One of the best episodes since the show came back from the break. The show did an excellent job at giving plausible reasons for why any of the Secret Warriors would turn out to be mind-controlled by Hive. Joey had been acting squirrely since they made it back to base and was missing when the lights went out; Mallick was killed by the very grenades that Mack had shown to Elena and had her mysterious cut; and Lincoln could have used his electrical powers to zap out the lights, plus the macguffin the team found in his backpack. It gave the episode a certain paranoid urgency to it, that it could be any or all of them who were HiveWard's "inside man," which created a Battlestar Galactica-style sense of intrigue underlying every conversation they had and move they made.
The twist, however, that it turns out Daisy is the one who was brainwashed by Ward, was a great one. The folks behind the show did a superb job at throwing the audience off her scent by making her question herself for potentially letting her team down, trying to calm things with the rest of her team when things started to get heated, and even having a heart-to-heart with Coulson after the major excitement was over. Despite that, it was clear in that final scene that she was the culprit. Kudos to Chloe Bennett for perfectly walking the line between the Daisy Johnson we know and love, the one who still cares about people and has a connection (however ill-conceived) to Lincoln, with a mania-fueled walking Hive infection who was just off enough to make it clear this was not the same woman we were used to.
There was a surprising amount of talk about religion in this episode. It's rare to see a television show, one on ABC especially, delve into something that touchy. But there was a great deal about the sense of faith and about the role that worship and something to believe in plays in people's lives. Mallick spoke as the lapsed believer, the man who had seen Hive as a god and planned his life accordingly, only to see the being he'd been sacrificing for turn out to be a false idol, or at least not what he'd hoped for and been promised. Coulson spoke about believing in things as well, about the idea that when the path isn't clear, he understands prayer, an appeal to something greater to help shine a light on the right path. And Daisy, infected though she may have been, talked to Lincoln about always feeling like there had been something missing, but that a connection to something, to Hive, fills it, makes her happy. There's cultish undertones to all of this, and I'm not sure what the import of that subtext is exactly, but it's an interesting motif to thread through an episode.
There's also the much more underlined theme of trust. In the face of not knowing who isn't really what they choose to be, imagined betrayals turn into real ones. When you see how people act when the chops are down, when they're not sure if you're really on their side, you may not want to be on their side anymore. That's true for Elena and Joey, who seemed poised to have a change of heart from their Shield skepticism and fill the void left by Bobbi and Hunter. Joey seems troubled by what's asked of him as a Secret Warrior to begin with, but throw in the way the folks at Shield control whether he comes or goes, and his concern for the way he was treated at the mere suspicion that he was in with the bad guys made him much more concerned about sticking around.
And Elena seemed to have a reason to stay. Sure, it's early, but the chemistry between her and Mack was palpable and adorable. Elena in particular has a certain sense of wonder at the world she's being brought into, genuine enthusiasm for what they're doing, and a nice sense of humor with steel behind her smile. The fact that Mack would suspect her, and participate in quarantining her against her will, not be straight with her about what's happening, gives her reason to shove off, but something tells me she'll be back, and that's a good thing.
Lastly, the cracks are starting to show between Daisy and Lincoln. The show's already focused on Lincoln keeping things from his girlfriend, like his drunk driving history or his play with the terrigen crystals. The fact that Daisy, Hive-swayed though she may be, used him in order to draw the heat off of her only leads to a greater sense that they're not on the same page. I can't say that I'm too heartbroken over this, but it's at least nice to see the show slowly developing the cracks in their facade. Maybe they'll handwave it by chalking everything up to Hive's influence, but it's still a good tack to show the two of them having issue.
But who's finally on the same page? FitzSimmons! The two of them having chemistry for days, and not just because they're scientists. The way they talk over each other, make corny jokes to each other, and just find comfort in each other is one of the most realistic and endearing relationships on the show, romantic or otherwise. It's heartening to hear Simmons's say that she's tired of seeing their friends torn apart, that they've already waited ten years, and that given that the two of them can never tell when the next mission could be their last given their line of work, they should soak up all the love and affection and time together they can. It's incredibly sweet, and nice to see the show finally pulling the trigger on the two of them (seemingly) for real this time.
Overall, this was a better episode than I thought AoS could do as it hits the midpoint of what's been a largely disappointing spring run. It had a plot device in the Hive Infection mystery that kept things interesting from start to finish; it had some interesting thematic material to play with; and it grounded all of this in solid character beats and person-to-person interactions. Sure, that last part also led to Coulson and Mallick exchanging action movie cliche one-liners, but for the most part, "The Team" was an episode of AoS at the height of its powers.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2016-04-28T01:37:39Z
One of the best episodes since the show came back from the break. The show did an excellent job at giving plausible reasons for why any of the Secret Warriors would turn out to be mind-controlled by Hive. Joey had been acting squirrely since they made it back to base and was missing when the lights went out; Mallick was killed by the very grenades that Mack had shown to Elena and had her mysterious cut; and Lincoln could have used his electrical powers to zap out the lights, plus the macguffin the team found in his backpack. It gave the episode a certain paranoid urgency to it, that it could be any or all of them who were HiveWard's "inside man," which created a Battlestar Galactica-style sense of intrigue underlying every conversation they had and move they made.
The twist, however, that it turns out Daisy is the one who was brainwashed by Ward, was a great one. The folks behind the show did a superb job at throwing the audience off her scent by making her question herself for potentially letting her team down, trying to calm things with the rest of her team when things started to get heated, and even having a heart-to-heart with Coulson after the major excitement was over. Despite that, it was clear in that final scene that she was the culprit. Kudos to Chloe Bennett for perfectly walking the line between the Daisy Johnson we know and love, the one who still cares about people and has a connection (however ill-conceived) to Lincoln, with a mania-fueled walking Hive infection who was just off enough to make it clear this was not the same woman we were used to.
There was a surprising amount of talk about religion in this episode. It's rare to see a television show, one on ABC especially, delve into something that touchy. But there was a great deal about the sense of faith and about the role that worship and something to believe in plays in people's lives. Mallick spoke as the lapsed believer, the man who had seen Hive as a god and planned his life accordingly, only to see the being he'd been sacrificing for turn out to be a false idol, or at least not what he'd hoped for and been promised. Coulson spoke about believing in things as well, about the idea that when the path isn't clear, he understands prayer, an appeal to something greater to help shine a light on the right path. And Daisy, infected though she may have been, talked to Lincoln about always feeling like there had been something missing, but that a connection to something, to Hive, fills it, makes her happy. There's cultish undertones to all of this, and I'm not sure what the import of that subtext is exactly, but it's an interesting motif to thread through an episode.
There's also the much more underlined theme of trust. In the face of not knowing who isn't really what they choose to be, imagined betrayals turn into real ones. When you see how people act when the chops are down, when they're not sure if you're really on their side, you may not want to be on their side anymore. That's true for Elena and Joey, who seemed poised to have a change of heart from their Shield skepticism and fill the void left by Bobbi and Hunter. Joey seems troubled by what's asked of him as a Secret Warrior to begin with, but throw in the way the folks at Shield control whether he comes or goes, and his concern for the way he was treated at the mere suspicion that he was in with the bad guys made him much more concerned about sticking around.
And Elena seemed to have a reason to stay. Sure, it's early, but the chemistry between her and Mack was palpable and adorable. Elena in particular has a certain sense of wonder at the world she's being brought into, genuine enthusiasm for what they're doing, and a nice sense of humor with steel behind her smile. The fact that Mack would suspect her, and participate in quarantining her against her will, not be straight with her about what's happening, gives her reason to shove off, but something tells me she'll be back, and that's a good thing.
Lastly, the cracks are starting to show between Daisy and Lincoln. The show's already focused on Lincoln keeping things from his girlfriend, like his drunk driving history or his play with the terrigen crystals. The fact that Daisy, Hive-swayed though she may be, used him in order to draw the heat off of her only leads to a greater sense that they're not on the same page. I can't say that I'm too heartbroken over this, but it's at least nice to see the show slowly developing the cracks in their facade. Maybe they'll handwave it by chalking everything up to Hive's influence, but it's still a good tack to show the two of them having issue.
But who's finally on the same page? FitzSimmons! The two of them having chemistry for days, and not just because they're scientists. The way they talk over each other, make corny jokes to each other, and just find comfort in each other is one of the most realistic and endearing relationships on the show, romantic or otherwise. It's heartening to hear Simmons's say that she's tired of seeing their friends torn apart, that they've already waited ten years, and that given that the two of them can never tell when the next mission could be their last given their line of work, they should soak up all the love and affection and time together they can. It's incredibly sweet, and nice to see the show finally pulling the trigger on the two of them (seemingly) for real this time.
Overall, this was a better episode than I thought AoS could do as it hits the midpoint of what's been a largely disappointing spring run. It had a plot device in the Hive Infection mystery that kept things interesting from start to finish; it had some interesting thematic material to play with; and it grounded all of this in solid character beats and person-to-person interactions. Sure, that last part also led to Coulson and Mallick exchanging action movie cliche one-liners, but for the most part, "The Team" was an episode of AoS at the height of its powers.