never worked and he abandoned his wife and young daughter in order to save them from his cursed power. This entire scene darkens the mood of the episode and adds a feeling of dread to the scenes yet to come.
When Dr. Garner makes his entrance he and May share touching moment, both hoping that a version of the cure Simmons has been working on would work on Garner. It’s depressing seeing Garner come to grips with the realisation that his Inhuman alter ego Lash would take over permanently and that he would rather Lash be in SHIELD’s custody as he feels Lash’s killing of Inhumans is to serve some higher purpose.
Throughout the episode we also see Ward/Hive slowly and subtly gain dominance over Mallick, as the two kill the executives of a company who designed an exoskeleton suit. Hive orders Mallick to wear it, taunting him that despite all he has achieved, the latter has never gained true power such as the ones Inhumans possess. It’s scary seeing Dalton act so differently as Hive than when he used to as Ward; shivers constantly run down your spine at Hive’s subtle yet dominating superiority over Mallick. What’s more he even seems to understands Charles’ power well, using him to unwillingly coerce the owner of the company, who Hive then orders Mallick to kill.
When SHIELD realsies that Ward/Hive is alive they send the whole team after Daisy who has already entered the complex in a bid to rescue Charles. And it’s here we see that Daisy warped her perspective of her flash-forwards: Coulson doesn’t shoot her but rather a mirror. However, Lincoln does get bloodied by Giyera (Mark Dacascos) and despite her best efforts, Daisy is nearly killed by Mallick and his exo-skeleton until Charles comes to save her, sustaining fatal injuries himself. In a touching moment it is realised that Daisy was never meant to save Charles, but vice-versa, and just before the latter dies, Daisy touches him one more time and sees a scene we saw at the beginning of the mid-season break: the spaceship blowing up in space. It’s an ominous ending to the episode.
Spacetime is an incredibly compelling episode, one that would instantly attract new viewers and it excels in terms of both visual and sound. The entire cast lent their weight to the episode in some way, with none feeling like extras and all playing an important role. Hands down, the best episode so far.
The after scene credits show Hive ordering Giyera to a certain place whilst the latter also renounced Mallick, informing him he orders to Hive now.
